August Kryger for The New York Times
Recently more than 30 black football players at the University of Missouri joined protests on campus over how the school’s president, Tim Wolfe, had handled a series of racially charged incidents. Displeased with inaction on the part of school leaders in dealing with racism on campus where the black student population is a mere eight percent, several campus organizations had called for Wolfe to step down. On November 2nd graduate student Jonathan Butler vowed to starve himself until Wolfe was fired or left office. Days passed and news of his hunger strike spread, but Wolfe would not resign. Also, the university’s governing board made no indication that he would be removed. This is when the Missouri football players stepped in and issued a direct ultimatum: Resign or they won’t play. Later, The Legion of Black Collegians posted a photograph to Twitter of more than 30 football players linked in arms with Jonathan with the caption “The athletes of color on the University of Missouri football team truly believe ‘injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere,’ a reference to the ‘Letter from Birmingham Jail’ famously written by Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. which defended the strategy of nonviolent resistance to racism. Two days later president of the University of Missouri Tim Wolfe resigned. In stepping down Wolfe called on the university to “please use this resignation to heal and not to hate.”
My question is would this resignation had occurred if not for the football players stepping in? Protests had already been going on for months to no avail, but two days after the team took a stance Wolfe was gone along with the chancellor R. Bowen Loftin. It is important to recognize the risk in which these athletes took on by refusing to play or practice which could be a violation of the conditions of their scholarships and could have resulted in them being revoked. I was a student-athlete so I understand how difficult this decision had to be for these players. I applaud them for their bravery and respect them for doing the unimaginable. With the support of their head coach Gary Pinkel who happens to be the highest paid faculty member at the school, these athletes made use of the STUDENT in student-athlete and united with their fellow classmates.
What this all boils down to is money and the influence of those (athletes) who contribute to the revenue brought in by the school. If the Mizzou football team did not take the field this weekend against BYU they would have owed $1 million to BYU. An agreement signed last year stated that “the parties agree that if one party cancels any game or games, the defaulting party shall pay as liquidated damages to the other party one million dollars.” In 2014 Missouri’s athletic department had an operating revenue of more than 83 million dollars (student athletes should be paid) and the department sent $2.2 million of its $3.5 million profit back to the university for non-athletic expenses. Now that is power and influence. But do student-athletes know the power they possess? Do they know how dependent a school is on the revenue in which their sport brings in? Should they use this power to bring attention to social injustices? My answer is they absolutely should! Athletes have a huge voice in our society. Whether they be collegiate or professional people want to know them, they want to be like them and most importantly they want to hear what they have to say. Not often enough do athletes use their stage to speak out on issues that affect mostly the marginalized populations of this country which a lot of them are a part of.
Is this a calling for student-athletes across the country to walk out on their programs. No. However, what happened at the University of Missouri should be a wake up call to those in power at universities around the country. The demands of students need to be taken seriously and real dialogue and tangible changes need to be made. Athletes now realize the power they have when they are a united force. The national attention they can bring, which in this case forced the hand of the University. Team captain Ian Simon explained in a statement that the players “just wanted to use our platform to take a stance for a fellow concerned student on an issue.” He added, “We love the game, but in end of the day, it is just that; a game.” And at what point is the life of a fellow student or the hostile environment that many students have to face more important than playing a game. These athletes decided the time was now. What do you think?