SALEM, VA - APRIL 24: The playing court before the game between Carthage College and Benedictine University in the Division III Men"u2019s Volleyball Championship held at the Salem Civic Center on April 24, 2021 in Salem, Virginia. (Photo by Keith Lucas/NCAA Photos/NCAA Photos via Getty Images)
The University of the Pacific volleyball team chose to accept a forfeit rather than play at BYU after Duke volleyball player Rachel Richardson said she was subjected to racial slurs from a Cougars fan during an August match.
"The volleyball team has decided to not play the November 10 game at BYU," Pacific's senior communications director Mike Klocke said in a statement, per Analis Bailey of USA Today. "The team expressed concerns following reports of racist and hostile comments during an August 26 match. Pacific stands with our student-athletes."
Bailey noted BYU said it found no evidence of the racist comment during its own investigation, which it highlighted in its response.
"The University of the Pacific's decision to forfeit this week's women's volleyball match is unwarranted and deeply disappointing," the statement said. "Following the Aug. 26 allegation, BYU conducted an extensive review and found no evidence to corroborate this allegation."
Yet Richardson, who is Black, said she repeatedly heard a slur from the student section during the match, per ESPN's Adam Rittenberg. BYU initially banned a fan from attending athletic events but reversed that decision following its investigation.
Duke athletic director Nina King released a statement supporting Richardson and the volleyball team after BYU made its announcement. Richardson's godmother, Lesa Pamplin, was not swayed by BYU's determination either.
"BYU's statement today does not change my position," Pamplin said. "In fact, the statement and the 'findings' are in keeping with what I—and many others—anticipated.
"Daily across America, the burden of proof—in instances like these involving people of color, as well as marginalized people, economically disadvantaged people, and disempowered people—is shifted unfairly and without hesitation."
As Bailey pointed out, the University of the Pacific volleyball team wasn't the only one to respond across the college sports landscape.
Some USC women's soccer players said they were subjected to racial slurs from BYU fans in 2021 when they protested systemic inequality and police brutality by kneeling during the national anthem.
South Carolina women's basketball coach Dawn Staley canceled a scheduled series with the Cougars, saying "the incident at BYU has led me to reevaluate our home-and-home, and I don't feel that this is the right time for us to engage in this series."
BYU Says No Evidence Racial Slurs Used Toward Duke's Rachel Richardson, Unbans Fan
Sep 9, 2022
TAMPA, FL - DECEMBER 11: A general view of the net before the match between the Washburn Ichabods and the Tampa Spartans during the Division II Women’s Volleyball Championship held at the Bob Martinez Athletics Center on December 11, 2021 in Tampa, Florida. (Photo by C. Morgan Engel/NCAA Photos via Getty Images)
BYU has reversed course and unbanned a fan who was accused of using racial slurs toward Duke volleyball player Rachel Richardson during an Aug. 26 match.
In a statement released Friday, the school said it never "found any evidence to corroborate the allegation that fans engaged in racial heckling or uttered racial slurs at the event" after an extensive review.
"As a result of our investigation, we have lifted the ban on the fan who was identified as having uttered racial slurs during the match," the statement continued. "We have not found any evidence that that individual engaged in such an activity. BYU sincerely apologizes to that fan for any hardship the ban has caused."
Duke athletic director Nina King issued a statement in response to BYU's decision:
"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."
The incident first became public when Richardson's godmother, Lesa Pamplin, tweeted (h/t ESPN.com) Richardson was called a racial slur "every time she served" the ball.
Marvin Richardson, Rachel's father, corroborated Pamplin's account of what happened in an Aug. 27 interview with Kevin Reynolds of the Salt Lake Tribune.
BYU's athletic department announced that same day the fan, who is not a student at the university, was banned from attending all future athletic events.
Rachel Richardson issued a statement in the wake of BYU's initial decision:
BYU campus police said on Aug. 30 they didn't find any evidence of a fan yelling racial slurs.
“When we watched the video, we did not observe that behavior from him,” BYU Police Lt. George Besendorfer said, via Courtney Tanner and Reynolds of the Salt Lake Tribune.
In a statement provided to Tanner and Reynolds, BYU associate athletic director Jon McBride said "various" employees in the athletics department "have been reviewing video from BYUtv and other cameras in the facility" and they "have been unable to find any evidence of that person using slurs in the match."
In an interview with ESPN's Holly Rowe, Richardson said she "heard a very strong, negative racial slur" when she was getting ready to serve the ball.
"... So I served the ball," she explained, "got through the play. And then the next time I went back to serve, I heard it extremely clear again, but that was the end of the game."
Richardson is the lone Black starter on Duke's volleyball team. She is in her sophomore year for the Blue Devils and has played in all seven games this season.
Duke played BYU in a four-team round-robin invitational tournament with Rider and Washington State from Aug. 26 to 27 at Smith Fieldhouse in Provo, Utah.
Colorado HS Volleyball Coach Inoke Tonga Says He Was Forced to Resign for Being Gay
Aug 23, 2021
DUESSELDORF, GERMANY - JULY 26: (BILD ZEITUNG OUT) Three volleyballs on an advertising band during the semi-final of qualification for the German Championships 2020 on July 26, 2020 in Duesseldorf, Germany. (Photo by Mario Hommes/DeFodi Images via Getty Images)
A high school volleyball coach in Colorado said he was forced to resign from the position because of his sexual orientation.
Inoke Tonga, who is gay, wrote in a post on Instagram that Valor Christian High School administrators, including the campus pastor and athletic director, to ask him "if I had any changes in my lifestyle that were life changing."
As I was asked repeatedly that question, they finally asked if I had posted something inappropriate on my social media that would go against Valor's culture and beliefs. And of course, I said no—I am not one to post anything on my social media that would be inappropriate. Eventually they asked if I did an interview, or posted anything about being gay. My answer was yes. Of course I advocate for LGBTO+ brothers and sisters, especially those struggling with finding a relationship with God.
Tonga added that he sat in the room "being grilled about how being gay is a 'danger' to the school and to the kids."
He noted the pastor and athletic director told him he would be released from his job if he didn't denounce identifying as a gay man, and they told the volleyball team and community it was his choice to leave.
"But they left out the part where they pushed me out," Tonga wrote.
A spokesperson for the school issued a statement to Sloan Dickey of ABC 7 in Denver about Tonga's comments:
Last week Valor became aware of a Facebook posting by Coach Inoke that suggested he may not support Valor’s beliefs pertaining to sexuality and marriage. Valor’s campus pastor and athletic director initiated a conversation with Coach Inoke to explore this matter further. Following this discussion, Coach Inoke provided a statement to Valor in which he concluded that he does not support Valor’s beliefs and he requested a separation from Valor.
Tonga was named head coach of the Valor Christian High School boys volleyball team for the 2020-21 school year. He was named an assistant for the girls team this year prior to his departure from the school on Aug. 19.
