GPC votes to support university name change

By Matt Reinig

Published Sept. 7, 2007

Representatives and officers of the Graduate Professional Council took an informal vote to support MU's name change at its meeting Tuesday night.

GPC is the official student government for all graduate, professional and post-baccalaureate students.

GPC took a quick consensus vote on the name change, in which the vast majority voiced its support of the name change from the University of Missouri-Columbia to the University of Missouri.

"Columbia" was added to MU's name after the four-campus UM system was created in 1963.

"I believe that the new title will meliorate and further distinguish the university in that the 'Columbia' suggests a regional designation to an institution that is internationally recognized," GPC President Jennifer Holland said.

Residential Life Director Frankie Minor was a guest speaker at the meeting.

He discussed plans to develop new university apartments for undergraduates, as well as the success of the preexisting campus apartments.

"We've done a great job in adapting to the needs of the students, from married student housing to always responding to the cultural and religious needs of our tenants with sensitivity," he said.

Minor said he was somewhat concerned about overcrowded balconies at the University Heights housing complex, which is located across Providence Avenue on the west side of campus.

Tenants have an excess of "heavy, combustible furniture," such as barbecues, on their balconies that violate fire safety standards, he said.

"We've repeatedly asked tenants to remove the clutter from the balconies, and no action has been taken," Minor said. "We are at the point now where we are about to start removing the furniture ourselves."