Bearing News asked students how the University of Missouri—Columbia protest affected many aspects of their lives, from college planning to tackling systematic racism. Add your opinion at the bottom by answering a poll on how the strikes have affected and will continue to affect your life.
To learn more about the strikes and form your opinion visit Bearing News’s comprehensive timeline of all the events surrounding Concerned Student 1950’s movement.[TS-VCSC-Image-Overlay image=”269941″ hover_type=”ts-imagehover-style2″ overlay_handle_color=”#2bb673″ title=”Junior Ojurere Shonekan on choosing UMC as a college after the strikes” message=”“I remember thinking that if this Tim Wolfe guy didn’t resign, I wasn’t even going to consider going to Mizzou. I am glad that he resigned because it shows that he was able to recognize that this is bigger than his job and that somebody was going to lose his life. It didn’t change my whole perception of Mizzou, but it was pretty troubling that somebody had to put his life on the line,“ Shonekan said. “I know now that if something is wrong people are going to do something about it and that is actually really comforting.””][TS-VCSC-Image-Overlay image=”278046″ hover_type=”ts-imagehover-style2″ overlay_handle_color=”#2bb673″ title=”Senior Luis Mendez on what impact UM system president Tim Wolfe’s resignation will have” message=”“The stress and pressure that was placed on Wolfe was understandable, but I do not think that solely removing him will solve the issues since it wasn’t just him that was involved with the racist acts or the ignoring of all the acts that were taking place on campus,“ Mendez said. “There were other groups like the fraternities that did some racist actions and other students. It does promote change and bring light to the issues, but it does not solve the issues.”
“][TS-VCSC-Image-Overlay image=”278047″ hover_type=”ts-imagehover-style2″ overlay_handle_color=”#2bb673″ title=”Senior Hanna Abdul on how the recent protests have affected her view of UMC” message=”“I think anywhere you go you will always find racism and racist acts. It makes me question if Mizzou is the one for me, compared to other schools that put in effort towards diversity,“ Abdul said. “Many colleges require diversity classes, but particularly at Mizzou they don’t. But I have talked to people at Mizzou and they said that they haven’t experienced racism or even seen it, they have just heard about it. My final decision will not be based on this event, but there is a little question with everything that is going on, and the caos.””][TS-VCSC-Image-Overlay image=”271180″ hover_type=”ts-imagehover-style2″ overlay_handle_color=”#2bb673″ title=”Junior Sam Speake on the strikes effect on the community” message=”“I know there were a lot of racist events going on throughout the past months and there were a lot of people who were asking the president to doing something about it and he didn’t, he just pushed it under the rug. So a kid went on a hunger strike and it got a little bit of attention. Then all the African American players on the football team decided they weren’t going to show up to practice. After that all the coaches and other players decided not to show up for practice or play. Then all the faculty decided they weren’t going to teach to support this cause. So they had a meeting and decided that the president should resign, or be fired,“ Speake said. “I think it should have been a push for him to do something about it instead of for him to resign, because it was a dude’s career. It is cool to see the community at Mizzou to stand up together for this cause. It has always been one of my options and this just reinforces that it is a good college to go to.””][TS-VCSC-Image-Overlay image=”270693″ hover_type=”ts-imagehover-style2″ overlay_handle_color=”#2bb673″ title=”Senior Clayton Warder on how the strikes have affected his college making decisions” message=”“It has opened my eyes to a lot of problems going on at the university because it wasn’t be broadcasted in the media. But for me it doesn’t really factor into my decision for college, because when it comes to college I am more focused on the academics and the financial aspect,“ Warder. “But it is something I really do hope that they end up fixing it because it is horrible that it is happening, but it really hasn’t affected my college decision. I am personally really happy that the chancellor stepped down. I know he hasn’t been really sympathetic to the problem at all.””][TS-VCSC-Image-Overlay image=”270025″ hover_type=”ts-imagehover-style2″ overlay_handle_color=”#2bb673″ title=”Junior Amy Gu on Jonathan Butler’s demands” message=”“I think for the problems that do exist, there are probably other ways to accomplish what they wanted and would be more effective. Butler wanted a way for people to notice that there were problems that needed to be fixed. But I feel that it was in a way where people like Wolfe in that title of power only had certain choices, to resign or not resign or stay there and maybe Butler would have died,“ Gu said. “I don’t think that it solved any of the problems that Butler had mentioned. It was more of an objection to a specific person instead of the problem, because if you truly wanted to fix the problem that is definitely not what you want. You want people to actually start caring and start helping. But if you give them those two polar opposite options, you are not allowing them to do anything helpful for the problem.””][TS-VCSC-Image-Overlay image=”278048″ hover_type=”ts-imagehover-style2″ overlay_handle_color=”#2bb673″ title=”Senior David Feng on the importande of UM system president Tim Wolfe’s resignation” message=”“When you are forcing an individual, who is literally just a figurehead, to step down from his job it does not affect anything, especially when you about institutionalized racism,“ Feng said. “If you are making the president of an organization quit his job there is nothing that is going to be done to affect the student body and make their lives better because obviously this person only has so much power to affect racism on campus. Either way people already hate him already, and it doesn’t matter if he is in the right or not.”
“]