A T-shirt perceived to joke about rape launched a social media firestorm after it was worn to a Creighton University basketball game Saturday, and sparked a protest against the bar that made the shirt.
The white tee with blue lettering bore the logo of the Blue Jay Bar & Grill — a Creighton-area hangout popular with students but unaffiliated with the university — and read: “We are not responsible for lost or stolen virginity!”
The Creighton team are known as the Bluejays.
The Creighton team are known as the Bluejays.
Jamie Stapleton, one of the Blue Jay’s owners, said he has felt horrible since the backlash started Saturday night.
The shirt mimicked a sign that used to hang in the bar under a previous owner, the words a play on traditional disclaimers about lost and stolen items, he said.
Stapleton, who said he considers himself a bar investor, suspended the bar’s social media accounts temporarily. He reinstated them and posted an apology late Sunday afternoon.
pic.twitter.com/4PeJhp1jZg
— Blue Jay Bar & Grill (@Bluejaybar) March 8, 2015
Erin Avondet, a fourth-year medical student who attended the men’s game Saturday, said she and friends were shocked by the shirt, which was worn by a fan in the student section.
“Rape is not a funny little saying you can slap on a shirt and laugh about,” Avondet wrote in a post on Facebook.
We do not condone rape culture & strongly support & stand with our @gocreighton athletics in the #itsonus pledge http://t.co/mv6ItCdSMl
— Creighton University (@Creighton) March 8, 2015
A Creighton University spokeswoman said Sunday that the bar is unaffiliated with the campus, and Creighton does not condone sexual violence.
“This is not representative of the values and beliefs of Creighton University,” spokeswoman Cindy Workman said.
