A Black student government at the University of Missouri said the school will not allow it to name its fall event "Welcome Black BBQ."
The group, the Legion of Black Collegians, said that it was "heartbroken" after it spent months fighting to keep the original name but that the public university in Columbia decided it needed to be modified to "Welcome Black and Gold BBQ," after the school colors.
"When presented with the idea, we initially wanted to keep the original name or not have the event at all," the group wrote on Instagram.
It said it decided to move forward with the event because it did not want to "override the hard work our government and other black student leaders put into this nor face consequences that could lead to massive losses for our government so early into the year."
Christopher Ave, a university spokesperson, said that the event is sponsored by the school and that the name was modified "to reflect that our campus is open and welcoming to all."
"Achieving excellence for all is at the core of the University of Missouri’s mission," he said in a statement. "And clearly, in striving for an inclusive university, we must not exclude (or give impressions that we are excluding) individuals with different backgrounds, experiences and perspectives."
The barbecue will be held Friday at the Gaines/Oldham Black Culture Center. It gives new and returning students a chance to meet one another.
"The event itself is not changing," the group said in its Instagram post. "Although this is not the desired outcome, we still want the barbecue to remain a staple for incoming and returning Black students to make connections and find their space at Mizzou."
The Legion of Black Collegians started in 1968 to protest the song "Dixie's" being played at a football game while students waved the Confederate flag, the group's website says. "Dixie" is associated with the pre-Civil War South, and some people say it is racially insensitive.
It describes itself as the only Black student government in the country, writing on its website that other schools have either a Black Student Union or a Black Student Alliance.
"We are looking into all avenues to NEVER allow this to happen again," the group said on Instagram. "If it does, rest assured the Legion will have nothing to do with it. The erasure of the names and visibility of our events will continue to erode our presence on this campus, and we plan to do everything we can to divest from that."