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SALT LAKE CITY — Weber School District has concluded an investigation into claims that the Roy High student section chanted racial slurs during a boys basketball game against Hunter High on Jan. 13.
District spokesperson Lane Findlay confirmed that the student section did bark at a biracial player twice, as well as a white student once, during the game. He also said the investigation confirmed a slur related to a Hunter player's name was used but that the district hasn't been able to identify which student said it.
The mother of a biracial player on the Hunter High team said in a post on Facebook that Roy students displayed "unacceptable behavior." The mother did not respond to KSL.com's request for additional comment.
"If you think this video is not good enough evidence of this unacceptable behavior, you are making excuses and are part of the problem. We were there. We saw and heard what we heard regardless of if it's on the video or not," the mom wrote, referring to a widely shared video where students can be heard barking. "You want to bark at the opposing team? Make sure you do it to all the players not just the minority ones. Oh, and don't call them 'dog eaters' and then continue barking each time you play us. Using the word 'queer' as a derogatory comment offends both groups of people. I have many students and friends of both groups and they do not deserve to have their identities constantly used in this disparaging manner. Telling our Asian American players to 'go home and eat more rice' and mocking our Latino players crossed the line."
In a Jan. 24 letter to parents, the Weber School District said there were violations of the Utah High School Activities Association Sportsmanship policy and the district's student discrimination and harassment policy and that spectators are not permitted "to taunt or make any type of animal noise or any other cheer/chant that is meant to bait, anger, embarrass, ridicule or demean others," and that further violations of the district and state sportsmanship policies would result in removal from games.
The district also said Roy High would provide additional staff to monitor and address inappropriate behavior at basketball games, and is also providing training to staff and students about discrimination and appropriate game behavior. Findlay said the district has not been aware of any additional incidents with Roy games since Jan. 13.
"There's been a lot of work done at the school level, working with the student body and our coaches and school administrators, in making sure that this kind of thing does not happen again," Findlay said. "And it's not just specific to Roy High School. We're making sure that this is consistent throughout the district so that we don't have this type of behavior that it takes place."
Granite School District spokesman Benjamin Horsley said Granite believes Weber is taking appropriate steps to address the matter.
"We have worked closely to monitor the situation and were very alarmed by the circumstances," Horsley said in an email. "We would like to see additional protections in place so that the Utah High School Activities Association can also provide help and support to individual athletes and teams who experience this type of harassment. It is unacceptable and this isn't the first incident we have seen this year that our schools have experienced."
Susi Feltch-Malohifo'ou — an advocate for Utah Polynesians and CEO of Pacific Island Knowledge 2 Action Resources — is urging the Utah High School Activities Association to be better.
"I am asking you and your organization to please stand with us against racism. I went to your website and it says that your organization is about fostering good sportsmanship and mutual respect and we want to stand with you to do those exact things," Feltch-Malohifo'ou said in a Feb. 9 letter to Utah High School Activities Association Executive Director Rob Cuff. "Silence helps the oppressor not the oppressed."
The investigation
Findlay said the district identified three instances of barking during a review of footage from the entire game. One was during an inbound pass in the first quarter, when a biracial Hunter player was in front of the Roy student section. During the second quarter, the student section barked at that same player at the free throw line. Findlay said the student section also barked at a white player making a shot at the free-throw line.
He added that after Roy administrators received a complaint from a Hunter official about the barking, administrators addressed the students during half time and told them no more barking would be allowed during the game.
"First of all, we were trying to determine to what extent does this take place and is it something that has occurred in other games," Findlay said, adding that the barking appears to be used with chants, yelling and clapping to disrupt the opposing team. "The barking wasn't just related to the Hunter game, it was something that occurred, on occasion, at other games, too. And it didn't appear to be targeting any specific player."
Findlay said the district also investigated whether racial and anti-LGBTQ slurs had been used.
"We do know that something was said because we have people that heard it," he said. "Unless we have additional information, we just have not been able to identify this specific person. If there is other evidence that comes forward, we certainly would follow up on that."
The district also looked into parent claims that a similar incident had occurred at a Roy-Hunter boys basketball last year, but did not find any evidence that those allegations had been communicated to Roy or district administration.
