THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI: LESSONS WE LEARNED

Ken Berwitz

Leftists Are Cowards. Tim Wolfe caved at every turn regarding supposed systemic discriminationat the university. He began by apologizing to the ConcernedStudent1950 groupafter they shut down the university\’s homecoming parade to surround his car andthreaten him. “I am sorry, and my apology is long overdue,” he mewled. “Mybehavior seemed like I did not care. That was not my intention.”  He took fullblame for the incident, although he did nothing but ask police to remove thestudents from the parade route.

When a student began ahunger strike, he met with the student and said:

His voice for social justice is important and powerful. He is beingheard and I am listening. I am thankful for the leadership provided by him andthe other student leaders in raising awareness of racism, injustice, andintolerance…. Racism does exist at our university and it is unacceptable.It is a long-standing, systemic problem which daily affects our family ofstudents, faculty and staff. I am sorry this is the case.

On Friday night, hemade the booboo of stating, “Systematic oppression is because you don\’t believethat you have the equal opportunity for success.” This offended students whoinsist that everything in the world is someone else\’s fault, even as they taketaxpayer-funded educations.

On Sunday, Wolfe saidhe\’d stay.

Today, he\’s gone. Hesaid, “It is clear to all of us that change is needed, and we appreciate thethoughtfulness and passion which have gone into the sharing of concerns.”

Wolfe could have stoodtall. He didn\’t. That\’s because leftists understand that they must besacrificed on the pagan altar of the New.

Republicans Are Cowards. It\’snot just Democrats embracing the suck. Sen. Roy Blunt (R-MO) tweeted, “Racism has no place in our society,” and then added that he hoped “that thestudents, faculty, campus leadership and the University of Missouri System willhave an open and meaningful dialogue that will become an example for the MUSystem campuses, the state and country.” Republican Rep. Caleb Jones ofColumbia stated, “The lack of leadership Mizzou has been dealing with formonths has finally reached the point of becoming a national embarrassment. It\’stime for a change in leadership and start the healing process.” Rep. SteveCookson (R-Poplar Bluff) joined Jones in calling for Wolfe\’s ouster. LieutenantGovernor Peter Kinder said he wanted student concerns to be heard, but addedtepidly, “our universities cannot be run by individuals\’ making demands orusing extreme actions.”

This is whyRepublicans lose. Republicans who fail to label a shakedown a shakedownshouldn\’t be expected to stand up against the brutal narrative barrage from theleft.

“White Privilege” Means Getting Fired For Being White. Wolfe did nothing to provoke his ouster.As noted, he never stopped apologizing at any point or saying that all of hisdetractors were right. That didn\’t mean that the ConcernedStudent1950 group hadno excuse to dump him: his skin color was enough.

They demanded thatWolfe write “a handwritten apology to the Concerned Student 1-9-5-0demonstrators and holds a press conference in the Mizzou Student Center readingthe letter. In the letter and at the press conference, Tim Wolfe mustacknowledge his white male privilege, recognize that systems of oppressionexist, and provide a verbal commitment to fulfilling Concerned Student 1-9-5-0demands.” Other demands included a curriculum “vetted, maintained, and overseenby a board comprised of students, staff, and faculty of color,” a new presidentselected by a “collective of students, staff, and faculty of diversebackgrounds [read: racial minorities],” and an increase in “the percentage ofblack faculty and staff campus-wide to 10%.” Racism is alive and well, and livingon the left.