The morning of Tim Wolfe’s resignation as UM system president was supposed to be a day of celebration for Concerned Student 1950. Their victory however, was overshadowed by controversy.
Members of Concerned Student 1950 and a member of the media got into a verbal altercation after the student group blocked off Carnahan Quadrangle so that students could have a safe space on campus. The photographer claimed the First Amendment protected his right to cover the event just as it protected the groups right to a peaceful protest.
The confrontation was filled with shouting from both sides, and ultimately ended up with students and some faculty at Mizzou pushing the photographer back to where the rest of the media was watching
Curtis Taylor Jr. is an active member of Concerned Student 1950 and witnessed the incident.
“We’ve had several journalists who have been disrespectful, belligerent or just very intrusive in encroaching our space,” Taylor said. “Our administrators aren’t protecting us so we’re having to do it ourselves and by protection we don’t mean retaliation. We just mean protecting our space and creating a space of healing.”
The group of students are exactly that: students. So there is a learning curve involved as many of these individuals have not been in a media swarm like the one they were a part of Monday.
“Because their job as journalists is to get the story they’re forgetting or negating the fact that our job is to be students. The mental and physical fatigue this is taking on people is really important to talk about also,” Taylor said.
The group has taken down their signs asking for their campsite to be a safe space and is now answering more questions from the media.
