The decision to replace the singing of the national anthem at the pep assembly was not based off of the recent protest at the Joliet West game, where several West players took a knee, but rather was to use a song that would hopefully unify the students in standing up, according to administration.

They decided that the best course of action was to allow the choir to sing “God Bless America,” to fill that time slot.

Those who wanted to protest saw removing the anthem as a disregard of what they wanted to achieve, degrading their entire cause to that of simply being upset with a song, rather than what their true protest was about, and not allowing them their right to protest.

Those in choir were pushed to learn a new song within days of the assembly, throwing out all the time that they had worked and practiced with the anthem.

Those who value the anthem were disappointed with the fact that the song had been replaced, even to the point where during the second assembly some had stayed standing up and tried singing the anthem on their own.

While we commend the administration for trying to avoid division and disruption, the only unity they brought was that everyone disagreed with some part of the decision.

The best course of action would have been to play the anthem and allow those who wanted to protest to protest. Avoiding a problem does not solve the problem.