Southern Schools Silent on Proposed Black Athlete Boycott

Earlier this week, the NAACP launched a proposed boycott of athletic departments in eight southern states that have been redrawing their congressional maps in the wake of a Supreme Court decision further limiting the scope of the Voting Rights Act. 

The “Out of Bounds” campaign, launched Tuesday, asked Black athletes, fans, and alumni to boycott 12 big-time athletic departments until those states “restore fair congressional maps and meaningful Black representation.”

So far, none of the 12 schools targeted by the campaign have spoken about it publicly. 

FOS contacted university spokespeople for all 12 schools: Auburn, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, Clemson, Florida, FSU, Texas, Texas A&M, LSU, Ole Miss, and Mississippi State.

The majority of schools did not respond to a request for comment. A spokesperson for Mississippi State declined to comment, as did a spokesperson for LSU president Wade Rousse. Georgia president Jere Morehead was asked during a meeting with reporters Thursday, but did not directly comment on the NAACP’s concerns.

The NAACP asks prospective Black athletes to refuse enrollment at these universities, and to consider local Historically Black Colleges and Universities instead. It tells fans and alumni to refrain from donating or purchasing tickets or merchandise benefiting these schools, and redirect these funds to HBCU athletic departments and NIL efforts. Finally, it asks current Black athletes to speak out on the issues publicly, and even to consider transferring. 

“The state that is working to erase your grandmother’s congressional district is the same state whose governor will stand on the field and celebrate your touchdown or game-winning shot,” the NAACP’s Tylik McMillan said Tuesday. “We are asking young people—recruits, current athletes, fans—to see that connection clearly and to act on it.”

Current and former athletes have also largely been quiet on the boycott.

Earlier this week, schools were also targeted by a similar campaign on Capitol Hill.

On Monday night, the Congressional Black Caucus announced “unanimous opposition” to the NCAA- and power conference-backed SCORE Act. The stated reason: university and athletics officials had not spoken out against the redistricting efforts taken in their schools’ states in the wake of the Supreme Court decision. 

The SCORE Act, which many administrators see as a way to regain control over rule-making in college sports, was set for a vote this week. It likely needed at least some Democratic support given thin margins in the House and some existing Republican opposition—but hours after the CBC’s announcement of unanimous opposition, House leadership canceled the vote.

The CBC made an even bigger statement after the vote was canceled, however, holding a press conference in front of the Capitol on Tuesday afternoon. 

“With respect to the SCORE Act, our position has been clear,” House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries (D., N.Y.) said Tuesday. “If LSU is for it, we’re against it. If the University of Alabama is for it, we’re against it. If Ole Miss is for it, we’re against it. If the University of South Carolina is for it, we’re against it. If the University of Tennessee is for it, we’re against it. And if the SEC schools are for it, we are against it.”

Former Auburn men’s basketball coach Bruce Pearl, who frequently expresses political views, wrote online after Jefferies’s comments that he was “disappointed you are using your platform to perpetuate hate and conspiracy rather than improving education 4 all.” 

Morehead, Georgia’s president, dodged questions about the boycott Thursday. When asked directly about it, he said: “I think we’ve got to stay focused on the main issue is, we’ve got to reform college athletics and we’re committed to reforming it through the SCORE Act, the work that Senator (Maria) Cantwell and Senator (Ted) Cruz are doing in the Senate. That’s where our focus is going to be.”