SELINSGROVE – The superintendent of the Selinsgrove school district says the students who were in the ‘George Floyd Challenge’ video may face disciplinary action. In a statement Saturday night, Dr. Chad Cohrs said the video widely shared on social media, is not reflective of the district’s values and teachings.
The video shows some Selinsgrove students passing on what the caption of the video calls ‘The George Floyd Challenge.’ All three students are in a pool, one of them issues the verbal challenge to some other named individuals, while another student holds a teen underwater and repeating the words, ‘Stop resisting.’ The student underwater then comes up and says, ‘I can’t breathe.’
Parents tell us, several of the male students featured in the video are members of the varsity football team.
One Selinsgrove resident told us, the people named in the ‘challenge’ are individuals who have been active on the local Black Lives Matter discussions or activities. Another parent, Kelly Feiler, said she would be at the next Selinsgrove Area School Board meeting to offer to be a part of conversations to increase diversity.
Superintendent Dr. Chad Cohr’s full statement: “Recently the school district was made aware of a video that was posted on a social media site which promoted racist and discriminatory views of others. Please be assured that the attitudes presented in this video do not reflect the values and teachings of the Selinsgrove Area School District.
As a public school district, we are obligated to respect the freedom of speech, even if that speech is not respectful. We will be exploring what, if any, disciplinary action for off-campus behaviors we can take. We are examining ways of making improvements in the areas of citizenship and nondiscrimination. It is only by working together that we can eradicate racism and discrimination in our communities.”
