Missouri State apologizes for 'stereotypes' of Mexican culture at student bookstore

Things posted to Twitter got Missouri State into hot water again.

The Missouri State University Bookstore hosted a student appreciation day Thursday, promoting the event on the social media platform with a tweet that has since been taken down.

Student Lupita Perez-Lopez was not amused by what she viewed as the bookstore's stereotypical treatment of Mexican culture, which included placing a large red chili pepper in front of the building.

"Incredibly dissappointed by this," Perez-Lopez tweeted Thursday afternoon. "I understand latinx businesses donated money but my beautiful culture is being appropriated through this 'fiesta' theme."

"Latinx" is a term that stands in for "Latina" and "Latino," removing the masculine and feminine genders assigned by the Spanish language to words for people, places and things.

Missouri State University President Clif Smart quickly began damage control on social media and offered an apology on a Missouri State University blog, Presidential Updates.

It a post titled "Work to be done on cultural competence," Smart wrote, "As noted by one of our Latinx students, 'the overall (bookstore) event diminished the Mexican culture to stereotypes of poncho and mustache-wearing people who own sombreros and love piñatas as demonstrated by the sombrero cookies served, ‘Mexican’ shirts and hats being sold, the giant chili pepper in front of the bookstore, and the people dressed in Ponchos and sombreros.' It did not embrace the complex and beautiful culture of Mexico."

Smart wrote, "What was intended to be a celebration of students was instead a demonstration of how easily and unintentionally we can be culturally insensitive by the incorporation and perpetuation of stereotypes."

He added, "The sad irony of this situation occurring during our Public Affairs Conference is not lost on me."

Missouri State University's conference is part of its Public Affairs Mission, an effort begun in 1995 with the signing of a state law by then-Gov. Mel Carnahan.

Its goal is to promote "cultural competence, ethical leadership and community engagement" among students, faculty and staff.

"Today we failed our campus in all three areas," Smart wrote. "And for that, I apologize."

Referring to Perez-Lopez's comments, Smart tweeted, "I’m disappointed too. This will be remedied and not repeated. Thanks for bringing it to my attention."

According to the Missouri State University website, the bookstore is operated by adult staff, including a director and 13 staff members.

The News-Leader was able to view a staff listing that included portrait photographs of all but one bookstore staffer. In general, the folks listed as working there appeared to be white.

The bookstore mishap comes after a series of cultural controversies, large and small, that have embroiled public universities in the Show-Me State.

In March, students involved in Missouri State University student government, as well as journalists on the staff of the Missouri State student newspaper, came under criticism for tweeting racially charged, homophobic and otherwise offensive remarks when they were teenagers.

Those incidents came not long after three students at Missouri State's chief rival, the University of Missouri, dropped out of their own student-government campaigns when similar revelations emerged about their use of slur words on Twitter.

In 2015, Mizzou faced significant student unrest prompted by a series of racially charged incidents that ultimately stemmed from the 2014 protests in the St. Louis suburb of Ferguson.

The University of Missouri system president, Timothy M. Wolfe, and the Mizzou campus chancellor, R. Bowen Loftin, resigned under pressure that year.

The damage to Mizzou's national reputation lingered, including an unflattering 2017 article in the New York Times noting steep declines in Mizzou enrollment.

Problematic tweets at Missouri State: College newspaper: Missouri State student government official tweets N-word 200+ times

Problematic tweets, part 2: As teens, MSU student journalists posted slur words on Twitter, too