Midday Roundup: Protests over racism oust Missouri college system president

Protest movement. The president of the University of Missouri system resigned today after a protest movement against the school’s handling of racism complaints garnered national attention. Students who say the administration ignored their concerns rallied the faculty and football team to join them in protest. The movement started this fall when student body president Payton Head wrote on social media about a group of men in a pickup truck driving past him on campus, yelling out racial slurs. It wasn’t the first time it had happened to him, Head said, calling for more solidarity and support for minorities on campus. Then, during a student demonstration at the school’s homecoming parade, the car carrying UM system President Tim Wolfe allegedly bumped into a protester. Since then, calls for Wolfe’s resignation have grown louder. One student went on a hunger strike; students and faculty have walked out of classes; and a group of African-American football players, later joined by the rest of the team, planned to boycott all football-related activities until Wolfe resigned.

Local government first. A small town in the Detroit metropolitan area is reportedly the first in the country to elect a Muslim-majority city council. After last week’s election, four of the six seats on the council belong to Muslims. The small enclave of Hamtramck, population roughly 22,000, is a traditionally Polish neighborhood that has received an influx of immigrants from Yemen and Bangladesh in the past 30 years. Muslims make up one-third to one-half of residents, officials estimate. Some residents have complained of excess noise from the calls to prayer broadcast from local mosques, while others say their Muslim neighbors have brought increased stability, security, and sobriety to the community.

Blue Christmas. A shopping mall on New York’s Long Island decided to do away with Christmas decorations this holiday season. Instead, the Roosevelt Field Mall put up a futuristic winter motif called “Glacier” that also appeared at six other malls owned by the Simon company. Outraged shoppers demanded the mall bring back Christmas, which the company is now doing. A Simon spokesperson said the icy theme was an attempt to “refresh and modernize our holiday experience,” but the company later admitted it was a mistake.

Box-office rebound. The new James Bond film Spectre debuted over the weekend, reviving box office sales after a sluggish October. The PG-13 action flick came in first for weekend receipts, bringing in a whopping $73 million. But fans of more family-oriented films had their say, too: The Peanuts Movie totaled up a healthy $45 million in box office sales for its debut weekend.

WORLD Radio’s Jim Henry contributed to this report.