Protest (noun): a statement or action expressing disapproval of or objection to something.

Missouri University recently made headlines due to racially-motivated events. Students eventually became frustrated with the way things were being handled and decided they to take action. Even the football team threatened to boycott the next game if the president wasn’t removed his position (he would resign shortly after), and a student went on a hunger strike. A video showing two employees demanding reporters leave protesters’ campsite resulted in one professor resigning from her position.  Claire Mitzel chose not to give her personal opinions on the topic due to her affiliation with Mizzou’s The Maneater publication; however, she did say that “people on both sides of the issue are shouting at each other; each is trying to be louder than the other but neither [is] truly listening to each other.”

Other protests have taken place at Yale. Despite the peaceful nature of the demonstrations, the Dean of the university has been under scrutiny.  Yale’s own Nicholas Girard shared his opinion on the events that had his school making headlines. “I fully support the protests that are occurring at Yale. They are about real experiences and struggles with racism on this campus that for way too long have been met with silence and lack of response. Students should never feel silenced, like they do not belong, or be unappreciated as a human being. It’s 2015 and we should not need to have these conversations but I am glad to see that we are not ignoring it.” (full quote here) .

These issues aren’t limited to Mizzou and Yale. Students at the University of Alabama gathered to showcase their support of Missouri and their own displeasure with lack of diversity in the staff and the lack of a location where minorities “feel safe” on campus.

When asked if he felt the protests were effective, Bob Jones SGA President Samuel Jackson said judging based on the results rather than the execution of the protests he considers them to be a success. “They wanted a change to be made and change took place.” He also said that the students used their First Amendment Right of Assembly so they are backed by the Constitution.