Mizzou Apologizes for Failed Inclusion Campaign

Last month the University of Missouri apologized for a tweet that was shared to celebrate NCAA’s Inclusion Week. The university was quickly criticized on multiple social media platforms for labeling the two featured African-American athletes by stereotypes and not by goals like the other two White students featured in the post.

Living in a cancel-culture society, especially online, it’s easy to jump to conclusions. Although I believe that the tweet and video were well-intentioned, I appreciate the university for apologizing and acknowledging their mistake without resistance.

In response to all the turmoil online, Mizzou tweeted, “Earlier we made a mistake when we posted a graphic about our student-athletes. We apologize. Our intent was to provide personal information about our students, but we failed. We listened and removed the post. This video better represents our intent to celebrate our diversity.” However, the video did not sit well with some.

As a diversity consultant, I feel compelled to analyze and share what I believe could have been done differently.

The campus is 21.7% non-white undergraduate students, it critical to be more aware of their own implicit racial bias. Were there no other students of color that could have been included in the campaign? If claiming to be a diverse alma mater, it is important to not just highlight the Black and White.

The university stated, “we listened.” But what exactly was heard? How many lessons do you have to learn until it stops happening? Like many predominantly white institutions across the country, Mizzou is no stranger to race-related issues with their students. In 2015, there were protests on campus for multiple racially charged incidents. The Mizzou football team announced they would not practice or play until the university’s president resigned for not properly regulating racism and bigotry on campus.

It should be standard to have a qualified and diverse team to pre-approve this kind of message. When creating any sort of diversity campaign, how does this go under the nose? Where was the department of Inclusion and Diversity when this campaign was in the works? These universities must be held to a standard that creates a safe learning and living environment for all students.

As I previously mentioned, I do appreciate the public apology, but we need to know what’s going to be done in the future.

We all need to understand there’s a difference between intent and impact. Even though Mizzou may not have intended on being hurtful, it’s important to understand and acknowledge the painful impact it has and can have on others, especially their students.

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