Racial Slur at BYU Game - Real or Hoax?

[Vanguard]

19 minutes ago, JarMan said:

This is an opportunity to dig deep into closed cultures which tolerate amoral racist acts, such as those exhibited Friday night, and change them for the better. It is not enough to indicate that you are not racist, instead you must demonstrate that you are anti-racist.

Oh my, I had no idea she actually said this. To me, it smacks of agenda. And yes, much like with the Smollet incident, I can almost hear others thinking - "Yep, the veracity of her claims are irrelevant as long as it pushes a 'closed culture' to change for the better". I have a feeling we're going to hear more about her own history. Good grief. : ( 

Edited September 9, 2022 by Vanguard

[The Nehor]

18 minutes ago, Vanguard said:

Oh my, I had no idea she actually said this. To me, it smacks of agenda. And yes, much like with the Smollet incident, I can almost hear others thinking - "Yep, the veracity of her claims are irrelevant as long as it pushes a 'closed culture' to change for the better". I have a feeling we're going to hear more about her own history. Good grief. : ( 

Oh wow! A minority has an AGENDA to want to not be mistreated? What a statistical outlier!

Welp, this person is clearly biased and can be dismissed and I am sure we are going to hear much more about her rabid and insane radical leftist agenda to *checks notes* not be maligned and demeaned due to her race.

[JarMan]

18 minutes ago, Vanguard said:

Oh my, I had no idea she actually said this. To me, it smacks of agenda. And yes, much like with the Smollet incident, I can almost hear others thinking - "Yep, the veracity of her claims are irrelevant as long as it pushes a 'closed culture' to change for the better". I have a feeling we're going to hear more about her own history. Good grief. : ( 

Exactly. It doesn't matter if what I said is true. The ends justify the means. And the ends are that we are going to expose racism and destroy it wherever it exists. If there is collateral damage, so be it.

[teddyaware]

1 hour ago, Vanguard said:

Oh my, I had no idea she actually said this. To me, it smacks of agenda. And yes, much like with the Smollet incident, I can almost hear others thinking - "Yep, the veracity of her claims are irrelevant as long as it pushes a 'closed culture' to change for the better". I have a feeling we're going to hear more about her own history. Good grief. : ( 

I can almost hear her saying, “I was motivated to do what I did that day by the purest, loftiest motives because, as everybody already knows, the Mormons are the most racist closed society in the United States today, and what did was bring out into the open what most of the BYU fans there were inwardly feeling. In reality, I did them a very big favor because I put a much needed spotlight on a hateful, systemically racist religion that needs to be fully exposed to the world and then reformed. So as you can see, I really didn’t do anything wrong.”

Edited September 9, 2022 by teddyaware

[The Nehor]

2 hours ago, teddyaware said:

I can almost hear her saying, “I was motivated to do what I did that day by the purest, loftiest motives because, as everybody already knows, the Mormons are the most racist closed society in the United States today, and what did was bring out into the open what most of the BYU fans there were inwardly feeling. In reality, I did them a very big favor because I put a much needed spotlight on a hateful, systemically racist religion that needs to be fully exposed to the world and then reformed. So as you can see, I really didn’t do anything wrong.”

Nice to see you are moving beyond simply enjoying the hate porn genre and have taken up the pen to create your own. Progress of a sort. Sorry, wait, no, not progress. Regress? Congress? Depress?

[blackstrap]

I remember a quote that goes something like " don't start a written fight with someone who buys ink by the barrel " 

Similarly , in this case it is wise to avoid a fight with those who own most of the bandwidth. 

Any evidence to corroborate  the young lady's story should already have come out. Any evidence to invalidate the story ( unless by the woman herself ) has already been presented.  

[Rivers]

5 hours ago, JarMan said:

Exactly. It doesn't matter if what I said is true. The ends justify the means. And the ends are that we are going to expose racism and destroy it wherever it exists. If there is collateral damage, so be it.

If racism is the humongous problem so many make it out to be, we wouldn’t need these made-up incidents.  We’d be going after, you know, actual racism.  

