*After 19 members of the East Carolina University marching band took a knee Saturday during the playing of the national anthem, both the school and a North Carolina ESPN radio affiliate are making their opposition to the protest known.
On Monday, the administration said it would “not tolerate” similar protests in the future. And today, ESPN Radio affiliate WFAY FM in Fayetteville announced it would not broadcast this weekend’s game between East Carolina and USF, calling ECU’s protests “shameful and disrespectful” and saying it will “protest the protest” by not airing Saturday’s game.
A statement from WFAY chairman Jeff Adrulonis mentioned the station’s proximity to Ft. Bragg, the largest military base in the world, and how kneeling for the national anthem disrespects the men and women who have served.
“Every sponsor I’ve talked to agrees that last weekend’s game at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium was shameful and a message needs to be sent.”
This is something else – ESPN Fayetteville radio won’t carry ECU-USF because of the band protest pic.twitter.com/2UwHgkfZBZ
— Mark Armstrong (@ArmstrongABC11) October 4, 2016
This all started before ECU’s game against UCF on Saturday, Oct. 1, when the band began playing the Star Spangled Banner. Nineteen members dropped to one knee during the song. Some continued to play their instruments while on a knee, with others electing not to play at all.
Watch below:
Some in the crowd booed the band when it returned to play at halftime.
Watch below:
The school later released a statement saying it was disappointed by the actions of the band, but hoped fans would understand.
On Monday, an email was released by Dr. William Staub, director of Athletic Bands; Chris Ulffers, director of the School of Music; and Dr. Chris Buddo, dean of the College of Fine Arts and Communication, assuring that “protests of this nature by the Marching Pirates will not be tolerated moving forward.”
Read the entire email below:
“We regret the actions taken by 19 members of the East Carolina University Marching Pirates on game day October 1st felt hurtful to many in our Pirate family and disrespectful to our country. We understand and respect this is an issue where emotions are strong.
The Marching Pirates continue to be fully supportive of all the values the East Carolina University community holds dear.
We have met with the band and the members have collectively reaffirmed their commitment to the unique privilege and responsibility that comes with wearing the uniform of the Marching Pirates.
College is about learning, and it is our expectation that the members of the Marching Pirates will learn from this experience and fulfill their responsibilities. While we affirm the right of all our students to express their opinions, protests of this nature by the Marching Pirates will not be tolerated moving forward.
It is our hope that together we can move past these events and that the Marching Pirates will be part of the healing process, working as one Pirate Nation.”
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