A popular University of Missouri professor submitted a letter of resignation Wednesday following an uproar over an email he sent to students telling them they'd have to take an exam despite threats of campus violence. But the university said it rejected the resignation.
Dale Brigham, an associate professor of nutrition and exercise physiology, submitted his resignation as outrage among some students grew in the wake of his email message.
"If you give in to bullies, they win," Brigham wrote. "The only way bullies are defeated is by standing up to them. If we cancel the exam, they win; if we go through with it, they lose."
That email sparked outrage among some students. Not long after, the professor announced he would step down.
"I made a mistake, and I do not want to cause further harm," Brigham told KOMU in an email earlier Wednesday as he awaited the university's response.
Late Wednesday afternoon, KOMU quoted Christian Basi, a spokesman for the university, as saying Brigham's resignation wasn't accepted. No reason was given.
Until his email, Brigham had no apparent connection to racial unrest on the school's Columbia campus, where protests culminated Monday with the resignations of two top administrators.
During the celebrations that followed, activists including faculty members clashed with journalists, spawning a spin off debate about freedom of the press. Two of the faculty members public apologised.
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