A Brigham Young University fan who repeatedly chanted the n-word at a Black women’s volleyball player from Duke has been banned from all sports venues at BYU, KSL NBC-5 in Salt Lake City reports.
Although the offender was in the student section of the Smith Fieldhouse, university officials say the man was not a BYU student. At one point during the match, at least one university police officer was stationed behind the Duke bench, but there did not appear to be a disturbance in the stands. The fieldhouse was packed with more than 5,500 fans, the largest crowd to ever watch a women’s volleyball came at the venue.
The slur targeted Duke’s Rachel Richardson, a senior outside hitter from Ellicott City, Maryland. The fan would say the slur to her every time she went to serve the ball. At one point, the man “told her to watch her back going to the team bus,” her godmother posted on Twitter.
“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,” BYU said in a statement, “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.”