This whole thing seems very bizarro world and Orwellian to me.
In review, after reading numerous accounts, articles, and seeing several videos it appears the whole thing goes back mainly to a set of DEMANDS - not requests, but DEMANDS - put forth a month or so back regarding graduate student benefits. Now, I agree they had some valid concerns regarding health care. MU apparently notified Grad students via email about health care cuts only 13 hours before their benefits were to begin, and 13 days after international students benefits had begun. Just plain bad business - but business directed at ALL GS, not just a faction.
So the Grad Students quickly responded with their own demands...
http://www.themaneater.com/stories/2015/8/26/start-movement-graduate-students-walk-out/
The next day, August 27th, the angst heightened when it was made known that MU had not reviewed Grad Student satisfaction survey data in ... TWELVE YEARS!
http://www.themaneater.com/stories/2015/8/28/mu-administrators-havent-reviewed-graduate-satisfa/
But the narrative changes on September 12th, when Student Association President Payton Head takes to social media, alleging he was the victim of racial slurs.
http://www.themaneater.com/stories/2015/9/16/msa-president-payton-head-combats-campus-discrimin/
But NOW, what appears to be LEGIT concerns from students regarding certain issues with MU, take a turn towards race...
http://www.themaneater.com/stories/2015/9/25/protest-reminds-students-faculty-racism-lives-here/
So, the Grad Students decided to play the race card in an effort to have their demands met. But they did not stop there, they also commenced their attacks on the white populous. Battle lines are being drawn...
http://www.themaneater.com/stories/2015/9/30/mus-response-planned-parenthood-investigations-res/
http://www.themaneater.com/stories/2015/10/28/mu-coalition-graduate-workers-process-unionizing/
On October 1st, another "Racism Lives Here" Rally was staged in the MU Student Center...
http://www.themaneater.com/stories/2015/10/1/second-racism-lives-here-event-calls-administratio/
http://www.themaneater.com/stories/2015/10/5/lbc-homecoming-royalty-harassed-traditions-plaza/
But again, MU was not idle...
http://www.themaneater.com/stories/2015/10/20/scca-creates-community-change/
On October 8th, Chancellor Loftin announces "Mandatory Diversity and inclusion Training"
http://www.themaneater.com/stories/2015/10/8/chancellor-announces-campus-wide-diversity-and-inc/
Next on the timeline - the homecoming parade intervention...
http://www.themaneater.com/stories/2015/10/16/lbc-supports-homecoming-protesters-administrators-/
http://www.themaneater.com/special-sections/mu-fall-2015/
The video in the second link exhibits an unnecessary militant tone in my opinion - I thought President Wolfe showed great restraint, and I saw no evidence of the car striking anyone, nor police abuse. I thought all parties handled the protestors with much more kindness and respect than they I would have. And certainly with more respect and tolerance than the protest group themselves showed.
Well, that shows how things unfolded up to the homecoming protest. I will go through the rest of the timeline later. I think it important to note this all really started with the Grad Student concerns, and over a couple of alleged incidents turned into "racism". You also see the same faces time and again at all these protests...
In review, after reading numerous accounts, articles, and seeing several videos it appears the whole thing goes back mainly to a set of DEMANDS - not requests, but DEMANDS - put forth a month or so back regarding graduate student benefits. Now, I agree they had some valid concerns regarding health care. MU apparently notified Grad students via email about health care cuts only 13 hours before their benefits were to begin, and 13 days after international students benefits had begun. Just plain bad business - but business directed at ALL GS, not just a faction.
So the Grad Students quickly responded with their own demands...
http://www.themaneater.com/stories/2015/8/26/start-movement-graduate-students-walk-out/
After the demands were not IMMEDIATELY met, GS staged a "walk out" on August 26th.Graduate students plan to participate in an all-day celebration of their worth to the university Wednesday that some are calling a “walkout.” The event is being held in response to the administration failing to meet the deadline for seven demands listed by graduate students last week.
Issued on Aug. 19, the Forum on Graduate Rights gave administrators six days to put forth a plan addressing their demands. That initial release said graduate students would walk out at noon Aug. 26. A later release called for an all-day walk out.
The event will take place from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m., and students will rally at the Columns from 12 p.m. to 1 p.m.
According to the release, their demands were as follows:
-- A guarantee that no graduate student employee be paid at a rate below the individual poverty line regardless of their appointment status, department or college.
-- A guarantee that all graduate student employees receive full tuition waivers, regardless of their full-time equivalent appointment.
-- Revised Aug. 22: a fully-subsidized student health care plan for all graduate student employees that is guaranteed for the full term of their graduate student employment.
-- Immediate action on the part of the university to ease the burden on international students caused by the loss of their health insurance subsidy.
-- More and affordable university-sponsored graduate student housing.
-- A return of affordable, on-campus, university-sponsored childcare facilities for graduate students.
-- Revised Aug. 22: A waiver of supplemental fees imposed by colleges, schools and departments for all graduate student employees.
http://www.themaneater.com/stories/2015/8/27/breaking-grad-part-1/"Nearly 1,000 graduate students and their supporters walked out of class and held a rally at Traditions Plaza on Aug. 26. The students chanted slogans condemning the university’s policy of giving raises to Chancellor Loftin and athletic coaches while taking away their basic benefits. Many students and faculty members spoke about how their lives had been affected by the changes and expressed what they wanted from the university to make it right."
