Racism made its presence felt at the College World Series on Monday night.
At a game between Vanderbilt and Mississippi State, parents of Vanderbilt players were subjected to racist slurs. University Athletic Director Candice Storey Lee addressed the issue in a tweet.
“I am deeply troubled that some of our student-athlete parents were subjected to racist slurs during last night’s game. This is absolutely unacceptable and disgraceful behavior, and such hateful language has no place anywhere in our society,” tweeted Storey Lee.
The Commodores’ AD didn’t provide any additional details. But ESPN’s Clinton Yates provided additional information on the situation via Twitter from the game.
Yates noted that most of the Black parents were sitting together in the stands. After the Commodores beat the Bulldogs 8-2 in Game 1, that’s when, according to Yates, the drama ensued.
“Short version: a bunch of drunk Miss State fans decided that when the game was out of hand that the n-bomb needed to fly. Authorities got involved and everyone is okay, but yeah nah. That Cant Happen. It did.”
Fortunately the situation didn’t escalate.
The Bulldogs’ Athletic Director, John Cohen, echoed his counterpart’s statements and denounced the hate in a statement on Twitter.
“We join Vanderbilt in declaring such behavior unacceptable and in direct conflict with the values of both institutions and our fan bases. The College World Series serves as a celebration of the entire sport of college baseball. Highly inappropriate events must neither be tolerated nor allowed to detract from the on-the-field accomplishments of the student-athletes and their teams who have earned the right to participate on this national stage.”
Those responsible haven’t been identified as of yet.
The incident affected everyone at the ballpark, including Omaha’s Metropolitan Entertainment and Convention Authority. Spokesperson Kristyna Engdahl said MECA was “saddened” it took place in TD Ameritrade Park.
The NCAA condemned the incident and offered their support as well.
“Racist and abusive language has no place in college sports and is not tolerated at NCAA championships, including the Men’s College World Series,” wrote the NCAA in a statement. “The NCAA is working with our partners at TD Ameritrade Park Omaha to gather more information about what occurred at last night’s game and put additional security measures in place. Any parties responsible for unacceptable actions during the games will be removed by stadium security.”
Mississippi State won Game 2 last night, 13-2. Decisive Game 3 is tonight.
