Across North American college and university campuses, students and faculty have engaged in rallies and protests motivated by racial inequality, police brutality, and accusations of systemic racism. But for all the anger, for all the desire to change the world into a more equitable place, little has been accomplished. As of Nov. 9, 2015, a small victory against systemic racism was won.
As a result of multiple protests and national scrutiny, University of Missouri System President Tim Wolfe, resigned among allegations of racism and inaction. The linchpin catalyst for Wolfe’s resignation was 25-year-old graduate student Jonathan Butler’s hunger-strike. Butler’s strike was motivated by a recent slew of racially motivated crimes, but more importantly, by President Wolfe’s refusal to address racism on campus.
Over the past few months, the Mizzou campus has witnessed several hate crimes and racially motivated attacks against black students. The first incident occurred in September, when student government president, Payton Head, was repeatedly called a “nigger” by a group of young white males in a pick-up truck, while Head was walking near the campus. A group of protesters attempted to disrupt the homecoming parade, specifically the float of President Wolfe. Several students claimed that Wolfe’s car “bumped into a student”—an incident he did not address for several weeks. On Oct. 24, 2015, students living in a residence hall found a swastika drawn in human feces on a wall in their building. The perpetrator remains unknown.
As a solution, University Chancellor R. Bowen Loftin implemented mandatory, campus-wide diversity-training. Students of colour and their allies at the University of Missouri have since stated that the diversity training is little more than a bandaid on a much larger, deeply-entrenched wound. In a meeting held on Oct. 26, 2015, former president Wolfe met with protesters. It was during this meeting that Wolfe revealed that he had not planned to reach out to the activists, and was unaware of the institutionalized racism and barriers that black students face. Due to Wolfe’s admission, Butler and an activist group called Concerned Student 1950 (the first year a black student was allowed to attend the university) demanded Wolfe’s resignation and issued a list of demands to be made of the university’s administration. When the administration and the president continued their passive stance on racial inequality, Jonathan Butler decided to take matters into his own hands.
On Nov. 2 2015, graduate student Jonathan Butler posted a letter addressed to the school’s administration on social media, stating, “I will be embarking on an indefinite hunger strike in opposition to having Tim Wolfe as the University of Missouri System president, I will not consume any food or nutritional sustenance at the expense of my health until either Tim Wolfe is removed from office or my internal organs fail and my life is lost.”
On Nov. 8, 2015, a group of the school’s faculty called “Concerned Faculty” joined the protest, releasing a statement indicating that a number of teachers would cancel classes in support of the protest. The same day, more than 30 players from the University of Missouri’s football team stated that they will not be playing until president Wolfe resigns and Butler’s strike ended.
On Nov. 9, 2015, during a meeting of the University of Missouri System board of curators, Wolfe publicly issued his resignation, saying, “It’s the right thing to do.”
Shortly following Wolfe’s resignation as president, Butler tweeted, “The #MizzouHungerStrike is officially over!” Celebration, however, was short-lived. Enraged by the successes of the black community and their allies, white supremacists across the campus issued violent death threats, including a warning to black students to stay off campus, lest they be shot.
Since the success and the violent backlash of the Mizzou protests, many campuses held protests in solidarity with the students of Mizzou—including one at our own University of Guelph campus.