Edited September 9, 2022 by Rivers

[bsjkki]

 

Edited September 9, 2022 by bsjkki

[bsjkki]

double post

Edited September 9, 2022 by bsjkki

[bsjkki]

[Vanguard]

20 minutes ago, bsjkki said:

Sounds good - No "...evidence to corroborate the allegation..." It's been ~2 weeks now and I doubt there will be any. Moving on...

[teddyaware]

11 hours ago, The Nehor said:

Nice to see you are moving beyond simply enjoying the hate porn genre and have taken up the pen to create your own. Progress of a sort. Sorry, wait, no, not progress. Regress? Congress? Depress?

In my post (which once again excludes any of the calls for violence that you have made), I put the words that most woke progressives would say concerning this issue into the mouth of Richardson herself, which only seems fair since she’s the one who perpetrated what now appears to be a vicious, hateful hoax. I had her say words in defense of her deception that most any woke zealot would also say, that it doesn’t matter if she lied or not because the “Mormon church” is a closed systemically racist society that needs to be either radically reformed or destroyed, and if concocting a hurtful false scenario is what was needed in order to bring the “truth” to the world’s sharply focused attention, so be it…

[jkwilliams]

2 minutes ago, teddyaware said:

In my post (which once again excludes any of the calls for violence that you have made), I put the words that most woke progressives would say concerning this issue into the mouth of Richardson herself, which only seems fair since she’s the one who perpetrated what now appears to be a vicious, hateful hoax. I had her say words in defense of her deception that most any woke zealot would also say, that it doesn’t matter if she lied or not because the “Mormon church” is a closed systemically racist society that needs to be either radically reformed or destroyed, and if concocting a hurtful false scenario is what was needed in order to bring the “truth” to the world’s sharply focused attention, so be it…

So, you’re ruling out “pious fraud.”

[JarMan]

21 minutes ago, jkwilliams said:

So, you’re ruling out “pious fraud.”

From the Duke volleyball player: "I believe God puts you in places at certain times, near certain people for specific reasons. And I believe that, and my teammates that, for some reason, my name was the one that blew up and I wholeheartedly (believe) that's because God had a purpose behind it. And that purpose was that maybe he knew that I would be able to meet people with compassion. And I don't want BYU to be singled out or looked at as a bad institution because of this one thing … that doesn't represent the entire university of BYU."

Sounds like a pious fraud to me. 

[bsjkki]

I had missed this before. He explains why he’s happy this happened. ‘Who’s thinking about going to BYU now.’ The bad press and harm from this can not be overstated. 
 

 

Edited September 9, 2022 by bsjkki

[Calm]

1 hour ago, bsjkki said:

I can’t see anything to fault BYU in their approach to this. Taking various reports into account, they acted as soon as they were told. Richardson did not want the game stopped, iirc. They booted the fan when it appeared it was a valid complaint and restored his access with an apology when it was found to be a mistake. 

The only other thing I would suggest if the attacks continue or even if they don’t is handing over all the available BYU video to an independent organization to do their own review as there will be some who believe BYU is lying. But that could be costly, so my guess is it won’t be done unless someone volunteers to do it.  As long as there are no missing gaps from any of the recordings, I can’t think of any more definite proof, though some won’t ever be satisfied. 

[gopher]

10 hours ago, Rivers said:

If racism is the humongous problem so many make it out to be, we wouldn’t need these made-up incidents.  We’d be going after, you know, actual racism.  

Actual racism certainly exists, even from some volleyball fans.  Just not from the BYU fans at the Duke match.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/it-s-pure-unadulterated-racism-says-mother-after-black-student-athletes-heckled-with-monkey-noises-during-volleyball-game/ar-AA11BRUZ

[Calm]

9 minutes ago, bsjkki said:

I had missed this before. He explains why he’s happy this happened. ‘Who’s thinking about going to BYU now.’ The bad press and harm from this can not be overstated. 
 

 

That is really sad he is making accusations when he admits he doesn’t know what BYU is actually like prior to this.  Assuming guilt without knowledge of guilt isn’t just or merciful and certainly isn’t the way to make people or organizations want to change…why change if they are going to be slammed anyway? (There has been quite a bit of change the last few years and efforts in place for more change).

[Calm]

9 minutes ago, gopher said:

Actual racism certainly exists, even from some volleyball fans.  Just not from the BYU fans at the Duke match.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/it-s-pure-unadulterated-racism-says-mother-after-black-student-athletes-heckled-with-monkey-noises-during-volleyball-game/ar-AA11BRUZ

Unfortunately it still exists at BYU too, but hopefully it is getting better as voices are raised against it and people are better educated in how to respect boundaries, etc. 

https://www.sltrib.com/news/education/2020/02/11/byu-black-students/

https://www.sltrib.com/news/education/2021/02/27/byus-students-color-feel/

https://universe.byu.edu/2021/02/26/byu-report-on-race-details-student-faculty-experiences-and-offers-recommendations-to-root-out-racism/

https://religionnews.com/2021/03/03/racism-at-byu-is-a-problem-study-finds/

[jkwilliams]

17 minutes ago, Calm said:

That is really sad he is making accusations when he admits he doesn’t know what BYU is actually like prior to this.  Assuming guilt without knowledge of guilt isn’t just or merciful and certainly isn’t the way to make people or organizations want to change…why change if they are going to be slammed anyway? (There has been quite a bit of change the last few years and efforts in place for more change).

Well, that's kind of par for the course for that guy, so I wouldn't put too much stock in his opinion. I feel really bad for BYU because this is very much a no-win situation. If they had substantiated the claim, everyone would be saying BYU is racist because, as Stephen A put it, they didn't address it when it happened. Now that they can't substantiate it, everyone's going to say BYU obviously covered it up and is therefore racist. 

[Calm]

Just now, jkwilliams said:

Well, that's kind of par for the course for that guy, so I wouldn't put too much stock in his opinion. I feel really bad for BYU because this is very much a no-win situation. If they had substantiated the claim, everyone would be saying BYU is racist because, as Stephen A put it, they didn't address it when it happened. Now that they can't substantiate it, everyone's going to say BYU obviously covered it up and is therefore racist. 

I have no clue who he is, so good to know. 

[jkwilliams]

Just now, Calm said:

I have no clue who he is, so good to know. 

He's one of those people ESPN hires to be a loudmouth. He's good at that but not much else. 

[bsjkki]

 

[smac97]

15 hours ago, Amulek said:

I can agree that she underestimated how much attention this would garner. However, I'm not convinced she fabricated her accusations - at least, not the ones she made herself.  I can think of one that might be exaggerated a bit, but I think even on that one there is some wiggle room for sincerity on her part.

From Rachel Richardson's tweet:

• “Friday night in our match against Brigham Young University my fellow African American teammates and I were targeted and racially heckled throughout the entirety of the match.”
• “The slurs and comments grew into threats which caused us to feel unsafe.”
• "Both the officials and BYU coaching staff were made aware of the incident during the game, but failed to take the necessary steps to stop the unacceptable behavior and create a safe environment."
• "...education and training to better handle and prevent the racist, ignorant, and asinine behaviors that were exhibited by their fans during the match."
• "This is an opportunity to dig deep into closed cultures which tolerate amoral racist acts, such as those exhibited Friday night, and change them for the better."
• "I refused to allow those racist bigots to feel any degree of satisfaction from thinking that their comments had 'gotten to me.'"

From a partial transcript of her subsequent recorded interview:

“At the end of the second set I had gone back to serve and they heckled throughout the entire game. That’s just a part of sports. You get used to playing through extreme environments like that.  Very distinctly, though, I heard a very strong and negative racial slur.  And then the next time I went back to serve I heard it extremely clear again, but that was the end of the game.  So we switched sides and I went to a teammate that I’m super comfortable, super close with and I told her what had happened and immediately she was like, 'Alright, let’s go tell coach.’ She came with me, we told our coaches, and they went to the officials.  The officials, we saw them speaking with the BYU staff and then we were told someone was speaking to the student section, and I was alright, and that was the end of it.  We played our third set on the opposite side of the net from them. And then in the fourth set we went back to that side, it was almost as though the atmosphere of the student section had changed.  Even my teammates who were on the bench, my black teammates who were on the bench who don’t play; they were being called out, pointed at. It was really confusing as to why. That’s when the racial slurs and heckling — it just grew more extreme, more intense.  I know there has been a lot of people saying we should have stopped playing, we should have walked off the court, there should have been an immediate protest.  But the fact that I saw my teammates and coaches immediately go the officials right after I told them, that was action enough in that moment.  That made me feel seen, that made me feel heard, and valued by my team and coaches.  So I was like, they have done what they can do on their end, and all we can do is continue to play volleyball."

Here is a recording of the game. 

At 51:02 to 51:20, toward the end of the "second set," Richardson can be seen walking to the back of the court and serve.  This is when she claims she "{v}ery distinctly ... heard a very strong and negative racial slur."

At about 2:00:16 to 2:00:30, toward the end of "the fourth set," Richardson again serves.  

She apparently served twice the second set and twice in the fourth.

15 hours ago, Amulek said:

Which accusation(s) do you believe were fabricated by Richardson?

"{M}y fellow African American teammates and I were targeted and racially heckled throughout the entirety of the match."

“The slurs and comments grew into threats which caused us to feel unsafe.”

"Very distinctly, though, I heard a very strong and negative racial slur.  And then the next time I went back to serve I heard it extremely clear again, but that was the end of the game."

"And then in the fourth set we went back to that side, it was almost as though the atmosphere of the student section had changed ... That’s when the racial slurs and heckling — it just grew more extreme, more intense."

15 hours ago, Amulek said:

I don't hold Richardson responsible for the false accusations made by her family and near-family.  If her godmother fabricated a statement about what happened during the game, that's on her. And if the media misrepresented the facts, then that's on them. 

That's a fair point.  High emotion and all that.  I can't help but wonder, though, where her "godmother" got the information about what happened during and after the game.

15 hours ago, Amulek said:

Richardson isn't responsible for her godmother's comments or those made by the media, and she isn't under any special obligation to expressly correct them, especially if her actual comments are already on the record.

Again, a fair point.  She's 19, after all.  

15 hours ago, Amulek said:

I'm leaning toward her simply mishearing something and then sincerely acting on what she heard.

Okay.  I have difficult squaring that with "{v}ery distinctly, though, I heard a very strong and negative racial slur" and "the next time I went back to serve I heard it extremely clear again."

15 hours ago, Amulek said:

Quote

I am also skeptical about "maybe she just mis-heard something"-type explanations, as she was quite specific in publicly declaring that she “very distinctly” heard a “very strong and negative racial slur” come from the student section during Friday’s match while she was serving, which she said escalated throughout the match and “grew into threats which caused [her] to feel unsafe.”

Yeah, she misheard something on at least two occasions. I don't believe she said the racial slurs escalated throughout the match though.

From her written statement: "{M}y fellow African American teammates and I were targeted and racially heckled throughout the entirety of the match.”

And: “The slurs and comments grew into threats which caused us to feel unsafe.”

From her interview: "And then in the fourth set we went back to that side, it was almost as though the atmosphere of the student section had changed.  Even my teammates who were on the bench, my black teammates who were on the bench who don’t play; they were being called out, pointed at. It was really confusing as to why. That’s when the racial slurs and heckling — it just grew more extreme, more intense."

15 hours ago, Amulek said:

Like I said before, BYU volleyball games get really loud.

I agree.  This is why her accusations are kind of hard to take as credible.  In all that din and cacaphony she nevertheless "{v}ery distinctly ... I heard" racial slurs, and then "heard it extremely clear again."  So far nobody else has corroborated this.  Her teammates and coaching staff, the students who were present, the BYU men's b-ball players, the BYUPD and others who have listened to the recordings, the Tribune, the police officer sent over to monitor the student section, the four ushers sent over as well.  Nobody.  Nobody has corroborated her claim.

15 hours ago, Amulek said:

If she thought she heard someone using racial epithets in that environment, I can see how that might have affected her.

I still have a hard time squaring a characterization like "she thought she heard" with her express statements that she "{v}ery distinctly ... heard" and "heard it extremely clear again."

15 hours ago, Amulek said:

Quote

But we aren't talking about "heat of the moment."  She said the racial slurs were repeated every time she served, throughout the game. 

I don't believe that is correct. I thought that is what her godmother said.

She said that both times she served on the side of the court adjacent to the student section, she heard the slurs.

15 hours ago, Amulek said:

My understanding is that Richardson only referenced hearing racial slurs on the two occasions - though both of which did happen to take place while she was serving.

Well, not quite.  She also said that she (and the other black players from Duke) were "targeted and racially heckled throughout the entirety of the match," that "the slurs and comments grew into threats," and that during the fourth set "the racial slurs and heckling ... grew more extreme, more intense."

15 hours ago, Amulek said:

Have you never had an experience where you heard somebody say something that they didn't actually say?

I have misheard people in a large and loud setting, yes.  But I did not thereafter give a public interview in which I declared that I "{v}ery distinctly ... heard" it and "heard it extremely clear again."

15 hours ago, Amulek said:

Quote

And that they came from the student section, yet nobody in that section, nor the police officer posted nearby, nor the four ushers, heard anything.  And the recording of the game does not include any audible racial slurs. 

Maybe I was a drummer for too many years, but I can believe she perceived a word being shouted even if nobody actually shouted the perceived word.

That doesn't make her a hoaxter though - it makes her sincerely mistaken.

That is a reasonable surmise.  For me, though, her accusations are too unequivocal to attribute to her being "sincerely mistaken."

• "{M}y fellow African American teammates and I were targeted and racially heckled throughout the entirety of the match."
• “The slurs and comments grew into threats which caused us to feel unsafe.”
• "Very distinctly, though, I heard a very strong and negative racial slur.  And then the next time I went back to serve I heard it extremely clear again, but that was the end of the game."
• "And then in the fourth set we went back to that side, it was almost as though the atmosphere of the student section had changed ... That’s when the racial slurs and heckling — it just grew more extreme, more intense."

Nary a hint of uncertainty in any of this.

If you are going to make a very serious accusation, and make it publicly, and if you are going to frame your accusation with terms of certitude and unambiguousness, then don't be surprised if your accusation is subjected to some real scrutiny.  This is particularly so where, as here, the accusation seems to be fairly testable.  This was not a he-said/she-said situation.  There were dozens/hundreds of percipient witnesses who were situated to hear and corroborate the things alleged by Rachel Richardson.  So far not a single person has done so.  And the accusation against the UVU student - by "Duke coaches and players," seems to have been substantively falsified by law enforcement.

15 hours ago, Amulek said:

If you want to blame the media for pushing a racial hoax though, that's something I would be much more inclined to agree with.

I think both conclusions are appropriate.  Yes, the media is pushing this, but Rachel Richardson is the source.  The willing source.  She published a written statement and later gave an interview, and in both she spoke plainly and unequivocally. 

15 hours ago, Amulek said:

Quote

And her godmother said it was the n-word, and that it was used repeatedly.  How credible is that, in 2022 in Provo?  Plus a bunch of guys from BYU's b-ball team (several of whom are black) were sitting next to the student section, and none of them have corroborated her story.  None of her teammates have publicly corroborated her story, either.

Again, which means that it may not be true that somebody actually yelled the n-word, not that she didn't perceive somebody yelling that word at some point during the game.

She has never hedged her bets.  She has never qualified her accusations in any way.  She has been declaratory and unambiguous in her accusations.

To "perceive" is to "become aware or conscious of (something); come to realize or understand," to "interpret or look on (someone or something) in a particular way; regard as."

