A Letter to Concerned Student 1950
Re: Concerned Student 1950
We're concerned, too. We're concerned about our futures. We're concerned about finding employment. We're concerned what our potential employers will think when "University of Missouri" is on our resume. We're concerned for the university we've come to love. "We" are the silent majority. "We" are everyone, of all colors, affected by your actions in a negative way at the University of Missouri. We keep our heads down and go to class. We're generally silent about our views. However, the damage has been done. We've been pushed too far.
So let's talk about you. You claim to represent "every Black student admitted to the University of Missouri since and their sentiments regarding race-related affairs affecting their lives at a predominantly white institution." But let's be clear -- "you" are comprised of eleven total individuals. Concerned Student 1950 is not an all-inclusive club where any person of color gets to join and have their voice heard. You have failed and continue to fail to find other points of view within the group of people you supposedly represent. You're self-appointed representatives of 2000+ current students and countless others who went to the University of Missouri.
You claim to be inclusive and promote diversity. Your internal structure is at direct odds with these words. In fact, your structure is similar to that of corporate America. You 11 individuals rule from the top down. You are the CEO, the CFO, and the board of directors. You don't represent diversity -- you represent 11 personal vendettas. You tweeted "t is unjust to have 'leaders' chosen and not elected. All power should be vested in the people" yet you also tweeted that only the 11 members of CS 1950 represent the group. You are a contradiction.
You claim that you are a "catalyst" to bring about change so that you all "may turn primary focus back to what are on campus to do: obtain degrees." Is that so? Is that really your end goal? To tear down the bricks and the structure of the university you attend to then receive a degree from an institution that is but a mere shell of its old self? In other words, to get a degree from an institution whose degrees you have devalued? Your underlying motivations are clearly not to get a degree from Mizzou.
There has been a 5% decrease of applications by incoming freshman to attend MU next year. Also, you should note that between 2015-2016, "19% fewer African American first-time college student applications have been received." Graduate student applications have plummeted by 19% from last year. Mizzou is estimated to lose over $20 million all because you made it a laughing stock across the country.
Many of your demands violate the United States' constitution as well as Missouri's constitution. Many violate other federal and state law. To keep it simple and short, your demands have been, and continue to be, unreasonable. Your actions have further divided you from the general student body.
We don't demand safe spaces on public property while conducting a public forum. We don't demand unreasonable and unconstitutional changes to a public university. We don't truly demand anything, especially with a qualifier such as "by any means necessary." What we do ask, is that you, Concerned Student 1950, start acting like reasonable adults rather than children having a temper tantrum. Put another way, grow the hell up.
You represent the worst traits of our generation. Entitled, spoiled, unrealistic, and over-sensitive. You demand respect when you've done nothing to earn that respect. You also represent the worst of the politically correct culture across the United States. You demand safe spaces, trigger warnings, yet use threats and name-calling against those who oppose you in an effort to silence them, and you would rather abolish the First Amendment than engage in true debate.
You fail to see that your actions have real-world repercussions. You've indiscriminately harmed thousands of current and former Mizzou students. You've damaged the value of our degrees and hurt our career prospects. You've taken our university, something we should be proud of, and dragged it incessantly through the dirt. It's time for you to see the big picture -- your actions affect us all. It's time to act like adults.
Sincerely,
A concerned University of Missouri student