USC Aiken condemns comment from baseball coach on Black Lives Matter
Officials from the University of South Carolina-Aiken issued statements Tuesday distancing themselves from comments by the school’s baseball coach criticizing a display of support for the Black Lives Matter movement in college sports.
According to reports from the Aiken Standard and the Augusta Chronicle, USC Aiken coach Kenny Thomas took to Facebook recently to comment on a photo of Clemson football helmets with different stickers promoting Black Lives Matter and racial equality on them, which the Tigers wore during their season opener this past weekend.
“It is 100% shameful, I promise you will never see anything like this on my field. I support the Blue and not ashamed to say it,” Thomas, who has coached the Pacers since 2000, commented on one of the photos of a helmet with a Black Lives Matter sticker.
The USC Aiken athletics department issued a statement late Monday night in response to the comment.
“At UofSC Aiken we are clear in our stand that hate, inequality and injustice will not be tolerated,” the statement said. “We stand with the African American community and with all who are victims of racism and resulting inequalities. As education leaders, the university has a special role to play in building understanding and ending bias. Pacer Athletics will continue its long standing commitment to support sensitivity training and education.”
The university’s chancellor, Sandra J. Jordan, addressed Thomas’s comments in a statement shared to social media that said she “simply cannot express my disappointment” in the remarks.
“His expression was a personal opinion and does not reflect the values of this university, Pacer athletics, or our community,” Jordan’s statement continued. “ ... I am writing today to speak out against intolerance and opinions that stand in sharp contrast with our stated values of civility, tolerance and mutual respect.”
Jordan also said the university is taking “appropriate personnel action” in response to the incident, but she did not clarify what that would entail.
Thomas addressed the controversy on his personal Facebook page, writing late Monday night that his comment was taken “to some degree it was not meant to be.”
“My intent for the comment was to wish college athletics would not have to be involved in the politics of today,” Thomas wrote. “If you know me, you know I have always respected and appreciated not only my players, but people in general without regard to any race. Might of fact I would say I truely love all my current and former players. If I have hurt your feelings I’m very sorry.”
Over the past several months, college athletes across sports have become increasingly outspoken about social issues, particularly systemic racism. That’s led to several instances of coaches being accused of racial insensitivity.
Thomas is the program record-holder for wins and has guided the Pacers to nine NCAA Southeast Region appearances and two Peach Belt Conference regular season titles. In August, he announced that the 2021 season would be his last with the team.
This story was originally published September 15, 2020 at 6:09 PM.
