What Is Concerned Student 1950?
Weeks of mounting pressure from students and faculty have resulted in University of Missouri system president's Tim Wolfe's resignation Monday morning. It was the ending that protesters called for, but their victory was not achieved without a long and difficult fight, during which one student nearly starved to death and the university almost lost its football team. Through it all, one group stood out for spearheading the campus-wide protests and drafting demands that are now being considered by the state's top lawmakers. So who are the University of Missouri's Concerned Student 1950? The activist group has led in the fight to end racial hostility in the institution.
President Wolfe's resignation announcement comes after the faculty threatened to stage a campus-wide walkout and the school's football team, the Missouri Tigers, vowed to boycott all football-related activities. However, the situation would not have escalated to this point, or garnered national attention, without the protests organized by Concerned Student 1950. The activist group has been peacefully demonstrating since Missouri Students Association President Payton Head, who is black, was called a racial slur by a group passing by in a pickup truck in September.
After that incident, the Legion of Black Collegians, a student government organization at the university, was rehearsing for the Homecoming Parade when an apparently drunk white student yelled racial slurs at them. On the night of Homecoming, the LBC confronted Wolfe in his car to protest, but the president refused to address them.
By this time, the protesters were known as Concerned Student 1950.
What Is Concerned Student 1950 All About?
The activist group was formed to fight back against the racial hostility that has been allowed to persist on the University of Missouri's campus without any response or plan of action. Since Head posted on Facebook about his incident, protesters have organized "Racism Lives Here" rallies and peaceful demonstrations from Concerned Student 1950. During one of the latter, an organizer asked the crowd, "Do you know why we want to get Tim Wolfe out of here?" The response:
Because marginalized students belong on this campus. Because marginalized students should not be marginalized.
Another chant that the group has used comes from an Assata Shakur poem:
It is our duty to fight for our freedom. It is our duty to win. We must love and support each other. We have nothing to lose but our chains.
What's The Significance Behind Its Name?
The group's name, Concerned Student 1950, refers to the year the University of Missouri admitted its first black student, and pays homage to this historic moment.
How Have They Contributed To Tim Wolfe's Resignation?
Besides orchestrating sit-ins and other nonviolent protests, the group's members have also been "boycotting spending money at the Student Center ... boycotting football games — anything that brings the university extra money, until everything is resolved," according to member Storm Ervin. The group also aligned themselves with Jonathan Butler, a graduate student who started a hunger strike to call for Wolfe to step down. He had asserted that the strike would either end with Wolfe's resignation or his own death. Immediately, Concerned Student 1950 rallied around Butler. Ervin told the Columbia Missourian:
We want the student body and the administration to know that we are calling for UM System President Tim Wolfe to step down or we risk losing a student.
Furthermore, the group also started a Change.org petition asking for Wolfe to step down. By Monday, the petition had garnered more than 7,100 signatures, just 400 shy of its goal.
What Are They Demanding?
On Oct. 20, the group issued a list of demands to the university. Besides calling for Wolfe to resign, the group also urged him to issue a written apology to the demonstrators — one of whom the group says he hit with his car — acknowledge his "white male privilege," and "admit to his gross negligence."
The group also demanded that all future University of Missouri system presidents and Chancellors be selected by "a collective of students, staff, and faculty of diverse backgrounds." They also demanded a 10 percent increase in African-American faculty and staff by the 2017-2018 academic year, and a 10-year plan by 2016 to increase the retention rate of minority students, maintain the diversity training and curriculum, and promote an overall safer and more inclusive campus. You can read all of their demands here.
Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster has called for a task force to address the group's demands, proving that their cause is an urgent and important one.
