JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – Missouri Attorney General Catherine Hanaway announced that her Office will be initiating an investigation into the Missouri State High School Activities Association (MSHSAA) following troubling disclosures by Missouri Auditor Scott Fitzpatrick.
Auditor Fitzpatrick formally notified the Attorney General in a detailed letter, outlining an alleged Missouri State High School Activities Association policy that bars certain individuals from serving on the board solely because of their race or sex.
“Missouri does not tolerate race-based or sex-based discrimination, period,” said Attorney General Hanaway. “No organization that governs our public schools and our children’s activities can operate under an immoral system that tells someone they are the wrong race or the wrong sex for leadership. My Office will be moving forward with an investigation, and we will ensure Missouri students are served by leaders chosen for merit, not the color of their skin.”
According to Auditor Fitzpatrick, a review conducted by his office uncovered that a whistleblower, who is both white and male, was informed he was not eligible for an at-large board position specifically because of his race and gender. In written correspondence, MSHSAA cited Article IV, Section 2.b.2 of its constitution, which requires at-large seats to be filled by a candidate representing “the under-represented gender…or an under-represented ethnicity.” The correspondence provided to the Attorney General shows MSHSAA acknowledged and defended this overtly racist practice.
MSHSAA is a statewide nonprofit organization that governs interscholastic sports and activities for more than 700 Missouri junior and senior high schools, impacting over 200,000 students through eligibility rules, athletic standards, and regulatory authority. Because MSHSAA receives significant public funding and exercises statewide authority over public-school extracurricular programs, any rule that conditions board eligibility on race or sex raises serious constitutional concerns.
“This discrimination is extremely troubling in any setting but is of even greater concern in this case because MSHSAA derives much of its funding from public sources and plays an important role in the extracurricular life of Missouri’s children,” said State Auditor Scott Fitzpatrick. “The fact is, the whistleblower was barred from applying for an at-large position because of their race and their gender. Missouri students deserve to have the most qualified, most committed individuals working on their behalf.”
The Auditor’s letter, reproduced in full below, includes the email MSHSAA sent to the whistleblower, the specific constitutional provision relied upon, and the subsequent written exchanges in which MSHSAA defends the policy. These materials form the basis for the Attorney General’s forthcoming investigation.