Austin Peay Suspends Entire Cheerleading Squad, Mascot Gets Away Unscathed

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Austin Peay University, located 45 miles outside of Nashville, has indefinitely suspended its entire cheerleading squad. The university's mascot, a governor, avoided suspension.

According to athletics director Gerald Harrison, the university was made aware of potential violations involving the cheerleading squad. An investigation will take place, but will not be led by the school's athletic department.

"This only deals with our cheerleading squad," Harrison said. "This does not include the dance (team) or mascot at this time. We take this very seriously and we'll move this along as best we can and it will be thorough."

Austin Peay has two cheer squads with a total of 25 members.

Austin Peay University is located in Clarksville, Tenn.

The investigation is only just beginning, and the university is keeping all details and speculation under wraps. No specific details about what allegedly took place have been revealed at this time.

"Our investigation is still in its infancy so I don't want to speculate where it would lead to, or could lead to," Harrison explained. "We have to let the process run its course and let dedicated professionals that deal with these issues deal with it. If that takes a day or two then it takes a day or two. If it takes four week then it takes four weeks. I don't know and I'm not rushing them for a judgement."

Austin Peay's men's basketball team played on the road at Central Arkansas on Wednesday night and was not accompanied by cheerleaders. The Governors lost the game 76-69.

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Mark covers all sports at OutKick while keeping a close eye on the world of professional golf. He graduated from the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga before earning his master's degree in journalism from the University of Tennessee. He somehow survived living in Knoxville despite ‘Rocky Top’ being his least favorite song ever written. Before joining OutKick, he wrote for various outlets including SB Nation, The Spun, and BroBible. Mark was also a writer for the Chicago Cubs Double-A affiliate in 2016 when the team won the World Series. He's still waiting for his championship ring to arrive. Follow him on Twitter @itismarkharris.