Mizzou’s enrollment may drop due to racism

Sarah Buehler, Reporter

The University of Missouri’s attractiveness as a college has dramatically gone down due to its inadequate response to racism—at least it has for me.

For some time now, black students have been upset with racial slurs and signs at the university where the majority of the students are white.

Protest erupted after Oct. 10 at the Homecoming parade when racial slurs were yelled and hurled at black students who then proceeded to  surround Tim Wolfe, president of the university, demanding that he speak to them about racism  at the school.

However, Wolfe did not speak to them, causing police to get involved and stop the students from causing damage  to Wolfe’s car.

Two weeks later, students held a protest where they slept in tents at the campus plaza demanding changes for the school.

A video went viral when a journalism student tried to get pictures of the protest for a media class and ended up being  assaulted by Melissa Click, mass media professor. In the video, Click is shown yelling at the student and asking for more “muscle” to get the student out.

Click was fired Feb. 14 after a second video was released of her assaulting a police officer at the Homecoming parade on Oct. 10, the same day students were protesting and stopped by the police.

On Nov. 2, Jonathan Butler, graduate student, began a hunger strike and refused to eat until Wolfe resigned as president.

After Butler began his hunger strike, 30 Mizzou football players refused to participate in any sports activities, including their upcoming game unless he resigned.

A week later president Wolfe resigned.

Now the school has had a huge drop in enrollment for incoming freshmen: 941 fewer freshmen than last year (a 5 percent drop) along with a 19 percent drop in enrollment for black students.

Also deposits from parents and alumni supporting the school dropped by 19 percent according to the Mizzou Office of Enrollment.

The decrease in enrollment is not a shock because of the embarrassment of the university with a professor assaulting a student and their president resigning.

My whole family went to Mizzou, and I have been a life-long fan; however this situation is embarrassing.

All of these incidents now will always be part of the school’s history and reputation forever and has changed the way I feel about Mizzou as a school.

I was looking at the University of Missouri as a college; however that changed.

After all the problems the school has been having with protests and racism, there’s no way I would consider going there for college.

But Michael Middleton, the new president for the university has been working on fixing the schools problems with racism for the future.