- St. John's University is receiving backlash for an Instagram post shared on Women in Sports Day.
- Fans said the school failed to recognize its cheer and dance squads in its dedication to women's sports.
St. John's University was called out by its cheer squad during a Wednesday night basketball game after the team said the school failed to recognize them "Women in Sports Day."
The Red Storm refused to perform during the Division I men's basketball game against Seton Hall, according to St. John University's student newspaper, The Torch. The backlash comes after the New York City-based school reportedly failed to tag its cheer and dance teams in an Instagram post recognizing the school's women sports teams.
In a tweet shared by the The Torch's sports section, a member of the cheer squad is seen donning a red shirt with the phrase "WE ARE WOMEN IN SPORTS" written across the back in marker.
—Torch Sports (@TorchSports) February 2, 2023
February 1 is National Girls and Women in Sports Day, an annual event created by the Women's Sports Foundation in 1987 to inspire "girls and women to play and be active, to realize their full power," according to the organization's website.
The Wednesday Instagram post is still live as of Friday afternoon and features photos of various women's teams at the university, but no pictures of the cheer and dance teams.
St. John's followers and alumni shared their outrage over the perceived snubbing in the comments of the post.
"Extremely disappointed as a @stjohnscheer alumni that you don't recognize these hardworking women. That show up to every single event needed FOR the university! As well as @sju_dance," one user wrote.
The official St. John's cheer team Instagram account made its own post recognizing the female cheerleaders for Women in Sports Day. The post included videos of Red Storm cheerleaders performing pyramid stunts and tumbling skills.
St. John's didn't immediately respond to Insider's request for comment, but told Fox News on Thursday "there was an inadvertent omission in a social media post from the Athletic Department celebrating 'Women in Sports' that failed to tag or depict our cheerleaders and dance team."
"The cheerleaders expressed disappointment with this perceived slight and are now engaged in an active dialogue with the Athletic Department to move forward. St. John's University values the active and dedicated contributions made by all our students especially our student-athletes," the statement said.