University of Missouri president resigns amid race row
Missouri head football coach Gary Pinkel speaks to the media Monday, Nov. 9, 2015, in Columbia, Mo. Football will resume at Missouri following the resignation of University of Missouri system president Tim Wolfe after several members of the team, pointing to Wolfe’s inaction in handling of racial tensions at the school, announced over the weekend that they would not play until the president was gone. AP Photo
WASHINGTON, United States—The University of Missouri’s president resigned Monday amid controversy over his handling of racial tensions on campus that prompted several black football players to pledge not to take the field until he stepped down.
Tim Wolfe resigned as student protests mounted, saying it was important for students and faculty to “heal, not to hate,” and to move forward.
“I’m resigning as president of the University of Missouri system,” Wolfe said. “It’s the right thing to do.”
“I take full responsibility for this frustration and I take full responsibility for the inaction that has occurred,” he said at a press conference.
Racial slurs have been directed at black students. In October, a swastika was drawn with human feces on a dormitory wall, according to media reports.
Over the weekend, dozens of black players on the university’s high-profile football team said they would boycott team activities, including a major game next Saturday, until Wolfe either stepped down or was removed. Head coach Gary Pinkel backed his players.
Shortly after Wolfe’s announcement, Pinkel said team activities were resuming immediately and Saturday’s game was on.
“We are hopeful we can begin a process of healing and understanding on our campus,” the coach said in a statement, Missouri media reported.
Ferguson link
The school protest caught the attention of the White House, with spokesman Josh Earnest noting how the campus “has really rallied together,” and that they are not alone.
“There are discussions about some of these issues that are taking place in campuses all across the country,” Earnest said.
The row comes as the United States grapples with mounting tensions between white police officers and African-Americans, including several cases of police shooting unarmed black citizens, and other race-related controversies.
Frustration surged in August 2014, when a white police officer shot and killed unarmed black teen Michael Brown in Ferguson, a mostly black suburb of St. Louis, Missouri’s second largest city.
That shooting triggered weeks of sometimes violent unrest in Ferguson and nationwide, fueled the Black Lives Matter movement and opened a national conversation about racism and police tactics.
Nicole Monnier, a professor of Russian at Missouri, said some campus tensions could be linked to the Ferguson riots.
“A lot of students on our campus come from the Ferguson area, which is only 100 miles (160 kilometers) away from the university,” she told CNN.
“There were a couple of peaceful protests on campus in support of Ferguson and in honor of Ferguson. And that sparked some reaction on social media, and even on campus, that really galvanized the African-American students.”
A “Concerned Faculty” group at the university had said Sunday they would stage a walkout on Monday and Tuesday in support of activists “advocating for racial justice on our campus.”
‘First step’
Wolfe is a Missouri graduate who was named president in February 2012. He said his resignation “comes from love” of his alma mater and its city Columbia, where he grew up.
State Governor Jay Nixon welcomed Wolfe’s resignation, calling it “a necessary step toward healing and reconciliation.”
The activist group Concerned Student 1950—which refers to the year black students were first admitted to the university—has been at the forefront of demands for change and charged that Wolfe, in particular, has failed to acknowledge and address their concerns.
Last week, graduate student Jonathan Butler announced he was going on a hunger strike until Wolfe was removed, declaring campus “an unlivable space.”
Butler expressed jubilation after Wolfe’s announcement.
“This is only the first step! More change is to come!!” he tweeted.
Stephanie Shonekan, an associate professor in the school’s Black Studies Department, said Wolfe’s decision was good news, but there was more to do.
“Actually it’s just begun,” she told MSNBC. “It’s our responsibility now to take this momentum and devise some real strategies for change.”
