Texas A&M makes changes to team entrance, dropping Ye’s “Power”

COLLEGE STATION, Texas (KBTX/AP) - Texas A&M Athletics is dropping Ye’s “Power” from the team’s entrance at Kyle Field following anti-semitic comments by the rapper formerly known as Kanye West.

Director of Athletics Ross Bjork made the announcement Thursday afternoon on his podcast, Yell & Review. The Aggie Football team has been running out to Ye’s “Power” at home games since 2012.

Beginning Saturday, the Aggies will leave the tunnel to Childish Gambino’s “Bonfire,” which has welcomed the Aggies back for the second half at games earlier this season. “Bonfire” will be followed by the Aggie War Hymn.

Texas A&M’s Hillel is the spiritual home for many Jewish students at Texas A&M and is one of the country’s oldest Jewish campus organizations. Hillel Executive Director Risa Bierman says this was the right move for Texas A&M.

“His comments were very hurtful and I don’t think hate speech has a place anywhere,” said Bierman, ”and so to use his song would have affirmed what he was saying.”

Bierman said the calculus should be simple when addressing issues like hate speech.

“I think the bigger picture, you need to look at every student at the university. That song does affect certain students, and they need to be mindful of that, and I’m glad that they were.”

Ross Bjork is also taking this time to review how the team makes its entrance on the field and what they do next year to enhance it.

“Let’s figure out what happens right when the team comes on the field for the start of the game, What happens at halftime. This is a really good solution for what we have the last 4 games,” said Bjork

You can hear what else was said about the Aggie football team’s entrance below.

A number of companies recently cut ties with West, who legally changed his name to Ye, because of his statements, including Texas A&M Athletics sponsor Adidas, Foot Locker, and Gap.

For weeks, West has made antisemitic comments in interviews and social media, including a Twitter post earlier this month that he would soon go “death con 3 on JEWISH PEOPLE,” an apparent reference to the U.S. defense readiness condition scale known as DEFCON.

In an interview with podcaster Lex Fridman, the rapper expressed some regret, characterizing his initial tweet as a mistake and apologizing to “the Jewish community.”

Peloton just announced it, too, was slamming the brakes on Kanye West’s catalog. The exercise company says it has “indefinitely paused” using music from the controversial rapper. Nearly 2,000 Peloton classes used West’s music before, according to the company’s website.

A completed documentary about the rapper has also been shelved. MRC studio executives Modi Wiczyk, Asif Satchu, and Scott Tenley announced in a memo Monday: “We cannot support any content that amplifies his platform.”

West was also recently restricted from posting on Twitter and Instagram over his antisemitic posts. He has also suggested slavery was a choice and called the COVID-19 vaccine the “mark of the beast.”

Adidas ended a partnership that helped make the artist formerly known as Kanye West a billionaire via sales of his “Yeezy” shoes.

On Wednesday, West was escorted out of the Skechers’ Los Angeles building, according to a statement from the athletic shoe company. The company said Ye “arrived unannounced and without invitation” and was involved in “unauthorized filming.”

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