Wolfe, 57, bowed to pressure from both players and a graduate student, Jonathan Butler, whose high-profile hunger strike inspired an unprecedented act of student activism.
“The frustration and anger that I see is clear, real and I don’t doubt it for a second,” said Wolfe, who said he was stepping aside so all sides could heal.
“So the question really is, is why did we get to this very difficult situation. 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 effect change.”
Mizzou students rejoiced over Wolfe’s resignation, but just as much over their new-found power to effect change through protest.
“The #MizzouHungerStrike is officially over!” Butler, who is black, tweeted. “This is only the first step! More change is to come!!”
Butler told CNN he hoped the school’s governing board would now pay more attention to minority voices on campus.
Later in the day, the university’s chancellor, Bowen Loftin, announced that he was also stepping down. The shakeup came weeks after protests began about a series of racist incidents on campus that students said administrators weren’t taking seriously.
Butler got their attention with a hunger strike that took the issue to the goal line. But black football players carried their concerns into the end zone with a pledge to stay off the field until Wolfe was off the job.
“We just wanted to use our platform to take a stance as fellow concerned students on an issue, especially being as though a fellow black man’s life was on the line,” said team captain Ian Simon, a senior safety.
“We love the game, but at the end of the day, it’s just that, a game.”