Amid continued pressure, the University of Missouri System President Tim Wolfe tendered his resignation on Monday.
"I take full responsibility for this frustration, and I take full responsibility for the inaction that has occurred," Wolfe said.
Wolfe has been under fire from black students in the university system because they say he has done little to stop racial animosity on the campus. Over the past few months, the university in the city of Columbia has been rocked by a series of racially charged incidents — including one in which someone drew a swastika in a dorm bathroom using human feces.
It all came to a head in October when student protesters confronted Wolfe at a homecoming parade. Wolfe didn't address the students, and the students claim that the car Wolfe was in nicked at least one of them as it drove off.
Since then, one student went on a hunger strike and about 30 football players said they would not play another game until Wolfe stepped down.
Wolfe did meet with student activists on Friday, but just hours later, he was confronted by a group of students outside a fundraiser in Kansas City. They asked him what he thought systematic oppression was.
"I will give you an answer and I'm sure it will be a wrong answer," he said. The students pressed him and he eventually said: "Systematic oppression is because you don't believe that you have the equal opportunity for success."
The protesters erupted in disbelief. The words "you don't believe" stung. "Did you just blame us for systematic oppression?" one of them asked, as Wolfe walked away.
This morning, a group of University of Missouri faculty staged a walkout and several lawmakers called on Wolfe to step down.
Wolfe tendered his resignation Monday following a meeting of the University Board Of Curators.
Wolfe, a former businessman, became president of the 77,000-student system in 2012.
"Please, please use my resignation to heal not to hate," Wolfe said.
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