WH Spokesman 'Confident' Mizzou Won't Be the Last School 'To Have Such a High-Profile Debate'
(CNSNews.com) - Racial tensions that have flared during the Obama presidency show no sign of abating; in fact, the Obama White House expects more colleges and universities to follow the University of Missouri in having "high-profile debate" about "unity and equality and justice," as White House spokesman Josh Earnest put it on Monday.
At the regular White House news briefing, Earnest, a Missouri native, said he had not spoken to President Obama about a student protest that forced the university's president and chancellor to step down earlier that day.
Earnest also did not know if Obama plans to issue a public statement on a situation where angry students, with help from the big-money football team, forced a change in the university's leadership.
But Earnest did note that "this debate is not just occurring at the University of Missouri."
Earnest said the Missouri students' "commitment to fighting hate and intolerance" is a "significant challenge that doesn't just stand before the University of Missouri. This stands before colleges and universities all across the country, and I would anticipate that, while the University of Missouri is the -- apparently the first one to have such a high-profile debate about some of these issues, I'm confident it's not the last."
Earnest said the student protest at Missouri, arising from several recent racial insults, illustrates...something the president talked a lot about" during his campaign -- "that a few people speaking up and speaking out can have a profound impact on the communities that we -- where we live and work.
"I think what we've seen is a commitment on the part of so many different member of that community to pursue that goal, and that's a really important thing. I think this also illustrates the -- something the president talked a lot about in the context of -- in his campaign. That a few people speaking up and speaking out can have a profound impact on the communities that we -- where we live and work.
"This is a small group of students who stood up to make their voices heard and their views clear and their concerns public. And this had an impact on people all across that campus, including members of the football team, who obviously speak with a -- quite a loud voice. But they were able to count on the support of their coaches, other members of the faculty.
"I read in some of the news reports that the highest ranking administration official on campus in Columbia actually spent time yesterday bringing food to the students who were camped out in protest and spending time talking those student leaders. That's the kind of dialogue and work and community that the Mizzou community need is going to need to make progress on this issue."
Asked if he was surprised about several incidents of racist behavior at the University of Missouri, Earnest noted that "any state institution is a product of the state and that state's history. And it's a very painful history, and it's not ancient history in the State of Missouri.
"And -- again, I think it is a testament to the courage of the people on campus at the University of Missouri who are speaking out. That they are standing up to confront those issues."
A reporter asked Earnest, "Is this is teachable moment that the president might weigh in on?"
"I wouldn't speculate at this point whether or not he would make a public statement on it, but presumably, the next opportunity that one of you has to talk to him, maybe you'll ask him about it," Earnest responded.
Earnest said what's happening at the University of Missouri is "really interesting."
"[T]hese are probably not the kinds of headlines that the University of Missouri would like to be making across the country, but I think there's a reason today for a lot of people affiliated with the University of Missouri to be quite proud of their institution today and I hope that they are."
According to the Associated Press [1], black student groups at the University of Missouri had complained for months that the school's president was unresponsive to racial slurs and other slights.
The student government president said someone shouted the "n-word" at him from a passing pickup truck in September; members of a black student organization said slurs were shouted at them by an apparently drunken white student; and a swastika drawn in feces was found recently in a dormitory bathroom.
The complaints came to a head Saturday, when at least 30 black football players announced they would not play until the president left.
Some University of Missouri students say protests over the killing of 18-year-old Michael Brown last year in Ferguson inspired the push for reforms at their college.
Protesting students are now demanding a say in choosing a new president, and they are demanding "more inclusivity for minority students and more black faculty," the AP reported.
The school already has announced plans to offer diversity training to all new students starting in January, as well as to faculty and staff. The governing board said an interim system president would be named soon, and board members vowed Monday to work toward a "culture of respect."
The panel also planned to appoint an officer to oversee diversity and equality at all four Missouri campuses, and it promised a full review of other policies, more support for victims of discrimination and a more diverse faculty.
(The Associated Press contributed some of the information included in this report.)
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