Responding to Racist Incidents, U. of Missouri Requires Diversity Training for Students and Employees

In response to racial incidents that caused a furor, the University of Missouri at Columbia will begin mandatory diversity training in January. The university’s chancellor, R. Bowen Loftin, made the announcement in a message to the campus on Thursday morning, and publicized it on Twitter:

Please see thismessage regarding our next steps to combat racism at Mizzou: http://t.co/pi5hzT8eRf

— R. Bowen Loftin (@bowtieger) October 8, 2015

According to the university, first-time students will be required to complete a training program that “addresses the issue of racism at Mizzou, informs them of our campus’s many diverse organizations and resources, and emphasizes each student’s responsibility to be inclusive while they are at the university.” Faculty and staff members will also be trained.

The announcement follows a string of racist episodes on the campus. This week members of the university’s Legion of Black Collegians said they were accosted by a man who used a racial slur. And last month the university’s student-body president, Payton Head, wrote in a Facebook post that a group of men in a pickup truck repeatedly shouted racial slurs at him.