The ACC has followed in the footsteps of the NCAA by pulling its championship games from North Carolina in response to HB2. Meanwhile, the NC GOP released a bizarre response to the NCAA.
“I wish the NCAA was this concerned about the women who were raped at Baylor.” -The N.C. Republican Party
The North Carolina GOP issued a bizarre statement delivered by their spokeswoman Kami Mueller. The response seemed to be an attempt at being sarcastic by claiming the NCAA’s stance would lead to having only unisex teams while forcing cheerleaders and football players to use the same locker room. They also claim their stance is an assault on women while also using a rape at Baylor University in their example. The Charlotte Observer’s Andrew Carter posted the statement on twitter.
“I wish the NCAA was this concerned about the women who were raped at Baylor.”
–The N.C. Republican Party pic.twitter.com/6lADUI4KCF— Andrew Carter (@_andrewcarter) September 13, 2016
The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) has also announced that they are pulling eight championship events for the 2016-2017 season from the state in response to HB2. The ACC Council of Presidents released the following statement:
Statement from the ACC Council of Presidents:
“As members of the Atlantic Coast Conference, the ACC Council of Presidents reaffirmed our collective commitment to uphold the values of equality, diversity, inclusion and non-discrimination. Every one of our 15 universities is strongly committed to these values and therefore, we will continue to host ACC Championships at campus sites. We believe North Carolina House Bill 2 is inconsistent with these values, and as a result, we will relocate all neutral site championships for the 2016-17 academic year. All locations will be announced in the future from the conference office.”
Pressures continue to mount for North Carolina as the ACC is the latest organization to pull out of the state. HB2 has proven to be costly for the state, including its Governor Pat McCrory whose campaign for re-election is showing him trailing Roy Cooper in most polls.
The following ACC championship events will be moved to a different state:
Women’s Soccer
Football
Men’s and Women’s Swimming and Diving
Women’s Basketball
Men’s and Women’s Tennis
Women’s Golf
Men’s Golf
Baseball
