We’ve seen a lot of different reactions to football players exercising their First Amendment right to take a knee during the National Anthem.

THIS one is far and away the best.

About a dozen members of the East Carolina University marching band took a knee on the field Saturday as the national anthem played before a football game against the University of Central Florida.

Several @ECUBand members kneel in protest during national anthem. pic.twitter.com/kXZHWafgKs

— Jeff Gravley (@JGravleySPORTS) October 1, 2016

While some band members played their instruments while on a knee, others refused to play at all; and when the band took the field for halftime, they were boo’d.

The director of Athletic Bands, the director of the School of Music and the dean of the College of Fine Arts and Communication released a joint statement on Monday saying additional protests by band members “would not be tolerated”.

However, ECU Chancellor Cecil Staton issued a statement relaying that while the school does acknowledge the disappointment felt by fans, he urges them to act with respect for each other’s views.

Be careful what you wish for, Dear Chancellor.

East Carolina University Professor Tracy Tuten also attended Saturday’s game and said she was excited to have had the opportunity to meet and speak with Chancellor Staton in the stands.

But after discovering Staton had prior knowledge of the ECU band members’ plan and endorsed their exercise their right to free speech, Professor Tuten is questioning if his support of their 1st Amendment will extend to her 2nd:

Her statement boils down to this: if the University allows students to take a knee under the 1st Amendment, they need to allow a professor to carry a gun under the 2nd.

The Constitution is the Constitution and our rights are not granted through it, they are protected by it. 

I love that this professor is a stand while these students take a knee. And although she’ll more than likely be arrested if she follows through on her plan to open carry on campus, she’s absolutely right and I applaud her efforts.

Tuten said as of 4PM, she had not yet heard back from Staton, but that she plans to begin open carrying her weapon on campus Wednesday.

We will keep you posted – carry on, Professor Tuten!!

I was lucky enough to fall into the profession of professing early in my career, a gift that has afforded me the opportunity to work with advertising and research scholars and industry influentials in the US and abroad. I love to travel, (I’ve been to more than 35 countries,) and I am frequently en route to schools and associations around the world to teach intensive sessions for graduate students and executives. If I won the lottery, I wouldn’t stop working. Instead, I’d volunteer as an unpaid intern for people I admire most while asking ECU for a reduced teaching schedule. And then I’d come back and share everything I’d absorbed with my students. –Professor Tracy Tuten

Of note: the East Carolina Pirates lost Saturday’s game against the UCF Knights, 29-47