A Georgia lawmaker says Scrappy the Owl, the mascot at the university where five cheerleaders have been kneeling during the national anthem, had no business leading students in a march through campus to support the cheerleaders.
The five Kennesaw State University cheerleaders vow to kneel in the stadium tunnel when the anthem is played at Saturday’s homecoming football game. They were moved off-field after an earlier protest.
Republican state Rep. Earl Ehrhart chairs the House subcommittee in charge of funding Georgia’s public universities.
He tells The Marietta Daily Journal that Scrappy’s participation in Monday’s rally supporting the so-called Kennesaw Five was inappropriate.
#KSU students march in support of kneeling cheerleaders #CobbCounty #Education https://t.co/ZgIBVJDoBo
— MDJ Online (@mdjonline) October 17, 2017
Senior Aleaka Cooper (left), junior David Corinthian and KSU mascot Scrappy the Owl (right) kneel in the center of protestors on the Campus Green. The protest is in support of the 5 cheerleaders who knelt during the national anthem before the 9/30 football game.
?: @ryanbasden pic.twitter.com/EhK1XW8e4k— The Sentinel (@ksusentinel) October 16, 2017
The lawmaker says that unless any group can solicit the owl’s services for protests, the taxpayer-funded mascot shouldn’t have been used.
On Monday, a couple hundred Kennesaw State University students led by Scrappy the Owl marched across campus, carrying signs and voicing support for the five cheerleaders who took a knee during the national anthem ahead of the school’s Sept. 30 football game.
Associated Press
