A week after Duke volleyball player Rachel Richardson said a fan in BYU’s student section repeatedly called her the N-word during a match, BYU AD Tom Holmoe gave his own timeline of BYU’s response to Richardson’s complaints.
Brigham Young University athletic director Tom Holmoe, left, is joined remotely by Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby, right for the announcement of BYU's acceptance into the Big 12 conference at a press conference in Provo, Friday, Sept. 10, 2021.BYU athletics director Tom Holmoe defended his athletic department’s response to allegations of racial slurs being used at a volleyball match last Friday and said the investigation into who said them is still ongoing.
“Olmstead’s reaction in alerting event management staff was immediate and decisive,” Holmoe wrote. “The crowd was large and boisterous but there were no observations of racist behavior.” However, a police report indicated the person banned by BYU wasn’t shouting anything while Richardson was serving. Instead, the person banned “got in the face” of a Duke player after the match, the police say.
“BYU has continued to carefully review all event audio and video in search of any racist statements or behavior,” Holmoe wrote. “The game video is publicly available on BYUtv, and we welcome anyone who might have more information of any inappropriate behavior from the event to reach out to the university. But the narrative that our coaching staff didn’t take immediate action is unsubstantiated and unfair.
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