AIM Investigation Drives Kansas City Star Coverage of Mizzou DEI Controversy

September 15, 2026

By

Mizzou probes professor caught in anti-DEI sting operation as video draws scrutiny

By Jack Harvel September 15, 2026 4:47 PM

The University of Missouri said it’s investigating a professor who was covertly recorded by a conservative advocacy group seeking to expose diversity, equity and inclusion programs on college campuses.

The chair of the university’s Department of Sociology, Wayne Brekhus, was recorded in what appears to be a candid conversation with a prospective student asking about the university’s DEI programs.

Brekhus says in the video that there is “DEI-types of research” at the university but that it has suffered amid a backlash against DEI.

“It’s been really tough on research, but so far they haven’t hit the curriculum,” Brekhus said in the video.

Brekhus also described how schools generally reorganized DEI programs rather than eliminate them. DEI is a broad framework of strategies meant to promote fair treatment, representation and participation, with a particular focus on underrepresented groups.

Read the rest of Kansas City Star’s article here.

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