Think Progress
12.17.16 | Lindsay Gibbs
If you don’t stand for something …
Last year, football players at the University of Missouri recognized their collective power and went on strike, refusing to play until the university’s president, Tim Wolfe, resigned due to the mishandling of a series of racist incidents on campus. Wolfe stepped down two days later.
This year, it’s the football players at the University of Minnesota who are utilizing the power they have as high-profile athletes, only they’re boycotting for a different reason — to protest the suspension of 10 of their teammates over sexual assault allegations.
In a press conference Thursday night, all 120 players on the team, including the 10 suspended players, stood together behind seniors Drew Wolitarsky, Mitch Leidner, and Duke Anyanwu to announce the boycott was “effective immediately.”
“The boycott will remain in effect until due process is followed and the suspensions for all 10 players involved are lifted,” Wolitarsky said, adding that they want to meet with university officials about how to “make our program great again.” (They have since reversed this decision, ending the boycott on Saturday morning, as noted in the update below.)
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