The University of Kansas has suspended four cheerleaders after a photo circulated on Snapchat showing three male cheerleaders posing in Kansas “K” sweaters. Written underneath the three, in bold letters, was the caption, “KKK go Trump.”
Kansas Athletics were made aware of the snap when it was shared on Twitter. The school responded to the tweet, calling the image “unacceptable.” According to KU Athletics, the three men in the photograph and the female cheerleader who shared the photograph on Snapchat have since been “suspended from performing.”
The female cheerleader, who the Kansas Star identified as sophomore Lili Gagin, told university officials that her phone was taken during a party on Saturday night. Earlier this week, she said on Twitter that she did not post the photograph on Snapchat. “I’m appalled that a Snapchat was put out on my Snapchat and posted to my account,” Gagin wrote in a now deleted tweet. “I would never (have) done that & I apologize that it happened.”
The mother of one of the male cheerleaders in the photograph told WDAF that there was “no racial motivation and the boys were simply taking pictures in sweaters they have had for a long time.”
According to the university, all four cheerleaders will remain suspended until the university completes a formal investigation.