This story has been altered from a previous version.
On Feb. 3, LSU cheerleader Ryan Folse posted a video to his TikTok where he discussed how LSU’s athlete hall posted a sign that morning that excluded cheer and dance from being able to receive breakfast from the LSU Cox Communications Academic Center for Student-Athletes.
Folse attempted to get breakfast after attending workouts and class, which LSU requires him to complete as a student-athlete. He wasn’t allowed access.
Folse emphasized that he wasn’t complaining in his post and at the very least cheer and dance could receive leftovers from the center, but that wasn’t an option either.
Since Folse’s initial post, the video has received over 277,000 views as well 40,000 likes and over 400 comments, most of them protesting against LSU’s decision to not acknowledge their cheerleaders or dancers as athletes.
“It’s much more than just taking away some food. It’s the school and athletic administration not recognizing how much we do for the school,” an anonymous member of the LSU Tiger Girls said in a statement to TigerTV.
According to LSU, cheer and dance do differ from other sports at the university because they aren’t sanctioned by the NCAA – in short, the policy is based on an NCAA rule, not an LSU rule.
“Spirit programs are not categorized as NCAA-sanctioned championship sports, so the benefits they receive do differ from those of our student-athletes within NCAA-sanctioned sports. The benefits spirit programs do receive include meal allowance credit following participation at our sport events, housing and meal per diem when training during holiday periods, access to the Performance Nutrition Center to purchase meals, all expenses covered during athletics travel, priority class registration and access to the athletics academic center,” LSU Athletics said through a spokesperson.
LSU added that these policies are not new, and spirit programs do have access to some food items in the Cox Center, like bagels and oatmeal bars.
Ellie Adams, a member of LSU’s student government, commented on Folse’s post that she wanted to see if student government could be of any aid to the situation.
Former LSU Tiger Girl and current member of the Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders, Darah Hadiet, also left a comment on the post, drawing even more attention to the matter.
“Let us know if and how we can help,” Hadiet wrote. “I’ll be glad to voice my support.”
A comment from Dylan Joel, a six-time NFL cheerleader for the News Orleans Saints and LSU alum, implied this has been LSU’s relationship with these teams for years.
“I cheered at LSU and graduated in 2014 and sad to see it’s still the SAME,” Joel wrote.
TigerTV has reported that LSU has contacted both spirit teams to find a solution to this problem.
The hard work put into cheerleading at the collegiate level is evident in the team’s routines and competitions, with the LSU Tiger Girls finishing sixth at UDA nationals this year, and LSU cheer finishing at fifth in UDA with a score of 91.9.
