Black student group meets with MU over cancellation of event due to name

COLUMBIA — The University of Missouri's Black student government organization met with university leaders Thursday after MU canceled the organization's Black 2 Class Block Party over the word "Black" in the name.

The meeting consisted of around half of the Legion of Black Collegians' 13-member executive board and MU administrators including Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs Angela King Taylor, UM System President Mun Choi and his chief of staff, John Middleton, and Dean of Students Michelle Froese, according to LBC President Amaya Morgan.

The meeting came the day after LBC publicized MU's decision to cancel its back-to-school block party over the word "Black" in the name. The Legion said Wednesday that MU told the organization Monday it could no longer host its Black 2 Class Block Party. The event was set to happen Friday.

LBC posted a statement to Instagram calling the university's decision "a deliberate act of erasure."

"At every turn, we are shut down," LBC said in the statement. "Things as simple as putting 'Black' in a name results in consequences."

MU said the name of the event suggested it excluded people based on race.

Morgan said LBC offered to change the name to the "Back 2 Class Block Party" but that the university maintained the event's cancellation.

"For you to cancel it and not offer any other solutions when we are offering to comply with your standards is what makes people more upset," Morgan said.

Last year, LBC said the university forced the Legion to change the name of the "Welcome Black BBQ," the organization's historic welcome event, to the "Welcome Black and Gold BBQ." LBC pulled out of that event this year.

"People are just disappointed — but not surprised," Morgan said.

The university's official Instagram account responded to the Wednesday post with a copy of an email Choi sent to LBC leadership. MU spokesperson Christopher Ave declined an interview request Thursday and sent an updated statement to KOMU 8:

"The University of Missouri fosters a non-discriminatory campus environment," the statement read. "When holding events using university facilities, student organizations must avoid excluding individuals based on race. The event had already been promoted with a name that suggested such exclusivity. For that reason, the decision was made that the event as described would not be held on campus."

In the Instagram post, LBC demanded the university publicly condemn racial harassment, host a town hall within 60 days of the semester's starting and mandate campus-wide messaging to students making clear MU's policies on forms of harassment.

Morgan said the Thursday meeting between LBC and MU administration was to continue discussion on the Legion's demands. She said the conversation revolved around the Block Party and campus safety, in general.

Morgan said LBC has always had open lines of communication with Choi and that Thursday's meeting was imperative due to LBC's demands.

"I did want to stress to him (Choi) how important these issues are because coming off the 2024-2025 school year, plenty of people have been called the N-word, myself included."

LBC said in its Instagram post that last school year, Black students had been called racial slurs while walking to class, leaving organization events or practices and going out in downtown Columbia. The Legion said it was made aware of dozens of incidents like this.

Morgan said MU's Office of Institutional Equity, which enforces nondiscrimination policies, does its job very well. Morgan said MU punishes students caught using racial slurs, but she thinks Choi needs to acknowledge the issue, she said.

"No matter how many times we report these issues, they continue to go on, so how do we get them to stop?" Morgan said.

Morgan said the conversation in the meeting about the Block Party went in circles.

"We were definitely in circles of conversation where it was seen as exclusion, but that is never what we do as the Legion of Black Collegians," Morgan said. "It is literally in our constitution that we are open to all types of identities."

Morgan said the basis of the Legion of Black Collegians is to help students find their communities.

"Several times, I hear people talk about, 'Oh, I didn't know where Black people were on campus. Oh, I didn't know where to go to find my community,'" Morgan said. "People still deserve to have a home, no matter what identity, what race, what gender, what sexuality, whatever — you deserve to have a home and a safe space."

Ave told KOMU 8 on Wednesday that the university's issue with the Black 2 Class Block Party started with a permit for its location.

LBC announced the event Aug. 5, and the post for the event said it would be held in the parking lot of the Gaines/Oldham Black Culture Center. Ave said LBC had not received a permit to host the Block Party in that parking lot.

An Aug. 5 confirmation email Morgan shared with KOMU 8 showed the Legion received permission to host the event at the Black Culture Center. The event details listed in that email did not specify the location as the building's parking lot.

The Welcome Black BBQ was historically held in that parking lot.

"The permit issues honestly came out of nowhere," Morgan said. "Even today, they never brought up permitting issues."

Morgan said she had correct permits for food, equipment and open flame and had space in the Black Culture Center reserved.

The Division of Student Affairs oversees student events like the block party and the barbecue. KOMU 8 requested to interview Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs Angela King Taylor. King Taylor declined the request.

Phi Beta Sigma, a historically Black fraternity at MU, expressed support for the Legion and concern over the university's decision to cancel the Black 2 Class Block Party.

"Its cancellation not only erases a cherished tradition but also reinforces a troubling pattern in which Black organizations are met with unnecessary barriers to visibility and belonging," Phi Beta Sigma said in a statement posted to Instagram.