COLUMBIA — The University of Missouri’s Black student government organization announced Wednesday that the university canceled its welcome event, named the “Welcome Black 2 Class Block Party,” over the word “Black” in the name.

The Legion of Black Collegians said in a Wednesday Instagram post that MU told the organization on Monday the event was canceled. The event was set to happen Friday.

MU replied to the post with a statement from UM System President Mun Choi that had been emailed to the Legion. In the statement, Choi called the block party’s name exclusionary.

“When holding events using university facilities, student organizations must avoid excluding individuals based on race,” Choi wrote in the statement. “The name of ‘Black 2 Class Block Party’ proposed by the LBC suggested such exclusivity.”

The event page, which was still live on MU’s calendar of events Wednesday night, said the event was “open to all.”

“Kick off the school year the right way!” the event description read. “Join us for an afternoon filled with music, good vibes, and community. This block party is the place to be. Open to all, centered on celebrating and welcoming our freshman class into Black Mizzou’s vibrant community.”

LBC President Amaya Morgan told KOMU 8 the Legion offered to comply with university administration by changing the name to “Back 2 Class Block Party.” However, the Instagram post from LBC said the university still blocked the event.

“No alternate solutions were offered, and the only reasoning provided was the name itself,” LBC wrote in the post.

This is the second year in a row that the university has taken issue with the naming of an event LBC was involved with. Last year, LBC said the university forced it to change the name of its historic “Welcome Black BBQ” to “Welcome Black and Gold BBQ.”

Morgan said that on July 24, LBC told the Gaines/Oldham Black Culture Center, which hosts the barbecue, that the Legion would not be a contributor to that event this year. LBC publicized that decision Wednesday in the same Instagram post. The event will go on, hosted by the university and the Black Culture Center, on Aug. 29.

‘Black 2 Class Block Party’ approval timeline

Morgan said LBC reached out to the Center for Student Involvement at MU in May to inquire about hosting a Welcome Week event. On June 23, LBC got confirmation from the Gaines/Oldham Black Culture Center that the Welcome Black 2 Class Block Party was confirmed, according to an email Morgan shared with KOMU 8.

In July, the funding and equipment accommodations were approved.

On Aug. 5, the Legion received confirmation that the Welcome Black 2 Class Block Party was approved to be held at the Black Culture Center from 1 to 4 p.m. on Aug. 22, according to an email from the Organization Resource Group that Morgan shared with KOMU 8. LBC made an Instagram post announcing the event the same day. LBC’s post for the event said it would be held in the parking lot of the Black Culture Center.

MU spokesperson Christopher Ave said he was informed LBC announced the event without receiving approval to host it in the parking lot of the Black Culture Center. Ave spoke to KOMU 8 Wednesday night over the phone and said he would provide confirmation Thursday. Ave deferred to the university’s statement posted as a comment on LBC’s Instagram post.

Demands to the university

The Legion presented demands to the university in its Instagram post following the cancellation of the Black 2 Class Block Party. LBC demanded that the university publicly condemn racial harassment, host a town hall within 60 days of the semester starting and mandate campus-wide messaging to students making clear MU’s policies on forms of harassment.

LBC said that over the course of the 2024-25 semester, Black students had been called racial slurs while walking to class, leaving organization events or practices and going out in downtown Columbia.

The Legion posted a statement on Instagram in October 2024 stating that multiple Black students had been called racial slurs on campus. A university spokesperson said officials identified two juveniles as the perpetrators and trespassed them from campus, and LBC said Wednesday that, since the incident, it was made aware of dozens more similar incidents.

Choi’s letter to LBC states the university will not respond to demands but will meet with LBC leaders for discussion.

Morgan told KOMU 8 that LBC plans to meet with university officials on Thursday.

Welcome Black BBQ

Choi wrote in the university’s response to LBC that the “University of Missouri fosters a non-discriminatory campus environment.”

The university used a similar argument last year regarding its decision to mandate the name change of the Welcome Black and Gold BBQ: “In striving for an inclusive university, we must not exclude (or give impressions that we are excluding) individuals with different backgrounds, experiences and perspectives,” an MU spokesperson said in a statement last year.

A spokesperson for the Legion told KOMU 8 at the time that the university said months prior that the event’s name could stay for the 2024 year but that it could have to change in the future. LBC said that the university later told the Legion that the name must change or the event could not be held at all.

The decision also sparked a complaint from the MU Black Studies Department, which the Faculty Council on University Policy voted unanimously to support in September 2024.

The Welcome Black BBQ had been held on campus for decades and was a staple event in the Black community to welcome new and returning students to campus.

“Let’s be very clear, these actions are a deliberate act of erasure,” LBC wrote in its Instagram post Wednesday. “At every turn, we are shut down. Things as simple as putting ‘Black’ in a name, results in consequences.”