ETSU students, staff and faculty gathered alongside members of the community Wednesday to express their support for the actions of the ETSU men’s basketball team after state lawmakers’ pushback against kneeling during the national anthem.
The team’s decision to kneel at the Feb. 15 game at Chattanooga has garnered a mix of responses from the community. In a recent response from the Tennessee Senate, all 27 Republican members signed a letter encouraging all state institutions to “prohibit” further protest while playing.
ETSU President Brian Noland made a statement at the ETSU Board of Trustees meeting Feb. 19 in response to the incident.
“When you put on a uniform, you take on a unique responsibility, and I know that the actions of the past few days have caused tension and strife and emotion within our community,” Noland said. “I also know that we’ve had a lot of purposeful and intentional conversations regarding social justice and equity and structural disparities in our region.
“Those conversations are healthy and healing and I know that they’re going to plant seeds that will allow roots to grow for change.”
Numerous current and former faculty and staff members have come forward in support of the team across several social media platforms, as well as in formal statements by departments within the university.
Keith Johnson, vice president of the ETSU Office of Equity and Inclusion, released a statement that described concern over the flag being a “red herring fallacy to divert attention away from police brutality, racism and issues which create much deeper and broader conversations that people just are not ready to have.”
Daryl Carter, director of the ETSU Africana Studies program, penned a statement about the decision to kneel in protest, citing a difference in perception as to the protest’s meaning.
“Anyone who served or is serving deserves our respect and appreciation,” read the statement. “But this issue was never about disrespect toward our veterans and servicemembers. Our servicemembers and veterans are an important part of the social and cultural fabric of this nation. We honor them and their service.”
Several members of ETSU’s faculty endorsed Carter’s statement.
The ETSU Student Government Association also put out a statement on Feb. 24, condemning the state Senate letter.
“We believe that this is a direct violation of First Amendment rights and will fervently oppose any attempts by politicians to silence our fellow students,” said the statement. “In the next few days, there will be challenges ahead for both our athletes and our campus, but we remain steadfast in our conviction.”
The issue migrated from online discourse to action on campus Wednesday, as demonstrators gathered in the parking lot next to the ETSU parking garage. A march, organized in under 24 hours by graduate student Shae Keane, gathered roughly 250 supporters.
At 5:30 p.m., protesters began marching through campus with the end destination being Borchuck Plaza. Students, faculty members and community figures chanted slogans like “This is what democracy looks like”, “All lives don’t matter until Black lives matter” and “We kneel with the Bucs” as they approached the heart of campus.
Little counterprotest was seen aside from a lone man holding a sign reading “Kneeling is for praying,” as well as an American flag.
Once protestors reached Borchuck Plaza, speakers took turns sharing their thoughts on the issues presented. SGA Vice President Seth Manning expressed his anger with the legislators’ attempt to curb students’ free speech rights.
“Don’t tell these players to stand or to shut up, how about these politicians down in Nashville do their damn jobs?” said Manning.
Manning then turned his attention to ETSU administration, echoing disappointment in Noland’s response.
“To President Noland, we have to do better,” Manning said. “Dr. Noland made comments on Friday to the Board of Trustees, and they were not in support of our athletes. They were neutral, if that.”
Students, alumni, faculty, basketball players and activists took turns sharing their stories in relation to racial inequality. Organizers then lit 17 candles around the Borchuck Plaza Memorial Fountain to symbolize the members of the men’s basketball team and took a knee in solidarity with their protest.
An upcoming Senate committee vote is the first potential countermeasure that legislators may pursue.
“Unless there is a good reason to change funding models, you know, if they’re just going to say ‘Well, we’re defunding you because you said something that we didn’t like’, you know, that’s covered in the constitution, so they’re not going to say that,” Manning told the East Tennessean. “And if they do say that, and many of them already have, so I think if they were to defund it, it’d be a big constitutional issue, criminal issue, law issue, and so I don’t see that happening.”
The Tennessee chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union released a statement Feb. 23 on the potential unconstitutionality of the act.
“Such policies would be unconstitutional,” the statement said. “The U.S. Supreme Court has long held that neither public schools nor legislators can force their definition of patriotism on students by requiring students to participate in compelled speech. These students can say what they want as long as it does not disrupt the learning process. When public universities play the national anthem, they are opening a public forum for free expression under the First Amendment. Public universities cannot then turn around and censor students for expressing themselves by taking a knee. ETSU’s support for their students’ free expression is constitutional, appropriate, and in keeping with academic ideals of promoting free thought and dialogue.”
Protest organizers urged those in attendance to rally their support around the team on Saturday for their game against UNC-Greensboro and are coordinating with the hashtag #KneelwiththeBucs
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