A Duke University women’s volleyball player was racially abused and threatened during a game against Brigham Young University in Utah on Friday, which led to a cheerleader being banned from sporting events, according to the student, her family and the teacher.
Duke’s black initiator Rachel Richardson was called an n-word “every time she served”, and was threatened by a “white man who told her to watch her head to the team bus”, her godmother Lisa Pamplin said on social media.
Pamplin said a police officer was put on the bench by Duke’s team as a result of the alleged harassment.
The game drew a crowd of more than 5,000 people at Smith Fieldhouse in Provo, Utah.
Gloria Richardson, Rachel’s mother, told NBC News that her daughter called her crying Friday night.
“Having our strong, independent daughter calling and crying….it hurts. She didn’t feel safe,” she said.
Her daughter said A sophomore from Ellicott, Maryland, At first she did not tell her parents or coach about the harassment. After the second match, the referees took down a police officer.
“She was incredibly scared,” her mother said. “It was really scary for her, here you have over 5,500 people in this game all in the blue, it just felt so individual.”
“Aside from the ‘N-word’…she was constantly booed whenever she served. Her white colleagues didn’t get it. Her back was against the fans…and all she hears (sic) is her name and the n-word Gloria continued.
Eventually, Rachel, an outside hitter, interviewed the BYU athletic director who said the suspect had been identified, described as not a BYU student but a guest of someone else. She was also reassured that it was the person who said the slander, according to Gloria.
Brigham Young University confirmed the incident on Saturday, saying that a fan, not a BYU student, had been banned from all sports venues.
“When a student sportsman or fan comes to a BYU sports event, we expect them to be treated with love, respect and feel safe on campus. For this reason, BYU banned a fan who was identified by Duke during last night’s volleyball match from all BYU sports grounds. Although this fan was sitting in the student section of BYU, this person is not a BYU student,” school said.
The school apologized to Duke University and its student-athletes participating in the match.
“To say we are extremely disappointed by the behavior of a small number of fans at last night’s volleyball match…is not strong enough language,” the statement read. “Specifically, the use of racial slurs at any of our sporting events is totally unacceptable and BRJU Athletics adopts a zero-tolerance approach to this behaviour,” the statement said.
“We want BYU’s sporting events to provide a safe environment for everyone, and there is no place for behaviors like this in our workplaces,” the statement concluded.
Richardson on Sunday dealt with the accident on TwitterHe called on the game officials for their failure to stop the harassment. This post was made by Duke volleyball’s social media page.
“My fellow African Americans and I were subjected to racial targeting and harassment throughout the match. Insults and comments grew into threats that made us feel insecure.”
She continued, “Both officials and coaching staff at BYU were informed of the incident during the match, but they failed to take the necessary steps to stop the unacceptable behavior and create a safe environment.” “…no athlete, regardless of race, should be exposed to such hostile conditions.”
Richardson wrote: “Neither my goal nor my Duke Volleyball goal is to call up BYU athletics but rather to call them up. This isn’t the first time this has happened in college athletics and unfortunately it won’t be the last. However, every time it happens, we As student-athletes, coaches, fans and administrators we have the opportunity to educate those who behave in unpleasant ways.”
After Friday’s incident, Duke’s Saturday game scheduled at the same BYU field home was moved to another location.
“After the very unfortunate circumstances in Friday night’s game at BYU, we are forced to shift today’s game against Ryder to a different location to provide both teams with the safest atmosphere to compete,” said Nina King, Vice President and Director of Athletics at Duke.
She added that she is in contact with student-athletes “who have been deeply affected” and will “continue to support them in every way possible.”
The Ryder University women’s volleyball team shared a message of support for Richardson ahead of their game on Saturday, writing her jersey number on their wrist.
We are getting ready to play Tweet embed This afternoon, we stand with our full support for Rachel. We are playing third today. The team said in tweet.
At the start of Saturday’s game, Brigham Young University’s athletic director Tom Holmo addressed the fans in attendance, condemning “outrageous and hurtful insults” uttered in the previous game.
“I want you to know that I visited this morning with the young Duke athlete and her coach. If you were to meet her, you would have loved her. But you don’t know her, and therefore you don’t feel that way,” he said.
“We fell too short. We didn’t live up to our best,” he said.
He urged BYU fans to “have the courage to take a stand” and look after the guests invited to play there.
Speaking to cougar fans, he said, “Encourage them as loudly as you can, but don’t cross the line that might hurt or hurt anyone in any way.”
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