Mizzou President, Chancellor, Resign in Response to Student Protests and Strike by Football Players

The growing unrest that has held the University of Missouri-Columbia captive and initiated an additional antenna to the growing movement against racial motivated attacks and threats against people of color has reached its plateau with the announcement on Monday by the University system’s president, Tim Wolfe and the chancellor of the riddled flagship campus, R. Bowen Loftin that both men will relinquish their posts.

This is directly in response to the protests staged by African-American students in retaliation against the mounting racism that has been allowed to fester and spread without any interference thanks to the administration’s lack of interest or concern.

Aside from students demonstrating – the faculty also threatened to abandon ship and a strike was called by football players.

This is a victory for the brave and outspoken students who began their call for attention in late September and eventually gained national attention once things started heating up. This propelled an effort with the support of a good portion of the school’s football team and faculty members to pressure Wolfe out of his position as president – since he was no longer deemed fit enough for the post.

Wolfe evidently spoke to the Board of Curators at a meeting on Monday morning that had been scheduled to specifically to tackle the growing chaos where he formally offered his resignation, which was readily accepted. Hours later Loftin followed suit by confirming departure by the end of the year. He hopes to take on a different role that will have him remaining on the Columbia campus in a capacity that will allow him to “work with many people across the university and with the system to advance our research mission”.

Wolfe for his part, acknowledged the genuine wrath from students reacting to his lack of leadership and guidance “My motivation in making this decision comes from a love of Columbia where I grew up and the state of Missouri. I thought and prayed over this decision. It is the right thing to do…The frustration and anger I see is real, and I don’t doubt it for a second”.

And neither does the rest of the world. 2015 has been a whirlwind of activity for the racially conscious from all corners of the globe who strive for equality and denounce the acidity of racial mutilation at the hands of homegrown bigots.

This latest round of success will hopefully serve as another step towards much needed progress and healing.