University of Missouri -- PRESIDENT RESIGNS ... After Football Protest

The President of the University of Missouri has resigned ... after several players on the school's football team threatened to boycott unless Tim Wolfe stepped down immediately.

The football players were protesting the way Wolfe handled issues of alleged racial harassment on campus over the past year ... including an incident where scumbags used human feces to draw a swastika on a dorm wall. Black leaders also claimed students had been openly using racial slurs.

The news comes after several faculty members had threatened a mass walkout TODAY unless action was taken.

Wolfe just issued a statement saying, "My motivation in making this decision comes from love. I love MU ... Columbia where I grew up and the state of Missouri."

"I thought and prayed about this decision ... it's the right thing to do."

"The response to this announcement I'm sure ranges from joy for some to anger to others and that's why we're here today."