The College of the Ozarks announced on Wednesday that it would eliminate Nike gear from its athletic wardrobes following the company’s unveiling of an ad campaign that features Colin Kaepernick.
Kaepernick, a former NFL quarterback, became a polarizing figure in 2016 after he began kneeling during the national anthem to protest police brutality against African-Americans.
Nike’s new ad campaign includes a close-up photo of Kaepernick’s face with the sentence, “Believe in something, even if it means sacrificing everything.”
As a result, the College of the Ozarks, a small Christian institution in rural Missouri, announced that it would get rid of all athletic uniforms that had been purchased from Nike and anything else that displays the Nike “swoosh” logo, according to a news release.
The college revised its sports contracts in October 2017, adding a stipulation that all participating coaches and players “show respect for the American flag and national anthem,” the release said.
“If Nike is ashamed of America, we are ashamed of them,” the college’s president, Jerry C. Davis, said in a written statement. “We also believe that those who know what sacrifice is all about are more likely to be wearing a military uniform than an athletic uniform.”
Marci Linson, vice president for patriotic activities and dean of admissions, said that “Nike is free to campaign as it sees fit, as the college is free, and honor-bound by its mission and goals, to ensure that it respects our country and those who truly served and sacrificed.”
Kaepernick and other prominent athletes who kneel during the anthem have repeatedly said that they do not mean any disrespect to members of the U.S. military.
Nike’s ad campaign has galvanized supporters and critics alike on social media. One such critic gained internet notoriety for cutting off the Nike swooshes on his socks.
The college had already refused to compete against any teams with players who took a knee. And over the same issue, the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics, in which the College of the Ozarks competes, agreed to the college’s request to move the 2018 men’s Division II basketball tournament to a venue other than the College of the Ozarks.
In 2017 the college said it would require all freshmen to take a new course, “Patriotic Education and Fitness,” The Chronicle has reported. The course includes studying tying knots, map reading, and the formation of American government and politics.
Nike, which had about $34.4 billion in sales in the 2017 fiscal year, previously announced a target of $50 billion in sales by 2020.
Emma Pettit is a staff reporter at The Chronicle. Follow her on Twitter @EmmaJanePettit, or email her at emma.pettit@chronicle.com.
