After anonymous threats targeting black students at the University of Missouri were posted online Tuesday evening, saying things like, "I'm going to shoot any black people tomorrow, so be ready," the fear on campus grew quickly.
Some black students were so scared that they left their dorms to stay with friends off campus. Others didn't go that far, but did stay inside and away from windows.
But within a couple of hours, some black students, frustrated by the campus police's assertion that the campus was safe, began to mount a counter response.
Sean Adams, a senior and a member of a black fraternity at Mizzou, began offering rides to students too afraid to walk outside.
He went back to his apartment after midnight, where friends had gathered to spend the night.
Close to 1 a.m., he got a call from a friend, angry that so many students had been made to feel so afraid. They felt like they had to do more. They and a small group contacted the Black Culture Center on campus and asked if they could convert it into a refuge of sorts for the school's black students — a "safe space" where they could go to study, eat, nap and feel comforted by others.
[For more of this story, written by Adrian Florido, go to http://www.npr.org/sections/co...ing-with-the-threats]
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