Missouri president’s resignation is not enough
Protests at the University of Missouri have sparked nationwide conversations concerning the treatment of minorities on college campuses.
In early November one student went on a hunger strike. Several African-American students on the football team also responded by refusing to play unless the president resigned. The president became the focal point of the issue because of his lack of action.
The move not to have the football game was a great risk to their university, because it would have cost their university $1 million, according to ABC News.
As a result the president resigned on Monday, Nov. 9 and the chancellor of the University has also stepped down. Protests have continued even though the initial demand has been met because there is still much work to be done.
We The Threefold Advocate believe that the University of Missouri must now take concrete steps in order to end the current tension. Students have issued demands to the university on steps that need to be taken, which the University is currently reviewing and have responded to eight of them, according to the Huffington Post.
We The Threefold believe that the University board and minority students need to also have a conversation about each demand that has not yet been addressed.
We understand that some people believe that the issue is mostly solved because the president has resigned. However, the change in leadership is only going to give the opportunity for change to be made. The changing of the president himself will not fix the problem.
Therefore We The Threefold believe that the list of demands should be discussed by members of the board and students. Having these discussions will allow for more concrete changes.