A spark ignited at the University of Missouri has caught fire at universities across the nation.

Students at Mizzou — particularly those in student activism group Concerned Student 1950 — were motivated to take action after several race-related incidents at the university. These incidents included violent threats on social media app Yik Yak, hostility toward black protesters at the homecoming parade, remarks considered insensitive from the chancellor and a swastika painted with human feces on a residence hall bathroom.

Protests, hunger strikes and walkouts ensued. Mizzou’s football team went on strike, ending its athletic activities in favor of standing in solidarity with fellow students. As a result, the president and the chancellor of Mizzou — Tim Wolfe and R. Bowen Loftin, respectively — resigned on Nov. 9, according to a USA Today article.

“Racism and intolerance have no place at the University of Missouri or anywhere in our state,” said Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon in a Nov. 8 statement regarding the protests at Mizzou. “Our colleges and universities must be havens of trust and understanding.”

Chuck Henson, an associate dean in the Mizzou School of Law, was named interim vice chancellor for inclusion, diversity and equity.

Wolfe’s resignation seems to have set a precedent as college protests broke out across the country. Students at other universities continue to call for deans and chancellors to step down after one too many racially insensitive remarks.

“They want to feel safe at their university,” said Lee Baker, dean of academic affairs of Trinity College and professor of cultural anthropology and sociology at Duke University. “I think people are feeling that there really is a new era of marginalization and demoralization, frankly, that is empowered by both Yik Yak on one hand, and by more bellicose rhetoric, where it’s okay to generalize in really sweeping ways, coming from our leaders.”

Following in Wolfe’s footsteps is Claremont McKenna College Dean of Students Mary Spellman, who resigned last Thursday due to an email she sent to a Latina student, according to an article from The Los Angeles Times.

In the email, Spellman said she would work to serve those who “don’t fit our CMC (Clarement McKenan College) mold.” The university erupted in protest in response.

In a campus-wide email detailing her resignation, Spellman said she hopes her actions “will help enable a truly thoughtful, civil and productive discussion about the very real issues of diversity and inclusion facing Claremont McKenna, higher education and other institutions across our society.”

Baker said that despite the intense pressure to not misstep as a dean, all academic administrators should work first and foremost for the students.

“People are responsible for their actions, and hopefully they can defend them, but if not, they should step aside,” Baker said.

Deans at Yale University and Ithaca College have also been called on by students to resign due to their poor responses to a “white girls only” fraternity party and racial profiling, respectively, according to The New York Times.

In a statement released Nov. 10 by the dean of Ithaca College, Thomas Rochon, it was announced that the college will be implementing a new Chief Diversity Officer.

According to the statement, “the position … will provide clear leadership and ownership over the implementation of [Ithaca’s] ongoing work to improve [its] campus’s racial climate and build a culture that lives up to its values of civility, mutual respect, and justice.”

Overall, students across cultures, demographics and geographic barriers have rallied for a common goal — inclusivity and sensitivity.

“College activism has always mattered,” Baker said. “It is an integral part of the American experience, and college students with their optimism and their hope in their view of making a better American has been an important facet in changing American culture.”

Published on November 18, 2015 at 11:40 pm

Contact Brigid: brkenned@syr.edu