The LSU women’s basketball team opted not to be present for the National Anthem moments before their Elite Eight game against Iowa on Monday night. And this decision has prompted Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry to go out on a full-on tirade not only against LSU, but against any student-athlete in the state that opts not to be present for the National Anthem.
Earlier this week, Landry wrote a letter to LSU Board of Regents to “express his disappointment” on the team’s decision not to be present for the anthem.
On Thursday, he took things a step even further. According to Piper Hutchinson, a reporter on higher education for the Louisiana Illuminator, Landry has sent letters to all of the higher education systems in the state to have them adopt policies to strip scholarships from athletes not present during the national anthem.
New: @LAGovJeffLandry has sent letters to all four higher ed systems and the Board of Regents calling on them to adopt policies to strip scholarships from athletes not present during the national anthem #lalege #lagov pic.twitter.com/YOeIHl4uXK
— Piper Hutchinson (@ByPiperHutch) April 4, 2024
This policy plan from Landry is obviously controversial for several reasons. Firstly, no college program currently mandates for athletes to be present for the National Anthem. So this kind of policy would be the first of its kind.
Secondly, other sports such as college football are very commonly not on the field for the anthem during either regular-season matchups or even bowl games. So it seems a bit odd for Landry to be so adamant about this situation based on this one game for LSU.
Chances are this situation will likely go away with no policy going into place. But Landry appears to be dead set on seeing this change, so it will be interesting to see how hard he fights for it.
