Page 10 The Advocate News (Wilton-Durant, Iowa) Thursday, November 19, 2015

OPINION
Wilton grad describes pulse-pounding week at Mizzou

t wasnt long ago that I was attending sports arent big business?
my first International Society of Weekly
Wolfe resigned and the Board of Curators
Newspaper Editors (ISWNE) conference. I at the school announced that several initiatives
wrote a bit about the experito address racial tension will
ence in our July 2 edition of
be implemented including
the Advocate News.
hiring a diversity, inclusion
I told the story of it being
and equity officer, providing
my first experience staying
support for students, faculty
in college dorms as the
and staff who experience
conference is held annually
discrimination, creating a
By Derek Sawvell
around the world always
task force to help improve
Follow @SawvellAN
on a college campus.
diversity and inclusion, and
I wrote about the several
require diversity training for
places we visited, including the World War I all faculty, staff and incoming students.
museum in Kansas City, which I would highly
I spent three days walking the campus at
recommend!
Missouri and never saw any tension. Of course
The interesting thing to note was that the it was months ago and the middle of summer,
conference was in Columbia, Missouri meaning the campus was relatively quiet. It is
home to the University of Missouri.
a beautiful place and my hope is that it grows
If anyone cant remember that column or from this into a stronger and more open instididnt know about Mizzou or where it was, tution of higher learning.
we all certainly know who, what and where it
Rather than do any more speculating,
is now. For the last few weeks the University I reached out to Paige Wheeler, a former
of Missouri has been in the middle of a or Wilton High School grad and St. Ambrose
should I say the latest race war.
grad who just began law school at Missouri.
After many racially charged events occurred I made contact with her over
in recent months on campus, including the the weekend to see how her
president of the Missouri Students Association week went, asking her to
(who is black) having racial slurs yelled at describe some of it to me.
him, to a white man walking onto a stage and What follows are excerpts
using racial epithets while the Legion of Black of her messages to me.
Collegians were rehearsing a Homecoming
It has been an emotional
event, to a swastika being drawn on a wall in rollercoaster this week as a
Paige
feces, students and faculty at Missouri began Mizzou student. After only
Wheeler
calling for the resignation of president Timothy living in Columbia and being
Wolfe and chancellor R. Bowen Loftin due to a student here for four months, I feel that this
what they felt was lack of response.
week has been monumental in that my pride
Protestors cornered a car carrying the presi- as a student here has surely kicked in. What
dent during a Homecoming parade and camps I mean by that is I have realized how much I
were set up with protestors. Wolfe resigned truly love this place despite what has been said
Nov. 9 and chancellor Loftin has announced in the media, a lot of which hasnt been 100
that he will step down at the end of the year. percent accurate. I still love this place and I
The driving factor leading to change could believe that it is out of love for this institution
have been graduate student Jonathan Butler, a that caused students to come together and let
reported veteran of Ferguson protests last year their voices be heard in hopes of change
in the St. Louis area, holding a very public
The media conveyed that the protests were
hunger strike, saying he would not eat until only a result of the racist events occurring this
Wolfe resigned.
semester on campus, when really frustration
It was the football team, however, that has built up in result to many racist incidents
made the university take the protests seriously. throughout the years, including an incident
On Nov. 7, members of the football team an- where some white students placed cotton
nounced they were going on strike. No practice balls on the lawn of the Gaines/Oldham Black
and no games until Butlers demand was met Culture Center in 2010. Needless to say, it was
and he could eat. Missouri Tiger coach Gary not only the events that occurred this semester
Pinkel was on board too, pinning the admin- that built up to the protests. Students were
istration into a corner.
feeling fed up with the lack of response from
On Nov. 9, Missouri was five days away the administration.
from hosting BYU for a pseudo home game
As far as the events of the week, the quad
in Kansas City a game and venture costing that was featured many times on the news
the university $1 million. Who says college with the protesters and the tents happens to be

Case
in

Point

Advocate News Football Contest

Brown wins in week 10

By Derek Sawvell

Managing Editor, Advocate News

Week 10 of the Advocate News Football

was extremely difficult for all, due to parody
in the NFL.
The tie-breaker score was 78, the total
number of points in the Oklahomas 44-34
win over the Baylor.
Ben Brown of Wilton won the $25 top
prize this week, missing five games and
guessing 81 for the tie-breaker.
Waynette Rocycki of Durant took second
place and $15 this week, missing five games
and guessing 52 for the tie-breaker.
Jason Bierkamp of Durant won third
place and $10 this week, missing six games
and having a tie-breaker prediction of 76.
This weeks scores included: Pittsburgh
31, Duke 13; Georgia 20, Auburn 13; West
Virginia 38, Texas 20; Air Force 35, Utah
State 28; Alabama 31, Mississippi State 6;
Oklahoma State 35, Iowa State 31; Vanderbilt
21, Kentucky 17; Oregon 38, Stanford 36;
Oklahoma 44, Baylor 34; Iowa 40, Minnesota
35; Washington State 31, UCLA 27; Arizona
State 27, Washington 17; Buccaneers 10,
Cowboys 6; Dolphins 20, Eagles 19; Jaguars
22, Ravens 20; Vikings 30, Raiders 14;

Cardinals 39, Seahawks 32.

