University of Missouri won’t allow event to be called ‘Welcome Black BBQ,’ Black student group says

A Black student government at the University of Missouri said the school will not allow them to name its fall event “Welcome Black BBQ.”

The group, Legion of Black Collegians, said it was “heartbroken” and spent months fighting to keep the original name, but the public university in Columbia decided it needed to be modified to “Welcome Black and Gold BBQ” after the school colors.

“When presented with the idea, we initially wanted to keep the original name or not have the event at all,” the group wrote in an Instagram post.

The group said it decided to move forward with the event because it did not want to “override the hard work our government and other black student leaders put into this nor face consequences that could lead to massive losses for our government so early into the year.”

Christopher Ave, a university spokesperson, said that the event is sponsored by the school, and the name was modified “to reflect that our campus is open and welcoming to all.”

“Achieving excellence for all is at the core of the University of Missouri’s mission,” he said in a statement. “And clearly, in striving for an inclusive university, we must not exclude (or give impressions that we are excluding) individuals with different backgrounds, experiences and perspectives.”

The barbecue will be held Friday at the Gaines/Oldham Black Culture Center. It gives new and returning students a chance to meet each other.

“The event itself is not changing,” the group said in its Instagram post. “Although this is not the desired outcome, we still want the barbecue to remain a staple for incoming and returning Black students to make connections and find their space at Mizzou.”

Legion of Black Collegians started in 1968 in protest of the song “Dixie” being played at a football game while the Confederate flag was waved by students, the group’s website states. “Dixie” is associated with the pre-Civil War South with some people saying it is racially insensitive.

It describes itself as the only Black student government in the nation, writing on its website that other schools have either a Black Student Union or a Black Student Alliance.