Once upon time in a far off land, I was called a racist. I asked my accuser for a single example to support the accusation. No example was forthcoming, yet the stamp of racist remained. I reached out to defend myself against this reckless accusation, but my defense was met with more unfounded accusations. I have never forgot this incident and its indisputable unfairness. It was frustrating to me personally and to the organization that I was in charge of. That is why the current University of Missouri situation resonates so strongly with me.
I wish I knew all the details that caused the resignation of the MU president. Possibly, he resigned because he knew that all the factual defense in the world would not quiet a mob's lemming opinion mentality. Possibly, he resigned because there was no possible victory. My guess is he went home and rhetorically said to his friends, "who needs the grief anyway?" MU is the poster child for proving that genuine college education has been replaced by athletics as the educational commodity of choice, or so it seems.
I shout there should not have been a resignation without a presentation of the facts. I also submit that MU has trashed the American notion that you are innocent until proven guilty and the bandwagon is full of people jumping on and tilting this fundamental American notion to crash status. It frightens me that it is so easy to accuse someone without a reasonable discussion of both sides of the issue. Perhaps I should not be surprised because history has indisputably shown there is always some people that will get behind and support even the worst idea with no questions asked.
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