Before BYU joins Big 12, league must give school a reality check on its racism problem
Before BYU joins Big 12, league must give school a reality check on its racism problem: While Big 12 Commissioner Brett Yormark’s first priority is preventing the conference from collapsing, he also needs to meet with new member BYU.
“Yeah, we’re not doin’ this,” the introductory paragraph begins.
The Big 12 invited a school with a 33,500 student body, an extensive alumni network, a tradition of sports success, and a sizable T-shirt fan base to join the conference last year for a reason: they wanted to expand their membership.
The school’s policy against holding Sunday sports events wasn’t to blame.
It wasn’t because of the school’s undeserved reputation for fielding some of the nation’s ugliest collegiate basketball and football teams.
The true motive was on full show last Saturday during a volleyball match between Duke and BYU women’s teams.
Duke’s Black outside hitter Rachel Richardson was the subject of racial comments on Friday night when the Blue Devils took on BYU. They started out as slurs but escalated into actual threats.
Another gripe is that the play continued after it was clear that both Duke’s Jolene Nagel and BYU’s Heather Olmstead had heard the remarks.
Nagel should have ordered her team off the court and away from the fan until security could remove him.
BYU released a statement saying that one supporter was expelled and barred from future games. The supporter, who is not a BYU student, was spotted sitting in the student area.
If this person was clearly disruptive, why didn’t someone (or everyone) in the student section say something?
Were there no students there who could have signalled a security guard to remove this dummy from the hall?
Perhaps they were uneasy in the face of direct confrontation. It’s possible you’re right.
Another possibility is that they found it humorous. That’s possible too.
Tom Holmoe, BYU athletic director and former quarterback for the Cougars and 49er, read an apology to the audience at Saturday night’s volleyball game.
Holmoe addressed the gathering, “If you would have met her, you would have adored her, but you don’t know her, and therefore you don’t feel that way.” Our mission as God’s children is to love and respect one another, and we failed in that regard. It was a huge failure on our part. We fell short of expectations.
Yes. You fell short of expectations. Let’s begin with this horrible explanation.
According to Holmoe, the BYU supporters in the arena must have known Rachel Richardson personally for them to realise that it was inappropriate to direct a barrage of racial comments at her.
Anyone with half a brain can see that Richardson is being treated horribly at this game. Kids from the corn belt would be in the know.
Many people in Utah published statements denouncing the actions, but only Utah Governor Spencer Cox seemed to get it right.
I’m outraged that this behaviour is happening and profoundly disappointed if others didn’t step up to stop it,” tweeted Governor Cox on Saturday night.
It’s strange that a politician was the one to sum up the issue perfectly.
To add insult to injury, Cox is not one of the ugly, doltish liberals.
He’s a Republican who said what everyone already knows. This unfortunate event is deeply regrettable. Why did so many powerful people do nothing for so long?
While the town of Provo, Utah, is beautiful, BYU has a long-standing reputation as being a bit too right-wing in collegiate sports.
What Portland is to liberals, Provo is to conservatism.
The tyranny of 1955 can easily be transported to Provo.
Baylor, Notre Dame, and Boston Collegiate are the most well-known examples within the Power 5; however, there are many other private, religiously connected universities that compete in major college athletics.
While all three have their share of pious snobbery, only BYU can match the level of irritation caused by its students.
Fans, coaches, and players from the rival schools can always find that extra something that makes the game more enjoyable.
It may be due to the Mormon doctrine.
One possible explanation is that many BYU athletes are already married and have families.
It could be that many of the BYU student-athletes are older than their peers since they are expected to serve a two-year mission.
BYU
BYU’s racial makeup can simply reflect the demographics of major collegiate sports. As reported by the Salt Lake Tribune, “about 81 percent” of the BYU student body is white.
A faculty committee at BYU reported in February 2021 that students of colour “feel isolated and frightened as a result of their experiences with racism at BYU.”
This was the first time since BYU’s founding in 1875 that the institution had publicly addressed this issue.
The Big 12 invited BYU for a reason, despite the problems.
Historically, BYU has fielded strong teams and attracted large crowds. When Oklahoma and Texas finally leave the Big 12, BYU will be the only remaining member of the conference to have won a national championship in football since 1940.
Yormark has to convene a meeting with all of BYU’s upper management before the Cougars join the Big 12 in 2023 in order to establish reasonable goals.
If Yormark and the Big 12 can’t handle it, then neither can BYU.