JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – As the House debated an appropriations bill to provide funding to the state’s institutions of higher learning, state Rep. Courtney Allen Curtis offered an amendment to ensure Missouri universities and colleges make campus safety their top priority. The amendment offered by Curtis comes in response to yet another sexual assault at a Missouri university, and in an effort to force university leadership to effectively plan to improve student safety.
“I have repeatedly called on our universities to take this matter seriously and to step up their efforts to make student safety a top priority, but my calls have continued to fall on deaf ears,” said Curtis, D-Ferguson. “Now with this latest sexual assault at UMSL, it has again become painfully obvious that the neglect our universities have shown on this issue has put our students at excessive risk.”
The amendment Curtis offered to HB 2003 would require that 10 percent of each institution’s core funding be designated to the safety and security of students. The amendment specifies that the first priority would be given to safety measures and security personnel. The second priority would be given to the education of students, staff and campus at large to reduce sexual assault, violence and harassment. The third priority would be to methods that increase the general safety of the campus.
Curtis noted that if the goals of the safety improvement plan are met, his amendment would allow an institution to utilize up to half of the funds for other purposes.
After debate, the amendment was ultimately rejected by a voice vote.
