The athletic director at the University of Southern California, Pat Haden, said on Tuesday that he would not attend the NCAA’s College Football Playoff committee meeting in Indianapolis this week, due to the new Indiana religious freedom law that may allow discrimination against gays and lesbians.
I am the proud father of a gay son. In his honor, I will not be attending the CFP committee meeting in Indy this week. #EmbraceDiversity
— Pat Haden (@ADHadenUSC) March 31, 2015
Numerous groups and conventions have announced or threatened boycotts of the state, but the NCAA will not move this week’s Final Four games out of Indianapolis and did not indicate that it will move the league’s headquarters from the city either.
“We will work diligently to assure student-athletes competing in, and visitors attending, next week’s Men’s Final Four in Indianapolis are not impacted negatively by this bill,” NCAA President Mark Emmert said in a statement last week. “Moving forward, we intend to closely examine the implications of this bill and how it might affect future events as well as our workforce.”
ESPN host Keith Olbermann and former NBA star Charles Barkley have both called for the NCAA to pull the Final Four games fro Indiana over the religious freedom bill.
“There are times in the history of this country where sports not only influences our destiny, but leads it, and this is such a time,” Olbermann said on Monday.
Correction: This post originally stated that Pat Haden is the athletic director at the University of South Carolina. He is the athletic director at the University of Southern California.
Great story. One small correction - Pat Haden is the Athletic Director at the University of Southern California, not the University of South Carolina. Thanks.
New Teatroll candy: Pence’s Feces.
And also won a Heisman trophy there. He’s Southern Cal to the bone.
-Edited to be correct. Hayden, didn’t win a Heisman at Southern Cal. He did, however, win 2 national titles and star at quarterback for the LA Rams.
Pence’s bigot 'splainin doesn’t seem to be working
Good for him. I’m getting tired of reading how ‘disappointed’ some of these groups are. If they haven’t been listening to Pence and the Indiana legislature…let me paraphrase: They contend they’ve done nothing wrong, and everyone is just making a big mountain out of a molehill. They feel they’re the ones that have been victimized by the bad press. That’s all these groups need to understand.
Enough of the disappointment! Stand up like this guy and make some affirmative statement in favor of gay rights and definitively moving out of IN until this law is repealed. This Governor has no real intention to clarify a fucking thing, and the overwhelming ultra-conservative legislature in Indiana sees nothing objectionable about this ugly and odious law.
Now. Make your next move corporate America. Ball is in your court.