CNN
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The father of Duke women’s volleyball player Rachel Richardson said his daughter was “scared” and called him in tears after being racially slurred during a game against Brigham Young University on Friday.
Richardson, who is black, is a second-year outside hitter for Duke. She tweeted a statement on Sunday explaining that she was not the only player to have been the target of racial slurs and heckling at BYU’s Smith Fieldhouse in Provo, Utah.
“Friday night during our game against Brigham Young University my African American teammates and I were racially targeted and heckled throughout the game,” Richardson tweeted.
“Insults and comments turned into threats, which made us feel unsafe.”
In a statement Saturday, Duke University vice president and athletic director Nina King referenced “extremely unfortunate circumstances” during Friday’s game at BYU as the reason for changing the venue for a Saturday game. In the statement, King said student-athletes should be able to compete in “an inclusive and anti-racist environment.”
Watching the game on TV at the Richardson family home, Marvin Richardson said he had “no idea” what happened during the game, but his daughter explained her experience to him in detail through the following.
“After the game, we [Rachel and I] still talking and she called, but it was a different call,” Marvin told New Day on CNN. “She was crying, she was upset and Rachel is not the person who calls and cries over a loss, that’s just not who she is.
“So we knew something was wrong and then as she started telling us what was going on and what happened during the game, first [we felt] anger, outrage and just a real need to make sure something was done to fix the things that happened to us.
BYU issued an apology via Twitter on Saturday, but did not confirm details of the incident, and said it had banned a fan from all sports venues. According to the statement, the fan was not a BYU student, but was seated in BYU’s student section.
Richardson said in a statement Saturday that BYU officials and coaching staff were made aware of the incident during the game, “but did not take the necessary steps to end the unacceptable behavior and create a safe environment. “.
Even after the incident was brought to their attention, Richardson said BYU officials “did not adequately respond to the situation,” a sentiment that was echoed by his father.
BYU Women’s Volleyball was not immediately available for comment.
“No student athlete should have to go to a venue and be subjected to that kind of atmosphere,” said Marvin Richardson.
“You want a loud crowd if you’re the home team, that’s fantastic, but when it crosses that line it becomes the responsibility of those in authority to ensure the atmosphere remains safe and free. of these types of elements that would prohibit people from playing at their highest level.
“What I would like to see in the future is that we do everything we can to make sure these sites are safe and free from this kind of action and when that happens they are taken down – immediately. . I’ve been to places where coaches have picked up a microphone and said, ‘Stop it. If you can’t do that, we’ll get you kicked out of here.
“It’s an action you can take right now, stop it while it’s happening. It didn’t happen and I think we can always do more.
“We’ve been in volleyball for 30 years, I’ve got four daughters who’ve played the game, we’ve always had this occasional idiot who’s just there in the crowd, but never an atmosphere like this where she said that she was scared.”
