Warriors’ Steve Kerr explains signing letter opposing government involvement in college sports

HOUSTON – Warriors coach Steve Kerr wore a T-shirt emblazoned with Harvard’s logo last April as a not-so-subtle show of support for a university under fire from the federal government overseen by President Donald Trump. 

Almost a year later, Kerr has added his name to a letter imploring Americans to oppose political involvement from governmental bodies when it comes to all colleges and universities. 

It was an easy decision for Kerr. 

“I’m not leading the effort, but I was asked to be a part of it, and I looked into it, and it’s something I agree with just in general,” quote from Kerr. “Academic freedom, universities being able to control their own mission, to teach what they want to teach, to serve their student-athletes in a really productive way.”

Aside from Kerr, current Bucks coach Doc Rivers, Harvard men’s basketball coach Tommy Amaker, former Notre Dame women’s basketball coach Muffet McGraw and current Stanford men’s assistant basketball coach Eric Reveno are among the 19 who have signed the letter. 

“When students are afraid to speak their minds, they cannot give their all,” the coaches wrote. “When campuses are polarized, it’s hard to maintain the ‘one team’ spirit we instill in the locker room. Unprecedented political pressure on colleges and universities undercuts the values we have sought to instill in student-athletes.”

Under Trump’s administration, the federal and state governments have become further involved in higher education. 

Last year, the federal government threatened to withhold funds from Harvard and other Ivy League schools for their tolerance for pro-Palestine speech and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) programs, among other reasons. 

Last week, Department of War secretary Pete Hegseth declared the department would end its partnership with 21 different colleges – including Harvard, MIT, Carnegie Mellon and Georgetown – in an attempt to distance the armed forces away from what he called “factories of anti-American resentment and military disdain.”

Trump is also scheduled to host a roundtable discussion with various pro and collegiate coaches, commissioners and athletes on reforming collegiate sports.

The letter is related to college athletics, but Kerr believed that policy concerning the topic also affects and is affected by other aspects of academia as a whole.  

“I think it is all tied together, so I signed on because I believe in the mission,” Kerr said. 

This is just the latest in a long list of political actions taken by Kerr during his 11-year-career with the Warriors, which has seen him also make an appearance as a speaker at the 2024 Democratic National Convention.

During the preseason this past fall, Kerr attended a “No Kings” protest in downtown San Francisco to show his displeasure with actions taken by the federal government under Trump. 

In October, Kerr praised San Francisco mayor Daniel Lurie for helping the Bay Area avoid a “surge” of federal immigration enforcement.

In November, Kerr spoke about the need for gun reform after legendary Oakland coach John Beam was murdered at his Laney College office in Oakland, and a high school student was shot at nearby Skyline High. Gun violence is an issue close to Kerr’s mind, as his father Malcolm Kerr was assassinated while serving as the president of the American University of Beirut in 1984.

In December, Kerr again called for changes to America’s gun policies after a mass shooting at Brown University left several dead and more wounded. 

In January, Kerr decried federal immigration agents shooting and killing Minneapolis residents Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretti, and voiced his support for protesters during the Warriors’ extended stay in Minnesota.