Fifty-one years ago, The Maneater carried a series of editorials aimed at the racism on campus that was evident in the clauses of virtually every white fraternity and sorority that barred membership to anyone other than people of the same color and faith. To the credit of student and university leaders that time, there was a significant effort made to eliminate those clauses, and some greek groups began to recruit more diverse pledge classes. Significantly, at about the same time QEBH, the senior honor society, tapped its first African-American member.

The university – particularly a university with the national stature of MU – should not simply create an environment that is merely safe and accepting for students of color – it has an obligation to its students to lead in every aspect of campus and public life to create an environment that embraces, celebrates and promotes a color blind society. The resignation of the University System president will have limited long-term impact unless the entire administration, the faculty and the students today begin the very hard work of reconciliation and undertake the very difficult challenge of making campus racism a footnote in history and not a recurring stain on the reputation of a great academic institution.

The late Professor William P. Murphy, during his distinguished teaching career at the University of Missouri School of Law, taught constitutional law and provided an example of character and leadership every day in the classroom and in the broader university community. Earlier in his career, Professor Murphy had left his teaching position at the University of Mississippi under pressure after attempting to help his state make a positive transition to integrating its school system following Brown v. Board of Education. For someone who grew up in the Segregated South, Professor Murphy throughout his career set an example of the importance of establishing the highest standard of diversity and equal opportunity in our institutions of learning.

I would hope that the University and the University leadership, including the Board of Curators, will move forward in a manner that honors the legacy of leadership offered by Bill Murphy and the many students, graduates and faculty of our University who have stood up against discrimination of any kind. That would make a much better story than the one that greeted New York Times readers this week.

Jim Davidson
Editor, The Maneater 1964