Protesters quash media at University of Missouri

“We just wanted to use our platform to take a stance as fellow concerned students on an issue that has special meaning as a fellow black man’s life was on the line”, senior defensive back Ian Simon said.

The protests were spurred by black student groups’ reports of racial slurs against them on the overwhelmingly white main campus.

It’s hard to put yourself in others’ shoes, he said, explaining that even though he and Butler are black, his experience – as a football player – on campus was different from Butler’s. A graduate student went on a weeklong hunger strike.

“You’ve promised to take care of these kids, and if they believe in something, you always tell them to stand up for what they believe in”, T.J. Moe, a receiver at Missouri from 2009 to ’12, says of Pinkel’s message.

“We criticize Mizzou because we love Mizzou”, Ware said. “We need to use my resignation-please, please, use this resignation-to heal, not to hate, and let’s move forward together for a brighter tomorrow”.

Wolfe, hired in 2011 as the top administrator of the system, and Chancellor R. Bowen Loftin stepped down hours apart Monday. In 1968 and 1969, black students organized protests across a few two hundred campuses in the United States.

The students say there has been an increase in “tension and inequality with no systemic support” since last year’s fatal shooting of Michael Brown, an unarmed black 18-year-old by a white police officer in Ferguson.

It was an extraordinary declaration of solidarity coming at a time when the leaders of college sports are adjusting to more empowered and outspoken athletes than they’ve seen in years, emboldened by court victories against the NCAA – and now with the ability to vote on NCAA legislation – and more vocal than ever thanks to social media.

Sooners linebacker Eric Striker, who is black, responded with an angry call for change and became a de facto spokesman for the team.

“I want to acknowledge his extraordinary courage and leadership”, Loftin said about Butler.

One of the biggest cogs that forced the resignation was the Missouri football team’s decision, led by their African-American players, to boycott all football-related activity until the hunger strike for Wolfe’s resignation ended.

“Primarily, a young man’s life was stake”, athletic director Mack Rhoades said of Butler’s refusal to eat until Wolfe left office. To ignore the societal limits that many African-Americans and other minorities face in this country is nothing more than narcissism and disdain. Many broke into dance at seeing him. College football, first and foremost in America, is all about money; millions of dollars hung in the balance for Missouri if their team wasn’t in Arrowhead Stadium this Saturday to take on BYU. Canceling the game could have cost the school more than $1 million.

“It can’t always be the person in charge’s fault”, Moe said, and he expressed a wish that the demands focus more on finding and expelling the students responsible for the harassment on campus that led to much of the current unrest.

Eric Walker, sophomore in LAS explains that he has had certain students switch up their dialects when speaking with him to dumb down their language, which comes across as racist even if that is not the intention. “What we’re seeing is students who are empowered to speak about these incidents on their campuses around the nation”, Missouri Students Association President Payton Head told CNN Tuesday morning.

The activists defended their actions, saying on Twitter that “it’s typically white media who don’t understand the importance of respecting black spaces”. After all, they are young and full of dreams of playing professionally – dreams they fear might be dashed if they were to get involved in a strike or a protest.

In late October, another incident occurred: A swastika drawn with human feces appeared on the wall of a campus bathroom, further escalating the protests. Loftin will step down at the end of the year to take another job at the school.

The governing board said an interim system president would be named soon, and board members vowed Monday to work toward a “culture of respect”.

Shortly after yesterday’s press conference, the board announced that it would be hiring a Chief Diversity, Inclusion and Equity Officer, who will be responsible for overseeing campus diversity policies. Additionally, students who have experienced discrimination will be offered additional resources and support.

Will racism be eliminated from the Missouri campus now that the football players have succeeded in ousting Wolfe?

“It’s great to see that from the UM system”.

“I actually don’t”, the student replies.

The Concerned Student 1950 protesters organized a boycott of University of Missouri merchandise, events and dining services, and on November 5, the group organized a protest before the Missouri-Mississippi State football game.

On Monday night, a group of about 100 people gathered at that plaza to pray and sing. Less than two days later, Wolfe resigned.