Kennesaw State University president Sam Olens announced Wednesday he’s ending a controversial change that kept some cheerleaders from kneeling on the football field during the national anthem to protest police misconduct.
KSU has been under the national microscope since five African-American cheerleaders took a knee during the anthem before the football team’s Sept. 30 game and the decision days later to keep all cheerleaders off the field during the anthem. Some felt KSU’s decision violated the students’ free speech rights.
“While I believe there are more effective ways to initiate an exchange of ideas on issues of national concern, the right to exercise one’s freedom of speech under the First Amendment must be protected,” Olens wrote in a letter to students, faculty and staff.
The Georgia Board of Regents is conducting a special review of how KSU responded to the cheerleaders’ actions.
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