#1
Timeline

August

Grad Students health care cut 13 hours before renewal
Grad Students Issue Demands
Walkout
Administration sat on grad student health care surveys for over 12 years without reading them

September


Racism lives here rally protests racial slurs hurled as student association president
Campus cancels Planned Parenthood-provided abortion services
pro-Planned Parenthood rally held
Grad students announce intent to unionize


October

More anti-racism rallies
Homecoming court receives a bunch of racist slurs
Protest against Thomas Jefferson statue for being slave-owning rapist
Chancellor hits protestors with car as police pepper spray them
Undocumented students sue university for receiving out-of-state tuition
New Demands
College Republicans counter-protest statue demonstrators
School restarts PP contracts
Shit Swastikas drawn in restrooms

November

Hunger strike begins
Student boycott of campus store begins
English department unanimously votes no-confidencein chancellor
Students walkout in support of hunger strike
Football players announce strike until President resigns
Entire football team + coaches join the players strike
President Resigns

Edited by Urbandale ()

#2
I mean, when I read this news story it said someone drew a swastika on a wall with feces, and suddenly some guy was hunger striking and the football team was stepping away, it's like what the fuck are these idiot liberals doing? Your post includes a lot more information that I haven't yet heard or read so I may be wrong but I continue to suspect this is an intense outbreak of liberalism.
#3
“Let it be known I have no ill will or thoughts of harm toward Mr. Wolfe,” Butler wrote. “But I do have an urgency to make the campus I call home a more safe, welcoming and inclusive environment for all identities and backgrounds.”

lol. thats the guy doing the hunger strike

In his letter, Butler prefaced his decision to announce his hunger strike by noting several instances of racism and discrimination on campus. He cited MSA President Payton Head being called a racial slur on campus, the removal of Planned Parenthood services, the #ConcernedStudent1950 protest and the recent instance of a person drawing a swastika with their own feces in a bathroom in Gateway Hall.

“Although these incidents individually are not (Wolfe’s) fault as a collection of incidents at the university, they are his responsibility to address,” Butler said.


ok yeah i was right, these are stupid insane liberals
#4
WE'RE THE SHIT SWASTIKAS OI OI OI
#5
it's hilarious that some 4chan retard can draw swastikas with his shit and shut a school down
#6
I'm starving myself to death in protest of the school president. But I bear him no ill will.

Yes, I'm willing to die in order to force his resignation. But he's pretty chill.

It's true, the racist things that have happened here at this university have nothing to do with him. But if he doesn't step down, I won't eat, and I'll die.
#7
if you read all those articles and came away with the conclusion that events happening two months before the shit swastika are happening because of it you might want to talk with pinkninja or learn how to read or something
#8
Entire football team + coaches join the players strike
#9

Urbandale posted:

if you read all those articles and came away with the conclusion that events happening two months before the shit swastika are happening because of it you might want to talk with pinkninja or learn how to read or something


I read all those articles and came away with a particular conclusion.

#10
the hunger strike guy is a liberal so i guess the entire movement is dumb? wtf.
#11

Urbandale posted:

if you read all those articles and came away with the conclusion that events happening two months before the shit swastika are happening because of it you might want to talk with pinkninja or learn how to read or something

I believe I stated I hadn't read the articles, heh. However, I did read the one where the hunger striking guy says the events have nothing to do with the university president, and that he bears the university president no ill will, but that he won't eat until the president resigns. Seems like insane liberalism to me. What am I missing by not reading the other rest?

edit: This isn't sarcasm, btw, I'm open to the possibility that I'm missing something. My impression from what I have read is that this is liberal activists going insane chasing ghosts but I'm not married to that opinion because I don't have all the facts.

Edited by ilmdge ()

#12

HenryKrinkle posted:

the hunger strike guy is a liberal so i guess the entire movement is dumb? wtf.

Any organized reaction to some dumbass drawing a swastika in shit is probably just empowering the dumbass in question.

#13
youre missing that there are three other things going on at the university. the football strike, the grad student strike, and the planned parenthood protests have fuck all to do with the hunger strike. only a few events were held that even referenced the hunger strike, which happened a full two months after all this shit started.
#14

ilmdge posted:

I believe I stated I hadn't read the articles, heh. However, I did read the one where the hunger striking guy says the events have nothing to do with the university president, and that he bears the university president no ill will, but that he won't eat until the president resigns. Seems like insane liberalism to me. What am I missing by not reading the other rest?


durrrrrrrrrrr

#15
Isn't everyone striking for the president to resign? And haven't people said straight up that the president has nothing to do with the issues in question?

