STORRS — UConn Men’s Basketball Coach Kevin Ollie and the rest of the University of Connecticut stand behind an executive order banning state-sponsored and state-funded travel to Indiana.
UConn President Susan Herbst released a statement Tuesday eveing that Kevin Ollie and other members of the men’s basketball team will not be attending any events in Indianapolis related to the NCAA Tournament this week.
The statement comes after Indiana’s governor signed into a new religious freedom bill into law that doesn’t protect the LGBT community from discrimination.
Here’s the full statement:
In support of Governor Malloy’s travel ban to the state of Indiana, Kevin Ollie and other members of the UConn men’s basketball staff will not travel to Indianapolis for the NCAA Final Four and events surrounding it. UConn is a community that values all of our members and treats each person with the same degree of respect, regardless of their background and beliefs and we will not tolerate any other behavior.
“What kind of message does it send when we’re saying we’re going to schedule events in states that openly discriminate against gay people?” asked a furious Gov. Dan Malloy during a Tuesday afternoon press conference. “What does that say?!”
Malloy signed Executive Order 45 on Monday ordering a full review of any state employee travel to Indiana, and banning it if it wasn’t in the name of law enforcement or fulfilling a contract.
The travel ban will remain in effect until, according to Malloy, the Indiana law changes to protect members of the LGBT community.
