Concerned Student 1950

apj9@duke.edu — Sun, 29 Apr 2018 20:47:17 +0000

Description:

The main student protesters’ from the University of Missouri's 2015 protest was a group called Concerned Student 1950, which refers to the year the first black students were admitted to the university.

Goals:

Concerned Student 1950 demanded that Wolfe be fired and that diversity training be established on campus. On October 20^th, Concerned Students 1950 and their supporters asked for more representation of minorities among the University of Missouri’s staff. The protesters gave the university eight days to respond to their requests.

Historical/Political Context:

The group was created during racial struggles, incidents and rejection at the University of Missouri and under then-President Tim Wolfe's authority.

Structure:

Concerned Student 1950 was a student led organization on campus that was comprised of students at the University of Missouri.

Genealogy:

On October 20th, Concerned Students 1950 declared their goals to the rest of the University of Missouri, as well as local media.

On October 24, a Nazi swastika was drawn using excrement on the wall of a hall bathroom. Two days later, President Tim Wolfe met with students of Concerned Student 1950. No plan was established to answer their demands or punish those who were the source of racist slurs and acts on campus.

Concerned Student 1950 dissolved throughout the Spring of 2016.

Campaigns:

Concerned Student 1950 used social media and Jonathan Butler's hunger strike to campaign against The University of Missouri's administration.

Ideological Composition:

The group was mostly constituted of Black students.

Communication Strategy:

The group organized on campus and was very active online during the timeframe of the protest, using hashtags and tagging other users in its posts.

Created New Spaces:

Concerned Student 1950 enabled students at the University of Missouri to organize protests, camp outs on the lawn and peacefully stand on the campus with banners.

Oppositional Forces:

The main oppositional force to Concerned Student 1950 was the administration of The University of Missouri who they were fighting against, as well as racist White students on campus.

Type of Organization:

Tatics Used:

social media hashtags

social media statements

Hashtags:

#ConcernedStudent1950, #MizzouHungerStrike