University of Missouri system president Tim Wolfe is resigning amid student protests against his handling of race relations on campus, he announced in a press conference Monday. Protests have been ongoing for months over what some students say is a campus culture of racial harrassment; a black student named Jonathan Butler has been engaged in a hunger strike for the last week, while the school’s football team announced Saturday night that it would not play until Wolfe resigned. From the AP:
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 … 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.
Graduate student groups had planned walkouts today and Tuesday and a campus sit-in began last Monday.
“My decision to resign comes out of love, not hate,” Wolfe said. “Please, please use this resignation to heal, not to hate.”
