Howard University has created a new policy for athletic programs surrounding the national anthem.
As reported by The Hilltop, HU athletes are now required to stand for the national anthem or remain in the locker room.
This protocol was created following the Bison women’s basketball team kneeling before a December game against the United States Military Academy.
“There have been thoughtful internal conversations between athletics leadership, coaches and student-athletes regarding pregame protocols,” Howard athletic director Kery Davis said in a statement. “The current approach is about supporting our students’ freedom of expression while upholding mutual respect for all communities.”
Howard women’s basketball associate head coach Brian Davis told The Hilltop that the team’s kneeling against Army was not an in ill gesture.
“I think that their personnel kind of took it the wrong way and tried to take it somewhere where it wasn’t,” he said. “We didn’t want to disrespect anybody. That wasn’t our intent. But if we did, we definitely apologized to them and let them know where we stood with it.”
Davis explained the women’s basketball program had been kneeling for the anthem “since COVID, especially when all the social justice things were happening. All the young men and women Black of color [who] were passing away from the hands of police brutality, we decided to take a stand against social injustice.”
