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PrintCOLUMBIA — MU Chancellor Brady Deaton released a statement Friday afternoon regarding an incident at the MU Gaines/Oldham Black Culture Center.
Cotton balls were scattered in front of the center early Friday. MU Police are investigating the act, but a spokesman said Friday it was was too early to say whether it would be investigated as a hate crime.
Here is the full text of Deaton's statement:
In today’s early morning hours, a disheartening and inexcusable act was committed on our campus when cotton balls were strewn at the front entrance to our Gaines/Oldham Black Culture Center. Those guilty of this despicable action have not yet been identified, but MUPD became involved immediately and is conducting an investigation. This university is fully committed to tolerance and respect for every one of its members, and this kind of conduct will not be tolerated at MU. I urge anyone who has information related to this crime to contact MUPD immediately and to join me in expressing your own individual concern and support to the members of our community who were the apparent targets. I have been informed that the Legion of Black Collegians is calling a Town Hall Meeting for Monday at 5 p.m., location to be determined.
MU celebrates the diversity of our community and this behavior offends us all.
Show Me the Errors 
Comments
According to published data, MU currently accounts for less than half of the students present in University of Missouri System.
May we hope that in the future MU will also account for less than half of the embarrassing incidents that sometimes plague this university?
Suck it up? Blowing it out of proportion? This type of language suggests that you may need to attend a cultural competency training to gain a foundational of understanding about this event. No one is "attacking the white population at Mizzou". In fact, if anything, people are asking ALL students, faculty and staff to join in and express their displeasure of this incident. There were white students that attended last night as well and they were not "attacked."(Interesting choice of words by the way) And we don't want their sympathy, we want them just as angry and appalled as everyone else. You are invited to share why this is wrong and hurtful to your children and others.
Is the Missourian allowing people to post under assumed names, so long as they post under a name?
I doubt anyone named "Michael Jordan" actually made the two posts about this cotton ball incident, just like I doubt that anyone actually named "James Eldridge" was weighing in earlier on the city council races.
I've noticed other names recently that don't appear real, like "Tina Fey."
If real names aren't required, then what's the point of having people use a name?
Mike,
Tina Fey is a verified real name. (Her real name is Christina Fey.) We're looking into Michael Jordan and James Eldridge. But it's not impossible that people have the same names as celebrities on occasion.
At a previous newspaper I ran a series of stories about people with improbable names and the trouble they had as a result of it. (The Homer Simpson who lives in coastal North Carolina finds it impossible to order a pizza.)
Rob Weir
Director of Digital Development
The Columbia Missourian
It's good to know that Christina (Tina) Fey is real, because I've wanted to quote from some of her comments here. Her log-in handle, however -- uglytinafeytoo -- made it hard to tell.