Okay, I clicked another of the links (I admit I commented before reading everything, but you linked like 20 articles... at the same time I want to thank you for bringing a large amount of content to the forum, and I'm sorry for not reading it all at once, but yeah I'm going to ping you for more information before reading all of that.)

A suspect, presumably under the influence, had walked towards Traditions Plaza. The suspect then walked onto the stage and did not leave when asked. Once the suspect removed himself from the stage, the suspect used racial slurs and hurtful language toward LBC Royalty.


Like, the impression I get from the things I've read so far (and again, I apologize) is that people are melting down over a few random racists.

One guy draws a shit swastika. Another guy wanders drunk into an event and says racist things. What is the purpose of a protest or a hunger strike or anything else as a response to scattered individual racists? And am I wrong that the purpose of all these strikes is getting a university president who has nothing to do with any of it to step down?

I mean, if this was about the health care stuff you linked I could get behind it, but somehow it doesn't seem like it...

#16
it is a nexus of shitty things happening that has caused people to get up and do shit about being attacked on campus, whether that means rape, objects and slurs thrown at you, or your working conditions.

people are striking for a lot of different things. the grad students have a list of demands, the concerned student org has a list of demands, and the football players have demands. so far i believe only the football players have explicitly called for the pres to resign, as most other protests have targeted the chancellor's office or the campus health admin
#17
"god, what a bunch of idiot baby liberals, upset about racism. im really smart and i know that racism isnt that bad and isnt something that can be used to organize people"
#18

c_man posted:

"god, what a bunch of idiot baby liberals, upset about racism. im really smart and i know that racism isnt that bad and isnt something that can be used to organize people"

people should organize and react against systemic racism which is everywhere, freaking out because someone drew a shit swastika or because a drunk guy walked up and said a racist thing is weird as hell. like, if some random dumbass says something racist, beating the shit out of him is fine, but organizing a mass reaction against him is just giving him the power to influence masses

#19
Why are some specifically demanding the president resign rather than that he implement policy x, y, and z to address racism on campus though?

Or rather: What would they want a new president to do differently if Wolf was replaced?



#20

ilmdge posted:

c_man posted:

"god, what a bunch of idiot baby liberals, upset about racism. im really smart and i know that racism isnt that bad and isnt something that can be used to organize people"

people should organize and react against systemic racism which is everywhere, freaking out because someone drew a shit swastika or because a drunk guy walked up and said a racist thing is weird as hell. like, if some random dumbass says something racist, beating the shit out of him is fine, but organizing a mass reaction against him is just giving him the power to influence masses



The grad student protests do seem to be different from all that though:

"The stage for the English department’s vote was set in August when MU administrators announced that graduate student workers wouldn’t receive their health insurance. After that announcement, graduate students rallied together. A grassroots organization, Forum on Graduate Rights, popped up and issued several demands to administrators that ranged from increased stipends to a return of on-campus childcare. Graduate student workers are currently working to unionize."

http://www.themaneater.com/stories/2015/11/5/english-department-vote-highlights-faculty-dissati/

#21
Yeah that sounds legit.
#22

ilmdge posted:

people should organize and react against systemic racism which is everywhere, freaking out because someone drew a shit swastika or because a drunk guy walked up and said a racist thing is weird as hell. like, if some random dumbass says something racist, beating the shit out of him is fine, but organizing a mass reaction against him is just giving him the power to influence masses


lmao

#23
if you dont think an increase in public racist outbursts isnt a reason for people to have legitimate concern for their safety you've nuts
#24
what im moaning about is the concept of football teams shutting down and people hunger striking over the actions of random unknown individuals, like someone drawing a shit swastika or some drunk guy calling someone the n word.

if that's what's happening there's no way it's not stupid. letting drunk or anonymous people get that sort of reaction is more encouraging than anything else
#25
people and events dont exist in a vacuum. its obvious that the tension on campus has been ratcheting up in a bunch of different ways on a bunch of different issues. the reason i posted a bunch of articles instead of merely the shit protest is to demonstrate the link between that issue and the rest in the OP. tl;dr i do not think the conclusion that the football team is protesting 'merely' because of the swastika is a reasonable one because theres a bunch of other shit that predates it by months that players were also involved in organizing.

