Black football players at the University of Missouri will not play another game until university president Tom Wolfe is removed from his position.
The 3-4 Missouri Tigers have arguably their biggest matchup of the year next Saturday against the 7-2 BYU Cougars. However, players say they will not practice, play in games nor participate in any team related activities until President Wolfe resigns.
The university’s athletics department issued a statement on Saturday night announcing they would be standing by their student athletes.
“The department of athletics is aware of the declarations made tonight by many of our student-athletes. We must come together with leaders from across our campus to tackle these challenging issues and we support our athletes right to do so."
The Columbia Missourian reports that 60 of 124 players on the football team's roster are African-American.
President Wolfe addressed Missouri graduate student Jonathan Butler’s hunger strike on Friday.
“Racism does exist at our university and it is unacceptable. It is a long-standing, systemic problem which daily affects our family of students, faculty and staff,” he wrote in a statement. “I am sorry this is the case. I truly want all members of our university community to feel included, valued and safe.”
