After calling for the expulsion of three students who confronted pro-Palestine protesters at the Quad on Thursday, the University of Mississippi Chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People held a town hall at the Student Union Ballroom on Monday evening, which drew a crowd of over 100 students, representatives of the Mississippi state chapter of the NAACP and figures such as James Meredith.
When approximately 30 pro-Palestine protesters were met by hundreds of students on Thursday, one of them imitated monkey motions and noises at a Black protester while others chanted, “Lock her up!” and “We want Lizzo.” Video footage of these incidents has attracted campus, state and national attention.
UM NAACP President Meghan Curry, a junior public health and health sciences major, explained the purpose of the town hall and commented on last week’s confrontations.
“This is a safe space where we can talk about what transpired last week, engage in thoughtful dialogue and hopefully create something that’s progressive and more positive,” Curry said. “What started off as a peaceful demonstration eventually turned ugly, unfortunately. Some people saw the opportunity to purposefully discriminate against marginalized minorities and people who were protesting.”
Multiple students said that they faced physical and verbal discrimination during and after the protests.
Blake Williamson, a sophomore biological science major and College of Liberal Arts senator for the Associated Student Body, was among those who joined Curry in criticizing the actions of the counter-protesters.
“Whenever we have (protesters) in the circle promoting lives, we have counter-protesters,” Williamson said. “Whenever we have people in front of the Lyceum steps in white hoods, promoting death, where are the counter-protests?”
Many attendees thanked the pro-Palestine protesters and encouraged others to educate themselves about the Palestinian cause.
“If there are any protesters in the room, thank you for your courage,” Jackelyn Facio, a sophomore Arabic and international studies major, said. “I also hope that the protesters have encouraged us to educate ourselves on the conflict abroad (and) see why the protests were so very important to the people on this campus.”
Senior Arabic major Zynub Al-Sherri, one of the pro-Palestine protesters on Thursday, attended the town hall. In addition to echoing Facio, Al-Sherri noted that people of color were among the crowd of onlookers and counter-protesters and emphasized the idea of collective liberation.
“There were a lot of people of color standing with us as well, including us, so I’m not trying to discount that, but I think it’s important for us to remember that while we each have our own struggles … our liberation is a collective one,” Al-Sherri said. “The struggles that are happening all the way in Palestine, we see them here. Our foreign policy is reflective of our domestic policy.”
Many echoed Al-Sherri’s sentiment of unity.
Daylan Flowers, a journalism major, said it was important for minority students to keep attending the university in spite of recent events.
“If I’m not here, if you guys aren’t here, then who’s going to advocate for us in these circumstances?” Flowers said. “Figure out what you want and direct it, because we’re not going to go anywhere without you guys. I truly need you guys to understand that. Whether you realize you have a big impact or not, you’re here. … I don’t want any of this to run you off, and I hope it doesn’t. Because again, if we don’t advocate for some type of change, nobody else will.”
Aminata Ba, a member of the pro-Palestine protest and freshman public policy major, echoed Flowers’ sentiments.
“Students, I’m begging all of you here tonight. Please, let’s all join together. … Let’s make lasting, sustainable change on this campus so that we can finally have the racial reckoning that we deserve,” Ba said. “We’ve been saying ‘Ole Miss is diverse now,’ but diversity will get you nowhere if no one is included.”
While the overall message was one of unity, attendees also offered criticisms of each other.
The presence of ASB members at the counter-protest was criticized by attendees of the town hall. Eli Keel, a freshman political science major and cultural/multicultural senator who was present at the meeting, was criticized by multiple attendees for being at the front of the counter-protest.
“I was pulled to the front of the crowd for about five minutes,” Keel said. “I stood on the side as I was taking pictures and videos, and when I went to the front of the crowd I sang the National Anthem and I left.”
ASB President Hannah Watts, a junior public policy leadership major, gave a comment after the meeting about the concerns raised.
“I definitely think these were comments we needed to listen to. It’s why we had a lot of ASB people come up together,” Watts said. “These are things we are going to discuss about this week going forward. These conversations aren’t going to end, and I hope they don’t.”
Junior general business major Devin Anderson said that the UM NAACP was taking a reactive rather than a proactive stance.
“I think this world has gotten so used to reacting to what we see online and in person that we choose not to do anything and just react,” Anderson said. “That’s my question to the NAACP… when are we going to start being proactive with the things we do on campus? Are we going to continue to react?”
Janelle Minor, UM NAACP’s co-chair of education and a junior multidisciplinary studies major, responded.
“Show up to our meetings and join us in what we’re trying to do in a productive way. And if you have some ideas, please bring them to us,” Minor said. “Our last meeting, we probably had 10-15 people there. We want every meeting to be as diverse as this, and we want every single week to be as diverse as this one is.”
A’Davion Bush, a freshman political science major, was with the UM NAACP executive members speaking on the stage at the beginning of the meeting – he addressed those named in the UM NAACP statement.
“Your agendas, your vendettas, everything that you’ve done, will be sought out and dealt with, whether it’s everybody in this room joining me, or if it’s just me personally,” Bush said.
Bush was later criticized during the town hall for his clapping at the front of the counter protest. The Daily Mississippian captured this footage of Bush.
“I had no idea what was going on. I was walking in front of it,” Bush said. “We got up from our lunch and came out there. I stood to the side. Let’s not do that — I expressed my views publicly.”
Curry talked about Bush being on stage during the town hall meeting.
“I will say that A’Davion Bush is not affiliated with the UM NAACP,” Curry said. “We have no clue (why he was on the stage), and before we could address it, the meeting started. I was just trying to keep the peace.”
Ba, along with others, asked a question to the university administration.
