The Missouri Students Association Senate unanimously passed Resolution 55-06 in support of the Legion of Black Collegians on Oct. 7 in response to the [racist incident](https://twitter.com/MizzouLBC/status/651053968483704832) on Oct. 5 during a LBC Homecoming rehearsal.
Social Justice Committee Chairwoman Greer Wetherington and Senate Speaker Kevin Carr wrote the legislation together Oct. 5. Wetherington said as soon as she heard about the incident, she knew she wanted to write a piece of legislation.
According to the resolution, LBC Homecoming royalty is one of the many things that makes MU’s campus more inclusive and reflects the need for self-preservation of non-majority students.
“(The resolution) shows unity and how we stand in solidarity with LBC as another student government,” Wetherington said. “We show that we support them and that this is unacceptable as this affects and threatens a part of the population and affects the traditions of LBC.”
As a representation of the undergraduate student body, MSA had to support LBC, Carr said.
“If we are to speak for the entire undergraduate student body then for us not to address it, would be so terribly wrong because part of the reason the Legion of Black Collegiates is its own student government is because they do not feel welcome inside of MSA itself,” Carr said. “We need to honor that and respect that and try to promote a space where every student on this campus feels comfortable and continues honoring their ideas.”
Through this legislation, he hopes to preserve the conversation, Carr said.
“If we don’t write something down, that conversation gets lost,” Carr said. “This legislation is a bookmark for progress, and it’s a bookmark for significant events that happen. If we do not say it, then it could very well vanish, and it is not something we should forget so easily.”
Social Justice Committee member Bryant Bender said the resolution is a good first step for MSA.
“This cannot be the final step,” Bender said. “We have to continue on to do everything that we can to change the atmosphere here on campus and make campus more inclusive as a whole.”
During MSA Senate, Kelcea Barnes said that the LBC is a very prominent student government that other universities look up to, and to remember that MSA should not stop at just passing legislation.
Carr said MSA’s role in the conversation is to listen to every community and reflect what different communities want to see. MSA sent members to the study hall [protest](https://www.themaneater.com/stories/2015/10/7/mu-jolted-lbc-discrimination/) in Jesse Hall on Oct. 6 to represent MSA and hear students’ concerns, Carr said.
“We definitely want to be supportive and flip the conversation,” Carr said. “We want the administration to be proactive rather than reactive in trying to make that switch.”
