Students and alumni want statue of Colin Kaepernick on campus
A group of alumni asked the University of Nevada-Reno to install a statue of alumnus, football star, and activist Colin Kaepernick.
The school’s student government passed a resolution requesting the installation of a Kaepernick statue.
The university has not yet addressed the recommendation, but left the door open to granting Kaepernick other forms of accolade.
Students and alumni want a statue of former NFL quarterback Colin Kapernick installed at the University of Nevada-Reno.
Kaepernick — who graduated in 2011 and led the school’s football team to record victories — gained national notoriety after kneeling during the national anthem at a San Francisco 49ers football game.
Today, Kaepernick focuses much of his efforts on racial activism work. As Campus Reform recently reported, Kaepernick’s organization sponsored a series of essays about police reform and racism. One of the writings alleged that to “reform the police” is to “reward the police” while they “brutalize and kill.”
[RELATED: Colin Kaepernick endorsed Princeton prof: Police are ‘inherently predatory and violent’]
A Facebook group called UNR Alumni Campaign for Statue of Kaepernick Kneeling in Mackay Stadium — which launched following the death of George Floyd and which boasted 1,500 members as of the time of publication — said that creating the statue “would make a very powerful statement to future students, especially Black ones.”
“The university states that it supports inclusion and diversity. Let’s see. Does UNR want to be on the correct side of history, or not?” reads the group’s description.
[RELATED: Harvard hires Obama-connected firm for police review. The result is unsurprising.]
Corresponding with alumni, the Associated Students of the University of Nevada proposed a resolution to install a statue of Kaepernick.
Listing Kaepernick’s activism credentials, the resolution states that “having a statute of Colin Kaepernick will be representing Black students at the University of Nevada, Reno as well as be representative of social justice movements in response to deep-rooted disenfranchisement of the Black community.”
UNR spokesperson Kerri Garcia Hendricks told Campus Reform that the president’s office is currently reviewing the student government’s resolution, which passed in December.
“We are proud of all of our alumni, Colin Kaepernick being one of the most recognizable,” she explained. “We have had students, faculty and alumni talk about how we could recognize the social justice conversation Colin started in this county by taking a knee.”
”President Sandoval is considering the best way to recognize Colin, looking at the options that are available, such as many of the University’s prestigious awards that may be appropriate, such as honorary degrees, Distinguished Nevadan awards and the President’s Medal,” she added.
Campus Reform reached out to the University of Nevada-Reno for comment; this article will be updated accordingly.
Follow the author of this article on Twitter: @BenZeisloft
