Former MU Student Ankur Singh requested the removal of his photo from the [MU Admissions website](http://admissions.missouri.edu/) in solidarity with the Concerned Student 1950 movement.
“I refuse to allow a picture of me to be used for marketing purposes by the University of Missouri until Tim Wolfe is removed from office,” Singh said in a news release on Sunday, Nov. 8. “I will not be the one brown kid on your website while Mizzou continuously disregards the lives of people of color.”
MU first used the photo of Singh along with an article after he released a documentary in 2013. Singh has since transferred to Prescott College in Arizona after attending MU for two semesters, but the photo was used on the admissions website until early Nov. 8. when Singh was notified via email that the photo was removed.
“I’ve been watching the Concerned Student 1950 stuff online from Arizona and I’m just trying to think really hard what I can do as a former Mizzou student to help support,” Singh said. “Then I realized that my photo was still on the website and so taking it down was something I wanted to do because I didn’t want to be part of the marketing for Mizzou when it’s actively ignoring the concerns of students of color.”
Singh said he felt marginalized during his time on campus for both his racial identity and his mental health. He said the main reason he transferred was the inadequate mental health services offered on campus.
“I don’t think the mental health aspect of it is separate from race,” Singh said. “I think the race part of it contributed to my mental health at the time just (by) being different and feeling outcasted.”
Singh said he relates to the sentiments of Concerned Student 1950 members because he often experiences discrimination based on his racial identity.
“Growing up in the U.S., being brown is hard to do, especially after 9/11,” Singh said, “When I went to school, I would always be called a terrorist and kids would make fun of me, thinking I had a bomb in my backpack.”
Racism is a problem at Prescott College as well, Singh said. Those issues made him more sympathetic toward Concerned Student 1950.
“At my school, we’re also trying to do some stuff to make color more prominent,” Singh said. “I wanted to figure out a way to support the MIzzou movement from here.”