Following Colin Kaepernick, athletes across the nation are not standing for the national anthem and now some local college athletes are joining in the protest.

Before Wednesday night’s volleyball game at West Virginia University Tech, three volleyball players chose to take a stance on something they feel very strongly about by kneeling during the Star Spangled Banner in support of Kaepernick’s protest.

As an athlete and vice president of the Black Student Union at WVU Tech, Keyonna Morrow said that something needed to be done to show her support for Kaepernick’s choice to kneel during the national anthem

“He’s exercising his right to choose to sit or stand, so you have to recognize that he’s got that right,” Morrow said.

Morrow and two other teammates chose to join the protest by kneeling when the anthem was played before the game, saying everyone should be treated equally.

“I hope that it just makes people reconsider before they judge someone for something,” Morrow said.

WVU Tech student Tiffany Reavis said she disagrees.

“You stand for the national anthem, regardless. It’s kind of like a respect thing for everyone who served, here especially,” Reavis said.

But Reavis said she supports those athletes for standing up for something in which they strongly believe.

“If they want to come together and make a statement, then that’s what they should do. For someone to stand up for what they believe in, it encourages other people to do it,” Reavis said.

Morrow said she chose to do this, not for publicity, but to express her beliefs.

“Everyone should be treated equally, no matter their color age, sex anything. Everyone needs to be on one page, everyone needs to be treated the same way,” Morrow said.

Morrow said she hopes Kaepernick’s actions will make people think about how they treat all races.

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