Cheers and chants erupted as word came out of a meeting of the University of Missouri Board of Curators.
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Unrest on the Missouri campus brought on by dissatisfaction with the way the president of the university system handled complaints about racism had been brewing for months. “I’ve called in players myself and felt they were mistreated”.
“It is my belief that we stopped listening to each other”, Wolfe said during his statement.
“I ask everybody … use my resignation to heal, and start talking again, to make the changes necessary, and let’s focus on changing what we can today, and in the future”.
The resignation came as the government body representing 27,000 students enrolled in the University of Missouri system released Monday an open letter sent to school leadership, calling for the “immediate removal” of Wolfe.
The board also promised a full review of all policies related to staff and student conduct, more support for those on campus who have experienced discrimination and the hiring of a more diverse faculty and staff.
Until Monday, Wolfe did not indicate any intention to step down. He fought, he said, because so many others fought for equality before him. But no single program has been successful in changing the “hearts and minds” of students and teachers of all races within the University of Missouri system. She credited social media with propelling the protests, saying it “gives people a platform to unite”. “WE ARE UNITED!!!!!”, the players’ statement read Sunday.
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. Wolfe said, appearing to hold back tears remarks, reports NBC News.
The players’ activism could empower college athletes who have been seeking a bigger voice in big-money sports, said Kenneth Shropshire, who teaches the business of sports at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School. Frustrations flared during a homecoming parade October 10 when black protesters blocked Wolfe’s auto. Missouri football players announced Saturday, November 7, 2015, on Twitter that they will not participate in team activities until the university president is removed from office.
A swastika drawn in feces was also found recently in a dormitory bathroom. Meanwhile, pickup trucks carrying Confederate flags drove past in an apparent attempt to intimidate protesters. “While no isolated incident led to this moment, the continued offenses at the University of Missouri have accumulated into irreparable damage to the student experience”.
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The campus is about 120 miles west of Ferguson, the St. Louis suburb where tensions erupted following the police shooting death of 18-year Michael Brown. When the black students tried to get him to leave, the students said he responded, “These niggers are getting aggressive with me”.