I presently cannot square this with her unequivocal declarations that she "{v}ery distinctly ... heard" it and "heard it extremely clear again."  That "slurs and comments grew into threats which caused us to feel unsafe."  That "the racial slurs and heckling — it just grew more extreme, more intense."  That she endured "racist, ignorant, and asinine behaviors" from "racist bigots" who were "fans" of BYU.

15 hours ago, Amulek said:

Quote

The evidence so far does not support either a straightfoward approach (that racial slurs were used) or an "inadvertent error" approach (she mis-heard something).

I don't see how we can possibly know what she experienced.

We can review the evidence. 

We can acknowledge that there were dozens/hundreds of percipient witnesses who were at the event and "experienced" the same thing she did, none of whom have come forward to corroborate her accusations." From the Tribune article:

Quote

So far, Besendorfer also said, no one from the student section or elsewhere at the volleyball match last week has come forward to BYU police to report the individual responsible for the slur. He also said no one has come forward to say they heard the slur being shouted during the match. He implored students who heard the comments to come forward; they can call police dispatch, he said, at 801-422-2222.

“We wish someone would,” he said.

We can consider the law enforcement investigation, which includes the police officer posted to the student section (who heard no racial slurs) and the four ushers sent there (who also heard nothing).  From the Tribune article:

Quote

According to the police report, BYU told an officer about the issue during the third set of the match and elected to put a police officer near the Duke bench before the fourth set. No one identified the person making the slurs at that time, the officer said.
...
The officer said in his report he didn’t personally hear any slurs while he was visibly standing there, listening. He said all he heard was BYU fans calling specific Duke players by their first names.

We can consider the other compiled sources in the Tribune article: including where law enforcement apparently exonerates the man whom "Duke coaches and players identified ... as the same one who yelled the N-word from the BYU student section at Richardson":

Quote

Police talked to the man, who’s identified in the report as a Utah Valley University student, and he denied shouting any slurs; he said the only thing he yelled was that the players “shouldn’t hit the ball into the net.” He acknowledged that he did approach the Duke player after the match, thinking she was a friend of his who played for BYU (their uniforms are the same color, the officer noted).

An officer later reviewed footage, according to the report, and wrote: “There was nothing seen on the game film that led me to believe” that the man “was the person who was making comments to the player who complained about being called the N-word.”

During the match’s second set, the officer observed, the UVU student was not present when Richardson was serving, which is when Richardson’s family and Duke officials said the slurs were yelled. And later, when she was serving again, he was playing on his phone, the officer wrote.

But the officers said the athletic department wanted to ban the man, so the school moved forward with that process. The officer told the man not to come to any future games “indefinitely,” according to the report.

In a statement after the match, BYU said only that an individual “identified by Duke” was banned.

We can consider the interviews done by Cougar Chronicle:

Quote

The Cougar Chronicle has been unable to find a source in the student section that can corroborate Richardson’s claim of racial slurs being yelled at her. Vera Smith, a BYU student in the student section during the game, said she “heard absolutely nothing” that could be taken as a racial slur. Jacob Hanson, also a BYU student, shared texts with the Cougar Chronicle from two friends in two different parts of the student section that also heard nothing. They said they were not aware there had been a problem until after the game. Maddy Johnson, another BYU student who was in the ROC student section, said she did not hear any racial slur said and when she saw the individual escorted out of the arena he was in a different section. A mother of a BYU student says she personally knows five people who were in the student section during the game “One person was on the court and the others were in the first row” she told the Chronicle. None of them heard a racial slur. Two other people on the court, who wish to remain anonymous, did not hear any racial slurs.
...
{The Cougar Chronicle was contacted yesterday by a source inside the BYU athletic department who told a different story. They have asked for their name to be kept private to avoid discipline from BYU athletics. They will be referred to as Connor.  Connor said that there} is zero evidence of a slur being said. Not a single witness, besides Ms. Richardson, has come forth. Not a single cell phone video or BYUtv's several camera angles caught a single thing. How unlikely when this person supposedly said a slur during ‘every single serve.'

The Cougar Chronicle reviewed private messages between Connor and others inside the athletic department. The messages corroborate Connor's statement.

