A member of MU leadership has sent a letter to Concerned Student 1950 requesting they consider using different tactics to accomplish their goals.
Chuck Henson is the Interim Vice Chancellor for Inclusion, Diversity and Equity at MU. He sent a letter to the protest group yesterday asking them to help improve relationships on campus and said “the time for demands, threats and arbitrary deadlines is over.”
The protestors tweeted a list of demands on Wednesday, including raising the number of black students and faculty at MU.
Henson said the university cannot meet this demand because of hiring laws. He said working together is crucial.
Henson said the letter was his way of inviting the group to participate in biweekly working sessions. His letter was in response to the demands tweeted out on Wednesday.
“It's important for them to have input so they remain part of the conversation,” Henson said. “What I was saying is if it was me as a student, I would want to take on that role of being part of the solution. There's a difference between making demands or requests, and then thinking about: 'Alright, how do we do that?'”
He said Concerned Student 1950 responded positively to his letter, but Henson declined to reveal the details of their response.
“They wrote me back a very nice letter,” Henson said. “They appreciated the outreach, they appreciated the work that is happening, and they quoted me Martin Luther King on continuing to struggle, and I agreed with that.”
Henson's letter:
Update, March 8, 2016: KBIA has received a response sent from Concerned Student 1950: