Duke volleyball game in Utah moved after racism incident

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Mar 14, 2022; Dayton, OH, USA; NCAA logo seen on a microphone during practice the day before the start of the First Four of the 2022 NCAA Tournament at UD Arena. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports

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Aug 27 (Reuters) – Duke University said its women’s volleyball match on Saturday was being moved to an alternate location in Provo, Utah, after a “troublesome situation” during Friday’s match with BYU, adding players should always be able to compete in an’ inclusive, anti-racist environment.”

Lesa Pamplin, the godmother of a Black Duke player, wrote on Twitter that while playing her goddaughter had been subjected to racist slurs every time she served.

“She was threatened by a white male that told her to watch her back going to the team bus. A police officer had to be put by their bench,” Pamplin tweeted.

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Pamplin, a Texas lawyer, the BYU and Provo police departments did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Duke Vice President and Director of Athletics Nina King said in a statement that the “extremely unfortunate circumstances” had compelled it to change the venue for Saturday’s game against Rider “to afford both teams the safest atmosphere for competition.”

King said she had been in touch with the student-athletes who were deeply impacted, and will continue to support them in every way possible.

In a statement, BYU said it was completely committed to rooting out racism, and had banned a fan identified by Duke from all BYU Athletic venues. It said the person was sitting in the BYU student section, but was not a BYU student.

“To say we are extremely disheartened in the actions of a small number of fans … is not strong enough language,” BYU said in its statement.

The use of a racial slur at any of its athletic events was absolutely unacceptable, BYU said, and it apologized to Duke and its student athletes for what they experienced.

BYU and Duke did not immediately respond to requests for additional comment about the incident.

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Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Daniel Wallis

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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