When Kennesaw State University’s football team takes the field on, the school’s cheerleading squad will feature new faces.
According to WXIA, four out of the five KSU cheerleaders who took a knee during the national anthem last year as part of a nationwide movement to draw attention to police brutality didn’t make the 2018-2019 team.
Their act of protest inspired praise—and a backlash from the university itself. After the cheerleaders, all of whom are black women, took a knee on Sept. 30, KSU banned the cheerleading squad from taking the field during the national anthem, keeping them in the tunnel instead, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. The school later reversed the move.
WXIA reports, KSU says there was much more competition for the squad this year than last. 95 applicants tried out for 52 available spots, compared to 61 cheerleaders trying out in 2017. In total, seven cheerleaders on KSU’s squad in 2017 didn’t make the cut this year.
But one of the cheerleaders who knelt last year, Toomia Dean, told WXIA her protest definitely “played a role” in the final decision.
“I know the people who made it. I know their skills and I know my skills. But I don’t think it was a skills-based thing. Not to say I’m amazing or anything, but I know my skills and what I had,” she told WXIA.
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