Be sure to play week 11 of the football
contest. You may cut out the form in the
newspaper or forms are available from
our following advertisers: Westfair Drug,
Gerdau, Caseys General Store (Durant
and Wilton locations), CBI Bank & Trust,
Toyota of Muscatine, Family Eye & Contact
Lens Center, Community Bank & Trust,
Custom Builders/US Cellular (Tipton),
Liberty Trust & Savings Bank, Kriegers of
Muscatine, Eastern Iowa Physical Therapy,
Sinclair Tractor, Kellers Home Furnishings
(Tipton), Hoekstra Masonry, Sicilian Pizzeria
(Wilton), Wilton Bank of DeWitt Bank &
Trust and Latta Harris LLP CPAs.
A reminder that only this years BLUE
contest forms and forms from the paper are
accepted. Forms of other colors from past
years will be disqualified. Patronize our local
advertisers today to pick up forms!
Also a tradition since 2010, the Football
Contest will have a 12 weeks, 12 winners
theme. Participants are limited to one first
place finish over the 12-week period of the
contest. (All winners can continue to play
week-to-week, but each entrant is limited to
one first place finish.)

While attending the ISWNE conference at the University of Missouri in June, AN editor
Derek Sawvell took a photo of the gates entering the Tigers' football stadium. Members of the football program went on strike Nov. 7, helping to cause abrupt change at
a university where race relations have made national headlines. Photos by Derek Sawvell
located directly out the front doors of Hulston
Hall, which is the law school. Needless to say,
I could see the media and students on Monday
when the quad was completely filled
On my drive to campus early Monday morning I learned that some faculty had scheduled
a walk out. Hearing all this, I didnt think
It would have a great impact on my daily
schedule being that missing class isnt an
option in law school and I had no reason to
think that my professors would cancel. I first
learned that Wolfe stepped down on Monday
morning when I was in the library and one of
my classmates had a live feed of his speech on
his computer. I then walked over to the large
window facing the quad and heard the loud
screams and outcries of joy from the students
filling the quad as they received the same
news. Minutes after this I had to go to class,
but it was obvious that no one was completely
focused as many of us were more concerned
about reading articles about what was happening directly outside our doors rather than
learning the law of contracts
Tuesday is when a lot of the emotion set
it as to what was happening. Chuck Henson
was appointed to Interim Vice Chancellor
for Inclusion, Diversity and Equity. Knowing
Henson as formerly the Associate Dean of
Academic Affairs and a professor in the law
school, I truly believed that the university
could not have chosen a better person
On Tuesday night is when things began to
get a little scary. I came home to my apartment
after class and kept myself busy doing some
reading for class. It wasnt until I looked at
social media on my phone before going to bed
that I realized the terror inflicted upon those on
campus. I saw the screen shots of two threats
circulating social media
I also saw on social media that night that
the KKK was rumored to be in Greek town. I
received an email from my professor saying
that we would have class tomorrow, but if
students felt unsafe coming to campus that
our absence would not be punished. I went
to bed late Tuesday night thinking there was
no way I was going to class on Wednesday.
However, when I woke up the next morning I
had an email from Dean Henson, saying that
the door would be open in the law school
and things would be operating as normal in
Hulston. It was in that moment that I new it
was safe to go to campus. Not that I wasnt a
little freaked out still and extra cautious, but I
knew Dean Henson would not put us students
in danger and if he believed it was safe given
the inside information he had, I knew it truly
must be safe
Unlike the rest of campus, almost all of the
law students were in class and we proceeded as
if it was a normal day, even though you could
feel the tension in the air, both of frustration
and fear. There are thousands of students that
had no control over the events of the last week
and that seems to be something that much of the
media and outsiders have forgotten. People are

The University of Missouri's historic Student Union building is shown above, one
of the many beautiful buildings on the
historic campus in Columbia, Missouri.
labeling students at Mizzou one way or another
based on the actions of a fraction of students
over the last week. However, Thursday and
Friday seemed relatively normal and despite
what the rest of the world may think, many
on campus are still proud to be Tigers for this
university is at the forefront of change
I completely agree that it was the football
team that made the administration take action, if they didnt play this weekend it would
have been a million dollar fine. Money talks.
However, it is my understanding that they
wouldnt play until Butler ate, not necessarily
making Wolfe step down.
I walked out of the law building Thursday
night to see Chuck Henson walking in. He made
a point to stop me and have a conversation.
He started by asking how I was doing and I
conveyed to him that I was frustrated with how
the universitys name was being drug through
the mud ... Henson is a man who cares for
everyone of his students and I know he will do
everything in his power to make the university
a better place for all of Mizzous students.
Thank you Paige, for your candor and
fast response. I can say for that all of us at
the Advocate News, plus those from your
hometown school and community, we are
truly happy you are safe and remained that
way during this monumental week. I also appreciate you analytical mind as any lawyer
or journalist would! You are in the middle of
and important time in this country and we
will continue to watch how young people like
yourself strive for the change and betterment
of your university, state and this country.

Email a letter to the editor

500 word max dsawvell@netwtc.net
Letters must be signed/addressed.
Subject to editing.