"Kuna ""Mwanafunzi wa 1950""?" Miongoni mwao ni wanafunzi na walimu wa chuo kikuu cha Missouri, ambao wamemfanya Tim Wolfe kujiuzulu. Walakini, walalamikaji walidai ushindi huo haukutimizwa bila mapambano marefu na magumu, wakati ambapo mwanafunzi mmoja karibu akafa njaa na chuo kikuu karibu kupoteza timu yake ya mpira wa miguu. Katika kipindi hicho, kundi moja lilijitokeza kwa kuongoza maandamano ya chuo kikuu na kuandaa madai ambayo sasa yanafikiriwa na wabunge wakuu wa jimbo hilo. Wanafunzi wa Chuo Kikuu cha Missouri waliohusika na 1950 Kikundi hicho cha wanaharakati kimesababisha mapambano ya kukomesha uadui wa rangi katika taasisi hiyo. Rais Wolfe alijiuzulu baada ya walimu kutisha kufanya maandamano katika chuo kikuu na timu ya mpira wa miguu ya shule hiyo, Missouri Tigers, kuahidi kupiga marufuku shughuli zote zinazohusiana na mpira wa miguu. Hata hivyo, hali haingekuwa imezidi kuwa mbaya hadi hatua hii, au kuvutia tahadhari ya kitaifa, bila maandamano yaliyopangwa na Wanafunzi Wenye Hangaiko 1950. "Kundi hilo la wanaharakati limekuwa likifanya maandamano ya amani tangu Rais wa Chama cha Wanafunzi wa Missouri, Payton Head, ambaye ni mweusi, alipotambuliwa kwa maneno ya ""ubaguzi wa rangi"" na kundi lililopita kwa lori la pickup mwezi Septemba." Baada ya tukio hilo, Legion of Black Collegians, shirika la serikali ya wanafunzi katika chuo kikuu, ilikuwa ikijaribu kwa ajili ya Homecoming Parade wakati mwanafunzi mweupe, inaonekana mlevi, alipopiga kelele za ubaguzi wa rangi dhidi yao. Wakati wa sherehe ya Homecoming, LBC ilimkabili Wolfe katika gari lake kupinga, lakini rais alikataa kuzungumza nao. "Wakati huo, maandamano hayo yaliitwa ""Wanafunzi Wenye Hangaiko 1950.""" "Mwanafunzi mwenye Kujihusisha na 1950""" "Kundi hilo la wanaharakati lilianzishwa ili kupinga uhasama wa rangi ambao umeruhusiwa kuendelea katika chuo kikuu cha Missouri bila majibu yoyote au mpango wa hatua.""" "Kama ilivyoelezwa na mwandishi wa habari wa Facebook, ""Racism Lives Here"" ni maandamano ya amani yaliyofanyika katika mji wa New York, Marekani." "Katika mojawapo ya mikutano hiyo, mratibu mmoja aliuliza umati, ""Je, unajua ni kwa nini tunataka kumtoa Tim Wolfe hapa?""" Jibu: Kwa sababu wanafunzi walioondolewa katika jamii wanastahili kuwa katika chuo hiki. Kwa sababu wanafunzi walioondolewa haipaswi kuondolewa. "Wimbo mwingine ambao kikundi hicho kimetumia unatoka katika shairi la Assata Shakur: ""Ni wajibu wetu kupigania uhuru wetu.""" Ni wajibu wetu kushinda. Ni lazima tupendane na kuungwa mkono. Hatuna chochote cha kupoteza isipokuwa minyororo yetu. Jina Lina Maana Gani? Jina la kikundi hicho, Concerned Student 1950, linarejelea mwaka ambao Chuo Kikuu cha Missouri kilikubali mwanafunzi wake wa kwanza mweusi, na linatoa heshima kwa wakati huu wa kihistoria. Wamechangiaje Kujiuzulu kwa Tim Wolfe? "Kulingana na taarifa za shirika la habari la BBC, washiriki wa kundi hilo pia wamekuwa wakipiga marufuku matumizi ya fedha katika Kituo cha Wanafunzi, na kupiga marufuku michezo ya mpira wa miguu, ""kila kitu ambacho kinaleta pesa za ziada kwa chuo kikuu, hadi kila kitu kitakapotatuliwa,"" kulingana na mwanachama Storm Ervin." Kikundi hicho pia kilijiunga na Jonathan Butler, mwanafunzi wa kuhitimu ambaye alianza mgomo wa njaa kuitisha Wolfe aondoke madarakani. Alikuwa amedai kwamba mgomo huo ungeishia ama kwa kujiuzulu kwa Wolfe au kifo chake mwenyewe. "Mwanafunzi mwenye wasiwasi wa 1950 (Concerned Student 1950) aliandika: ""Ninaamini kwamba ni muhimu sana kwamba wanafunzi wa shule ya sekondari wajiunge na Butler." "Ervin alisema: ""Tunataka wanafunzi na usimamizi wa chuo kikuu kujua kwamba tunamwita rais wa UM System Tim Wolfe kujiuzulu au tunakabiliwa na hatari ya kupoteza mwanafunzi." Kwa kuongezea, kikundi hicho pia kilianzisha ombi la Change.org kuomba Wolfe aondoke. Hadi Jumatatu, ombi hilo lilikuwa limekusanya saini zaidi ya 7,100, 400 tu kutoka kwa lengo lake. Wanataka Nini? Mnamo Oktoba 20, kikundi hicho kilitoa orodha ya madai kwa chuo kikuu. Pamoja na kumtaka Wolfe kujiuzulu, kundi hilo pia lilimsihi kutoa ombi la msamaha kwa maandamano - mmoja wa wale ambao kundi hilo linasema alimpiga kwa gari lake - kutambua "heshima yake ya kiume mweupe", na "kukiri udhalilishaji wake mkubwa". Kikundi hicho pia kilidai kwamba marais na Wakuu wote wa mfumo wa Chuo Kikuu cha Missouri wa wakati ujao wachaguliwe na "kikundi cha wanafunzi, wafanyakazi, na walimu wa asili mbalimbali". "Wanafunzi hao pia walitaka kuongeza asilimia 10 ya idadi ya walimu na wafanyakazi wa Kiafrika-Wamarekani kufikia mwaka wa masomo wa 2017 na mpango wa miaka 10 kufikia 2016 ili kuongeza kiwango cha uhifadhi wa wanafunzi wa jamii ndogo, kudumisha mafunzo ya utofauti na mtaala, na kukuza chuo kikuu salama na cha kujumuisha zaidi. """ Unaweza kusoma matakwa yao yote hapa. Mwanasheria Mkuu wa jimbo la Missouri, Chris Koster, ametoa wito wa kuanzisha kikosi cha kazi ili kukabiliana na madai ya kundi hilo, akionyesha kwamba madai yao ni ya haraka na muhimu.