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Brigham Young University has apologized and banned a fan from attending its events after a Duke University player was harassed with a racial slur during a women’s volleyball game Friday, The News & Observer reported.
“To say we are extremely disheartened in the actions of a small number of fans in last night’s volleyball match in Smith Fieldhouse between BYU and Duke is not strong enough language,” said a statement from Brigham Young. “We will not tolerate behavior of this kind. Specifically, the use of a racial slur at any of our athletic events is absolutely unacceptable and BYU athletics holds a zero-tolerance approach to this behavior.”
The match, at Brigham Young, was part of BYU’s doTERRA Classic. Duke announced Saturday that its match with Rider University, originally scheduled to be at Brigham Young on Saturday, would be moved to another gym in Provo. The game was played at a local high school.
“First and foremost, our priority is the well-being of Duke student-athletes,” Duke athletics director Nina King said in a statement. “They should always have the opportunity to compete in an inclusive, anti-racist environment which promotes equality and fair play. Following extremely unfortunate circumstances at Friday night’s match at BYU, we are compelled to shift today’s match against Rider to a different location to afford both teams the safest atmosphere for competition.”
Duke sophomore Rachel Richardson, who is Black, was the target of the slur, according to Lesa Pamplin, who said she is Richardson’s godmother. On Twitter, Pamplin said Richardson was called the N-word “every time she served.”
Brigham Young said the fan who used the slur is not a student.
