Letter To Cornell School Superintendent

Living and working in New York, I do not keep a close eye on the news in Coraopolis. The community came to my attention only last October when cheerleaders at the local high school protested our national anthem at a football game attended by invited veterans.

Along with many others, I saw a video on social media that explained the incident. The video included a television news report. I also have read Superintendent Aaron Thomas’ subsequent comments that the video was inaccurate and doctored, and that he met with VFW members to explain that he did not have prior knowledge of the protest.

Superintendent Thomas’ comments all may be true. I have no way to verify the accuracy of his comments or the video. I also have not been able to locate any additional information about the matter since sending my letter of protest to Superintendent Thomas on October 28.

Offering A Solution

The letter appears below. It is a fair letter. It offers a solution. To this day, however, my letter has remained unacknowledged and unanswered, which now allows me to question the professionalism of the superintendent’s office.

The suggestion that I provided in the last paragraph might be a way for the students to fully appreciate the reaction of the veterans who were at the school that day and then the reaction of so many others across the country when they learned that the students protested and disrespected our flag, our country and our veterans. My hope has been that my idea would help bring a community together while also showing us all, especially our young people, that while not everyone has all the answers we can find solutions through dialogue rather than protest.

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October 28, 2016

Dear Mr. Thomas:

I am extremely disappointed that the principal of your high school, knowing in advance that our service veterans would be treated with disrespect, proceeded with their invitations to a school event in which students protested our national anthem. I understand that you also knew about his incident in advance, though I will give you the benefit of the doubt that you did not know that it would occur on a day when the veterans were present.

These veterans served and many others died for our many freedoms, including the freedom to protest and express our thoughts. However, you do not invite these proud men to an event to be disrespected by a principal and teenagers who don’t have any knowledge about the sacrifice and honor exhibited by these veterans.

I wish to make a suggestion to the Cornell School District: arrange a field trip for the principal and protesting students to New Orleans to visit the National World War II Museum. Allow the veterans to accompany them on the trip. As they all walk through the halls of that museum to comprehend what American men and women of various races and nationalities faced in Europe, in the Pacific and at home, allow the veterans to tell the students and principal their personal stories. Just maybe the principal and his students will gain an appreciation for what others have done before them and continue to do today, beyond taking a knee, to make this nation better and stronger.