Reynolds Journalism Institute at MU

The Reynolds Journalism Institute at the University of Missouri-Columbia is getting $15 million over the next five years from the foundation that is its namesake.

The gift is third largest donation in the Columbia campus’ history. The largest gift - $31 million in 2004 - was also from the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation based in Las Vegas. That gift was used to help build the $24 million, 50,000 square-foot building that houses the institute.

The new gift will go towards the operations of the institute, which is part of the Missouri School of Journalism.

“Our original grant allowed the University of Missouri to provide a state-of-the-art physical home and establish the programs of the Institute,” said Fred Smith, the foundation’s chairman in a statement. “This latest commitment will assure operation of the programs under the leadership of Dean Mills and Pam Johnson for another five years.”

I wonder if that means that operations of the institute would have been in doubt without this gift. It’s no secret that the University of Missouri, like pretty much everybody else, is trying to do more with less under difficult budget times. It has a hiring freeze in place and did not receive any more state funding this year while also not increasing tuition — also an important revenue generator for the school. Meanwhile, many of its fixed costs such as utilities and health care goes up. So there’s probably not a lot of disposable cash around to support a big new venture such as the institute.

“This gift from the Reynolds Foundation makes it possible for us to pursue our dream of an institute that supports democracies around the world by developing and testing 21st Century models and technologies of journalism to serve civil society,” MU Chancellor Brady Deaton said a news release.

The institute works with a host of corporate partners to test new technologies and products in journalism.

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