M The Maneater The student voice of MU since 1955 | www.themaneater.com | Vol. 87 Issue 2 | Oct. 7, 2020
Students protest on Lowry Mall during a walkout to support graduate student Jonathan Butler’s hunger strike on Nov. 5, 2015.
Protesters exit Jesse Hall on Oct. 2 in Columbia, Mo. Three hours were spent inside the building protesting.
PHOTO BY EMILY NEVILS
PHOTO BY OLIVIA ANDERSON
2015
2020
Deja vu ACTIVISM SYDNEY LEWIS Reporter
MU students have persistently protested injustice since the university’s founding in 1839, but three parallel movements stand out in particular. The first movement of documented racial activism at MU began in 1958 when several Black students protested discrimination in local restaurants. The Congress of Racial Equality chapter created at that time staged several sit-ins at restaurants who refused to serve Black customers. This direct action
resulted in the integration of many restaurants in downtown Columbia. The 1960s brought another wave of racial activism at MU. The Legion of Black Collegians was founded in 1968 by members of the Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity. The group was formed after “confrontations between white and black students at a football game when, as part of Mizzou tradition, a Confederate flag was waved while the marching band played,” according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. The LBC is still active at MU today and is the only Black student government in the nation. Michael Middleton, one of MU’s first Black law graduates and the
ELECTION
Lack of clarity leads to confusion about mail-in voting BY SOPHIE CARITE Reporter
& EVELYN LEWIS Reporter
This year has seen an unprecedented amount of attention on mailin voting due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but that attention comes with many misunderstandings and a lack of clarity. In general, MU students
seem to be in favor of mail-in voting and the measures recently enacted to increase its accessibility during the current crisis, but don’t understand exactly how it works. “I think it makes it more comfortable for people who don’t know how to go out during COVID,” freshman Adria Boudouris said. “I’d prefer it, but I’m
A history of racial justice activism at MU
not sure how to do it. I might just drive home, it’s not that far.” Boudouris isn’t alone. Several students admitted that while they were in favor of the expansion of mail-in voting, they were personally still planning to vote in person due to either a lack of knowledge See Voting on 3
first Black law professor at MU, personally delivered 15 demands to MU on behalf of LBC in 1969 while he was still a student. The 15 demands included an increase in numbers of Black faculty, allocation of funding for a new Black Culture House and the removal of the Confederate Rock from any university or public property. The rock sat at the corner of South Ninth Street and Conley Avenue, also known as Speaker’s Circle, in 1935. It was donated to the City of Columbia by the United Daughters of the Confederacy with a plaque that reads, “to honor the valor and patriotism of confederate See Protest on 4
COVID-19
MU students experience delays in contact tracing BY SAMANTHA DIETEL
University News Reporter
After reporting a positive COVID-19 test result Sept. 5, MU freshman Maya Kitchens has yet to be reached by a contact tracer. Kitchens is one of many students who have experienced delayed responses
from MU contact tracers. Since campus reopened in August, over a thousand students have reported COVID-19 cases for contact tracers. When asked if contact tracing is behind at the university, MU spokesperson Christian Basi said that contact tracers are connecting with students within one to
two days. “We certainly would like for it to be less and we’re continuing to work hard at reducing it, but it also depends on the number of new cases that come in each day,” Basi said in an email. As of Thursday, contact tracing is five or six days behind See COVID on 5