Univ. Of Missouri President Resigns over Racism Complaints

09 Nov, 2015

The president of the University of Missouri system resigned Monday amid criticism of his handling of student complaints about race and discrimination.

President Tim Wolfe said Monday that his resignation is effective immediately. The announcement came at a special meeting of the university system’s governing body, the Board of Curators.

The complaints came to a head over the weekend when at least 30 black football players announced they would not participate in team activities until Wolfe was removed or stepped down.

For months, black student groups have complained of racial slurs and other slights on the overwhelmingly white flagship campus of the state’s four-college system. Frustrations flared during a homecoming parade Oct. 10 when black protesters blocked Wolfe’s car, and he did not get out and talk to them. They were removed by police.

Black members of the football team joined the outcry on Saturday night. By Sunday, a campus sit-in had grown in size, graduate student groups planned walkouts and politicians began to weigh in.

A University of Missouri faculty group urged professors to walk out of classes on Monday and Tuesday, the latest protest against embattled university system president Tim Wolfe.

The Concerned Faculty group said late Sunday night that faculty members should stage a “teach in” at Carnahan Quadrangle, the epicenter of a protest and where Wolfe — who has been criticized for a perceived lack of response to racial harassment at the school — is slated to meet with the Board of Curators Monday morning.

Wolfe said he has no plans to resign, according to a statement released on Sunday.

“We, the concerned faculty of the University of Missouri, stand in solidarity with the Mizzou student activists who are advocating for racial justice on our campus and urge all MU faculty to demonstrate their support by walking out,” said Elisa Glick, an associate professor and a spokeswoman for The Concerned Faculty, in a statement obtained by USA TODAY Sports.

Glick urged students to check their email to see if their professors cancel class.

“We support the decision of MU Faculty to walk out, cancel courses, and stage a ‘teach in,’ ” the Missouri Student Association said on Twitter.

Earlier Sunday, a groups that represents graduate students and graduate student workers urged their members to stage a walkout on Monday and Tuesday.

“The Steering Committee of the Forum on Graduate Rights with the Coalition of Graduate Workers are outraged by President Tim Wolfe’s statement issued on Sunday, in which he and the University of Missouri System administration doubled-down on ‘business as usual’ as the path forward for our troubled campus,” the group said in a statement.

The protests gained national attention when more than 30 members of the Missouri’s football team announced that they would no longer take part in football-related activities while Wolfe was in power. Missouri football coach Gary Pinkel canceled practiced on Sunday and wrote on Twitter that he backed their efforts to force change at the school.

USA Today

Image Twitter

Mentioned In This Post: