This past week has been very eventful. As interconnected as many college students are, we can be so disconnected with the outside world. Sure we all know about Paris, but in the past week so much more has taken place in American and global news. So instead of a “21 Things to Do Before Your 21st Birthday” list, let’s get down to business.
Included are brief summaries of this past week's two big stories and within these stories are links to articles, if you would like to read on.
Racism in American University Campuses
Yes, there was a poop swastika, the reports confirm. But also, a student at the University of Missouri student was arrested after threatening to shoot any black person he sees. Both of these actions were reactions to the forced resignation of the university’s president, Tim Wolfe, on Monday due to claims of institutional and structural racism. Wolfe resigned from office after students proposed a hunger strike for his resignation and the entire football team threatened to boycott their own games.
As one of the top journalism schools in the U.S., Mizzou is under fire for the exercise of the First Amendment. With mass media assistant professor, Melissa Click, “threatening” a student by calling for “muscle” to remove the student journalist documenting the protest of the Concerned Student 1950 movement.
While Mizzou was struggling with their rights, another battle was taking place up north. Students at Yale College are protesting racism on campus. Yale’s Dean Dr. Jonathan Holloway, the college’s first black dean, has become a prominent figure in the movement that is spreading across campuses in the nation. Being a scholar of African-American History, Holloway is seen as a bridge by the protesters between the administration and the students.
Even with his success in increasing diversity within the faculty, Holloway is still criticized for not being firm enough on racism and intolerance within the student body. Students that once revered Holloway began to question his loyalty to their cause for inclusion within the college. Demands are being made by these rallied students for mandatory ethnic studies classes for all students and more cultural centers with mental health providers specifically for minorities. On top of these demands, students are calling for the Calhoun College to be renamed—a statesman from the 19th century who was a vehement supporter of slavery and white supremacy. Students have become more aggravated after Holloway seemingly remained silent after a campus fraternity held an offensively themed party for Halloween and turned away black students claiming that “only white girls” will get in. Continuing the push for the previous demands on top of seeking more tolerance on campus.
Student protest is changing in this nation. It has become a problem with the confusion of what is a privilege and what is a right. Equality is a right; but an education is a privilege.
ISIS Around the World
On Thursday, the Islamic State sent two suicide bombers into Beirut, Lebanon killing 43 civilians. The next day, ISIS sent in another suicide bomber into a funeral of a Shi’ite Muslim who was publicly pro-government. This attack killed 18 innocent people and left 41 wounded. But those Islamic countries did not seem to grab the West’s attention. France sent 1,500 troops into Paris Friday night after three groups of ISIS attackers targeted six places throughout the city. With the death toll reaching nearly 140 civilians and leaving many more injured, France has closed its borders as they are trying to recover from the biggest terrorist attack they have received since World War II. The story is still developing despite multiple assailants being killed in the process of their attacks on Friday night. The attack on Paris is being compared to the attacks on 9/11.
These attacks have launched the world into a tizzy. Syria is under airstrike from France and the U.S., focusing around the ISIS stronghold of Raqqa and oil assets. French President Francois Hollande declared, “France is at war” after the attacks on Friday night. ISIS is now threatening other world powers with similar attacks on their “strongholds.” America is at the top of their list. People think the world is about to go into World War III—maybe we are, but that is what ISIS wants.
*Become more educated* Muslims are banning together to save the face of Islam with the movement Not in my Name*. ISIS is citing their skewed views of the Quran to justify their action and claiming they are being terrorists in the name of Islam. The Islamic State is not Islam. Islam is a peaceful religion at its core, and these terrorists are not the religion of Islam. The religion of Islam does not support these extremist actions.
*There is another movement under this name with regards to the Palestinian- Israel conflict.