that said, NOT organizing against people who do shit like yell racist shit at student presidents and draw swastikas is merely enabling a culture of tolerance for this sort of thing. boys will be boys. i thought the point was to fight against constant expressions of racism, but what do i know, im white
#26
#firstworldproblems
#27
yeah racism is a first world problem good post
#28
whats an oppressed nation precious
#29

ilmdge posted:

what im moaning about is the concept of football teams shutting down and people hunger striking over the actions of random unknown individuals, like someone drawing a shit swastika or some drunk guy calling someone the n word.

if that's what's happening there's no way it's not stupid. letting drunk or anonymous people get that sort of reaction is more encouraging than anything else


i know racism is this totally abstract, almost mystical phenomenon to you but i can assure you that for black people living in places where public racism (and with it, outbursts of racist violence) it is very materially (literally vitally, even) important to show that they will not accept an escalation

#30
i know you love the forum with 100 irl nazis for every poc and but situations like that are physically (and mentally) dangerous for people who actually have to live like that
#31
won't somebody think of the grad students
#32
*actual nazis star sieg heiling and people protest*
not marxist, erases class
#33

c_man posted:

if you dont think an increase in public racist outbursts isnt a reason for people to have legitimate concern for their safety you've nuts



No one was denying that, but it is unclear, at least from the articles linked, how Wolf stepping down will improve anyone's safety.

#34
Relevant

3. Why is Butler not demanding a policy change or targeting MU Chancellor R. Bowen Loftin?

There are two parts to the answer, Butler said.

"One, is that you have to look at all the student organizations and people who are already asking for similar things like that (policy changes), so I don't think it's necessary to reinvent the wheel when there's already students protesting, advocating to get measures like those put into place."

http://www.columbiamissourian.com/news/answered-common-questions-about-jonathan-butler-s-hunger-strike/article_40c94356-84f0-11e5-a07e-536bff6722fa.html#q3
#35

c_man posted:

i know racism is this totally abstract, almost mystical phenomenon to you but i can assure you that for black people living in places where public racism (and with it, outbursts of racist violence) it is very materially (literally vitally, even) important to show that they will not accept an escalation

haha ok but this still doenst explain why people need to protest a university president because someone drew a swastika somewhere?? if racist graffiti is a problem perhaps a watch could be organized to prevent it and anyone cuaght doing it could be murdered or beaten or whatever. but going on a hunger strike because someone is racist is just helping the racist

#36
like, if some random dumbass says something racist, beating the shit out of him is fine....

I too am sympathetic to the direct action approach...

(Direct action combined with persuasion and recourse when possible to the law, of course)

#37

RedMaistre posted:

c_man posted:

if you dont think an increase in public racist outbursts isnt a reason for people to have legitimate concern for their safety you've nuts

No one was denying that, but it is unclear, at least from the articles linked, how Wolf stepping down will improve anyone's safety.


literally anything that isn't just shrugging their shoulders as nazis get bolder? it shows that they are willing to take drastic measures, and unseating a university president is a strong message. it's not going to end racist violence but thats quite a tall order to put on the population of a university town.

Edited by c_man ()

#38
if drawing a swastika with my shit started a hunger strike and got a university president overthrown i guess i'd probably settle down and not draw any mor eswastikas.
#39

ilmdge posted:

haha ok but this still doenst explain why people need to protest a university president because someone drew a swastika somewhere?? if racist graffiti is a problem perhaps a watch could be organized to prevent it and anyone cuaght doing it could be murdered or beaten or whatever. but going on a hunger strike because someone is racist is just helping the racist


nazi graffiti isnt just a problem by itself, are you being obtuse on purpose? its a problem because its a signal that nazis are feeling especially bold, and are likely to escalate. unless you're suggesting that students get expelled for carrying guns around the university as self-defense squads, forcing the university do whatever it can to deal with racists is a sane option if you're in the area

#40

ilmdge posted:

if drawing a swastika with my shit started a hunger strike and got a university president overthrown i guess i'd probably settle down and not draw any mor eswastikas.


are you also against hate crime laws?