Team leaders bench plans for Prop. 209 armbands

Thursday, December 10, 1998

FOOTBALL: Groups asked squad to back issue in Miami game

By Andy Shah

Daily Bruin Staff

A group of football players approached team leaders last week to discuss a possible affirmative action protest at Saturday's game, an idea that was eventually discarded and generated many rumors about the team's performance.

Before Saturday's game against the University of Miami, some players met with team leaders to discuss a protest which involved wearing black armbands during the game to protest Proposition 209, the 1996 ballot initiative banning all statewide affirmative action programs.

The football players interested in the protest brought the proposal to the attention of team leaders on Thursday night, said Peter Dalis, director of intercollegiate athletics.

Dalis said that team leaders felt the decision to wear armbands should be made by the whole team, so they discussed the issue again on Friday night in Miami.

"The team talked about it, and one player suggested that we just not do it," he said. "Coach Toledo agreed, and they asked if anyone had a problem with the decision, and no one did."

Dalis said that there was no vote on the issue.

He added that no one on the team felt that the repeal of affirmative action was an invalid issue.

"Nobody was against the cause, but the football team was not the right vehicle for it," he said.

Members of the African Student Union (ASU), who have been involved in affirmative action protests in the past, said that they did not ask the players to protest.

"It was just a rumor," said ASU director Noluthando Williams. "We don't know how the players got the idea to do that."

Williams said that though the issue did not involve ASU, they were concerned with student rights.

"This is not something that we're going to pursue," she said. "All we were concerned with was if student-athletes' right to voice their opinions was protected."

She added that allegations that ASU and the Affirmative Action Coalition blamed Coach Toledo for the decision to not protest were untrue.

"There were many rumors flying about that," she said. "We're not blaming the coach."

A brief published in the Los Angeles Times on Tuesday quoted anonymous sources saying that the team's discussion of the issue right before the game may have been a "distraction" contributing to the team's loss.

Some team members disputed that allegation, however.

"We know that we can't worry about what everyone else thinks or what everyone else says," said junior flanker Danny Farmer.

Fifth-year senior Larry Atkins, one of the team's two captains, said that the issue didn't affect the team's performance.

"I think (the talk of division) is another thing that has been taken and blown out of proportion," he said. "Everyone on the team knows that we're a family, and everyone on the team is together in everything that we've been doing."

With reports from Vytas Mazeika, Daily Bruin Staff.

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