A number of football players at the University of Missouri (Mizzou) are going on a hunger strike in an effort to have the school president removed for being negligent to racism on the school’s campus, according to the Missouri Legion of Black Collegians.
After football players at the University of Missouri said they won’t participate in team activities until university President Tim Wolfe is removed from office, the team’s coach tweeted on Sunday in support of his players.
“The Mizzou Family stands as one,” head coach Gary Pinkel tweeted. The ConcernedStudent1950 protest organization says it represents every black student at the University since 1950, when the first black student was admitted. In a list of demands released Oct. 20, the group asked for Wolfe’s removal, as a part of a protest over the way the university handles racial harassment. Black graduate student Jonathan Butler also started a hunger strike this week in support of the protest. Gov. Jay Nixon weighed in on Sunday, saying the “concerns must be addressed.”
“Racism and intolerance have no place at the University of Missouri or anywhere in our state,” he said. “Our colleges and universities must be havens of trust and understanding. These concerns must be addressed to ensure the University of Missouri is a place where all students can pursue their dreams in an environment of respect, tolerance and inclusion.”
Wolfe also apologized for an incident during the school homecoming parade on Oct. 10, during which a protest group temporarily stopped the parade, and according to ABC News affiliate KMIZ-TV, Wolfe’s car
allegedly bumped into one of the demonstrators.
