Claire McCaskill (D-MO) argued that the protests at the University of Missouri “will be an impetus across the country” and “how diverse the faculty is” “is a problem all over America” on Monday’s broadcast of MSNBC’s “Rachel Maddow Show.”
McCaskill stated, when asked if she thinks the substance of the students’ complaints is fair, “I do think on several issues, I think the substance of how diverse the faculty is, and this is a problem all over America. And by the way, in fairness to the University of Missouri, I bet you there’s a lot of college administrations that over the next week are going to be checking to see what they’re doing, checking to see how much effort they’ve put in to retaining students who come in in some way marginalized because of socioeconomic status, or because of minority status. I think this will be an impetus across the country, for all higher education, to really do a hard look in the mirror about their commitment to making sure that their campuses are tolerant, and inclusive, and doing the best job they can to make sure that all students are welcome and feel safe.”
McCaskill also said, “the credit goes to these kids. the credit goes to these kids who took a stand, and to the football players who went to visit the young man who had gone days without food. And they were motivated and moved by his commitment and then, I was proud that the — it wasn’t just the black players that were in that picture, it was the team and the coach, that all kind of came together and said you know, we’re one here too, and something needs to happen. There needs to be a re-prioritization of how important this problem is on campus, and I’m proud that I think today the university really took a meaningful step toward that.”
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