Reel Urban News Exclusive:

In 2015 the shooting of African Americans by police officers and the death of black men and women while in custody dominated the headlines. High-profile cases in Chicago, Los Angeles and Ferguson, Mo. sparked protests across the U.S. In their wake emerged the power of the black collegiate athlete.

University of Missouri System President Tim Wolfe was forced to resign on November 9 after students protested his handling of several racial incidents on campus. The turning point came when the university’s predominantly African American football team refused to play until Wolfe resigned or was fired.


Hours after Wolfe’s abrupt resignation Prof. Jody D. Armour of the University of Southern California’s Gould School of Law spoke exclusively with Reel Urban News about the ouster. “He (Tim Wolfe) caved due to the pressure from faculty, student body and the football team, which figured in centrally in their fundraising and in the branding for the university. He caved or deferred to the spirit of the times we live in. Inclusion, diversity, and equity are catchwords not only off-campus but on college campuses.”

In a wide-ranging interview with Reel Urban News, Armour discusses the rise in influence of black collegiate athletes, the Black Lives Matter movement, and the state of race relations in the U.S. today.