PROVO, Utah — Brigham Young University has banned a fan who yelled a racial slur at a Black player on the Duke volleyball team during a game on Friday night.
The university said the fan was sitting in the BYU student section but was not a student, and has been banned from all athletic venues on campus.
BYU said it won't tolerate such behavior and apologized to Duke and the player who was targeted. Duke said its match on Saturday against Rider was moved from BYU's Smith Fieldhouse to a different venue.
"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," in part of a statement BYU released on Twitter.
The player, Rachel Richardson, who is the only Black starter on the team, was called a racial slur “every time she served,” Richardson's godmother, Lesa Pamplin, said in a tweet.
“First and foremost, our priority is the well-being of Duke student-athletes,” Duke athletic director Nina King said in a statement. “They should always have the opportunity to compete in an inclusive, anti-racist environment which promotes equality and fair play. Following extremely unfortunate circumstances at Friday night’s match at BYU, we are compelled to shift today’s match against Rider to a different location to afford both teams the safest atmosphere for competition.”
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