St. John's Cheerleaders Refuse To Perform After Not Being Acknowledged By School

Wednesday was National Girls and Women in Sports Day and while St. John's University acknowledged its women's sports programs and student-athletes, it forgot about the cheerleaders and dance team on campus.

St. John's athletics Instagram account shared a post recognizing its women's sports teams on Wednesday but did not mention the cheer and dance teams. Like most other universities, cheerleading and dance are not listed among sports on St. John's official sports website.

In response to being excluded from recognition, cheerleaders refused to perform during Wednesday's men's basketball game against Seton Hall. Cheerleaders also wore shirts with the message 'We Are Women In Sports' written on the back of them.

The university issued a statement after the "inadvertent omission" of the cheer and dance teams.

"There was an inadvertent omission in a social media post from the Athletic Department celebrating ‘Women in Sports’ that failed to tag or depict our cheerleaders and dance team," the school said in a statement to Fox News Digital.

"The cheerleaders expressed disappointment with this perceived slight and are now engaged in an active dialogue with the Athletic Department to move forward. St. John’s University values the active and dedicated contributions made by all our students especially our student-athletes."

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It's safe to say that cheerleaders and dance team members will be acknowledged in social media posts moving forward, especially given that it's the year 2023 and everyone must be included in everything. 

Without cheerleaders performing at the game, St. John's fell to Seton Hall 84-72 on Wednesday.