University of Missouri officials are defending their decision to spend $1.27 million to have a Philadelphia-based firm market the system's flagship Columbia campus.
The Columbia Daily Tribune reports that the university system's Board of Curators had a presentation Friday about external marketing from the firm hired in July.
The move came weeks after the university fired members of its own Mizzou Creative marketing team because of budget constraints.
The firm hired was 160over90. Columbia campus Chancellor Alexander Cartwright said the firm has worked with numerous other universities.
Two 160over90 consultants said the firm would rehabilitate the University of Missouri's image and provide visible results by spring.
The Columbia campus has seen its enrollment drop almost 13 percent since protests in November 2015 over the school's handling of racial issues.