The University of Kansas has launched an investigation after one of its cheerleaders posted a photograph on social media this weekend evoking both the Ku Klux Klan and President-elect Donald Trump.
The image depicts three male members of the school’s spirit squad posing shoulder to shoulder in matching University of Kansas sweaters each adorned with a large red “K.” The photograph was circulated Saturday evening through cheerleader Lili Gagin’s Snapchat account and accompanied with the message “Kkk go trump.”
Ms. Gagin, a sophomore from Grayslake, Illinois, was suspended from cheering Monday pending the results of investigations being conducted by the university and its athletics department.
On Tuesday, the athletics department said it had barred the three men from cheering as well and that they “will remain suspended while Kansas Athletics and the university complete their inquiries into this incident.”
The official Twitter account for KU Athletics blasted the Snapchat post as “unacceptable.”
“This behavior won’t be tolerated,” the tweet read.
Jim Marchiony, the school’s associate athletic director, said Ms. Gagin claimed that someone took her phone during a party Saturday evening and posted the photograph without her permission, The Associated Press reported.
“I’m appalled that a snapchat was put out on my snapchat and posted on my account. I would never of done that & I apologize that it happened,” Ms. Gagin said in a tweet this week before setting her Twitter account to private.
Mr. Marchiony declined to comment further when contacted by The Kansas City Star, and Ms. Gagin could not be reached for comment, the newspaper reported.
The Department of Justice said last week that it was investigating a spike in hate crimes reported in the aftermath of Mr. Trump being elected president Nov. 8. Mr. Trump, who advocated extensively on the campaign trail for imposing religion-based restrictions on foreign travelers entering the United States, told The New York Times Tuesday that he disavows and condemns the white supremacists and neo-Nazis who have rallied in his name after his recent White House win.
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