On Monday, November 10^th, 2015, University of Missouri President Tim Wolfe resigned after failing to address multiple accusations of racism on Missouri’s campus.

Wolfe first faced pressure from students and faculty to step down a few weeks ago after white students shouted racial slurs towards the school’s black student body president, Payton Head, and a swastika drawn in feces was discovered in a residence hall. Angered protesters who challenged these unmet issues were threatened with pepper spray and some denied health insurance. Tension increased further after the homecoming parade when Wolfe was accused of laughing and ignoring a group of protesters blocking his vehicle.

The state of Missouri is no stranger to racial debate. Michael Brown, the unarmed black teenager shot by white police officer Darren Wilson, was killed on August 9, 2014, in Ferguson, Missouri. Sixteen months later, Missouri students are still facing racial inequality with no university support.

Wolfe’s lack of leadership is what inspired graduate student Jonathan Butler to go on a hunger strike and create the hashtag #MizzouHungerStrike until change occurred. Major media attention gathered after the Legion of Black Collegians (LBC) uploaded a photo of Missouri Head Football Coach Gary Pinkel and his team linked together with the message, “Injustice Anywhere is a threat to Justice Everywhere”, to Twitter. The team refused to return to practice or play in Saturday’s game against Brigham Young University unless President Wolfe resigned. Pinkel and UM athletics director Mack Rhoades said their concern was on the community, student-athletes, and the health of Jonathan Butler to resume eating.

Protesters known as “Concerned Student 1950”, a reference to when black students were first admitted to Missouri, have accused Wolfe of failing to address issues of racism before. It was not until the piling up of recent events that Wolfe was a little too late to take action. In Wolfe’s official resignation statement, he said,

“It is my belief we stopped listening to each other. We didn’t respond or react. We got frustrated with each other and we forced individuals like Jonathan Butler to take immediate action and unusual steps to affect change. This is not, the way change should come about.

Change comes from listening, learning, caring, and conversation. And we have to respect each other enough to stop yelling at each other and start listening and quit intimidating each other.

Unfortunately this did not happen and this is why I stand before you today and I take full responsibility for this frustration and I take full responsibility for the inaction, which has occurred.”

I am sorry, Tim Wolfe, but what are you trying to say?

Are you suggesting that university officials should, I don’t know, listen to students of color when they point out racial discrimination on campus? Are you hinting that maybe, just maybe, it should not take a hunger strike to raise awareness of these serious issues? Are you even trying to listen to the conversation these students are trying to make or are you just trying to get people to listen to you now that you are done for? Where were you, the President of the University of Missouri, when your students needed you?

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie explains suffering caused by racial issues in her novel, Americanah, when she says,

“You see, American Blacks actually don’t WANT it to be [about] race. They would rather not have racist $#!% happen. So maybe when they say something is about race, it’s maybe because it actually is?...Don’t say ‘We’re tired of talking about race’ or ‘The only race is the human race.’ American Blacks, too, are tired of talking about race. They wish they didn’t have to. But racist $#!% keeps happening.”

When the Concerned Student 1950 issued a list of demands to be met by the University of Missouri, it was because they could not focus on their academics due to their mental health constantly being threatened. Concerned Student 1950 requested not only the removal of President Tim Wolfe, but also the creation of a racial awareness and inclusion curriculum to educate students on why the racial climate on campus was problematic. Imagine how the Concerned Student 1950 must have felt when administrators failed to respond. This is why Jonathan Butler began his hunger strike. This is why members of Concerned Student 1950 camped on the Carnahan Quadrangle. This is why they protested outside of dining halls and student unions, despite being called derogatory names; they needed their voices to be heard.

After UM President Tim Wolfe’s resignation, the Missouri Student Association released a statement saying, “We cannot allow the systematic oppression of UM students to continue.” The Board of Curators also announced a series of initiatives to be taken within the next 90 days that will address the racial climate of Missouri including the appointing of a Chief Diversity, Inclusion, and Equity Officer, a full review of all UM System policies, and additional support for students.

Tim Wolfe failed to handle alleged racism on campus and the Concerned Student 1950, Jonathan Butler, Payton Head, the football team, and community of the UM used their voices to stop him. Discrimination like this cannot be ignored and college students across the country should be inspired by these acts of protests. In fact, many similarities can be made when comparing what happened at the University of Missouri to what is currently happening at Yale University. The systematic oppression that occurred at Missouri was unacceptable and the actions of the Concerned Student 1950 are proof that words and ideas have the power to create change.