Illinois State University is being taken to court over intolerance. Former assistant football coach Kurt Beathard is suing the university that fired him in 2020 for removing a Black Lives Matter poster from his office door and replacing it with a Christian-themed all lives matter sign.
Beathard was returning to work from a temporary leave after his wife’s death from breast cancer when he saw a BLM poster on his office door. It was during the national mania for Black Lives Matter. He took it down and replaced it with a message of his own stating, “All Lives Matter to Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”
Brock Spack and Larry Lyons, the former Athletic Director, were so caught up with the intolerant behavior of BLM flag wavers that Beathard was fired. He wasn’t the only sports figure getting fired for not being politically correct. Grant Napear, the long-time radio voice of the NBA’s Sacramento Kings, was terminated last year for texting an “all lives matter” message.
Filed in a U.S. District Court last Tuesday, Beathard’s lawsuit claims he was fired in retaliation for his sign and viewpoint discrimination at a public university. The suit also states he got canned because ‘‘he did not toe the party line regarding Black Lives Matter.”
In 2020, Black Lives Matter advocates were applying major pressure on Illinois State University to totally sell out to their radical campaign. Spack called it “freaking nuts,” but succumbed to it by firing Coach Beathard.
BLM zealots demanded that the athletic department publicly support the movement. To appease them, the department developed the “Action Plan for Social Change,” which requires diversity training and inclusion. It also sought to cleanse the campus of any alternative messages to “Black Lives Matter.”
Lyons was eventually made a collateral victim of the BLM frenzy. During a Zoom meeting with ISU athletes, he made the fatal statement “All Redbirds Lives Matter.” He resigned due to all the blowback he received.
Spack then asked Beathard for permission to remove the sign. Beathard obliged. But it was too little, too late. Someone had posted a photograph of the message. The drumbeat for Beathard’s dismissal grew until the university forced him out Sept. 2, 2020.
Beathard claims that he was financially and emotionally distressed after losing his job. “There’s only one reason Beathard isn’t offensive coordinator at ISU: he did not toe the party line on BLM,” said his attorney, Doug Churdar. “It’s come to this. If you put the government’s message on your door, you keep your job. If you replace it with your own message, you’re fired. That’s exactly what happened.”
In favor of political correctness, the Illinois State football team omitted a crucial part of their football program. Beathard’s school record-setting offense ranked well nationally in 2014, 2015, 2018 and 2019. Beathard’s school record-setting offense was ranked well nationally in 2014, 2015, 2018 and 2019. Beathard was fired because of his dissatisfaction with its direction.
Evidence of this is provided by the timing and the dates.
About Post Author
