BYU Bans Fan Following Racist Allegations During Volleyball Match

Information reaching Kossyderrickent has it that BYU Bans Fan Following Racist Allegations During Volleyball Match.

BYU banned a fan who yelled a racial slur at a Black player on the Duke volleyball team during a match Friday night, the university said in a statement Saturday.

The fan was sitting in the BYU student section but was not a student, and has been banned from all athletic venues on campus, the statement said.

“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 statement said. “We wholeheartedly apologize to Duke University and especially its student-athlete competing last night for what they experienced. We want BYU athletic events to provide a safe environment for all, and there is no place for behaviors like this in our venues.”

Saturday afternoon, the BYU Athletic Department released the following statement:

“All of God’s children deserve love and respect, and BYU Athletics is completely committed to leading out in abandoning attitudes and actions of prejudice of any kind and rooting out racism,” the statement read. “When a student-athlete or a fan comes to a BYU sporting event, we expect that they will be treated with love and respect and feel safe on our campus. It is for this reason BYU has banned a fan who was identified by Duke during last night’s volleyball match from all BYU athletic venues. Although this fan was sitting in BYU’s student section, this person is not a BYU student.

“To say we are extremely disheartened in the actions of a smaller number of fans in last night’s volleyball match in the Smith Fieldhouse between BYU and Duke is not strong enough language,” the statement continued. “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. We wholeheartedly apologize to Duke University and especially its student-athletes competing last night for what they experienced. We want BYU athletic events to provide a safe environment for all, and there is no place for behaviors like this in our venues.”