Some people just have to be the center of attention.

Ye — formerly known as Kanye West — is no stranger to the spotlight, and has been involved in some of the biggest pop culture moments in the past two decades, from a marriage to Kim Kardashian to a bid for the presidency of the United States. 

In 2022, Ye faced severe backlash for multiple antisemitic comments and was compelled to issue a public apology. 

You would think he would learn from this and no longer make such awful statements. However, just weeks ago, he did the exact opposite. 

His recent comments and actions are significantly worse than anything he had done before — for example, calling Adolf Hitler “fresh” and selling a $20 t-shirt with a swastika on it. Ye’s talent agency, 33&West, dropped him because of the statements, and Shopify, an e-commerce company, banned Ye’s company Yeezy from selling his merchandise on their platform. 

So what does Texas A&M have to do with any of this?

At the beginning of the 2012 football season, the newly-appointed coach Kevin Sumlin greenlit a new entrance theme for the football team. During those discussions, it was decided to use a 30-second clip of the song “POWER” by Ye to get the crowd hyped for Aggie home games. 

The rest was history. 

“POWER” has been the football team’s walkout song for at least part of 12 of the 13 seasons since its inception.

The song took a leave for the end of the 2022 season and all of 2023 because of Ye’s antisemitic comments in 2022. To give you an idea, Ye said he was going to “go Death Con 3” on Jewish people. This is a reference to the U.S. military’s DEFCON system and was Ye’s way of proclaiming we should be on high alert against Jewish people.

In light of these statements, A&M changed the song to a new composition made specifically for the team’s intro, “Aggie Intro” by Collin Padecki ‘20. Many current and former students pressured the university into bringing back “POWER” for the most recent football season. 

I must admit that I was one of the many people excited to see “POWER” return to Aggie football after a year of absence. However, I’ve seen a shift in behavior from Ye that needs to be addressed. Words have power, and he has used his platform to normalize the hate of minority groups for too long.

There is a concept called the Pyramid of Hate that details the rise of violent action in societies. Hate is never sudden. It builds over time, with the actions people take slowly but surely worsening.

Acts of harmful bias — like what Ye is currently doing — are lower on the Pyramid of Hate, but these actions will slowly turn to discrimination, then violence and finally genocide. It’s a domino effect, starting small and building up speed until it’s out of control.

If you think I’m making a mountain out of a molehill, look in your history book. There have been many times in world history when the words people say shape the narrative and have devastating effects on people unfortunate enough to face the consequences of others’ actions.

There is a rise in antisemitism in the United States, with violent rhetoric and attacks on Jewish Americans significantly increasing. However, it’s difficult to quantify how much, if any, of that increase is directly related to Ye’s actions. 

Everyone has the right to freedom of speech, but we also have the right to choose who we platform. Ye has consistently shown over the years that he is not to be trusted with this power. His actions are not indicative of A&M’s Core Values either. 

Whether we like it or not, sports are political and serve as a direct indication of the quality of our society. A&M has a responsibility to its athletes and the 12th Man who supports its mission. It chooses to platform entertainers like Ye and allow their ideas to be broadcast to a greater audience.  

People may argue that we should separate the art from the artist, but this is a rationalization to keep us from the truth. Being a talented artist does not give someone like Ye an excuse to buy a Super Bowl advertising spot for t-shirts with swastikas on them. We should hold artists accountable for the things they say and make the decision to not support their work.

The athletic department has a choice to make for the coming football season. It can either choose to keep the status quo and make the definitive statement that Ye’s words and actions are acceptable, or it can stand up and make the choice to align with the university’s Core Values.

We Aggies have the opportunity to right a wrong and show the world we stand up for the things we believe in. Hate has no place in our university, and we should not let a symbol like Ye cast a shadow on our great school.

Wyatt Pickering is a business honors and finance sophomore and opinion writer for The Battalion.