A University of Missouri student will go unpunished for sharing a racist message on social media, with school officials citing First Amendment protections.
According to the Kansas City Star, Mizzou officials have declined to discipline Meg Miller, a university student who reportedly sent a Snapchat message last month saying: “If they would have killed 4 more n----- we would have had the whole week off," seemingly referring to the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday.
Mun Choi, the president of the University of Missouri System, said Miller sent the message directly to a friend on Snapchat, so it “was not communicated in a way that harassed any individual. In that context, the speech is protected by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution."
“First Amendment law does not allow a public university to punish speech only because it is racist or hateful — even when that speech is diametrically opposed to our values,” Choi said in a statement. “Our university community will not be defined by the actions of one individual, but instead by our deep and collective commitment to be welcoming to all.”
Outrage ensued on campus after screenshots of the racist message spread on social media. Amid the backlash, Miller resigned from her position as president of the Mizzou chapter of Turning Point USA, a right-wing student club.
While the message is "reprehensible" according to university officials, Miller cannot be punished under First Amendment protections. Administrators stressed that the university had "dismissed a student who directed a racial slur at a fellow student” within the last year, per the Kansas City Star.
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