Artwork by
Dennis Murphy

For the students, by the students

Student protest brings demands, discussion on race
Jacob Shellabarger, CAFNR Corner Post Managing Editor

March 15, 2004 -- "It's the straw that broke the camel's back," Khandicia Randolph, MU National Pan-Hellenic Council president said.

She's talking about MU Student News columnist Jenny Marinko's March 11 column that called out NPHC member sororities for tearing down Greek sorority philanthropy banners. According to the Columbia Tribune, Marinko has since said she was told the banner vandals were not from MU. Marinko, a junior political science major, is a recurring columnist in the MU Student News, covering Greek community news in MUSN's Greek Life Section.

More than 100 students came to the steps of Jesse Hall on campus this morning, in a rally from 6 a.m. to noon. Campus administrators, including Provost Brady Deaton and Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Cathy Scroggs addressed the crowd and discussed the crowd's demands.

Randolph's complaints come from a number of phrases in the Marinko article, including:

"Their little sorority does not affect my life 99 percent of the time."
"The national black sororities had a problem with our Greek community."
"Personally, I don't want them to be involved with our events."
"Why don't these sorority women stay in their little world and stay out of ours?"

In an e-mail, MU Student News Editor-in-Chief Elizabeth Kimberly stated the paper had substantiation that NPHC members had torn down the banners - but dismissed claims the paper supported hate speech.

"If I didn't believe in free speech, I wouldn't have let the column run," Kimberly stated. "However, though I do not agree with the views stated in the column, I do believe in the freedom of speech."

Charges of racism against the MU Student News and Marinko didn't rattle Kimberly's view of the paper's coverage.

"I am not racist, and I believe that the paper as a whole is not racist," Kimberly stated. "The newspaper staff is 25% black. Jenny will have to speak for herself on the issue, but I can say that I personally do not feel that way."

Some students at the rally carried signs and spoke of latent racism on campus, calling the atmosphere "damaging to minorities" and demanding changes to campus policies.

Among those demands:
-- a diversity component be added to the University of Missouri system's curriculum requirements
-- effective efforts be made to attract and retain minority faculty, staff and students
-- local media outlets make efforts to produce fair and unbiased coverage where minorities are concerned
-- MU administration uphold a standard of equality and respect

NPHC members said this morning's rally touched off a series of events to discuss race relations on campus. A panel discussion on stepshows, an NPHC traditional ceremony, will be held March 16 at 6:00 in Middlebush Auditorium.

"We have a plan of action to implement a diversity plan on this campus," Randolph said. "We don't have to be ignorant or rowdy to make our points or to look at problems on this campus. We came here today to take ownership of issues that affect us here on our campus. If we don't speak out, no one else will."

NPHC also plans a Diversity Summit for March 30 to bring together campus leaders, students, faculty and staff to discuss campus race relations and make suggestions and plans for improvement.

Marinko has issued an apology to campus officials and Greek leaders.
To read Marinko's column, click here: http://www.mustudentnews.com/031104/stories/greek1.html

Visit MU's National Pan-Hellenic Association website: http://www.students.missouri.edu/~nphc/index.php

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