University of Missouri won’t punish student for racist message

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A racist message from a University of Missouri student and right-wing club leaders has spread widely on social media, in part thanks to this tweet from another student, leading many to call the authorities to deport him. Screenshot edited to remove a racial slur. Screenshot/Twitter

Despite student objections, University of Missouri officials determined they had no reason to discipline or expel a former conservative club leader for a racist social media post, saying she was exercising their First Amendment rights.

In a Snapchat post shared by students last month, student Meg Miller used a racial slur, saying: If they had killed 4 more n—– we would have had the whole week off, followed by crying and laughing emojis.

While it’s unclear what Miller was referring to, his message dates back to 1986, the first federal holiday marking the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday, when disc jockey Doug Tracht said on air that killing four more would entail taking the rest of the week off.

MU spokesman Christian Basi said Miller sent the message directly to a friend on Snapchat and it was not posted publicly. But screenshots of the message spread on social media, sparking outrage among students who pleaded for the university to immediately ban him from campus. Soon after, Miller resigned as president of the MU chapter of Turning Point USA, a far-right student club.

That’s what’s happening on your campus as we speak, MU student Kaylyn Walker wrote on Twitter in response to Miller’s post. She is allowed to roam freely on campus while spewing racial slurs, being openly transphobic and denying the allegations. Black Mizzou and POC on this campus are calling for action to have this (investigated) IMMEDIATELY.

In December, UM officials condemned the message, saying the language was objectionable, and placed the matter under review.

On Monday, officials said that after a thorough review of the message’s origin and context, the university determined it could not discipline the student because of First Amendment protections.

First Amendment law does not allow a public university to punish speech solely because it is racist or hateful, even when that speech is diametrically opposed to our values, said Mun Choi, president of the University of the Missouri, in a statement. Our University community will not be defined by the actions of any individual, but rather by our deep and collective commitment to being welcoming to all.

The university’s review, Choi said, found the students’ racial slur was used in a direct message to a friend and was not communicated in a way that harassed anyone. In this context, speech is protected by the First Amendment to the US Constitution.

The First Amendment protects speech, no matter how offensive. Restricting speech on public college campuses violates the Constitution and amounts to government censorship, said Lawrence attorney Max Kautsch, who focuses his practice on First Amendment rights and open government law.

Public universities, he said, must meet high standards for regulating off-campus speech, such as proving that the speech constitutes targeted harassment or a threat, creating a security issue or a hostile environment for students.

University officials determined that Miller’s message did not reach that level.

The fact that (the message) doesn’t target anyone totally eliminates the university’s ability to do anything, Kautsch said.

Are there any social consequences that flow from statements like this? Absolutely there are. But can the government penalize someone for making such a statement? I don’t think so, he said. It would be content-based censorship. It’s not legal.

The Star was unable to immediately contact Miller on Monday.

The Millers case echoes an incident at Kansas State University in 2020, when officials decided not to expel the student who posted offensive tweets about George Floyd. Jaden McNeil, who was head of the controversial K-States America First Students chapter, tweeted about Floyd, a 46-year-old black man who was killed below the knee of a white police officer on a Minneapolis street the month before. sparking nationwide protests.

McNeil tweeted: Congratulations to George Floyd on being drug free for an entire month! While many have urged the university to expel him from campus, officials said it was a free speech issue and they had no right to expel him.

University of Missouri officials said in a letter to campus Monday that the First Amendment has limitations, and we have taken and will take action when individuals experience harassment that violates our rules against discrimination.

Officials said that in the past year we fired a student who hurled a racial slur at a classmate.

Millers Instagram bio states that she is a staunchly conservative, Second Amendment believer, and advocate for life.

One of Millers’ earlier posts, widely shared on social media, shows her posing with Kyle Rittenhouse, the teenager acquitted of criminal charges in the shooting death of two men and the wounding of another during a protest. of Wisconsin in 2020 over the police shooting of Jacob Blake, a black man. The photo included the hashtags #fangirlmoment and #gunrightsarewomensrights.

In another post, Miller is shown hunting, posed next to a dead deer, with the caption, shot a rittenhouse.

National organization Turning Point USA said in a statement to The Star that Miller resigned without explanation last month. The nonprofit organization said on its Snapchat post that, This type of language has no place at TPUSA, and we support its decision to withdraw from any involvement with this local chapter.

The outrage over Miller’s language comes after years of racial tensions on campus.

The editorial board of MU’s student newspaper, The Maneater, wrote in a column last month that Millers’ publications follow increasingly brazen public displays of white supremacist propaganda and hate speech on the MU campus.

Earlier this fall, white supremacist flyers were found on the MU campus. The faculty council denounced the flyers and said in a statement that while posting the flyers may not violate university policies on free speech, it is important to recognize that the flyers display hate messages, which have been linked to a history of racist violence in the United States

In recent years, students have protested to the administration to improve the racial climate on campus and to hire more teachers of color.

Concerned Student 1950, a predominantly black group, orchestrated a series of protests in 2015, which included a student hunger strike and a boycott by Mizzou footballers. The protests drew national attention and led to the resignation of UM System President Tim Wolfe and the reassignment of UM Chancellor R. Bowen Loftin.

Choi said Monday that the university welcomes people from diverse backgrounds, experiences and perspectives. Our University community will not be defined by the actions of any individual, but rather by our deep and collective commitment to being welcoming to all.

In the coming weeks, Choi said, faculty, students and staff will be invited to meet with university leaders to share their feedback on creating a more inclusive environment on campus.

This story was originally published on January 9, 2023 at 3:15 p.m.

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Sarah Ritter covers K-12 education for The Kansas City Star. A former Quad-City Times reporter, Sarah is a graduate of Augustana College.

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