After student protests called for his ouster, the Missouri University System President, Tim Wolfe, resigned Monday morning. The protests centered around racism on campus. There were accusations that administrators didn’t do enough to combat racism.
“The frustration and anger that I see is clear, real, and I don’t doubt it for a second,” Tim Wolfe, said.
At the center of the controversy are claims of inaction. Black student leaders said that despite overt displays of racism at the school, administrators did nothing to deal with the issue on the overwhelmingly white main campus. School leaders are now considering a list of requested changes from students.
In Wolfe’s resignation speech, he mentioned Jonathan Butler. Butler is a student who began a hunger strike last week, demanding change.
“This is the beginning,” Butler said. “We still have a lot of healing that has to happen on campus, but this is a great first step towards change.”
Butler ended his hunger strike. Also, the school’s football team will begin practice again Tuesday and plan to play Saturday, after threatening to boycott both.
Wolfe took responsibility for the lack of action, but asked students and faculty to look to the future and end the controversies.
“Use my resignation to heal and start talking again,” Wolfe said.
-Megan Bedenikovic