”Racism and intolerance has no place at the University of Missouri or anywhere in our state.” These were the words from former Gov. Jay Nixon following a slew of racially charged incidents that occurred at the University of Missouri in 2015.
After several efforts over the years by MU to bring an “inclusive culture” to the campus, students are still pained by the blatant acts of racist behavior at MU. On Sunday, the Legion of Black Collegians released a statement on Instagram about the racism students experienced on campus.
According to the statement, three students, one of whom was LBC’s executive secretary, Kaelyn Washam, were called racial slurs while walking on campus — the statement notes that these instances have happened before and are not unique at MU’s campus.
“We are tired of having to be subjected to ignorant and closed-minded people who have nothing better to do than find enjoyment out of the hurt and suffering of Black people,” the statement reads.
In 2015, former Missouri Students Association president Payton Head spoke out about the racism he and others around the MU community experienced, which led to several protests by Concerned Student 1950, resulting in the call for former University of Missouri System President Tim Wolfe to step down.
LBC said it has filed an incident form with the MU Office of Institutional Equity, but states it has “zero faith” in the university’s systems, but will give the university a single chance to “make this right.” However, the statement also said that the university has no more than 30 days to “effectively and efficiently put an end to the reckless and revolting behavior once and for all.”
“This situation has changed my perspective on a lot of things, especially when it comes to my day-to-day life. I feel like I’m in constant question of who the person was, and it overall just makes me question all my interactions now,” Washam said in a news release.
Following submitting an incident report with the institutional equity office, the process, as outlined in the Equity Resolution Process Guide, includes a set of interviews, meetings and proceedings to determine if there is sufficient basis to determine a resolution. This is available for students, student organizations and faculty members.
Travis Zimpfer, a university spokesperson, stated “the University of Missouri’s Office of Institutional Equity and the University of Missouri Police Department (MUPD) are investigating allegations that people inside moving vehicles yelled abhorrent racial epithets at members of our community in two separate incidents earlier this month.”
Zimpfer later confirmed the vehicle driver in each incident has been identified.
In an updated statement, Zimpfer explained that neither driver was a student or an employee of the university. Both drivers, who are juveniles, have been trespassed from campus, meaning that they cannot be on university property without advance permission, such as might be given for medical appointments.
“We do not tolerate discrimination and harassment on our campus. We encourage any member of our campus community who experiences this type of behavior to contact the Office of Institutional Equity,” Zimpfer said. “If you feel unsafe on campus, call MUPD immediately. We all must work together to keep our community free of this unconscionable behavior.”
Following the incident, LBC created a list of five demands, stating it demands the university escalate the incident report to a formal complaint and gives those affected rights and options; honors a previously scheduled meeting at the end of October; outlines consequences within the MU Division of Student Accountability for partaking in the behavior; maintains the use of cameras on campus to monitor behavior; and releases a statement revealing the outcomes of the investigation, condemns these incidents and previous ones and lists out steps the university will take to prevent this from reoccurring.
“We will no longer stand idly by and minimize the experiences of our constituents and supporters as consequences of being Black at a PWI (predominantly white institution),” the LBC statement said. “We will no longer stand idly by while bright and hard-working students are reduced down to mere zoo animals by randoms on campus.”
