In today’s society, more people than ever are choosing to exercise their right to freedom of speech.
Yet much of that free speech rankles others, leaving them to question where there’s ever a time when free speech should be stifled.
Last Saturday, at a Lady Panthers women’s basketball game, two black members of the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford cheerleading squad knelt down during the playing of the National Anthem.
Their actions set off a social media firestorm in Bradford, with people calling for boycotts of anything related to the university, and with others calling for people to pull their financial support from the campus.
Bradford resident John Terwilliger posted an open letter to Dr. Livingston Alexander, president of Pitt-Bradford, about the issue.
“It has come to our attention that two of the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford cheerleaders in attendance at the Lady Panthers game knelt during the playing of our country’s National Anthem. This behavior is unacceptable, but also cowardly and extremely disrespectful. It not only looks bad for the girls, but also the collective university. These girls should IMMEDIATELY be dismissed from the cheerleading squad, and their coach be reprimanded for allowing this despicable act to happen,” the letter read.
In a conversation with The Era, Terwilliger added, “It’s not about the flag as a piece of material but about who and what the flag represents. It’s more as respect for the men and women, past and present, that fought for the freedoms we have.”
On Thursday, The Era spoke to Alexander, who said the actions of the students do not reflect the university’s viewpoints, but the viewpoints of the students themselves.
“Students do not speak on behalf of the university,” Alexander said.
“A couple of the students on the cheerleading team and a couple of students on the women’s basketball team have expressed their beliefs by kneeling in a reverent way during the National Anthem,” Alexander told The Era.
“Our Constitution gives students or any other citizen of our country the right to express their beliefs and viewpoints as they wish, as long as in doing so, they don’t interfere with the rights of others,” the president said. “The students who have chosen to kneel make it very clear that they mean absolutely no disrespect for those who are serving in the military or veterans. They simply wish to exercise their right of free speech as Americans.”
He continued, saying no one has called his office directly to complain. Alexander said Pitt-Bradford’s office of communications has informed him that the issue has been prevalent on social media.
He took issue with anyone questioning Pitt-Bradford’s commitment to the military or to veterans.
“Anyone who knows what we do to honor veterans on our campus would not question our commitment to veterans,” Alexander said. “We have a very active ROTC program in conjunction with St. Bonaventure that prepares students for a commission in the military.”
Pitt-Bradford has been nationally recognized eight years in a row as being a military friendly school, he added. There are veterans programs held on campus, a veterans club and more.
Regarding whether such a protest may be held again, Alexander said, “We cannot anticipate or predict when an individual will choose to project their beliefs in one way or another. We cannot abridge that right.”
When asked what the protest was about, Alexander said he didn’t ask.
“It’s part of living in America throughout our history,” he said. “It’s not unusual for Americans throughout history to reflect our viewpoints in one way or another, whether it’s expressing loyalty or questioning or complaining about circumstances that they feel uncomfortable with, or circumstances they may consider are unjust, or something they feel is needed to question.”
