Stephanie Hutchinson knew Saturday would be her final Maryland football game as a member of the school’s marching band, and thus her final chance to take a knee while playing the national anthem before kickoff.
The senior from Ellicott City, Md., began joining several other members of the Mighty Sound of Maryland taking a knee in October, before a game against Northwestern. She said her decision sprung from an announcement before the game by the band’s director, Eli Osterloh, who said the university’s school of music would support anyone’s decision to kneel if they chose.
That move came in the wake of heightened protests across the sports world earlier this fall.