Missouri AG Announces MSHSAA Under Investigation

On Tuesday, November 18th, Missouri Attorney General Catherine Hanaway announced that the Missouri State High School Activities Association was under investigation from her office after what she said was reverse discrimination by that body.

The announcement followed an extended correspondence between State Auditor Scott Fitzpatrick and Natalie Hoernschemeyer, an attorney for MSHSAA.

The issue involves Article IV, Section 2(b)2 of the MSHSAA Constitution regarding the appointment of at-large board members, which states, “Each of two at-large positions shall be filled by a candidate representing the under-represented gender of the current board, or an under-represented ethnicity.”

Auditor Fitzpatrick, in his April 16th letter to MSHSAA, wrote, “Given that MSHSAA receives significant revenue from Missouri taxpayers through membership fees collected from member schools and event costs charged to students and parents, I am concerned board members tasked with oversight of the operations are being chosen, or excluded, based on their gender and/or ethnicity, rather than their qualifications.”

The MSHSAA board consists of eight elected members from each of its districts along with two elected at-large members. Members must be active school superintendents, principals, or activities directors of member schools in good standing. The section in question states that at-large members who represent the under-represented gender or ethnicity of the current board must still meet the qualifications.

In one of his letters to MSHSAA, Mr. Fitzpatrick attached a letter from a MSHSAA employee to an administrator who had been nominated for one of the at-large positions and who subsequently contacted Mr. Fitzpatrick’s office. The letter from the MSHSAA employee to the prospective board member read in part, “The current Board of Directors, after taking out members whose terms are us, has a majority of males, Since you are a male, you do not meet this requirement. The ethnicity of the board has a majority of white, non-Hispanic members. Without knowing your identity or race, we ask for you to respond with the minority ethnicity or race group in which you identify, if applicable.”

Ms. Hoernschemeyer, representing MSHSAA, wrote to Mr. Fitzpatrick that MSHSAA’s selection policies for at-large board members was in compliance with state and federal law. She wrote, “The Association, with the possible exception of one individual, has never had a minority or female board member initially join the Board through the standard nomination and election process prior to the addition of the at-large provision.” She continued, “The enduring underrepresentation highlights the presence of systemic barriers to participation, and the at-large provision aims to address this imbalance — not through exclusion or preference, but by ensuring that voices historically absent from the table have a meaningful opportunity to be heard.”

She wrote in another letter that the individual in question was not precluded from serving on the Board of Directors. “He was unable to run for a particular at-large seat because he did not meet the current qualifications pursuant to the MSHSAA Constitution.”