With heightened awareness of racial incidents on the University of Missouri campus that resulted in the school president stepping down, the on-campus police department advised all students to contact them in the event of hateful speech, reports the Missourian.
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In an email that was flagged by several Missouri-based journalists, the MUPD asked “individuals who witness incidents of hateful and/or hurtful speech or actions” to call the department’s general phone line “to continue to ensure that the University of Missouri campus remains safe”.
“We are also university officials”, said the spokesperson. Is the police department really going to take seriously all your complaints of “hurtful” speech? “I feel like this should have been common knowledge and I feel like the university needed to do this a while back and announce it or repeat announce it every semester”.
“Delays, including posting information to social media, can often reduce the chances of identifying the responsible parties”, the email notes.
While the message concedes that uttering hurtful words is not a crime, it clearly establishes that students who exercise their free speech rights could face any number of other, dire consequences-suspension and expulsion, presumably.
Dismer said she believes it is important for the student conduct office to know about hateful speech on campus. “The university must first understand it and only by listening to the student’s experiences”.
An MUPD spokesperson confirmed to FoxNews.com the contents of the email, images of which had made their way on to social media, and said the department had yet to receive a complaint.
Given the current situation, is anyone under the illusion that race relations at the University of Missouri would be improved by a more robust police presence in campus affairs?
“Conversely, institutional racism and a history of turning a blind-eye to systemic inequities does require action”.
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MUPD told KOMU 8 News it had no one available for an interview Tuesday.