Thanks,

-Smac

[smac97]

Looks like the investigation is over:

Quote

BYU concludes investigation into Duke volleyball match, lifts ban on fan

Sean Walker, KSL.com

PROVO, Utah (KSL.com) — Brigham Young University has lifted a ban on the fan accused of using a racial slur during its Aug. 26 volleyball match against Duke and apologized to the fan, the university announced in a statement Friday as part of the conclusion to its investigation into the incident and the school’s response.

Well done, BYU!  

Quote

The university said it found no evidence to corroborate allegations of racial heckling against members of the Duke women’s volleyball team, the athletic department said in a statement.

I should have given BYU more credit.  

Quote

As part of the investigation, the university said it reviewed “all available video and audio recordings” of the event, including raw security footage, raw broadcast footage from BYUtv (with broadcast audio removed so that noise from the stands could be heard more clearly), and reached out to more than 50 individuals who attended the match from both BYU, Duke and others.

Wow.  Sounds like they took this seriously.

Quote

“As we stated earlier, we would not tolerate any conduct that would make a student-athlete feel unsafe,” a statement attributed to BYU athletics spokesman Jon McBride said. “That is the reason for our immediate response and our thorough investigation.”

The university also apologized to the fan who was singled out to have used a racial slur during the match. The fan, who has not been identified, was not a BYU student but was standing in or near the BYU student section during the match.

“Our fight is against racism, not against any individual or any institution,” the statement read. “Each person impacted has strong feelings and experiences, which we honor, and we encourage others to show similar civility and respect. We remain committed to rooting out racism wherever it is found. We hope we can all join together in that important fight.

That's a good angle to take.  Diplomatic.

Quote

“There will be some who assume we are being selective in our review. To the contrary, we have tried to be as thorough as possible in our investigation, and we renew our invitation for anyone with evidence contrary to our findings to come forward and share it.

A good invitation.  I hope such evidence, if it exists, comes out.

Quote

“Despite being unable to find supporting evidence of racial slurs in the many recordings and interviews, we hope that all those involved will understand our sincere efforts to ensure that all student-athletes competing at BYU feel safe. As stated by Athletics Director Tom Holmoe, BYU and BYU Athletics are committed to zero-tolerance of racism, and we strive to provide a positive experience for everyone who attends our athletic events, including student-athletes, coaches and fans, where they are valued and respected.”

As part of its response, the university sent a BYU police officer and four ushers from events management into the crowd after the second set to attempt to find the alleged perpetrator of the slur. No fan was identified during the match, according to the responding officer in an incident report obtained by KSL.com via public records request.

Several prominent lawmakers and politicians, including Utah Gov. Spencer Cox, were also quick to denounce racism following the severe allegations.

Yep.

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“After recent reported allegations of racism, I followed BYU’s own statement and condemned the incident in the strongest possible terms,” Gov. Cox said in a statement Friday morning on Twitter. “Subsequently it appears that neither the school, media, law enforcement, nor anyone else in the arena has been able to confirm these allegations.

“I will always speak out strongly against racism. I also believe it is important to step back and acknowledge new facts as they come to light and speak publicly about them as well. Part of that requires patience, something I could have done better in this situation. I apologize to the fan who apparently was unfairly singled out.

“I appreciate the exhaustive investigation and work conducted by Tom Holmoe and BYU and fully support the school in their efforts to resolve this matter.”

A good statement from the Guv.

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The university has also updated its fan code of conduct, which is read before every athletic event, to emphasize the need for fans and those in attendance at games to have good sportsmanship and also avoid any use of racial, homophobic or bigoted language. Fans who do not comply will be subject to immediate expulsion from the event, and any students could face academic disciplinary actions.

That's a good policy.  I hope nobody objects to it (as some are wont to do with other efforts by BYU to cultivate - and require - good behavior in its students).

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The student section has also been temporarily removed from a courtside section during home matches. Any permanent changes to seating/standings areas in the Smith Fieldhouse are still to be determined, a department spokesman said.

I would think BYU will let the "student section" at events resume.

Thanks,

-Smac