There is a lot of coverage circulating in the news about the University of Missouri protests. As many of you probably know, about 30 African American football players refused to play in any games until the university principle resigned or was fired due to his lack of addressing the blatant racism and hate crimes on campus. These players were firmly supported by coaches and fellow students, and have all clearly made an impact on the American people.

However, it is questionable whether or not University of Missouri’s President Tim Wolfe was and is responsible for creating such a hostile school environment that would cause protest on this huge scale. It is difficult to place blame on any one person for violence and mistreatment such as this, but the protest did cause action to be taken.

On Monday, Nov. 9, the president stepped down from his position due to overwhelming pressure from the student body and the nation. The school also would have lost $1 million if they had forfeited the following Sunday’s game against Brigham Young University— a loss they would not have been able to afford.

The protest may not have needed to go as far as to force the president of the university into resigning, for it is nearly impossible to place blame on one single person for the racist acts committed by many individuals. It can be argued, however, that the president is to blame for allowing such negative proceedings to occur on his own campus.

This particular call to action issued from the athletes of the school got the nation’s attention: No more football unless we kick this Wolfe guy out? Now they had everyone listening. Perhaps it was a bit of an extreme to accuse this one man of being responsible for all of these race crimes, but it certainly did give the student body and everyone who had their back something to fight for. Wolfe became the face of criminal racism on the Missouri campus, whether he was responsible or not, and due to that, he had to go.

A good protest brings about change where change is needed— and by that definition, the protest by the athletes and students at the University of Missouri was a good protest. I would especially like to compare this protest to the protest that occurred in Ferguson. This protest was peaceful and intelligent. The protestors knew what kind of change they wanted, and they understood that in order to get there, they had to make sure they were heard and understood by other members of the nation. Ferguson, on the other hand, knew that change was needed, but went about it in a very violent and inefficient way. Burning down your own city may get people to notice you, but it is not going to bring about the positive change that you want.

In regards to our own campus, we could learn a thing or two from the protests here at UW-La Crosse. If the students want change, it is important that they organize themselves in such a way as to be heard and enact that change while causing as little collateral damage as possible. This is the only way a protest can be deemed truly successful, and is the way to make sure things don’t get destroyed for the sake of change.