KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — On Monday, 27 Republican state senators signed a letter asking the state's public higher-education leaders to ensure student-athletes refrain from kneeling as the national anthem plays.
GOP signees included Becky Duncan Massey of Knoxville, who said she hopes the letter will start a conversation between the student-athletes and lawmakers.
"I agree, we need to have these conversations and these teachable moments," she said. "We need to come together and have conversations."
She said that she supported the students' rights to freely protest and their freedom of speech, but said that the question was about the time and place to protest. The letter says that the signees see the protests as a moment when administrators can listen to student concerns, but also as a moment when administrators can "exercise leadership in stating unequivocally what the national anthem means to this nation and explain proper times, places and manners for expressing protest."
Another state senator, Jon Lundberg, told NBC partners that it is not appropriate to kneel during the anthem and called the form of protest a disgrace.
"I would be happy to sit down and have conversations with these players, any of these student-athletes, at anytime and anyplace," Massey said.
In January, some Lady Vols players kneeled during the playing of the national anthem before the Arkansas game. Last week, members of the East Tennessee State University men's basketball team were photographed kneeling during the anthem before a game against UT Chattanooga.
A law professor at Lincoln Memorial University said that the protests are completely legal since they are not disruptive to the educational process. He also clarified that lawmakers can request how the universities handle athletes who take a knee as the national anthem plays.