News Local/State

U Of I Students Gather In Solidarity With Mizzou

By Tiffany Jolley
 
Students gathered on the U of I campus in solidarity with black students at the University of Missouri.

Students gathered on the U of I campus to recognize the strength of black students on campus and stand in solidarity with the students University of Missouri. Tiffany Jolley/Illinois Public Media

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The U of I's rally is one of many across the country in solidarity with the University of Missouri students, whose protests against racism spurred the resignation of Mizzou’s president and other school officials last week.

More than 100 U of I students from various black student groups took to the main quad to share their experiences with racism on campus and in the community.

Ronald Lewis, a junior at the university, says the issue of racism is widespread on college campuses.

“There is a system of just… oppression at this campus, and as much as people who don’t look like us don’t want to say it, I mean it is. Just because you hear it at a different university, we shouldn’t try to say it doesn’t happen here, because it does.”

Organizers say they aren’t making demands of the school. Rather, they wanted black students to come together and realize their own strength on the U of I campus.