TO THE EDITOR:
East Carolina University is a university that is near and not-so-dear to most of our hearts. Recently, the ECU band has been under fire for taking a knee during the National Anthem, previously modeled by 49ers quarterback, Colin Kaepernick.
Regardless of perceived “rivalries” in sports, when one of our fellow North Carolina universities is under scandal, we all pay attention. Some of us agree with their protesting, some of us speak out against it; but almost all of us are speaking about it.
Historically, colleges have supported civil disobedience.
In 1972, there was a very public case in which the president of Amherst College sat in the middle of a busy roadway in order to protest the Vietnam War and was subsequently arrested. His university backed him up, saying that he has the right to protest under the First Amendment. His protest caused many people to look more into the Vietnam War and the things that were involved with it.
College years are a time in your life where you are forcibly exposed to many different cultures, opinions and people. Sometimes, if instances of injustice are not shouted out, then many people will not know of these events happening. Non-compliance has proven to foster the conversation and buzz in order to enact political change.
What more perfect a place to fight for political change than a college campus full of like-minded people?
Samantha Smith
First-year
