Indiana's Goshen College Stops Playing National Anthem

Goshen College President James Brenneman

The singing of the national anthem is a staple at many sporting events in the U.S.

But starting with the first soccer game of the coming season at the Goshen College, a small Mennonite school in Goshen, Indiana, the national anthem will no longer be played.

The school had historically shied away from the national anthem, but in an effort to reach out to the school's non-Mennonite members Goshen started playing it in 2010.  But after a feedback period, school officials decided to stop playing the song.

In an email, Richard R. Aguirre, Goshen College Director of Public Relations had this to say:

The Board asked President Jim Brenneman to find alternative to playing the Star-Spangled Banner that fits with sports tradition, that honors country and that resonates with Goshen College's core values and respects the views of diverse constituencies.The Board concluded that continuing to play the national anthem compromised the ability of college constituents to advance the vision together of Goshen College becoming an influential leader in liberal arts education with a growing capacity to serve a theologically, politically, racially and ethnically diverse constituency both within and beyond the Mennonite church.

Speaking to Fox Radio News, Goshen college art professor John Blosser explained why the song is a problem for people at the school. "It's obviously about a battle... It's about using violence to conquer and that would be something that many people here would have problems with."