As the Department of Social Justice, we are united in our dedication to justice and equity. We know that our students look to us for leadership and support, especially our students holding marginalized identities. We speak to all of you now to share our deep commitment to ensuring that every student feels valued, affirmed, and above all, safe. Although each Social Justice Center has a specific purpose, we collectively share a common goal: providing proactive and continual advocacy. 

In the past two weeks, there have been over 5,000 #BlackatMizzou and #StillConcerned posts addressing Black students’ experiences at Mizzou. We want to express the greatest pride in our students’ bravery and vulnerability in speaking up and out to make their daily lives and our campus environment a more socially just place. We firmly believe that “injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” We will continue to advocate for your voices to be heard and issues to be addressed. We all have work to do to reach our individual and collective goals of inclusion and equity. We will work harder to be cohesive as a department, and utilize that togetherness as a tool to speak out for our students. The Department of Social Justice takes on the responsibility to do this work so that our students can have an enriching and successful college experience.

— Gaines/Oldham Black Culture Center, LGBTQ Resource Center, Multicultural Center, Relationship and Sexual Violence Prevention Center, Women’s Center