[OnTheWarpath15]

http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/e...7ce1743c6.html

UPDATED: At 4:30 p.m. with Chancellor R. Bowen Loftin out.

COLUMBIA • Within hours University of Missouri System President Timothy W. Wolfe resigned, Mizzou Chancellor R. Bowen Loftin was also forced out.

Loftin delivered a statement at a board of curators meeting saying he had decided to transition from the role of chancellor to a "new role where I will work with many people across the university and with the system to advance our mission."

The transition would be effective next year, Loftin said.

Earlier in the day, nine Mizzou deans released a letter calling for him to be dismissed.

Missouri School of Journalism Dean David Kurpius said that the deans had met with Loftin on Oct. 9 and then with Wolfe, Loftin and Provost Garnett Stokes to express concerns about the handling of "race and cultural" issues on campus.

The deans were also critical about other issues, including how the university tried to scale back tuition waivers for graduate assistants and strip them of their health insurance subsidies. After public outcry, Mizzou reinstated the subsidies and agreed to leave the tuition waivers in place for a year.

"The environment on campus is not conducive to moving forward, resolving issues and trying to make sure that all of our students are in a good learning environment," Kurpius said.

Kurpius said that a final draft of the letter was finished Monday morning.

The Columbia Daily Tribune first reported on the letter, saying that it accuses Loftin of creating a "toxic environment through threat, fear and intimidation."