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List of Demands To The U of M Administration!
1. Cluster hire of faculty of color as per the proposal put forth in 2014 by the Consortium for the Study of Race, Indigeneity, Gender and Sexuality (RIGS).
2. Permeating the spaces of the cultural centers for student groups located on the second floor of Coffman.
3. Establishing a program that recruits and increases high school students from working-class neighborhoods of color within the Twin Cities.
4. Permeating all of the different ethnic studies departments at the U of M
5. Require all students to take at least one class offered in one of the three ethnic studies departments (African American and African Studies, Chicano and Latino Studies, American Indian Studies) or the Asian American Studies Program.
6. Requiring that the student who serve on the student fees committees are students selected from the different cultural centers student groups on the second floor of Coffman.
Protests and demonstrations such as this remind us of the massive responsibility owned by leaders of an organization, especially one as large as the University of Missouri. Organizational leaders have an obligation to act in the best interest of the organizations values and beliefs, as well as the best interest of its members and constituents. When organizational leaders stray away from these things, or ignore issues at hand, anger and frustration can build, leading to protest. Massive gatherings calling for change can occur, and often times, can force changes within the organization or bring important discussion to the forefront. Also, with the use of the internet and social media platforms, problems such as this can gain national exposure and create a domino effect among other organizations. Overall, organizations are a product of its common members and leaders, when they clash, often times changes need to be made within.
ReplyDeleteI think that the University of Minnesota and other schools are definitely looking at Mizzou and wondering if that could happen here. An organization can only be successful if the majority of the group of people invested in the organization believe in it. As you watched the situation unfold in Mizzou, it was one student deciding to protest and go on hunger strike, followed by other sutdents organizing protests and walkouts, then the football team walked out en masse, (which speaks highly to the cause as that would not have been as effective of a gesture if only the players of color walked out) and then finally the staff and professors. The movement of action caused a tidal wave of participation and that brings about change.
ReplyDeleteHere at the U, most of the organized changes have been small group protests and the message hasn't always been able to spread. I think the old adage of Minnesota Nice does sometimes effect the climate of argument here on campus, you can see people making really good arguments for change and it is sometimes met with "But people are trying...they don't want things to be like this." and then people back down and agree to wait a little bit longer. I think in the case of Mizzou a student dying from his hunger strike proved to be way too powerful of a sceanior and the change moved much faster.
I think that the University of Minnesota and other schools are definitely looking at Mizzou and wondering if that could happen here. An organization can only be successful if the majority of the group of people invested in the organization believe in it. As you watched the situation unfold in Mizzou, it was one student deciding to protest and go on hunger strike, followed by other sutdents organizing protests and walkouts, then the football team walked out en masse, (which speaks highly to the cause as that would not have been as effective of a gesture if only the players of color walked out) and then finally the staff and professors. The movement of action caused a tidal wave of participation and that brings about change.
ReplyDeleteHere at the U, most of the organized changes have been small group protests and the message hasn't always been able to spread. I think the old adage of Minnesota Nice does sometimes effect the climate of argument here on campus, you can see people making really good arguments for change and it is sometimes met with "But people are trying...they don't want things to be like this." and then people back down and agree to wait a little bit longer. I think in the case of Mizzou a student dying from his hunger strike proved to be way too powerful of a sceanior and the change moved much faster.
Organizational Communication Ethics seeks active engagement from organizations. The book emphasizes “it is the place from which the new meets the challenge of history within which the old lives on in transformation and change, shifting perspectives on itself and its relation to the present” (Arnett, Fritz, and Bell, P147). Different universities across the country have different traditions, which have shaped their present, but organizational communication ethics requires that those traditions be shifted towards progress to ensure the good of the present. The University of Missouri upheld views of racism, which should be viewed as archaic in today’s world, and failed to shift its focus in relation to equality in the present.
ReplyDeleteAnother important aspect of organizational communications ethics is the need for a dwelling place where competing goods are negotiated allowing the organization to carry out its work (Arnett, Fritz, and Bell, P141). At the University of Missouri the competing goods were not properly negotiated, especially with the many ignored complaints of racism the administration received. This prompted students at other universities to protest in solidarity. I don’t think the University of Minnesota is a perfect institution, and there are many competing goods (such as sports) that seem to outweigh others, but I think it is an institution which has a good perspective of its relation to the present. Racially, the University of Minnesota seems to strive to be fair, and it is admirable that the students here feel the need to demonstrate their support for those at Mizzou.