U.S.

Missouri Football Players Boycott in Protest of University President

By ASHLEY SOUTHALL
The University of Missouri's Memorial Stadium during the first half of a game against the University of Florida in Columbia, Mo., last month. L.G. Patterson/Associated Press 
Dozens of black football players at the University of Missouri have joined demonstrations over the university’s handling of racial tensions on campus by vowing to boycott team activities until the president of the university system resigns.
Frustrations at the university have been rising after recent incidents in which racial slurs were directed at black students, and one in which someone used feces to draw a swastika on a residence hall wall. Students protesting over the weekend accused officials of failing to respond to acts of racism and intolerance, and called for the president, Timothy M. Wolfe, to step down or to be removed.
The Legion of Black Collegians, the black student government, posted a photograph to Twitter on Saturday night of ore than 30 football players linked in arms with a graduate student who is staging a hunger strike.
“The athletes of color on the University of Missouri football team truly believe ‘injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere’,” a message accompanying the photo said, quoting a line from Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. that has become a refrain of recent protest movements.
Members of the anti-racism and black awareness group Concerned Student 1950 during a protest at the University of Missouri campus in Columbia, Mo., on Saturday.Ellise Verheyen/Missourian, via Associated Press 
Missouri, part of the Southeastern Conference, is scheduled to play Brigham Young University on Saturday at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City in a game that is to be broadcast on the SEC Network. At 4-5 over all, the team still has a chance to earn a berth in a lower-profile bowl game.
The players’ action also represents a newfound willingness among black college students to speak out against racial antagonism on campus, in line with a broader movement against inequality and injustice that arose in response to a string of fatal police shootings of unarmed black civilians.
Coach Gary Pinkel met with the football team on Sunday at the team’s athletic training complex. After the meeting he declared his support for the demonstrating players with a team photo on Twitter.
“The Mizzou Family stands as one,” he wrote. “We are united. We are behind our players.”
Sixty of the 124 players on the Missouri football roster are black, according to The Columbia Missourian. Many of them are starters and second-team players. Thomas Wilson, a safety, told the newspaper that the players would discuss their boycott at media day on Monday.
The campus has been on edge since the fatal police shooting of an unarmed teenager named Michael Brown last year in Ferguson, about 110 miles from Columbia. A number of the black students enrolled at Missouri come from Ferguson, which is predominantly black, to Columbia, which is predominantly white.
The players’ boycott follows a black graduate student’s decision to go on a hunger strike over what he said in a letter to the board of curators were “a slew of racist, sexist, homophobic, etc., incidents that have dynamically disrupted the learning experience” at Missouri. The student, Jonathan Butler, a candidate for a master’s degree in educational leadership and policy analysis, cited incidents in which black student were called racial slurs, the removal of graduate student health insurance subsidies, Missouri’s decision to cancel contracts with a local Planned Parenthood clinic, and the swastika drawing.
A group called Concerned Student 1950, named for the year the university began admitting black students, has been staging demonstrations, including protests over the weekend. The group started a change.org petition calling for Mr. Wolfe’s resignation last week that had gathered more than 3,100 signatures by Sunday afternoon. The petition contained a letter addressed to Gov. Jay Nixon, the board of curators and Mr. Wolfe.
“We do not trust our education, our humanity, our safety, nor our lives in his hands,” students said in the letter. “Butler’s life is on the line and he’s made that clear. How can a man, Tim Wolfe, value his position over the life of a student? Positions can change, but if Butler’s life is lost, he can never return.”
Mr. Nixon responded to Sunday’s demonstrations in a statement, saying: “Racism and intolerance have no place at the University of Missouri or anywhere in our state. 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.”
Mr. Wolfe took office in 2012 and oversees the campuses in Columbia, Kansas City, St. Louis and Rolla.
In response to the demonstrations, Mr. Wolfe has met with Mr. Butler and the leaders of the student groups involved. In a statement on Thursday, Mr. Wolfe expressed concern for the graduate student’s health and acknowledged racism at the school.
“Racism does exist at our university and it is unacceptable,” he said. “It is a longstanding, systemic problem which daily affects our family of students, faculty and staff. I am sorry this is the case. I truly want all members of our university community to feel included, valued and safe.”
He also apologized for his reaction when a group of Concerned Student 1950 demonstrators formed a human chain to block his car during Missouri’s homecoming parade in October.
“I am sorry, and my apology is long overdue,” he said. “My behavior seemed like I did not care. That was not my intention. I was caught off guard in that moment. Nonetheless, had I gotten out of the car to acknowledge the students and talk with them perhaps we wouldn’t be where we are today. I am asking us to move forward in addressing the racism that exists at our university — and it does exist. Together we must rise to the challenge of combating racism, injustice, and intolerance.”