Dozens of college athletes nationwide have knelt, raised a fist, or sat down during the national anthem in recent months, a spectacle designed to call attention to racial injustices in the United States.
In November, the men’s basketball team at Kent State University also staged a demonstration during the anthem — but with a twist. Before the anthem played at the Golden Flashes’ first home game, against Mississippi Valley State University, each member of the team went into the stands and invited an audience member of a different race down to the court. All of them then stood in one line, most with their arms around each other, as “The Star-Spangled Banner” began.
The display of diversity and unity was a surprise to the thousands in attendance, and it quickly drew praise from inside and outside the collegiate sports world. Kent State has repeated the demonstration before each home game this season.
It was similar to a Seattle Seahawks “demonstration of unity” in September, when the professional football team’s players and coaches linked arms on the sidelines during the anthem.
Throughout the fall, college players and marching-band members who chose to take a knee, raise a fist, or sit during the anthem drew criticism, as many sports fans and alumni considered such actions to be disrespectful. Those critics held up Kent State’s approach as the ideal way for athletes to send a message.
Deon Edwin, a senior guard at Kent State, thought of the idea just before the season began, says Jalen Avery, a fellow senior and the team’s point guard. “We were watching a lot of other athletes take stands and protest things going on in the country,” he says. “Deon came up with the idea that we should stand for something different, which is unity.”
Before Kent State’s second home game, two days after its initial demonstration of unity, that contrast was clear. Kent State was playing Hiram College, a small liberal-arts institution in Ohio. A handful of Hiram players elected to take a knee during the anthem. At the opposite end of the court was Kent State’s solidarity line, made up of players, young children, parents, students, and senior citizens.
The coaching staff was fully supportive of the Kent State players’ action, Rob Senderoff, the men’s basketball coach, told The Chronicle. “It took courage,” he said in a written statement provided by the athletics department. “I believe it represents the unique culture of unity that we have here at Kent State.” In a YouTube interview posted in November by the university, he said his team included many African-American players who had faced discrimination.
Though the two teams’ players took different approaches, Chris Kibler, who coaches Hiram’s team, says he believes the demonstrations had a common purpose: positive social change.
When it comes to athlete activism, there is strength in numbers; a team effort packs more punch than an individual message. But it can be difficult to get a whole team on board. In Kent State’s case, “if everyone didn’t want to do it, we weren’t going to do it,” says Mr. Avery, the point guard.
Some Kent State players were initially confused about what the purpose of the demonstration was supposed to be. “Once we got that straightened out and there was a common understanding of what the message was, everybody was on board,” he says.
That’s one of the critical issues for student athletes to sort out before staging protests, says Ray Anderson, vice president for university athletics and athletics director at Arizona State University. “What’s most important for me is that they think through the options for how the message can be communicated,” he said.
Though Kent State isn’t a household name in college basketball — they’re a member of the Mid-American Conference, a middle-tier league, and had a 14-12 record as of mid-February — their fresh approach to the anthem protest has had national significance. Mr. Avery says he didn’t know of other college basketball teams that had picked up on the idea this season, but hoped there would be. He said he was encouraging other Kent State teams to continue the tradition in coming seasons. “Everyone definitely should at least talk about it, if not actually do it,” he says.
Sarah Brown writes about a range of higher-education topics, including sexual assault, race on campus, and Greek life. Follow her on Twitter @Brown_e_Points, or email her at sarah.brown@chronicle.com.
