D. Mitchell is a good kid doing good things. If he gets traded to the Bricks, it will be sad to see him go. Hopefully the work he started here with children of color continues.
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Ute fans who point the finger at BYU fans for not standing up to this person better be willing to stand up to other Ute fans from making derogatory statements about someone’s religion or religious beliefs - this especially includes comments about Mormons. There is no place for that and it is laughable when much of the coaching staff and a number of players are LDS. It is also stupid.
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Remember the 1st amendment allows you to say stupid crap. It doesn’t protect you from results of saying it.
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Don’t worry, we do! It has happened only a time or 2 in our area but we’ve had obnoxious fans tossed before and we will do it again.
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You’re right, nobody should be sitting on their hands and letting that crap play out. That said, it happened…now what? Teaching fans to report bad behavior is about all that can be done by the institution. Should the WCC do something additional for how this went down? I don’t know what they could do. Something tells me the PAC 12 would come down like a steaming pile on a member school for that. My guess is the BIG 12 will do so, too if this continues in Provo.
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That’s what Fan Up is for. Sounds like Tom Holmoe tried to encourage the crowd last night, “we can do better!”. They’ll probably implement their own version of Fan Up, pronto.
Before it all gets taken down, some interesting back & forth in comments in the article on the D-News site. Left un-moderated, there’s no shortage of heated debate about the role & history of the LDS church, including pointing out quotes from BYU’s namesake.
One interesting point - “You can’t decide what race you are, but you can decide what church you attend”. I’m not sure how true that is, it’s a short rhetorical punch in a pointed debate, but… wow, what a mini-powderkeg for BYU.
I think there will be “clarity” communicated, very quickly, and likely a few objections in the name of the first amendment and against censorship, etc. What a bizarre situation.
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BYU Gives Second Statement On Racial Slurs To Duke Volleyball Player (kslsports.com)
Kudos to Holmoe for his statements, and the athletic security staff for reviewing video to figure out who the fan was. (How this wasn’t handled during the match is a topic for psych-social scholars to untangle - I imagine we’ll get more insight.)
The player’s godmother’s point is undeniable, as well. Why did it take her tweet to make a difference?
Crazy situation.
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Because that’s usually the way things like this work. File it under “It’s not a crime if you don’t get caught”
In a small way it reminds me of the time they were showing a closed-circuit view of a byu game and their was an open mic on the sideline. The viewers got an earful from several players and coaches (and they weren’t discussing the next day’s sacrament meeting). Someone called into LaVell’s coaches show and “asked” about it. LaVell looked mystified and said he “hadn’t experienced this before and would certainly look into it”. Sure…
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It is sad that the students have to be scolded like children to do the right thing. Aren’t they supposed to be, at least nominally, adults? I realize your comment about the psych-social scholars to work out is there, so my question may be rhetorical.
Hopefully the Duke player and her godmother are satisfied with what BYU is doing. Living in a predominantly black area has made me more aware of many issues. Fortunately, racism hasn’t been an issue since we moved here, at least as far as I’ve noticed. So hearing about it in other parts of the country really irks me. It irked me before, but even more so now.
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I’m a little slow on the uptake this morning.
Well, I agree with the infectious idiocy part down there.
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One of the things that is incredibly frustrating is the attitude held by some after something like this happens. They circle the wagons and defend the institution and culture first and foremost. The lack of empathy and self examination is maddening. And then it turns into “whataboutism”…and they become the victims and point to all the times they are subject to religious persecution.
I would at some point like to see people simply say they recognize these problems exist in the community and we need to do better to address them.
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Excellent post!
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Looking at Google News, most of the national coverage has been about BYU banning the fan, and some applause for not tolerating this kind of stuff.
The question of why nothing happened when it was occurring is getting some resonance, as well - I’m sure there will be deeper analysis coming.
(Since we’re associated with a University where deeper questions and topics are explored, there’s a great recent Freakonomics podcast that digs into differences between nations and cultures on individualism vs communal orientation that is worth a listen. It’s not all one or the other, reality is always more nuanced, with tradeoffs, etc.)
Thanks BYU for stimulating interest in the social sciences! 
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This however they should lean into:
Great conversations and uncomfortable ones
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In all my years of attending rivalry games in Provo, the only misbehaving fans I ever saw get tossed from the stadium were OUR fans. Some of them absolutely deserved it. Some…not so much. Once had someone call security on me AND my family for wearing our colors and sitting in the BYU alumni section. When they tried to move us out, the BYU fans around us complained of harassment and they let us stay. There were many apologies made after the game by those fans.
BYU has needed a “Fan Up” program for a very long time. Hopefully they get one soon.
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Some pretty insightful tidbits here. Absolutely horrible (but not surprising) handling of the incident by Byu.
The player who was verbally assaulted was sophomore Rachel Richardson, who is an outside hitter for Duke. Pamplin confirmed this in two tweets where she said “Rachel is a wreck. Parents were up till 3 this morning trying to console her.”
Journalist Roland Martin tweeted that he spoke with Marvin Richardson, Rachel’s father, who said Rachel was supposed to meet with the BYU athletic director and head volleyball coach Heather Olmstead, but Olmstead didn’t show up for the meeting.
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It that’s true (and I’m not saying it isn’t) then that is truly damning.
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Possibly even worse? Richardson said it was ongoing and BYU officials were notified during the match and apparently didn’t take action.
Taunts escalated into a threat, according to the player.
That would explain the parents having to console their daughter until 3a, and Duke requesting / demanding a change in venue for the next match.
(Pretty unusual for the D-News to do reporting on a Sunday, especially on a story that is pretty damaging to an affiliated organization).
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They are being exhoriated on Jim Acosta’s Nation Politics show just now
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