Despite the protests and subsequent fall-out — or maybe because of it — donors gave nearly $171 million to Mizzou during fiscal year 2016, setting a new record, according to the school.
Ed Travis has missed one home football game since 1973 and was among those donors. He tells me to find his tailgate in parking lot C, "where we fly not only the Mizzou flag but also fly the Kirkwood flag."
His son Ed Travis is the fourth generation with that name, and he has a son, Ed, who is a Mizzou senior. Ed Travis IV says that when he was a freshman at Kirkwood High School and playing football, his dad offered to chair a committee to raise money for lights for the field so the team could play night games.
"Everyone thought he was being very benevolent," Travis IV says. "It was purely so he could watch me play on Friday nights and then come to Mizzou games."
Ed Travis III, a retired owner of a management recruiting firm, says, "We have four grandchildren on campus as we speak ... and at no time, not once, ever, did they encounter a racism problem or confrontation or evidence thereof. Not one time. That's bullshit."
Travis, who is white, suggests I talk with some of the black athletes who have gone on to work for the school, including Howard Richards, a former star offensive lineman recently hired as the assistant athletics director for community relations.
On Saturday, Richards and the university brought more than 2,000 elementary and middle school students from the St. Louis area to the game as part of a new program called the Mizzou Youth Experience. The idea is to try and foster connections with children who "could become first-generation college kids," as Richards says in a video promoting the program. Participating school districts include East St. Louis, Jennings and Ferguson/Florissant.
"They have all heard of college; they have heard of Mizzou, but actually getting them here so that they could see what it was — especially on a day like today, on game day —was a tremendous experience for them," says Richards.
On August 24, the University of Missouri also announced that it would cover all tuition and fees for Missouri residents who are accepted to the school and eligible for federal Pell grants, meaning they come from households with an annual income of less than $30,000. The maximum Pell award is $5,920, so the school would then cover the remaining $22,000.
Not all people were moved by news of the program.
"This is another roundabout attempt from University System leadership to quell discussions of their systemic problems instead of addressing them head-on," Representative Courtney Curtis (D-Ferguson) said in a prepared statement. Curtis said he was "appalled" the university was "using PR stunts" rather than grappling with its problems. "With the significant cuts to academic retention services over the past decade, and their inability to address recent issues, it's no surprise that their enrollment rate has been plummeting."
A day later, the Board of Curators approved a new $98 million football facility in the south end zone of the football stadium.
"It's important to have an outstanding training facility and athletic facility and better locker rooms for [the] football team," says Nick Joos, senior associate athletic director for strategic communications.
I ask a school spokesman whether any thought was given to the timing of the announcements. One for the students, then one for the football team?
"It was just coincidental that the announcements happened relatively close to each other," replies Christian Basi, director of the school's news bureau.
It does appear, however, that the school sees the fate of its student population and its football team as at least somewhat linked.
"We have gotten a division championship, but we just haven't gotten that conference championship or that national championship," says Benson, the former defensive back. "You get one of those things done and the statistics show that the programs that do that get a big bump in the revenue and get more people invested in the team and the school in general."
Despite the strong start in the South Carolina game, the momentum changes quickly. A 97-yard kickoff return leads to a Gamecocks touchdown and then Mizzou quarterback Drew Lock throws an interception, setting up a second touchdown for the visitors. Final result: South Carolina win, 31-13.
It's a big loss; Benson told me before the game that the team needed to win at least three of its first four games. The next week, Mizzou hosts Purdue and loses 35-3, leaving the Tigers with a 1-2 record.
After the players leave the field, Richards, who also serves as a radio analyst for football games, anoints the students who came on the youth experience as one of the three stars of the game.
Head coach Barry Odom, whose team went 4-8 in his first year last season, tells Richards and the other announcers, "I'm so thankful for our fans."
Then he makes a plea.
"Just hang with us," he says. "I really appreciate their support."
