MU leader calls racist incidents on campus ‘abhorrent,’ 2 juveniles who aren’t students banned from campus
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
University of Missouri System President Mun Choi called a pair of recent racist incidents on campus “abhorrent” in a letter sent to students this week.
The Mizzou Legion of Black Collegians shared information – on its Instagram page on Sunday -- about students being called racial slurs on campus on Oct. 6 and Oct. 9. The group wrote that white men in a pickup truck called students a slur on Oct. 9 before driving off. MizzouLBC wrote that it put in an incident form with the Office of Institutional Equity and demanded the university “address the situation in an appropriate manner” within 30 days.
Choi’s letter – which was sent to ABC 17 News by a university spokesman on Thursday but was dated Tuesday in the MizzouLBC’s comments section – says the university used a video system that was installed on campus in June 2020 to identify the individuals driving the vehicles during those events.
Choi wrote that the drivers were both juveniles, with one being from Boonville and the other from Columbia. The youth accused in those incidents were not named, but they were trespassed from campus, the letter says.
“Thank you for alerting us to these serious incidents. As we understand it, the first incident occurred on October 6 (we didn’t receive a report about this incident until the LBC social media post on October 12) and the second incident occurred on October 11 (we did receive a formal complaint to MUPD by the affected student). Our team began the official investigation immediately,” the letter reads. “I contacted the affected students on October 13 to share my deep regrets about their experience and that such abhorrent behavior will not be tolerated. I will meet with the students this week to discuss how we can support them. I also shared the same message with Carrington this morning. I hope we can meet this week.”
The university this summer reorganized its Division of Inclusion, Diversity and Equity following pressure from Republican lawmakers. Choi said in July that the resources from that department were under the Division of Student affairs.
The university in August made the MizzouLBC change the name of its annual fall barbecue from the "Welcome Black BBQ” to the Welcome Black and Gold BBQ.” MizzouLBC at the time called the decision by the school “heartbreaking.”
The Black Studies Department in September responded to the university with a letter arguing that the department not embracing the term “Black” is exclusionary. The MU Faculty Council expressed support for the letter during a Sept. 12 meeting.
