Ad Disclosure
Wisconsin players protest racial injustice on campus, demand change
Published:
Late on Monday night, Wisconsin athletes took to social media to demand change.
Led by Wisconsin basketball player Nigel Hayes, many African American student-athletes shared Hayes’ post on the alleged racial inequalities on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus.
“It is painful that someone in our community would show up to an athletic event with a mask of our sitting president, who happens to look a lot like us, with a noose around his neck,” the statement continued. “That moment was like a punch in the face to not only student-athletes of color but also current students, faculty and alumni of color. This incident was yet another blow and reminder that there are people in this community that may not value diverse populations.”
As a student, I demand change from @UWMadison. pic.twitter.com/NZEaqBeevP
— Nigel Hayes-Davis (@NIGEL_HAYES) November 8, 2016
Badger veterans like Dare Ogunbowale, Corey Clement, Derrick Tindal and several other football players shared Hayes’ post as a result of the incident that took place in Camp Randall Stadium two weeks ago. A student was allowed to enter the stadium wearing a Barack Obama costume with a noose around the neck.
At the @UWBadgers game and there is a man with a mask of President Obama and a noose. This is racism, why was this allowed into the stadium? pic.twitter.com/zKEqhdDYny
— Ka(n)ti(fa)e (@woahohkatie) October 29, 2016
The students responsible for the costume were removed and had their season tickets revoked on Monday. Wisconsin athletic director Barry Alvarez released a statement saying that the university would do whatever it could to make sure nothing like that ever happened again.
Alvarez said that there would be policy changes before the team’s next home game on Saturday. He hasn’t announced what those would be yet.
The Badgers will take on Illinois on Saturday at Camp Randall Stadium. It’s homecoming weekend in Madison.
Connor O'Gara is the senior national columnist for Saturday Tradition. He's a member of the Football Writers Association of America. After spending his entire life living in B1G country, he moved to the South in 2015.