U students rally in support of Mizzou

More than 100 students rallied outside Coffman Memorial Union at the University of Minnesota Thursday night to stand in solidarity with students at the University of Missouri who have been protesting racism.

Cheniqua Johnson, the secretary of the university's Black Student Union, said U students should push for change.

"The University of Minnesota understands that racism and ridicule may or may not be an experience that we have here. However, there are problems, there are inconsistencies, there are issues and there are things that need to be changed at this university," she said.

Johnson said the U's programs aimed to help multicultural students have been inconsistent and there is a lack of administrative support for multicultural student groups.

The demonstrators were joined by Danita Brown Young, the vice provost for student affairs and dean of students.

Young said she shares student concerns.

"It's great that we're having dialogue and conversations because that is such a critical need. But we also have to work together to be action-oriented," she said. "It's not about blaming one another, pointing fingers, because this is our campus, this is our house, so we've got to own it."