PROVO, Utah — The University of Pacific forfeited a volleyball match against Brigham Young University over racism allegations stemming from an incident that took place in August.
The match between the two universities was supposed to take place on Thursday in Provo.
“The team expressed concerns following reports of racist and hostile comments during an August 26 match,” said Mike Klocke, Pacific’s senior director of communications in a statememt. “Pacific stands with our student-athletes.”
BYU Athletics called the forfeit "unwarranted and deeply disappointing."
"BYU continues to provide one of the best environments in college volleyball," a statement reads in part. "The most storied programs in volleyball, both women’s and men’s, have competed for decades on our campus and expressed appreciation for their experience at BYU. We have hosted the NCAA Women’s Tournament for the past seven years in a row."
Allegations of racism stem from an incident that happened in August during a volleyball match against Duke that was hosted at BYU.
Initially, a man, who was not a student, was banned from university events after allegedly shouting racial slurs at a Duke player.
After the incident, BYU came under harsh criticism, with many saying not enough was done to protect the player and stop the racist comments.
Following an investigation, no evidence was found that the man used racial slurs to taunt the player and the ban against him was lifted.
The University of Pacific is not the first school to choose not to play against BYU in response to the incident. In September, the women's basketball team from the University of South Carolina did not play its two-game series against BYU.
However, the University of Pacific is the first West Coast Conference school to forfeit a match against BYU. In September, the West Coast Conference said they supported BYU's investigation, calling it "transparent and thorough." They also said that just because BYU couldn't "locate the perpetrator(s) does not mean the remarks were not said."
The full statement from BYU athletics is as follows:
The University of the Pacific’s decision to forfeit this week’s women’s volleyball match is unwarranted and deeply disappointing. Following the Aug. 26 allegation, BYU conducted an extensive review and found no evidence to corroborate this allegation. As we have stated previously, BYU will not tolerate any conduct that would make a student-athlete feel unsafe in our athletic environments. It is unfortunate that Pacific would make a decision that perpetuates the very challenge we are working to heal in our polarized society.
BYU continues to provide one of the best environments in college volleyball. The most storied programs in volleyball, both women’s and men’s, have competed for decades on our campus and expressed appreciation for their experience at BYU. We have hosted the NCAA Women’s Tournament for the past seven years in a row.
We recognize the real challenges of racism in our society, and we reiterate our strong belief that the solution is to work together in addressing these issues and not to separate from one another. We regret that Pacific elected not to work with us in addressing their concerns.
The University of Pacific women's volleyball team played against BYU on October 15 in California. The Tigers won, breaking their losing streak of 16 matches against BYU.
FOX 13 News has reached out to the University of Pacific for comment on their choice to forfeit but has yet to hear back.
