BYU Investigation of ‘Racist’ Incident Turns Up No Evidence of Athlete Harassment

Brigham Young University, under fire for weeks after a visiting Black athlete claimed to have been racially harassed during a volleyball match, said Friday that an extensive investigation turned up no evidence to back the young woman’s allegations.In a statement, the school said it reviewed video of the August 26 match where the incident allegedly occurred and interviewed dozens of people in attendance but couldn’t find “any evidence to corroborate the allegation that fans engaged in racial heckling or uttered racial slurs at the event.”The statement added: “As we stated earlier, we would not tolerate any conduct that would make a student-athlete feel unsafe. That is the reason for our immediate response and our thorough investigation.”The athlete who made the charges, Rachel Richardson, is the only Black starter on the Duke University women’s volleyball team and was playing at BYU’s Provo, Utah, campus when she said she was harassed.In a social media post about the incident, Ms. Richardson said she and other Black players on Duke’s team “were targeted and racially heckled throughout the entirety of the match. The slurs and comments grew into threats which caused us to feel unsafe. Both the officials and BYU coaching staff were made aware of the incident during the game, but failed to take the necessary steps to stop the unacceptable behavior and create a safe environment.”Her allegations led to swift condemnation of the school, which is owned by the Church of Latter Day Saints, from activists and commentators in the media, including ESPN, CNN, the New York Times, and dozens of others. Coaches from campuses across the country condemned the incident, and the University of South Carolina canceled a planned basketball game with BYU because of the incident.Scores of politicians also jumped to the young woman’s defense long before the incident was investigated or corroborated. Utah’s Republican governor, Spencer Cox, said on Twitter that he was “disgusted by the incident and deeply saddened if others didn’t step up to stop it.”“As a society we have to do more to create an atmosphere where racist a**holes like this never feel comfortable attacking others,” he said.In response to the BYU statement about the investigation, Duke University released it own saying that it was standing behind its players.“The 18 members of the Duke University volleyball team are exceptionally strong women who represent themselves, their families, and Duke University with the utmost integrity,” the school’s director of athletics, Nina King, said. “We unequivocally stand with and champion them, especially when their character is called into question. Duke Athletics believes in respect, equality and inclusiveness, and we do not tolerate hate and bias.”In its investigation, the school said it reviewed multiple video feeds of the match — with the broadcast audio stripped out so noise from the stands could be clearly heard — but found no evidence of the harassment.The school said it also reached out to more than 50 people who attended the match, among them faculty and staff, security guards, other student athletes, and fans who were sitting in the on-court student section from which the harassment allegedly occurred. None could corroborate Ms. Richardson’s assertions.After the match, BYU banned from all its athletic events a young fan who was in attendance and accused of shouting the epithets at the players. In Friday’s statement, the school apologized to the student from nearby Utah Valley College and lifted that ban.“BYU sincerely apologizes to that fan for any hardship the ban has caused,” the school said.“There will be some who assume we are being selective in our review,” the school said. “To the contrary, we have tried to be as thorough as possible in our investigation, and we renew our invitation for anyone with evidence contrary to our findings to come forward and share it.”

BYU Investigation of ‘Racist’ Incident Turns Up No Evidence of Athlete Harassment

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