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The University of Wisconsin police department is investigating after private photos of the women's volleyball team were shared online, the school said in a statement:
"UWPD is investigating multiple crimes, including sharing sensitive photos without consent," the statement read.
According to Mark Stewart of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, at least one photo features multiple team members "posing with their sports bras lifted."
The photos were never intended to be shared publicly, but they were posted to websites without the players' consent. Most of the content has since been removed, per Stewart.
Though the photos were originally taken by a member of the team, Badgers coach Kelly Sheffield clarified there would be no disciplinary action against members of her team, per Todd D. Milewski and Colten Bartholomew of the Wisconsin State Journal.
"UWPD is not investigating the volleyball student-athletes for wrongdoing in this matter," the school also said in its statement. "Our top priority is supporting our student-athletes and we are providing them with the appropriate services and resources."
Wisconsin women's volleyball won the national championship last season after reaching the national semifinals for the third year in a row.
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.
Three-time Olympic gold medalist Kerri Walsh Jennings described a recent shopping trip she made in which she didn't wear a face mask despite the COVID-19 pandemic.
Walsh Jennings claimed on Instagram that guidelines advising or mandating the usage of face masks equated to an erosion of one's liberty to an extent, though she did not point to any evidence of actual "manipulation" or constitutional violations:
"This statement woke me up & the truth of it has had me obsessing on the matter of how I can mindfully & compassionately stand up for my rights & for the freedoms our constitution has granted us all WITHOUT being reckless or putting anyone else in danger.
"We are all endlessly complaining about the restrictive & arbitrarily selective rules that we are being strongly 'suggested' to follow & yet we are all consenting; Not much of a fight, just a lot of complaining & strongly disagreeing with this manipulation, but we keep consenting. It's maddening. It has crushed our society, people's livelihoods, our children's spirits, & the fabric of our world. We have become a country & a world estranged from each other & it is more deeply unhealthy than any virus could ever be."
Health officials have said for months the use of cloth or medical-grade face masks helps limit the spread of the disease by helping "keep respiratory droplets contained and from reaching other people."
The Bay Area News Group's Michael Nowels wrote that Olympic silver medalist Jennifer Kessy criticized Walsh Jennings in the comments, writing she "can't believe how selfish this entire post is." Kelli Mezzetti, Walsh Jennings' sister, was similarly critical.
The volleyball star wrote a follow-up post Monday to say she was "not advocating for people to stop wearing masks" and that she "wear(s) a mask most often."
Minnesota Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins drew similar criticism when he appeared to downplay the risk posed by the pandemic on 10 Questions With Kyle Brandt, adding he's "gonna ride it out" and "gonna let nature do its course."
Cousins followed up to say he doesn't personally fear the pandemic but that he follows any necessary guidelines to the benefit of others.
According to CNN, the United States has confirmed more than 6.3 million cases of COVID-19, the most of any country in the world. The U.S. is also the leader in total deaths (189,972).
