More than 200 students at a California high school walked out of class Friday to protest a football captain’s social media post, putting school officials under pressure to explain whether he faced meaningful consequences. The football team has also forfeited its next game.
The demonstration at Piner Junior Senior High School in Santa Rosa followed an Instagram post shared earlier this month by the team captain. He wrote “Free the Cornell 7,” a phrase linked to seven students accused of gang-raping a Cornell University student at a fraternity party in 2024.
Students told The Press Democrat they organized the walkout because they believed the captain had not been held accountable.
An anonymous parent of a Piner cheerleader told the newspaper that the captain was barred from attending a team dinner Thursday. The parent said, however, that it was unclear whether he faced any additional disciplinary action, leaving the school’s broader response uncertain.
The controversy comes as Piner’s football program deals with a separate setback. The Prospectors forfeited their scheduled Saturday game against Archie Williams High School in San Anselmo.
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Head coach Adam Rosenstein told The Press Democrat that Piner had only five healthy linemen available. The forfeit was confirmed Friday evening.
According to MaxPreps, the result leaves Piner with a 2-4 overall record and an 0-2 record in conference play.
The student protest took place amid demonstrations in Los Angeles, Seattle and Philadelphia related to the Cornell case. Protesters in those cities have accused the university of mishandling its investigation into the rape allegations.
At Piner, the immediate focus remains on the football captain’s post and whether school officials responded appropriately.
The available reports do not establish whether the school imposed any discipline beyond excluding the captain from the team dinner, SFGATE reported.
