Liberty head men’s basketball coach Ritchie McKay released a statement on Wednesday morning addressing the tragic deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor.
Countless athletes and coaches across sports have spoken out after Floyd was killed under police custody in Minneapolis, Minn. last week. In his statement, McKay highlighted his team’s motto of “Dream your Biggest Dreams” coming from Ephesians 3:20.
“For TOO MANY, these dreams have been cut short…” McKay wrote. “The Liberty Flames Men’s Basketball players and staff are united in opposing PREJUDICE, BIGOTRY, and RACISM. We’re against all intents associated with those three affronts to human dignity.”
McKay went on to reference the “senseless death” of George Floyd an d Breonna Taylor and urged Americans to practice vigilance to protect the rights of the oppressed and disenfranchised.
“It is with this fervor that the Liberty Flames choose to SERVE and ENGAGE our community,” he continued.”
Here is McKay’s full statement:
On Monday, Liberty head football coach Hugh Freeze stated that he was looking forward to “an open discussion” with the Liberty football family.
Really looking forward to an open discussion tonight with our LU football family. Honest and open dialogue is always healthy. We are #TougherTogether. Do unto others as you’d have them do unto you. Love well today. It’s a choice.
— Hugh Freeze (@CoachHughFreeze) June 1, 2020
Freeze also released a full statement on Wednesday, stating, in part, “Our staff and our players stand firmly with our African-American brothers and sisters at Liberty, in Lynchburg, and across this great nation.”
“We have had incredible and eye-opening dialogue with our players and staff over the last week. In Christ, we all are one body, with many – beautiful parts. Some of those parts have not been treated fairly and changes need to be made. We are proud, at Liberty Football, to be part of finding solutions.”
Here is Freeze’s full statement:
