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Virginia freshman Deidra Chatman has had a change of heart. After protesting U.S. foreign policy by turning her back on the American flag during the national anthem Sunday, Chatman said she will not do so in the future, The Washington Post reported in Tuesday's editions. Chatman is the second player to turn her back on the flag this season after the well-publicized protest of Manhattanville senior forward Toni Smith. "I did not intend for my actions on Sunday to offend anyone," Chatman said Monday in a statement obtained by the paper. "I would much rather have the attention focused on...

<p>I wonder how Toni Smith's critics feel about Muhammad Ali. They jeer her at Manhattanville women's basketball games when the senior guard turns sideways, her face looking away from the American flag during the national anthem. Do they adore the Ali of today, and would they have hated him in the '60s, when he refused to serve in Vietnam?</p>

Manhattanville College basketball player Toni Smith has been drawing unusually large crowds to Division III women's basketball games lately. Five hundred fans packed the gym for a road game at Mount St. Mary's. More than 300 showed up to see her at the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy. But they're not there to be dazzled by her skills on the court or to watch a big conference game as the regular season wears down. Nor are they there to cheer on the home team. They show up to heckle Smith because she has the courage to stand up for what she...

“Prior to each game throughout the 2002-03 season, Toni Smith, a senior forward on Manhattanville College’s women’s basketball team, has chosen to turn away from the American flag during the playing of the Star Spangled Banner."

AMHERST, Mass. -- Toni Smith is senior sociology major from New York City, but she is no ordinary student. She is the 5-foot-10 forward and captain of the Manhattanville College women's basketball team. Smith is openly against the war, and has made it a point for everyone to know. Since the start of the season, Smith has refused to face the flag during the Star-Spangled Banner at the start of games. Without fail, at each game both at home and away, she has turned 90 degrees away from the flag and has cast her eyes to the ground. Her protest...

Just when you thought all college athletes were unable to see beyond the walls of the gym, along comes one to prove you wrong. Toni Smith plays basketball for Division III Manhattanville. The 5-10 senior guard/forward is averaging 5.4 points and 8.2 rebounds. WNBA-bound, she is not. But a growing number of Americans will remember her name long after they've forgotten the top pick in the next WNBA draft. Before each game this season, Smith has purposefully turned away from the U.S. flag as the national anthem has been played. Smith never expected her quiet act to cause a commotion,...

<p>Toni Smith (third from left) turns away from the flag during the national anthem.</p> <p>February 24, 2003 -- A Vietnam veteran walked onto the court yesterday and held an American flag in front of Manhattanville College basketball player Toni Smith - who again refused to face the flag during the national anthem.</p>

<p>PURCHASE, N.Y. -- An NCAA Division III college basketball player who turns away from the U.S. flag during the national anthem was jeered by flag-waving students at a road game, even while she was on the bench.</p> <p>Toni Smith, a senior at Manhattanville College, was booed at Mount St. Mary at a game Thursday night.</p>

<p>Like the rest of her team, Toni Smith stands before the national anthem is played.</p> <p>Then she does something different. She turns away from the U.S. flag in protest.</p> <p>Smith has been doing it all season, whether at Manhattanville College home games or on the road. She said she is protesting because "the government's priorities are not on bettering the quality of life for all of its people, but rather on expanding its own power."</p> <p>Recently, she has received a bitter, and vocal, reaction from fans at road games, including hundreds of flag-waving students Thursday at Mount St. Mary.</p>

NEWBURGH, N.Y. -- A college basketball player who turns away from the U.S. flag during the national anthem was jeered by flag-waving students at a road game, even while she was on the bench. Toni Smith, a senior at Manhattanville College, was booed at Mount St. Mary at a game Thursday night. Smith is protesting "that the government's priorities are not on bettering the quality of life for all of its people, but rather on expanding its own power.'' She has turned away from the flag all season. Before Thursday's game, the Mount St. Mary student government handed out small...

Manhattanville Player Drawing Protests Associated Press NEWBURGH, N.Y. - A college basketball player who turns away from the U.S. flag during the national anthem was jeered by flag-waving students at a road game, even while she was on the bench. Toni Smith, a senior at Manhattanville College, was booed at Mount St. Mary at a game Thursday night. Smith is protesting "that the government's priorities are not on bettering the quality of life for all of its people, but rather on expanding its own power." She has turned away from the flag all season. Before Thursday's game, the Mount St....