Is the Story About a Duke Volleyball Player Being a Target of Racist Taunts at BYU True?

You’ve probably read or heard the story about a women’s volleyball game played at BYU in Utah where a black Duke University player alleges that fans hurled racist taunts at her.

Naturally, being good little woke administrators, BYU immediately began investigating the incident. After examining “hours” of footage, the BYU officials concluded that one fan was responsible and banned him from further BYU athletic games.

But almost immediately, the story that Rachel Richardson, the only black starter on the Duke volleyball team, told began to fall apart.

Her first statements about the incident were straightforward. She said she “very distinctly” heard a “very strong and negative racial slur” (one) come from the “student section during Friday’s match while she was serving.”

Now, Richardson claims she was heckled throughout the match.

College Fix:

Rachel Richardson wrote on Twitter that “my fellow African American teammates and I were targeted and racially heckled throughout the entirety of the match,” on Friday against BYU.

“The slurs and comments grew into threats which caused us to feel unsafe,” Richardson wrote. “Both the officials and BYU coaching staff were made aware of the incident during the game, but failed to take the necessary steps to stop the unacceptable behavior and create a safe environment,” she claimed.

In a follow-up video (below) she claimed that it was only during the second set that she first heard a racial slur and then heard it again the second time she served during the second set. She does not mention the slur being used at all during the three times she served during the third set.

Rachel Richardson of @dukeVB shares what happened at BYU this weekend and how she is moving forward with love and compassion while advocating for change. @rachrich03 pic.twitter.com/Lw3tWQ7yrt

— Holly Rowe (@sportsiren) August 30, 2022

Did BYU officials really fail to take the necessary steps “to stop the unacceptable behavior and create a safe environment” as she claimed? The BYU student newspaper, Cougar Chronicle, tells a different story.

The Cougar Chronicle was contacted yesterday by a source inside the BYU athletic department who told a different story. They have asked for their name to be kept private to avoid discipline from BYU athletics. They will be referred to as Connor. Connor explained:

“Ms. Richardson complained of hearing a racial slur during the second set but did not point anyone out. Officials discussed briefly and stationed policemen there… there were no more complaints until after the match.”

Indeed, the video of the match clearly shows a policeman standing next to the BYU student section where the racial slurs supposedly originated.

The video of the match shows that Rachael Richardson served on the ROC (student section) side twice in the game. Both serves were during the fourth set. A police officer can be seen standing by the ROC section monitoring the students as Richardson serves. Richardson did not mention this officer in her statement.

Either BYU students are hard of hearing or they just never heard anyone uttering racial slurs.

The Cougar Chronicle has been unable to find a source in the student section that can corroborate Richardson’s claim of racial slurs being yelled at her. Vera Smith, a BYU student in the student section during the game, said she “heard absolutely nothing” that could be taken as a racial slur. Jacob Hanson, also a BYU student, shared texts with the Cougar Chronicle from two friends in two different parts of the student section that also heard nothing. They said they were not aware there had been a problem until after the game. Maddy Johnson, another BYU student who was in the ROC student section, said she did not hear any racial slur said and when she saw the individual escorted out of the arena he was in a different section. A mother of a BYU student says she personally knows five people who were in the student section during the game “One person was on the court and the others were in the first row” she told the Chronicle. None of them heard a racial slur. Two other people on the court, who wish to remain anonymous, did not hear any racial slurs.

The story gets even weirder. “Connor,” the BYU athletics department source, explains what happened after the game.

“When a mentally challenged fan approached a Duke player. The Duke team then suddenly recognized the handicapped man’s ‘voice’ as the same one shouting slurs. They never saw or pointed out a face, just a voice.

Incredibly, BYU banned this mentally handicapped guy — not for the slurs but because he “interfered with visiting guests.”

Salt Lake Tribune:

Police talked to the man, who’s identified in the report as a Utah Valley University student, and he denied shouting any slurs; he said the only thing he yelled was that the players “shouldn’t hit the ball into the net.” He acknowledged that he did approach the Duke player after the match, thinking she was a friend of his who played for BYU (their uniforms are the same color, the officer noted).

An officer later reviewed footage, according to the report, and wrote: “There was nothing seen on the game film that led me to believe” that the man “was the person who was making comments to the player who complained about being called the N-word.”

“Connor” believes “BYU is an easy target… ultimately it’s her word against ours. We’ll look bad just calling a black woman a liar.” And that’s the bottom line. Racist hoaxes are allowed to exist because of a lack of skepticism from everyone from school authorities to law enforcement. Even when the story is as incredible as this one, no one dares challenge the narrative in order to avoid being labeled a “white supremacist.”