A group of Kansas State University athletes threatened to boycott the upcoming season unless the university disciplines a student who mocked George Floyd.
Jaden McNeil, the president and founder of the school’s America First student organization, is facing blowback after he congratulated Floyd in a tweet “on being drug free for an entire month!”
Multiple athletes on the school’s football team and one on the women’s basketball team have said they would not play next season, which will depend on the coronavirus situation, if McNeil does not face repercussions for the comment.
Freshman cornerback Tee Denson tweeted that he refuses to play for a program that “tolerates ignorance such as this,” and his teammate Tyrone Lewis Jr. tweeted, “This is unacceptable, what makes you wake up in the morning with this much hate? Something has to change!!”
Christianna Carr, a member of the women’s basketball team, posted a statement on Friday that said, “As Black student athletes we will NO LONGER accept these types of actions” and that if they do not see change “we will not play or participate in any donor or recruitment events.”
“A Policy created against racism that will expel any student that openly displays racism on all platforms such as, social media, school, Aggieville, and sporting events,” Carr said. “We need to see student Jaden McNeil receive strong consequences of his insensitive actions.”
Defensive back Jonathan Alexander also tweeted out Carr’s statement.
Following the athletes’ call for discipline, university President Richard Myers and the school’s athletic director, Gene Taylor, tweeted their support for the players, but they did not announce any specific punishment for McNeil.
“The insensitive comments posted by one K-State student hurts our entire community. These divisive statements do not represent for the values of our university,” Myers said. “We condemn racism and bigotry in all its forms. We are launching an immediate review of the university’s options. Black Lives Matter at Kansas State University and we will continue to fight for social justice.”
“Recent tweets from a K-State student downplaying the Black Lives Matter effort and the tragic and senseless death of George Floyd are disgusting and totally inappropriate and not reflective of who we are as a University or our Athletic Department,” Taylor wrote.
