Kansas State University agreed Tuesday to impose sanctions after a halftime performance during its football home opener included marching band members forming a rival school's mascot and a spaceship that appeared to resemble male genitalia.
After the Big 12 Conference notified Kansas State of the potential violations during Saturday's show, university President Kirk Schulz agreed to three sanctions, according to a news release.
Related: Kansas State Marching Band Sorry for NSFW Halftime Show
They are: a self-imposed $5,000 fine to the Big 12 Conference for violation of the league sportsmanship policy; a single-game suspension for the university director of bands during the Nov. 28 game against the University of Kansas; and prior approval for the content of all band halftime shows by representatives from the Office of Student Life and the Athletic Department.
"We look forward to our upcoming athletic contests with the expectation of sportsmanlike conduct from the entire K-State family," Schulz said in a statement.
Kansas State's halftime show got a rise out of social media, leading the school to apologize if anyone felt offended. The theme of the Wildcats' show against South Dakota was "space," and in that particular sequence, marching band members were trying to show the University of Kansas' mascot, the Jayhawk, being attacked by the Starship Enterprise.
Kansas State's athletic director, John Currie, said later Tuesday that the decision was not driven by the comments online.
"Our response has nothing to do with any perverted social media," said Currie, according to ESPN. "Our response is solely the fact we portrayed the disintegration of the Jayhawks by the Starship Enterprise."
Some spectators, however, weren't convinced the Enterprise was meant to be a spaceship. Kansas State's marching band director, Frank Tracz, apologized and tried to explain what happened on Facebook.
"If I am guilty of anything it would be the inability to teach the drill in a manner that these young people could have succeeded," he wrote.
