Several updates occurred today in the story about the five Kennesaw State University cheerleaders who knelt during the national anthem in silent protest of police misconduct and racial inequality, including a comment finally from KSU President Sam Olens.
Following their actions on Sept. 30, KSU kept the cheerleaders off the field during the anthem, a decision that President Sam Olens attributed to the university's athletic department. That explanation is now in doubt after an Open Records request by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution showed two Cobb political leaders claiming credit for pushing Olens to do so.
With the news today that the Board of Regents will examine what happened, Olens broke his silence, releasing this statement:
In hindsight, I regret how the events over the past two weeks have unfolded and admit that the circumstances could have been handled better. I believe that a university should be a marketplace of ideas, encouraging free expression and open dialogue. To that end, I welcome the opportunity to meet with the cheerleaders and any student who wishes to participate in a discussion about how we can work together to continue to make KSU a university of which we are all proud."
AJC higher education reporter Eric Stirgus reports:
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported Tuesday that Cobb County Sheriff Neil Warren and state Rep. Earl Ehrhart boasted in a series of text messages about pressuring KSU president Sam Olens into keeping the school's cheerleaders off the field during the national anthem after they knelt during the anthem for the first time during the Sept. 30 game. Olens previously said in a written response to questions from the AJC that the decision to keep all cheerleaders off the field during the anthem was made by the university's athletics department.
And the cheerleaders themselves issued a statement today after seeing the AJC news story about the texts between Warren and Ehrhart:
We are deeply disheartened by the revelations revealed in these messages. We were exercising our 1st amendment rights in the most American way possible. We took a knee for a purpose and we continue to kneel for this cause. These text messages only leave us with more questions on how the university handled this situation. We would hope the university would defend its students from political leaders. To this day, President Olens has not met or requested a meeting with us. We are owed a meeting and to have this matter addressed publicly."
Olens' investiture as president of KSU, a job he began a year ago, is scheduled for tomorrow at 10 a.m. The Marietta Daily Journal reports KSU is concerned about turnout:
"At this time we only have 74 faculty in attendance," the email reads. "We have 6-plus more colleges than we did 10-plus years ago for our last Investiture Ceremony and a lot less faculty so far participating in the ceremony."
The email urges the deans to encourage faculty members who aren't teaching to attend. Those who are teaching were urged to bring their classes to the ceremony.
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