At least two write in support of former system president Tim Wolfe

At least two people wrote to the UM System Board of Curators in support of former president Tim Wolfe, an ABC 17 News open records request uncovered.

The emails, written by Fred Parry of Columbia and John & Linda Hoffman of Bucyrus, Kansas, criticize the Board’s decision not to pay Wolfe a severance after his November 9 resignation, and lack of negotiation with him. The letters also mention the board’s willingness to give R. Bowen Loftin a new job with the UM System, and renegotiate former head football coach Gary Pinkel’s contract, despite the “embarrassment” they believe they brought to the school.

[Read the letters from Parry and the Hoffmans. Phone numbers, email and home addresses have been redacted.]

ABC 17 News obtained an email from Wolfe on January 27, asking his supporters to “pick up the phone, or at the very least send an email” to board members to allow Wolfe “to play a significant positive role in the future” of the system. He criticized the Board of Curators in that letter for their previous offers, which include a “gag order” for Wolfe to not speak poorly of the board. Wolfe previously said he resigned to avoid “further embarrassment and a potential Ferguson-like event on the MU Campus,” as protests swelled on Carnahan Quadrangle in early November. Protestors, including the student group Concerned Student 1950, demanded a change in the system’s diversity policies, and called for the ouster of Wolfe, including one student’s hunger strike until Wolfe stepped down.

“The Board’s last offer is neither fair nor consistent with Loftin and Pinkel’s treatment and is embarrassing in light of which leader did the right thing to help the university and which leader was only looking out for themselves,” Wolfe wrote.

John & Linda Hoffman wrote the board January 27 from Bucyrus, Kansas, a town nearly 30 minutes south of Kansas City. Both alumnae of MU, the couple echoed the concerns Wolfe had in his email, including the Board’s unwillingness to negotiate “a responsible settlement with Tim Wolfe, who selflessly resigned as president in order to prevent a threatened significant campus protest and thereby preserve the reputation, safety and integrity of the University.”

The Hoffmans claim to have donated $775,000 since October 2002, and pledged to donate another $300,000 through the next three years. The letter said they also participate in Missouri 100, a program started by former system president, and the Hoffmans’ “dear friend,” Gary Forsee.

The couple also questioned bringing Loftin on in his new position, “regardless of the evidence he was at the core of many of the problems the University has so embarassedly experienced in recent months.”

“Indeed, to be perfectly honest, despite our many years of support, we are seriously considering whether our charitable contributions are better spent elsewhere,” the Hoffmans letter ends. “We genuinely hope, though, that you will do what’s necessary and right to once again bring honor the the University.”

Fred Parry, publisher of Inside Columbia magazine and Republican candidate for the Boone County Commission’s southern district this year, wrote to Curator Maurice Graham on January 19. Parry’s letter also asks why Loftin and Pinkel “were rewarded with generous severance packages,” while Wolfe received nothing for his resignation, which Parry saw as a move to “end a crisis on campus” that the other two had “exaggerated.”

Parry also assured in his letter that “major supporters” of the school would help fund legal action taken against the Board on behalf of Wolfe for the damaged reputation he perceived the board inflicted.

“Tim Wolfe served you well during his tenure,” Parry wrote. “Let him walk away from this job with dignity and recognition for the selfless sacrifice he made by resigning from his position as president.”

Parry responded to ABC 17 News Thursday night, expressing his continued support of Wolfe and the letter he wrote to Graham.

“The Board of Curators acted in a cowardly manner in their dealings with Concerned Student 1950 and in how they handled Tim Wolfe’s resignation,” Parry wrote. “As you might guess, there’s a lot more to the story that I’m sure will come out over time.

UM System spokesman John Fougere said that since Wolfe’s letter went public January 27, the Board of Curators “has had no further discussions” with him.