The next day, August 27th, the angst heightened when it was made known that MU had not reviewed Grad Student satisfaction survey data in ... TWELVE YEARS!
http://www.themaneater.com/stories/2015/8/28/mu-administrators-havent-reviewed-graduate-satisfa/
So, as of now, we have a very real reason for concerns by ALL Grad Students, concerns on several fronts, including the way they are seen and valued by their own University."Faculty Council met Thursday to discuss issues surrounding graduate student health insurance. Chancellor R. Bowen Loftin, Vice Provost Garnett Stokes and Leona Rubin, Associate Vice Chancellor for Graduate Studies, were all in attendance to answer faculty member questions.
There was discussion about ways the university responds, or fails to respond, to the needs of graduate students.
“When graduate students graduate, they take a survey about the positives and negatives of their experience,” Rubin said. “For 12 years we haven’t looked at and analyzed that data, so our task force that we recently organized has started to look at those survey results.”
When asked by a faculty member why nobody in the administration has looked at the graduate student survey results for the past 12 years, Rubin responded, “I don’t know,”
Chancellor Loftin apologized for how he handled the graduate health care situation.
“Our grad students are an instrumental part in our commitment to being a tier one institution of higher education,” Loftin said. “Personally, I’m sorry for what happened, I really am.”"
But the narrative changes on September 12th, when Student Association President Payton Head takes to social media, alleging he was the victim of racial slurs.
http://www.themaneater.com/stories/2015/9/16/msa-president-payton-head-combats-campus-discrimin/
But Mizzou was not just twiddling its thumbs - from the same article above...Head was walking through MU’s campus on the night of Friday, Sept. 11 when a group of men in the back of a pickup truck yelled racial slurs at him as they passed. Saturday afternoon, he posted a Facebook status detailing the experience and calling for more awareness and discussion on the treatment of minorities.
It quickly went viral. Yet, it wasn’t just a rant.
He said in an interview that he wanted to focus on creating a dialogue instead of making the post about his own personal hurt.
At the end of September, the Association of American Universities study on sexual misconduct revealed...From 2012 to 2015, nine hate crimes were reported to the MU Police Department. Four of the nine crimes occurred in 2015, including an incident in April where a swastika was burned onto the ceiling of a stairwell in Mark Twain Hall.
“We take every incident of bias and discrimination very seriously, and we are going to take any action we can against any perpetrators we can identify,” MU spokesperson Christian Basi said.
Basi elaborated on MU’s response to hate crimes or incidents of racial bias.
“We encourage any member of the university community who feels unsafe to contact the MUPD immediately,” Basi said. “We also encourage anyone who ever experienced or even witnessed what we call a biased incident involving discrimination within the MU community to file a bias report as quickly as possible.”
MU has offices devoted to expanding campus policies and behaviors to include students of every identity, including the Equity Office, the Chancellor's Diversity Initiative, the Disability Center and the LGBTQ Resource Center.
http://www.themaneater.com/special-sections/mu-fall-2015/The study revealed that at MU, 38.8 percent of senior women had experienced some form of completed or attempted nonconsensual sexual contact during in their time on campus. Of the total student body, 24.1 percent of seniors were victims during their time at the university.
The survey also studied other forms of sexual violence, including sexual harassment, stalking and partner violence. Female students had the highest rate of sexual harassment, peaking at 64.4 percent for undergraduates and 52 percent for graduate students.
But NOW, what appears to be LEGIT concerns from students regarding certain issues with MU, take a turn towards race...
http://www.themaneater.com/stories/2015/9/25/protest-reminds-students-faculty-racism-lives-here/
Graduate student Danielle Walker prefaced her speech by warning those assembled that she was going to use profanity and racial slurs.
“The University of Missouri does not care about its black students,” Walker said.
More than 100 students gathered at Speakers Circle on Sept. 24 to speak out against racism on MU’s campus, an event organizers called “Racism Lives Here.” The protest began at 1 p.m. with Walker shouting the group’s concerns into a megaphone while participants arranged themselves on the steps.
Many of them held signs with slogans such as “#LoftinCantExplain,” “#ColorBlind” and “Racism Lives Here.” The event concluded with the participants marching to Jesse Hall.
Protesters focused largely on the Missouri Students Association President Payton Head’s experience with racism, in which several white students yelled racial slurs at him from the back of a pickup truck, and Chancellor R. Bowen Loftin’s response.
Head attended the first part of the protest, but did not march to Jesse Hall with the rest of the group. MSA Co-Director of Communications David Wallace and Chief of Staff Kelcea Barnes were also present.
Participating students were primarily black, but there were students of other races in the crowd. One white man held a sign that read, “I recognize + acknowledge my white privilege.”
So, the Grad Students decided to play the race card in an effort to have their demands met. But they did not stop there, they also commenced their attacks on the white populous. Battle lines are being drawn...
