Written by: David Lacy

Recently there have been reports of Grambling State University’s football team going on strike because of the condition of the locker rooms and weight room, complaints of long bus rides and players having to pay for their own Gatorade during games.

This could have happened to any school, including VSU. We have a winning football team. All it would take is some neglect and we could be in the same place as Grambling. This should stand as a warning not only to the people in charge of our football team but those around the country.

Grambling is suffering from a lack of funds and support for the team. This, along with neglect, has caused a lot of problems, money being a big one. Football brings in a lot of money for a school. Tickets, merchandise and alumni support are just a few of them.

It’s inexcusable for the administration at Grambling to allow this to happen, and I am glad that the team had the courage to step up and do what needed to be done not only for the sake of the team but also for the university. If the football team was having problems, I’m sure there were other parts of the university facing the same issues.

I don’t know a lot about football as a sport. I watch it from time to time and listen to my roommates argue about “their” teams, but it does not take a football fan to understand when a group of people are not being taken care of.

This incident is less about the football program and more about these young men and the rights they should have as human beings who are part of a football team. Sometimes people will back down in situations involving school administrators because it seems as if they are facing a giant. It’s not easy to face something this difficult when your future could be on the line. Many players are on scholarships and looking to turn football into their careers someday.

If I were in the same situation I would hope to be able to do what their football team did. Now that this has happened I hope it inspires men and women who are part of teams that have had these issues and may have been too scared to say anything.

Alone, we are not always capable of doing amazing things or making hard choices, but if you have a group of people you trust behind you there is very little you can’t accomplish together.

So, as students I hope that we will stand up when things like this happen and say we will not stand for them. I hope that we will have the courage to challenge the administration on issues that we feel we are being treated unfairly. And I hope that we will stand behind these things with passion and hope.