Editorial:

MU must be progressive after cotton ball incident

Published March 2, 2010

Throwing cotton balls on the grounds of the Gaines/Oldham Black Culture Center, as happened Friday morning, is disgraceful, both to MU and the community at large.

It's embarrassing and offensive to a multitude of people in the community, not just to those directly associated. The black students the act targeted were rightfully appalled, even questioning their safety. What does this say about MU, Columbia and society today?

The crime has gone further than the BCC. It has transgressed past the bureaucratic offices of the MU administration. That one act of "tampering," as the MU Police Department calls it, has gotten attention from the outside world, and suddenly, the administration is ready to do something.

MUPD said it cannot yet classify this act as a hate crime, but many see the act as it is: an act of hate. Fortunately, MUPD is pursuing the criminals, even if it can only call the crime "tampering" at this point. It has pulled cameras from the Student Recreation Complex and Virginia Avenue parking garage in hopes of seeing something useful, but the department has yet to make much progress.

In response, the MU chapter of the Legion of Black Collegians hosted a town hall meeting Monday to discuss the crime and its effects with those interested.

Many came to discuss what could be done to make sure it doesn't happen again. Some called for a camera to be installed directly outside the BCC, saying if this had been a violent crime, there would be more serious implications of not catching the perpetrator.

Others said MU could do more for diversity on campus and criticized MU for not responding quickly enough Friday. Most students found out from Twitter, Facebook or word of mouth before the chancellor released his statement.

Some in attendance brought up requiring a diversity course as part of the general education requirements. Various student groups have been pushing for this for years. Now, perhaps it will actually happen. To make it happen is simple; the administration simply needs to evaluate which courses we have would work as a diversity course, similar to humanities or writing intensive courses. No new courses need to be created; they simply need to be evaluated as teaching diversity. In fact, the administration could basically mirror the courses available for the Multicultural Certificate. It could work in a short amount of time.

Other ideas were discussed. For instance, the Chancellor's Diversity Initiative hosts dialogues, events and other miscellaneous programs in an attempt to create a more accepting, diversity climate at MU. Unfortunately, it's often preaching to the choir. The students, faculty and community members who attend those events already care about diversity issues. They're not the people who need someone to explain the importance of accepting other cultures. They're the people who already understand.

Simply hosting events for those who are somehow stakeholders in an issue is not a valid solution. MU needs to think of more creative ways to improve the diversity climate on campus. Likewise, Columbia needs to stop resting on the fact it is a college town, more liberal than much of Missouri, and act to create less racial tension in town as well.

The methods brought up to help the climate on campus aren't new; they aren't profound. And the cop-out excuse the administration gave as to why more hasn't been done already is bureaucracy. Really? Are there too many governing bodies on campus to get things done in a timely manner? If true, that sounds like a problem in and of itself, but it's not one that we're accepting as an excuse.

News flash, MU: Too many governing bodies on campus isn't an excuse for slow action. We've all seen you act quickly. We've all seen things get done in a timely manner. And we're sure things will begin to get done quickly now that the rest of Missouri is tuning in.

It's necessary for MU to move forward. It's necessary for MU to educate its community and work to hire a more diverse staff, keeping in mind diversity is much more than a color.

Be swift, effective and transparent with actions taken to correct this problem. Keep students and stakeholders in the loop, whether it's the arrest of those who vandalized the BCC or progress being made toward a more diverse campus. The students, faculty and community members who showed up to the town hall meeting proved the MU campus cares, and the MU campus wants to be updated on progress made.

MU is now in the public light as a university that needs to react to a problem. Rather than being the proactive university we could have been had the administration taken calls for diversity more seriously in the past, MU is now a reactive university solving a problem under public scrutiny. Way to be behind the times, MU.

To the cowards who vandalized the BCC, congratulations because you've sparked a fire to further diversity at MU. Perhaps in the near future, those with your complete lack of cultural understanding would benefit from what you've done.