2015 University of Missouri protests

In 2015, a series of protests at the University of Missouri related to race, workplace benefits, and leadership resulted in the resignations of the president of the University of Missouri System and the chancellor of the flagship Columbia campus. The moves came after a series of events that included a hunger strike by a student and a boycott by the football team. The movement was primarily led by a student group named Concerned Student 1950. The movement and protests were documented in two films, one made by MU student journalists and the other by Spike Lee. Bad publicity from the protests has led to dropping enrollment and cutbacks.

In 2010, two white students were arrested for dropping cotton balls in front of the Gaines/Oldham Black Culture Center, an event prosecuted as a hate crime based on evocation of the historical slur "cotton picker" to describe enslaved or sharecropping blacks. In 2011 a student was given probation for racially charged graffiti in a student dormitory. The events led to the creation of a diversity initiative called "One Mizzou" under MU chancellor Brady Deaton. This initiative was discontinued in 2015 owing to concerns that it had lost its meaning.

On September 12, 2015, a Facebook post by the student government president Payton Head described bigotry and anti-gay sentiment around the college campus, which gained widespread attention. He claimed that in an incident off campus, unidentified people in the back of a passing pickup truck directed racial slurs at him. "For those of you who wonder why I'm always talking about the importance of inclusion and respect, it's because I've experienced moments like this multiple times at THIS university, making me not feel included here." Chancellor R. Bowen Loftin called the incident "totally unacceptable" on September 17.

The first student protests occurred on September 24, 2015, at an event called "Racism Lives Here," where protesters claimed nothing had been done to address Head's concerns. On October 1, a second "Racism Lives Here" event was held with 40–50 participants.

An incident involving a drunken student on October 4 gave rise to more racial tensions. While an African-American student group, the Legion of Black Collegians, was preparing for Homecoming activities, a white student walked on stage and was asked to leave. Supposedly, while departing the premises the student said, "these niggers are getting aggressive with me", according to the LBC. This prompted chancellor Loftin, traveling outside the US, to record a video message in response and to release a statement that said, "Racism and all prejudice is heinous, insidious and damaging to Mizzou... That is why all of us must commit to changing the culture at this university." Later that month, the student group "Concerned Student 1950" was created, referring to the first year the University of Missouri admitted black students.