News

Mizzou Students Celebrate Tim Wolfe's Resignation

by Celia Darrough

After hundreds of students called for his removal, University of Missouri System President Tim Wolfe resigned Monday over the students' concerns that he inadequately responded to several recent racist incidents. Graduate student Jonathan Butler was able to end his week-long hunger strike, the Mizzou football team will (presumably) still play on Saturday, and University of Missouri students were celebrating Wolfe's resignation. Videos of the Columbia, Missouri, campus showed students of all races gathering together, cheering and dancing after Wolfe announced at the Board of Curators meeting that he would step down.

In his resignation speech, Wolfe said he takes responsibility for the school's inaction and the frustration of the students. He said he was resigning out of love, not out of hate, and that he wants everyone to focus on what can be changed and to start listening and talking to one another again. "We need to use my resignation — please, please — use this resignation to heal, not to hate as we move forward today for a brighter tomorrow," he said.

Moments later, music blared, students danced, sang, and chanted phrases like "You can't stop the revolution," and "It is our duty to fight for our freedom. It is our duty to win. We must love and support each other. We have nothing to lose but our chains."