Manhattan, Kansas Last week, a Kansas State student sent a tweet out that was described as “openly racist, threatening and disrespectful.” Kansas State Athletic Director Gene Taylor responded via Twitter, calling the tweet “disgusting and inappropriate.”
Recent tweets from a K-State student downplaying the Black Lives Matter effort and the tragic and senseless death of George Floyd are disgusting and totally inappropriate and not reflective of who we are as a University or our Athletic Department.
— Gene Taylor (@KSTATEADGT) June 26, 2020
After learning about the tweet from the Kansas State student, Wildcat players Josh Youngblood and Tee Denson said that they would not represent Kansas State until change was made, and the whole team came together to announce that “they will no longer participate in team activities” until their demands are met.
Kansas State players released a message on Twitter, saying, “Due to the recent disparaging, insensitive, and unsettling comments made by a fellow student, we as a football team, after consultation with students from campus organizations as well as students from the general student body, feel it is best for us to stand with the students. We are demanding that Kansas State University put a policy in place that allows a student to be dismissed for displaying openly racist, threatening or disrespectful actions toward a student or groups of students.”
The message went on to say, “We have resolved that we cannot play, practice, or meet until these demands are heard and actions taken. We love Kansas State but we must stand together and protect all students moving forward.”
However, moments ago, it was announced by Kansas State players on social media that they have decided to end their boycott and will now play in the upcoming season because the university took steps to address the problems.
“We appreciate the diligent work of our university and athletics administration as we work through these important issues”, the letter said. “The plans and action items released Wednesday are great first steps in our goal of defeating hate and racism on our campus, and therefore, we have decided to return to workouts with our teammates. However, we know that this process is far from completed, and should it slow or diminish for any reason we would re-evaluate the situation and our options at that time.”
