Players’ vow adds weight to cause
Boycott promise adds weight to bid to oust president
After months of racial unrest at the University of Missouri’s flagship campus, student activists who have been calling for the system president’s resignation say it was the school’s football team that finally brought national attention to their cause.
Football practice was canceled Sunday, and there is no indication when or if it will resume this week. The team met Sunday with coach Gary Pinkel, who expressed support for the players’ position on Twitter, even posing in a photo with players and coaches locking arms.
More than 30 black players promised to boycott all footballrelated activities until President Tim Wolfe was removed from office. They tweeted their intention Saturday night.
Student organizer Ayanna Poole, a senior at Missouri, said the tweet created an unprecedented feeling of unification on campus after months of racial tension.
“For (the team) to see this and make a stand really, really made a difference — I don’t even want to just say in the impact on the community here, but in letting us know that all of our black students stand in solidarity and you can’t silence our athletes,” Poole said Sunday. “I think that’s one of the big things is nobody can be silenced right now and consciousness is really contagious.”
Poole and fellow senior Abigail Hollis work with the group Concerned Student 1950, which has been leading the protest against Wolfe because of the way he has handled a series of race-related incidents on campus. Most recently a swastika was drawn with human feces on a college dorm
wall Oct. 24.
In a school with total enrollment of about 35,000 in 2014, African-American students made up about 7% of the student population.
Named for the first year the university admitted African Americans, the Concerned Student 1950 organization laid out a series of demands in late October, including the removal of Wolfe from office and the introduction of a “comprehensive racial awareness and inclusion curriculum.”
Wolfe responded to the uproar on campus Sunday, saying he’ll listen to complaints.
Pinkel and athletics director Mack Rhoades said they had been meeting with department, campus and student leaders and would have further comment Monday. They expressed concern for Jonathan Butler, a Missouri graduate student who has been on a hunger strike since Nov. 2 and says he won’t eat until Wolfe is removed.
“Our focus right now is on the health of Jonathan Butler, the concerns of our student-athletes and working with our community to address this serious issue,” the statement from Rhoades and Pinkel said.
“After meeting with the team this morning, it is clear they do not plan to return to practice until Jonathan resumes eating.”
SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey said in a statement he had been in contact with Missouri officials. “I respect Missouri’s student-athletes for engaging on issues of importance and am hopeful the concerns at the center of this matter will be resolved in a positive manner,” Sankey’s statement said.
Hollis said having the football team as an ally means Concerned Student 1950’s cause and Butler’s strike would have monetary implications, in addition to gaining the nation’s attention.
“The fact that these studentathletes, these football players are willing to refrain from all sports-related activities is huge,” Hollis said. “It’s essentially unprecedented, and I mean now you’re talking about money, so affecting the university’s money is going to be huge for our movement.”
The football program contributed more than $35.6 million to the school’s revenue in 2013-14.
Missouri (4-5) is set to face Brigham Young on Saturday in Kansas City, Mo., and Hollis says she hopes the university and student activists can come to an agreement before the team misses any games.
“We don’t want it to get to that, because that is half of what these athletes are here for — because they love football,” Hollis said. “They want to play. We want them to play. But they are fighting for their (fellow) students, they are fighting for themselves, so they’ll do it, they’ll do what it takes.”
Off campus, the football team’s message sparked a domino effect of responses from high-profile Missourians and at least one former player.
Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon and U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill released statements categorically condemning racism at the university.
New York Jets defensive end Sheldon Richardson, who played at Missouri in 2011 and 2012, voiced his support Sunday after a win against the Jacksonville Jaguars.
“I’m proud of those guys staying together,” Richardson said. “As far as Tim Wolfe, he does need to go. That’s just my opinion on it. Some stuff happened when I was back there, but I don’t need to go into any details about it.
“When game time does come, if this decision (for Wolfe to resign) hasn’t been made, hopefully they stick true to their word. I know how persuasive Coach Pinkel can be.”