After escalating student and faculty protests over his handling of racist incidents on campus, University of Missouri President Tim Wolfe has resigned. Graduate student Jonathan Butler has been on a hunger strike and, on Saturday night, the school’s football team joined the effort, vowing not to play or practice until Butler ate.
“It is my belief that we stopped listening to each other,” Wolfe said in a press conference Monday. “We forced individuals like Jonathan Butler to take unusual action to effect change. This is not, I repeat, not the way change should come about.”
Wolfe’s resignation follows a number of racist incidents on Mizzou’s campus. In one incident, the school’s African American student association president was harassed by men in a pickup truck yelling a racial slur beginning with the letter “n.” In another, members of the school’s Legion of Black Collegians were rehearsing a play when “an inebriated white male” called them the same slur. In a third incident, a swastika was drawn on a university bathroom in feces.
In the wake of these incidents, various constituencies on campus began to question Wolfe’s leadership and his commitment to addressing racism on campus. A letter from the student association to the school’s Board of Curators claimed that “the struggles of living on this campus have too often been met by the silent bureaucracy of an inadequate system.” At least 32 members of the school’s football team refused to play until Wolfe resigned, a move that earned the support of their coaches. A “concerned faculty” group walked out of classes in solidarity with student protesters.
In announcing his decision, Wolfe emphasized his hope that it could help the university community move forward. “Use my resignation to heal and start talking again,” he implored.