BYU said it found no evidence of racial heckling or racial slurs directed at Duke volleyball players during a game hosted by the Cougars last month, the university announced Friday. The school’s findings come after Duke volleyball player Rachel Richardson, who is Black, said she and fellow Black players were “targeted and racially heckled throughout the entirety of the match.”
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“From our extensive review, we have not found any evidence to corroborate the allegation that fans engaged in racial heckling or uttered racial slurs at the event,” BYU said in a statement. “As we stated earlier, we would not tolerate any conduct that would make a student-athlete feel unsafe.”
Following the Aug. 26 game, Richardson wrote on Twitter about being heckled and said the Duke players struggled to get through the match. In the wake of the incident, BYU launched an investigation and suspended a fan from attending any future Cougars home sporting events.
Last week, South Carolina women’s basketball canceled a home-and-home series with BYU following the incident at the volleyball game.
Coach Dawn Staley said in a statement that she didn’t “feel that this is the right time for us to engage in this series,” and on Twitter, she called Richardson and her teammates “brave.”
“This is one more hurdle black athletes have to leap because they are black,” Staley said in an Aug. 28 Twitter post. “Rachel … your mental strength and endurance should not have been tested in this manner …. but when it was you passed. Godspeed to you all!”
On Friday, Staley said she will “continue to stand by (her) position.”
“After my personal research, I made a decision for the well-being of my team,” Staley said in a statement released by South Carolina women’s basketball. “I regret that my university, my athletics director Ray Tanner and others got drawn into the criticism of a choice that I made.”
As part of the investigation, BYU said the school reviewed multiple video and audio recordings, security footage and BYUtv footage with broadcasting audio removed to hear the noise from the stands more clearly. The university also said it contacted more than 50 individuals who attended the event, including Duke players and athletic department personnel, BYU players and athletic department personnel, security personnel and fans at the game. The school did not specify if Richardson was among the people contacted.
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“Despite being unable to find supporting evidence of racial slurs in the many recordings and interviews, we hope that all those involved will understand our sincere efforts to ensure that all student-athletes competing at BYU feel safe,” the university said. “There will be some who assume we are being selective in our review. 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 has also lifted the ban on the fan identified as using racial slurs, saying it found no evidence of the individual “engaged in such an activity.”
Following BYU’s announcement, Duke released a statement about the Cougars’ findings.
“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. 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.”
(Photo: George Frey / Bloomberg via Getty Images)