KU athletes march on campus in support of Black Lives Matter

LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) - Nearly 1,000 University of Kansas athletes, students and faculty have participated in a march to end racial injustice and protest the police shooting of Jacob Blake in Wisconsin.

The Kansas City Star reports that the students joined other college athletes from across the country in demonstrations Friday to honor of the 57-year anniversary of the March on Washington and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s 'œI Have a Dream'ť speech.

Kansas junior women's basketball player Emma Merriweather and her teammates kicked off the 2-mile (3.22 kilometers) march through campus, with people stretching behind for blocks. Among the marchers was Kansas football coach Les Miles, athletic director Jeff Long and chancellor Douglas Girod.

The hour-long route ended inside Booth Memorial Stadium, where Merriweather addressed the group with a megaphone. She said she was proud, in that moment, to be a Jayhawk.

'œIt's not just us,'ť Merriweather said. 'œThere's plenty of people on the campus who obviously that it affects, and they feel strongly about. There were people who were just walking to class that joined us.'ť