MU will not take action over racist social media message
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
The head of the University of Missouri said Monday that the school will not take any disciplinary action against a student whose racist social media message to a friend was shared online.
MU Chancellor Mun Choi pointed out in his message to the campus that MU leaders condemned the post when they learned of its existence in December. MU's Office of Institutional Equity started a "thorough review that examined the origin and context of the message," Choi said.
The issue was also referred to the office that handles student discipline, he said in the message.
They determined the message was originally sent as a direct message to a friend and was "not communicated in a way that harassed any individual," Choi wrote. In that context, the speech is protected at a public institution by the First Amendment, he wrote.
MU staff determined "the university has no grounds to discipline the student who sent the message, even though it is diametrically opposed to our values," Choi wrote.
"We want to be very, very clear that the University of Missouri is not defined by a single individual or a single act. That we will be defined by our collective our deep and collective commitment to being a welcoming place for everyone," MU spokesman Christian Basi said. "So one of the reasons why we wanted to have this communication and why we are doing this so broadly and publicly was to be transparent with our community."
Basi told ABC 17 News that an investigation began after the university was made aware of the post on Dec. 8.
MU's Twitter account responded on Dec. 7 to a tweet with a link to its reporting policies about discrimination. The tweet MU responded to included screencaps of posts of an apparent MU student who used a racial slur in a post.
Choi said the First Amendment has limits at MU will "take action when individuals are subjected to harassment that violates our rules prohibiting discrimination."
When asked if the student in question was still registered as a student on campus, Basi said the university could not comment because of a federal privacy law.
Another incident flamed racial tension at MU last semester, as well.
Choi denounced racism in November along with the MU Faculty Council, which followed an October incident in which flyers were discovered around MU's campus. The flyers included images of white children and one included the words "we must secure the existence of our people and a future for white children," in addition to other statements. The quote from the October flyer is described as a hate slogan used by white supremacists, according to the Anti-Defamation League.
Those flyers were also determined to be protected speech, an MU spokesman said at the time.
Choi said in a news release Monday that these messages don't reflect the school's values.
“First Amendment law does not allow a public university to punish speech only because it is racist or hateful – even when that speech is diametrically opposed to our values,” Choi said. “Our university community will not be defined by the actions of one individual, but instead by our deep and collective commitment to be welcoming to all.”
