Concerned Student 1950 called Tim Wolfe’s resignation a “glimmer of hope” for marginalized students but said Wolfe leaving is “just the beginning” at a news conference Monday afternoon.
The UM System president was under pressure to resign after graduate student Jonathan Butler’s weeklong hunger strike, Mizzou football players’ boycott of football activities and a day of national media coverage.
Butler spoke publicly for the first time since the end of his hunger strike in front of more than 500 people at Traditions Plaza.
“It would be inappropriate if I did not acknowledge the students who have been fighting for us,” Butler said. “This was not Jonathan Butler. This was the Mizzou community for one of the first times I’ve seen stand together united.”
Concerned Student 1950 member Marshall Allen announced a new demand: immediate meetings with Faculty Council, UM System Board of Curators and Gov. Jay Nixon.
Concerned Student 1950 leaders said they criticize MU because they love MU and want to see it change.
“I can say the last eight days, I’ve seen an outpouring of love that has empowered me to continue this fight,” graduate student Reuben Faloughi said. “If you’re marginalized, keep fighting. You can get what you want. You can get what you deserve.”
The students said they want “full shared governance” over the university, including input in the selection process for Wolfe’s successor.
They said in 10 years, they would like to see a more inclusive campus and 15 percent black faculty.
At the end of the news conference, Butler led the crowd in chants.
“I am a revolutionary,” Butler chanted. “It is our duty to fight for our freedom. It is our duty to win. We must love and support each other. We have nothing to lose but our chains.”
Chants of “M-I-Z, Z-O-U” broke out after, and one of the Concerned Student 1950 members asked the crowd to stop.
“That’s still traumatic for us because it was used against us,” a student said.