Duke University volleyball player Rachel Richardson was reportedly called racial slurs while she and her teammates played in a match against BYU in Utah. (Credit: Screenshot - CBS 17/YouTube)

BYU bans fan who yelled racial slurs at Black volleyball player during match

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Duke University volleyball player Rachel Richardson was reportedly called racial slurs while she and her teammates played in a match against BYU in Utah. (Credit: Screenshot - CBS 17/YouTube)
Duke University volleyball player Rachel Richardson was reportedly called racial slurs while she and her teammates played in a match against BYU in Utah. (Credit: Screenshot – CBS 17/YouTube)

BYU has banned a fan who reportedly yelled racial slurs at a Black volleyball player for Duke University during a game Friday night in Utah.

BYU issued a statement saying the fan taunting 19-year-old Rachel Richardson was sitting in the BYU student section but that person was not a BYU student, and subsequently was banned from all athletic venues on campus, reported the Associated Press.

“We will not tolerate behavior of this kind. Specifically, the use of a racial slur at any of our athletic events is absolutely unacceptable and BYU Athletics holds a zero-tolerance approach to this behavior. We wholeheartedly apologize to Duke University and especially its student-athlete competing last night for what they experienced. We want BYU athletic events to provide a safe environment for all, and there is no place for behaviors like this in our venues,” BYU said in a statement.

In a tweet, Richardson’s godmother reportedly said, the young woman, who is reportedly the only Black starter on the team, was called a racial slur “every time she served.”

Duke reportedly said the match scheduled for Saturday was moved from BYU’s Smith Fieldhouse to another venue in Provo.

More about the incident can be found here.

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