Meanwhile, campus tension increases when MU announces cancellation of certain agreements with Planned Parenthood, prompting a rally ...Graduate student Reuben Faloughi, an active participant for the duration of the event, said he was disappointed with the number of white participants.
“White silence is consent for racism, sexism and every other ‘ism’ to continue on this campus,” Faloughi said. “It’s going to take a lot more white people than the ones who were there to effect change.”
When addressing the assembled crowd, Walker also expressed dissatisfaction with the low turnout of white activists.
“Even though you all may never utter a racial slur, you are just as guilty, because you are not speaking up,” Walker said. “You are not coming to terms with your friends, or your associates, or your family members, who may have a problem with ‘colored folk.’”
http://www.themaneater.com/stories/2015/9/30/mus-response-planned-parenthood-investigations-res/
Now, Grad Students begin to unioninze over working condition concerns...McQuade said she hopes the rally pushes MU to reinstate privileges for physician Colleen McNicholas, who was able to perform medical abortions at the Columbia clinic, as well as reinstate contracts for students to be able to continue academic partnerships with Planned Parenthood.
“We want to continue to apply as much political pressure to MU to make them feel that they made the wrong decision, and so today is just the first step in galvanizing the public support that we know we have to push back on MU,” McQuade said.
McQuade said she feels Chancellor R. Bowen Loftin’s immediate response to the rally will be silence, and that’s why she said Planned Parenthood and its supporters must keep the pressure on to demand Loftin be held accountable.
Planned Parenthood is planning on doing just that by potentially filing a claim with the Department of Health and Human Services in Washington, D.C., sometime this week, McQuade said.
She said they will be analyzing whether MU violated the Church Amendments, a section of federal law that prohibits federally funded hospitals from discriminating against employing individuals based on their willingness or unwillingness to perform abortion services. McQuade said it is “to protect conscious on both sides of the issue.”
http://www.themaneater.com/stories/2015/10/28/mu-coalition-graduate-workers-process-unionizing/
On October 1st, another "Racism Lives Here" Rally was staged in the MU Student Center...
http://www.themaneater.com/stories/2015/10/1/second-racism-lives-here-event-calls-administratio/
Next - the second alleged incident of racial slurring, directed at the "Legion of Black Collegians"...“Do I have everyone’s attention?” said Danielle Walker, graduate student and organizer of “Racism Lives Here.” “We will be chanting, ‘No justice, no peace! White silence is violence!’”
Over 50 students gathered at 1 p.m. Thursday outside Mort’s in the Student Center to spread awareness about racism in the demonstration called “Racism Lives Here.” Led by Walker, the event followed the first “Racism Lives Here” march Sept. 24 at Speakers Circle and Jesse Hall, when participants reacted to the slow response regarding a hate crime against Missouri Students Association President Payton Head.
Many held signs with phrases like “I am not here because of affirmative action,” “Are you anti-Racist or nah?” and “#BlackLivesMatter.” Some held signs in reference to other minorities such as “..... and Trans POC Lives Matter,” and historical protests such as “#Bacons Rebellion 1676,” an allusion to the resentment against the governor of Virginia for unfair treatment of his citizens.
http://www.themaneater.com/stories/2015/10/5/lbc-homecoming-royalty-harassed-traditions-plaza/
But again, MU was not idle...
After a "sit-in", the students then begin an assault on one of our Founding Fathers...The MU Police Department identified the person who allegedly disrupted the Legion of Black Collegians 2015 Homecoming Royalty Court rehearsal on Sunday night, according to a statement from the Office of the Chancellor.
A suspect, presumably under the influence, had walked towards Traditions Plaza. The suspect then walked onto the stage and did not leave when asked. Once the suspect removed himself from the stage, the suspect used racial slurs and hurtful language toward LBC Royalty.
The individual in question was “moved” from campus by the Office of Student Conduct, and the outcome of the conduct process is pending, it stated.
In the statement, the Office of the Chancellor thanked LBC Royalty Court members for supporting one another and immediately reporting racist behavior to MUPD. MU students’ willingness to speak with MUPD helped identify the suspect, it stated.
http://www.themaneater.com/stories/2015/10/20/scca-creates-community-change/
On October 8th, Chancellor Loftin announces "Mandatory Diversity and inclusion Training"
http://www.themaneater.com/stories/2015/10/8/chancellor-announces-campus-wide-diversity-and-inc/
Next on the timeline - the homecoming parade intervention...
http://www.themaneater.com/stories/2015/10/16/lbc-supports-homecoming-protesters-administrators-/
http://www.themaneater.com/special-sections/mu-fall-2015/
The video in the second link exhibits an unnecessary militant tone in my opinion - I thought President Wolfe showed great restraint, and I saw no evidence of the car striking anyone, nor police abuse. I thought all parties handled the protestors with much more kindness and respect than they I would have. And certainly with more respect and tolerance than the protest group themselves showed.
Well, that shows how things unfolded up to the homecoming protest. I will go through the rest of the timeline later. I think it important to note this all really started with the Grad Student concerns, and over a couple of alleged incidents turned into "racism". You also see the same faces time and again at all these protests...