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KENNESAW, Ga. (AP) — Four of the five Georgia cheerleaders who knelt last year during "The Star-Spangled Banner" to protest police brutality didn't make the squad this year for Kennesaw State University.
Davante Lewis, a spokesman for the cheerleaders who've knelt, tells news outlets that this year's squad was announced in May on the cheer team's social media accounts. The school's paper, The Sentinel , broke the news earlier this week.
KSU's athletics department says the number of people who tried out for one of the 52 spots on this year's squad increased to 95 from 61 last year. Seven of last year's cheerleaders were cut this year.
KSU required the cheerleaders to stay off the field during the anthem after the protest. University System of Georgia officials later determined the cheerleaders' protest was protected by the U.S. Constitution.
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