The campaign’s name may be One Mizzou, but about 150 University of Missouri students, faculty and administrators were on hand April 7 to kick off a new grassroots diversity initiative at the MU Student Center.
Created by students in response to racially charged incidents at the Hatch and College Avenue Residence Halls, One Mizzou is a vehicle to promote a culture of respect and responsibility at MU. The campaign’s goal is remind the MU community that bias and intolerance based on race, sexual orientation or background have no place on campus.
At the launch, those in attendance, includng Chancellor Brady J. Deaton, donned One Mizzou t-shirts and signed their names to a large banner that will hang in all residence halls and Greek houses and inside the Student Center. Future events will include online diversity training and a contest in which students compete to create a diversity-themed video to be shown at Summer Welcome.
In addition to Deaton, who called the creation of One Mizzou his “proudest moment as Chancellor," speakers at last week’s kick off included Legion of Black Collegians President Lisa White; Eric Woods, president of the Missouri Students Association; Graham McCaulley, vice president of the Graduate Professional Council; and Lauren Thomas, president of the Residence Halls Association.
Though a student-led initiative, One Mizzou has been embraced by faculty and staff as well. In March, weeks after a student spray-painted a racial slur on a statue in front of Hatch Hall, the Staff Advisory Council created a One Mizzou for Staff petition to support the fight against prejudice and other dehumanizing conduct. The petition has gathered more than 300 signatures so far.
Council member Angel Anderson, an executive staff assistant for the Chancellor’s Diversity Initiative, said the petition is “an effort to realize our goal of supporting the Chancellor’s Diversity Initiative in providing a welcoming and inclusive campus, which is one of the council’s goals as well.”