On November 9th, University of Missouri President Tim Wolfe turned in his letter of resignation, due to allegations of racial injustice on sports teams and around campus. Wolfe says he takes “full responsibility for the inaction that has occurred.”
Wolfe explained himself saying, “My motivation in making this decision comes from love. I love M.U. Columbia, where I grew up, and state of Missouri. I have thought and prayed about this decision. It’s the right thing to do.”
A student group called the ConcernedStudent1950 released a list of demands on October 20 which included the removal of Tim Wolfe as part of a protest on how the university handles racial issues on campus. The ConcernedStudent1950 is a protest group that claims it has represented every black student since the first black student was admitted to the school in 1950.
Wolfe gave an emotional and much-needed speech when he announced his resignation saying, “Why did we get to this very difficult situation? It is my belief we stopped listening to each other. We didn’t respond or react.”
“Change comes from listening, learning, caring, and conversation.” Wolfe adds. He claims the way to help prevent situations like this in the future is to have patience and genuine care for one another as humans. Once everyone on campus can be cooperative and helpful towards one another, there will be much less of an issue with equality.
“I’d ask everybody from students to faculty, staff to my friends, everybody, use my resignation to heal and start talking again to make the changes necessary and let’s focus on changing what we can change today and in the future, not what we can’t change which is what happened in the past,” Wolfe professed. Wolfe’s resignation brought an end to black graduate student Jonathan Butler’s week-long hunger strike, which advocated for Wolfe’s removal. “This is only the first step! More change is to come!!” Butler tweeted.
A few other requirements on the list of the demands that the ConcernedStudent1950 group wrote included comprehensive racial awareness and inclusion classes.
Campus Crier Online 