2015–2016 University of Missouri protests

In 2015, a series of protests at the University of Missouri related to race, workplace benefits, and leadership resulted in the resignations of the president of the University of Missouri System and the chancellor of the flagship Columbia campus. The moves came after a series of events that included a hunger strike by a student and a boycott by the football team. The movement was primarily led by a student group named Concerned Student 1950, referencing the first year black students were allowed to enroll in the university. The movement and protests were documented in two films, one made by MU student journalists and the other, 2 Fists Up, by Spike Lee. While it is alleged that bad publicity from the protests has led to dropping enrollment and cutbacks, others have cited budget cuts issued from the state legislature.

Background

In 2010, two white students dropped cotton balls in front of the Gaines/Oldham Black Culture Center. They were arrested and charged with tampering, which is a felony, and which was prosecuted as a hate crime based on evocation of the historical slur "cotton picker" to describe enslaved or sharecropping black people. The prosecutor asked for them to serve 120 days in jail but they were eventually only convicted of littering, which is a misdemeanor, and sentenced to probation and community service with no jail time. In 2011 a student was given probation for racist graffiti in a student dormitory. The events led to the creation of a diversity initiative called "One Mizzou" under MU chancellor Brady Deaton.