Missouri President Tim Wolfe resignation about much more than football

University of Missouri President Tim Wolfe has resigned amid a firestorm of pressure and controversy regarding racial issues at the school, but the football team’s boycott was only a small part of the big picture.

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When members of a football team from a major university come together and agree to boycott all football-related activities, it’s going to get some attention. That was precisely what was on the mind of the players from Missouri when they stood in solidarity with graduate student Jonathan Butler who had gone on a hunger strike in protest of the treatment of blacks at the school.

And while the football players (and coaches who stood with them) grabbed a lot of headlines and had more people looking towards Columbia, Mo., their boycott was only part of a long semester of racial incidents and protests at one of America’s top schools.

But was the potential loss of a football game and the threatened cancellation of classes by faculty enough to force a powerful university president to step down?

If we are talking about some isolated incidents of stupidity by individual bigots, then there is only so much that the school or its president can do, but if there is a systemic problem and groups of people committing acts of hatred and racism, then Wolfe wasn’t doing his job.

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The public sees the headlines, but there has to be more.

To those on the outside, this might look like a quick resignation brought on by the prospect of tons of bad publicity via the football program and its players. But it’s more than that…much more. This runs much deeper than a few racial slurs shouted at students or a racially charged epithet drawn on a bathroom wall using feces. This has been building for some time.

According to the Columbia Missourian, 60 of the 124 Missouri football players are black, while only about 7 percent of the student population of 35,000 is African-American. That means the voice of this football team was speaking loudly for a population that more than likely had gone unheard in the past. These players risked more than just the forfeiture of a game by their actions. They could have had scholarships pulled, been dismissed from the team, or any other number of punishments that related to their opportunities at Missouri.

This was about more than just football and the potential loss of revenue or scholarships, this was about a group of students who put their belief and their principles in front of their own personal interests. They made a statement – a clear, intelligent and adult statement – and were willing to stand and sacrifice if needed.

This is what free speech is about, and why the united voices of a group – any group – can be so powerful. The football players had leverage, and they used it for something good. They weren’t out for personal gain, they wanted to improve the situation at their school.

“We Are United”. That was their call. It excluded no one, and included everyone who wanted to be a part of it.

Without knowing all the details of every incident that has occurred, its hard to know how much blame was to be placed on Tim Wolfe, but the students, faculty and coaches at Mizzou certainly seemed to believe there was a problem. They felt he didn’t do enough to bring about needed change.

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Tim Wolfe resigned, and he didn’t put up much of a fight, that much is clear. Now the healing can begin and hopefully a new sense of empowerment has been given to those players and all who supported them in their cause.