Missouri faculty plan walkout in support of student activists

A group of University of Missouri faculty plan to walk out of their classrooms for the next two days to "stand in solidarity with the Mizzou student activists who are advocating for racial justice on our campus."

The news comes a day after some football players said they would not play another game until university system President Tim Wolfe steps down. The Columbia Missourian, which is affiliated with the university, reports that the professors said they will spend Monday and Tuesday at the university quad "to respond to student questions in the form of a teach in."

As we've reported, for months now a group of students has been demanding that the University of Missouri address what they say is systemic racism on campus. Throughout the protest, the university in the city of Columbia has been rocked by a series of racially charged incidents. It all came to a head 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.

One student, Jonathan Butler, is now entering the eighth day of a hunger strike.

Wolfe issued a statement on Sunday, saying he is listening to the demands of students but that a full strategy would not be unveiled until next spring.

The University Board Of Curators announced that it would meet at 11 a.m. ET today.

We'll update this post throughout the day with the latest. Copyright 2019 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.