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For Complex News, I'm Jinx. Monday marked the resignation of University of Missouri
system president Tim Wolfe who stepped down immediately, and chancellor R. Bowen Loftin
who will remain in his roll until January 1st.
This is the result of the national spotlight as a result of protests that began this past
October, following a surge in reports of racism on the Mizzou campus and the way they were
handled. The protests formed a group named Concerned Student 1950, a name adopted in
respect to the year that the first black students were admitted into the school. For the record
there was a total of 9 black students allowed to enroll.
Protests involved large gatherings, marches, social media activism and went as far as a
student on campus staging a hunger strike and the school's football team refusing to
play until the school's president was removed.
The removal of the school's president was viewed as a positive step forward, but this
chain of events has been met with hatred and threats of violence both on campus and via
social media.
A local ABC affiliate reported that a threat was called into the school's Black Culture
Center during a meeting between the Missouri Legislative Black Caucus and members of Concerned
Student 1950. This is also the same location that was vandalized with cotton balls in 2010.
There were also unconfirmed reports regarding the presence of the terrorist group Ku Klux
*** on the school's campus.
In a now recanted statement, the University of Missouri's student body president Payton
Head, spoke out to students regarding the the white supremacist group, issuing warnings:
"Students please take precaution. Stay away from the windows in residence halls. The ***
has been confirmed to be sighted on campus. I'm working with the MUPD, the state trooper
and the National Guard."
Head later released a follow-up stating that the claims sent his way, weren't confirmed.
Other students also declared the presence of the *** via social media. Markesh Woodson,
a member of the school's Track and Field team tweeted:
Saw the *** down greektown when I was getting my teammates.. It's real
Markesh deleted Tuesday night's tweet, but returned to twitter Wednesday morning writing:
Now you believe me what I saw.... I'm not crazy the thing is I went back again to get
a teammate and they saw them the same as I did
Another Mizzouri student whose twitter profile identifies herself as simply "Hailey" documented
her frightening encounter being threatened by a group of white males at a Mizzou landmark,
Speaker's Circle:
If you are black and on campus GO HOME there is a racist meeting in speaker circle they
are threatening us saying dont come tmmrw
Im about to cry if you are on campus go home its not worth it. I just had to run this white
guy was screaming saying he has had enough
I am terrified ! We just literally walked passed a racist cult in speakers circle i
dont feel safe at Mizzou anymore im ready to go
Im shaking and crying these white guys are in a monster blue pick up truck no license
plate circling our car we almost couldnt get out
Im so scared i cant even go home im scared they just trapped us in a parking lot
We are not at the parking lot anymore we are safe ! There is a blue pick up truck no license
plate !They looked at us in the eye and laughed
They looked at us in our eyes and laughed at us. I have never seen people so evil in
my life.
Her story was met with concern from others, but also threats from individuals who likely
share the same hateful ideology as her harassers. To that she simply requested:
People please stop threatening me.
Missouri University spokesman Brian Wiemer told the school's paper "The Maneater" that:
"There's absolutely nothing to indicate that (the *** is on campus)."
The specifics of this matter because why there may not have been confirmed reports of the
Ku Klux *** on campus, there were reports of threats and harassment towards blacks on
and around campus. Like the aforementioned tweets.
A reporter for Lake News and Mizzou alum, Cody Mroczka added credence to the claims
by publishing videos of a white male screaming and mentioning
the *** in Speaker's Circle.
This is the same location that student Hailey mentioned in her tweets. Just for reference
here is a look at Mizzou from Google Maps. Here is speaker's circle reference in Hailey's
tweets and Mrockza's videos. And here is Greektown referenced in Woodson's tweets claiming that
he saw members of the ***.
One of the most publicized incident of threats came by way of the social media app Yik Yak,
that hosted the following remarks:
Some of you are alright. Don't go to campus tomorrow.
Well tomorrow mizzou will really make national news.
The most direct threat read: I'm going to stand my ground tomorrow and
shoot every black person I see.
Without stating which threats he is responsible for, police have identified 19-year-old, Hunter
M. Park as a suspect. Park, 19, is not a Mizzou student, and has been taken into custody at
Boone County Jail on the suspicion of making terrorist threats.
This story continues to develop and tensions are still high in the college town, and beyond.
There have been several reports of students fearful of attending class or being on campus,
with a local area paper reporting seeing less students on campus than normal.
Missouri, although not unique in it's antiquated thinking and incidents of prejudice, has become
point for many of this nation's controversy's, as it's been the home for many of the worst
race-related national news stories of the last year or so—with the *** of Michael
Brown in the small town of Ferguson still at the forefront of several discussions.
I don't know what to tell you all. I think to what college is supposed to be. It's supposed
to be your first forays into adulthood, you know... "the real world." Where you begin
to make strides toward your future and bettering yourself in the process, not fighting or living
in fear to simply exist in the present. It's also supposed to be fun. These kids should
be worrying about beer pong, Facebook messages, and if the cafe has mac and cheese or not.
Instead many have expressed fear for their lives in the face of threats against their
bodies for simply existing and in this case pushing towards a positive change. This isn't
just moment in time, or some news blip that just moves down your timeline. This is something
that will forever be in the minds of all the students who attend the University of Missouri
and many of those who do not attend. It's a growing burden shouldered by the victims
that as the world has shown us, are not spared due to age, gender or affiliation.
Unfortunately that "real world" we spoke of earlier... this is it.
For Complex News, I'm Jinx.