The African Student Union and Black Student Association hosted a solidarity event. Photo by Amina-Chinnell Mateen/ The Dakota Student.

Last week, the president of the University of the Missouri system president Tim Wolfe stepped down as a result of the protesting Concerned Student 1950 group, which made guidelines urging Wolfe to step down.

An overwhelming sense of racial tension was confirmed when reports of racial profiling and targeted attacks against black students came to the surface. Since the beginning of Wolfe’s term in 2012, high profile racial crimes, and remarks have been directed at students of color. Students have spoken out against Wolfe, saying he  tried to cover up and disregard racist actions by the University of Missouri.

Many might wonder why this story matters to UND. Well the first reason is that many students including the the football players at Missouri have had enough. The connections to their campus has been threatened and tried, and they decided to take a stand. The team, which was backed by its coaches and many faculty at Missouri, who were happy to support the stance. The list of guidelines called for the president to step down,  or the football team would not practice or play in its upcoming game against Brigham Young University. If only an apology and strategies were in place to help students of color feel safe on campus, the football team would not play.

While the resignation of Wolfe seems like a great step in the right direction, there was backlash. What was meant as a protest of protection and to help make students feel safe on campus backfired. Black students shortly after the resignation were targeted by the Ku Klux Klan, and told they would be hung from trees and  beaten. The campus was in chaos. In the wake of this chaos, black students at Howard Univerwere told their school would be bombed as a result of standing in solidarity with the black students on campus who were experiencing high amounts of racial slurs and violence.

The Black Student Association here at UND, as well as the African Student Union, decided to host a solidarity event on their own that stood with those students. Held as a way to bring about informative conversation about the issue to campus, and to educate we sought to insight people about the effects of the event.

Many students gathered at the BSA table on Friday to raise awareness and build a facilitated dialogue about the issue.

I asked President Lauren Chapple of BSA what she thought about what occurred at Missouri and across college campuses.

“The racially based discrimination is nothing new there or across any college campus in the nation. It is the hope of BSA and similar multicultural organizations that calling  attention to the hard truth that racial discrimination still exists can help facilitate a dialogue about what we can do about it,” Chapple replied

The fact that so many students on our own campus have been effected by the racial tension on Missouri’s campus is something to not be ignored. Samantha Hinnenkamp who is a first-year masters student spoke to me about how she felt disgusted about that it is still occurring and how we should all be motivated  to do more.

The reality is we can’t ignore what has happened at Missouri. It is symbolic of the slope that racial tension has when it builds.

We as students should be aware and be ready to discuss the effects. Let’s stand together and start the dialogue.

Amina Chinnell is a staff writer for The Dakota Student. She can be reached at [email protected]