Louisiana State University has asked its athletes not to wear the institution’s gear or use its “branding” if they share public opinions about the case of Alton Sterling, a black man whom Baton Rouge police fatally shot last year. Likely, LSU wanted to ensure athletes’ positions on the case wouldn’t be confused for the university’s, said Ari Cohn, director of the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education’s Individual Rights Defense Program.

Dan Lebowitz, executive director for the Center for the Study of Sport in Society, at Northeastern University, expressed a similar sentiment. LSU could enhance its brand by encouraging conversation about national problems, like the conversation around civil rights, Lebowitz said.