“I think it is important that in this meeting we discuss the importance of dialogue and accountability. For my administration officials here, I need you guys to ask yourselves why did these students think this was a safe space for them to do what they did the other day?” Ba said.
MaryKatherine Archer, a member of the ASB and sophomore public policy leadership major, told attendees not to discount ASB, UM NAACP or the chancellor.
“As a member of ASB, I know that while things are not perfect, there are people in place with positions of power that want to make this university a better place for all students,” Archer said. “I would advise against discounting or just thinking we’re gonna have to move forward, absent ASB, NAACP or the Chancellor. I think it’s important that we trust those places and that we use the resources they put before us. And then if it doesn’t work, then you can say they’re wrong.”
Many demands were made at the end of the meeting.
Al-Sherri called for the university to disclose and divest in any relationships that the university might have with the state of Israel. Al-Sherri, as well as many other attendees, talked about accountability.
“My question is, what are we going to do to create an unsafe environment for white supremacy on this campus?” Al-Sherri said. “Is that going to look like more education? Is that going to look like holding them accountable and making examples out of them? Is it going to be all of the above? I think it should be all of the above.”
Al-Sherri also called for more education about Palestine on campus. Flowers called for more education about the African-American community.
Gabe Robin, a senior linguistics and Arabic major, was a part of the UMiss for Palestine protest and encouraged others to show up to future protests. Ba called for ASB to make a stronger statement against the actions of counter-protesters and make a commitment to working with the organizations present at the meeting.
Maddy Ryan, a senior international studies and Chinese major, asked that students look into the bylaws of their organizations and ensure there are standards for holding members accountable. Yasmine Anderson called upon people to donate to Palestinian and Black liberation organizations and offer forgiveness.
“I understand we’re angry, but sometimes we also have to step away from our anger and our pride for the people that do choose to turn around and be like, ‘Hey, I misspoke,’” Anderson said. “We need to have a strong foundation rooted in love and transformation.”
Curry said that she was proud of how the meeting went.
“We had over 100 attendees, which I was really pleased to see. I think that’s a testament to how many students are curious about what happened and how many students want change as well,” Curry said. “That was the whole point of hosting our town hall tonight.”
Executive Director of the Mississippi State Conference of NAACP Charles Taylor expressed his support for the UM Chapter.
“We want this process to continue to be student-led, and you all tell us how we can be helpful,” Taylor said. “I commend you all. This is just another leg of a fight that has been on this campus and big campuses like it for many, many decades.”
Assistant Vice Chancellor and Dean of Students Brent Marsh, who was present at the protest as a member of the First Amendment Support Team, commented on the NAACP event.
“I was really proud of the chapter for organizing tonight’s event, and I thought it was a really important opportunity for students to speak and to listen,” Marsh said. “I think these are the kinds of opportunities that our campus community could use more.”
Marsh also talked about the university’s plans to address the issues raised in the meeting.
“We’ve just been managing the last couple of days. So those opportunities for strategic conversations haven’t been available yet,” Marsh said.
On Sunday, Curry explained the UM NAACP statement that posted names, photographs, hometowns and fraternity affiliations of the students that they called for the university to immediately expel.
The UM NAACP cited nationally circulating footage of James “JP” Staples as the basis for his identification. The Daily Mississippian also captured footage of this incident. Staples has since been removed from his fraternity, which the UM NAACP post identified as Phi Delta Theta.
“Phi Delta Theta General Headquarters is aware of the video regarding the student protest at the University of Mississippi,” a statement from the fraternity’s national headquarters said. “The racist actions in the video were those of an individual and are antithetical to the values of Phi Delta Theta and the Mississippi Alpha chapter. The responsible individual was removed from membership on Friday, May 3.”
The Daily Mississippian asked for the evidence used as the basis for the identification of the other two individuals but has not received this evidence from the UM NAACP. The Daily Mississippian has also reached out to all individuals identified but received no comment.
Jaylin Smith, a journalism graduate student and the Black protester pictured in the video with Staples, joined Monday’s meeting via Zoom to make a comment.
“The past couple of days have been rough, but I have received so much love, so much support and I’m so appreciative of that,” Smith said. “I’m about to graduate, but I want the fight to continue. I want, for whatever issues arise at the University of Mississippi, for the people who are in this room to leave a legacy of leadership, of change (and) of advocacy. Whether you’re white, you’re Black (or) you’re brown.”
Curry elaborated on the UM NAACP’s identification process.
“As of now (the identification process is) anybody who volunteered themselves to look at the video and send in information. Essentially what we look for is students who perpetrate behavior or body language that is offensive, as well as listening intently for any remarks that are made whether that be racist or derogatory,” Curry said. “Offensive words (are) anything that is said to emotionally taunt someone, so racist rhetoric, demeaning rhetoric. … Demeaning rhetoric is any rhetoric that was used to put down a person.”
The UM NAACP’s intent is not to slander or tarnish anyone’s name, Curry said.
“That’s not what we stand for and that’s not our intent at all,” Curry said.
In addition to the three names released, the UM NAACP has a list of names that is being reviewed. The names that the UM NAACP collects are being sent to the university, Curry said.
The Daily Mississippian reached out to the university on Sunday requesting comment on the UM NAACP’s statement and an updated number of student conduct cases and received the following response.
“Student privacy laws prohibit us from commenting on any specific student. We have opened one student conduct investigation, and we are working to determine whether more cases are warranted,” Director of Media and News Relations for the University of Mississippi Jacob Batte said.
Raegan Settle contributed reporting
Editor’s Note: Justice Rose, vice president of the UM NAACP, is also the opinion editor for The Daily Mississippian.
