SAN JOSE — Three years ago, no Bay Area high school found itself more in the public crosshairs of the national anthem kneeling debate than San Jose’s Bellarmine College Prep.

When about a dozen football players took a knee before a game to protest social injustices, the backlash within the all-boys school’s community was swift.

An assistant football coach resigned. Hundreds of comments filled stories published by this news organization. Administrators wrote a letter to alumni, saying they planned to review rules for individual expression as it relates to representing the Jesuit school.

Now, amid nationwide protests in the aftermath of George Floyd’s death under the knee of a Minneapolis police officer, Bellarmine president Chris Meyercord issued another letter to alumni that he shared on social media.

Himself a Bellarmine graduate, Meyercord acknowledged that the school should be doing more for its students and alumni of color and announced a series of online town-hall meetings to listen to the issues.

“To put it plainly, we have fallen short,” Meyercord wrote. “We have failed to say clearly enough in our words and our deeds that Black Lives Matter. I say it clearly now: Black Lives Matter.”

In his letter, Meyercord wrote that the meetings would start this month and be limited to a dozen visitors because “We want to make sure that you have ample opportunity to share your experience and your ideas. Our role is to listen.”

Meyercord wrote that while the Bellarmine experience was wonderful for some, the school recognizes that for many students and alumni of color “their years at Bellarmine were complicated at best, hurtful at worst.

“We know that there are people of color in our student and alumni community who have not felt seen, heard, or valued by the school. It is not acceptable to know this and do nothing about it. We want to do all that we can to make sure that the next student’s experience is better.”

When members of the football team took a knee at San Jose City College on Sept. 29, 2017, they did not do so aimlessly. The players wrote a letter to the school’s community, describing their action as a peaceful protest against social wrongdoing. Others saw it as being disrespectful to the flag and military, a response that New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees used last week before apologizing amid an avalanche of criticism.

In the Bellarmine players’ letter, they wrote, “By kneeling, we hope to express our dissatisfaction with our society’s failure to uphold the values of justice, equality, and peace, and start constructive dialogue in our community. In addition, we kneel to show our support for our country’s marginalized groups: minorities, women, immigrants, those who have experienced religious persecution, and members of the LGBTQ community.

“We would like to clarify that we unequivocally appreciate and value the sacrifices of law enforcement officers, yet we feel the need to express our displeasure with the continued failure of some members of law enforcement and our justice system to protect the marginalized.”

Austin Ajiake, now a linebacker at the University of Nevada Las Vegas, was one of the players who led the Bellarmine protest. Ajiake, who is black, did not reply to a request this week for an interview but has been critical on social media of his high school alma mater since Floyd’s death.

“Their goal was to silence us as soon as possible to defend their reputation,” Ajiake wrote last weekend on Twitter. “That’s all that has mattered at this institution, money and reputation. Black Lives Matter is not a trend, actually mean it.”

The players took a knee three years ago against Serra and then a week later against Archibishop Riordan. Meyercord and principal Kristina Lusher later issued a joint letter to alumni, calling the players’ message powerful but adding that they have a responsibility to realize when a message and the way it is delivered is too controversial.

Players from other schools also took knees at that time during the anthem, a protest that was started in 2016 by former 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick and resurfaced a year later when President Trump called out NFL players. But the outrage on other Bay Area high school campuses paled in comparison to Bellarmine, whose long list of notable alumni include San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo.

Jalal Beauchman was named Bellarmine’s football coach on March 30, 2020, replacing the legendary Mike Janda. Janda stepped down in January after 36 seasons. 

Another Bellarmine graduate, Jalal Beauchman, was named this spring as the school’s football coach. Beauchman, who replaced his mentor, Mike Janda, is the first black coach to lead Bellarmine’s football program.

“It means a lot,” Beauchman said at the time of his hiring. “I am very proud of my heritage and my background. It’s an honor to say I am the first African American head coach.”

In his letter last week, Meyercord wrote, “As President, it is my responsibility to steward this school into the future, to maintain the Bellarmine tradition of educating young men to pursue academic excellence, to be servants in their communities, and to seek justice in all ways.

“And at this moment in time, as we all witness the unrest that pours out onto the streets as a result of hundreds of years of systemic injustice against communities of color in this nation, it is also my responsibility to acknowledge that Bellarmine has not been immune to these same injustices.”