Editor’s Note: Inclusion of a controversial tweet in this commentary does not represent support of the tweet by GoPowercat.com nor the 247Sports Network. The tweet is included in this article for journalistic accuracy.
The tweet contained just 12 words, and yet whether the intention of a tweet from a Kansas State student was to elicit a reaction, cause laughter or target African-Americans, students, alumni and university officials are reacting with repulsion to the words shared Thursday afternoon by current Kansas State student whom I have chosen not to name.
“Congratulations to George Floyd on being drug free for an entire month!”
The tweet references the death of Minneapolis resident George Floyd. Floyd, 46, died after being arrested by police in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Footage of the arrest on May 25, 2020, shows a white police officer, Derek Chauvin, kneeling on Floyd's neck while he was pinned to the ground. Chauvin, 44, has since been charged with murder. Other officers involved in the arrest also are facing charges.
At best, the tweet is an attempt at humor that is in incredibly poor taste. At worst, the tweet carries racist undertones, and other tweets on his timeline appear to be more overtly racist. Many are calling for the student’s expulsion from Kansas State, which is located in Manhattan, Kan., a community of 55,000 residents (and typically around 22,000 students) in the Flint Hills of northeast Kansas.
Among those demanding action against the student is Kansas State football player Joshua Youngblood, who was a named the Big 12’s special teams player of the year after his true freshman season in 2019. Youngblood, upon finding out the author of the tweet is a fellow K-State student, demanded action by the university. “K-State, y’all need to do something,” Youngblood wrote.
It may not be that simple, though. Constitutionally protected free speech also protects unpopular and even hateful speech, a reality a public institution must carefully observe. Still, people are rightfully angry and are exercising their own free speech.
Late Thursday night, the controversial tweet gained traction within the K-State community. Many want the young man, who is listed as a junior in political science by the university’s directory (no hometown is noted), expelled and an online petition was launched seeking to ban a campus organization founded by the same student. K-State officials responded with their own tweets, the most significant of which came from Kansas State University president Richard B. Myers through the university’s official Twitter account, @KState:
“The insensitive comments posted by one K-State student hurts our entire community. These divisive statements do not represent the values of our university. We condemn racism and bigotry in all its forms. We are launching an immediate review of the university’s options. Black Lives Matter at Kansas State University, and we will continue to fight for social justice.”
There were other responses from Kansas State officials.
“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,” wrote K-State athletics director Gene Taylor.
“K-State condemns the post in the strongest of terms,” wrote Thomas Lane Vice President for Student Life and Dean of Students at Kansas State University. “It does not reflect who we are as confirmed by the outrage expressed by so many campus community members. Bigotry prejudice and racism have no place here.”
This isn’t simply a Kansas State student, though. He is one who has built a strong national following. His twitter account has more and 20,000 followers, and he’s founded an on-campus group that states its purpose as a “student Organization for strong borders, traditional families, the American worker, and Christian values. His Twitter bio is succinct, mentioning that he is a “Christian, Conservative, and Gamer.”
The founding of the group was a point of contention early in the spring 2020 semester, prior to classes moving online during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Kansas State Collegian, the student newspaper, outlined the debate within the university’s student body governing structure in a story written by Kaylie Mclaughlin, editor of The Collegian, headlined, “New student organization forces campus leaders to consider freedom of expression, principles of community.”
Student body president Jansen Penny, a senior in industrial engineering, was one of several student leaders quoted in the story. Penny sought a balance between First Amendment protections afforded to all students at a public university such as Kansas State and the Principles of Community, a K-State document which outlines practices and principles that seek to establish a framework for a culture of respect on the Kansas State campus.
“My concern would probably be how do we balance two things that are very important to this university,” Penny said at the time.
And he’s right. This is a challenging balance, a tightrope act that takes place with the flames of a national firestorm over Floyd’s death and racism in general licking at the rope.
The Principles of Community document is signed by President Myers and provost Charles S. Taber. It ends with this: While these principles express the values of the community, for enforceable anti-discrimination policy, please see the University's Policy Prohibiting Discrimination.
So, yes, the tweet is in incredibly poor taste, but could it lead to expulsion from the student body as many are demanding?
The harsh truth is probably not, but there also may be grounds for expulsion buried in university rules and regulations. A public university taking on a free speech battle in these heated times also seems ill-advised, if not expensive, but Purdue’s president Mitch Daniels is taking similar action against a member of his student body.
It should also be noted that a move to expel a student over such a hateful statement certainly would lend more national attention to an activist such as this person, who appears to crave the attention his outlandish behavior generates. Unfortunately, this column also feeds this desire, which is why I’ve taken care to avoid direct mentions of his name or the organization he founded.
So far, the university is shaming the student, which he certainly deserves.
“Our program and our coaches will continue to be part of the solution when it comes to racial and justice. I love our players, and they know I have their backs,” tweeted Kansas State football coach Chris Kleiman.
Other K-State football players also are demanding action, but will it come? Time will tell, but hopefully, at some point in his life, the young man will understand that joking about someone’s recent death is distasteful and doing so while knowing those words will be hurtful to others is a sad commentary on himself.
Furthermore, any good Christian knows that all of us, despite our personal failings, are worthy of God’s grace and forgiveness. Joking about the death of a man who was pleading for help from police officers who were putting his life in peril is not how a young man claiming to be a Christian should represent his faith to the world.
Still, it is not my place as a man of faith to judge him. Just as it is not his place to judge Floyd. That duty is assigned to a higher power. Just try to love your fellow members of the human race, no matter their skin color, religion, or politics.
That is something we all need to attempt in these uncertain times; either one hopes to create a better place or one continues fanning those thirsty flames.