The father of a Duke volleyball player told CNN on Monday that his daughter was distraught after racial slurs were hurled from the stands during a game at Brigham Young University.
Marvin Richardson said his daughter Rachel Richardson, 19, called after the match ended and he could tell something was wrong.
"She was crying; she was upset; and Rachel is not the person that calls and cries over a loss," Marvin Richardson said. "She started to tell us what was going on and what had happened during the game [and there was] anger, outrage, a real need to make sure something was done to correct that."
In a statement Sunday, Rachel Richardson said that she and other African-American Duke players were "targeted and racially heckled throughout the entirety of the match" on Friday, which resulted in a victory for the Utah school.
"The slurs and comments grew into threats, which caused us to feel unsafe. 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 wrote. "My teammates and I had to struggle just to get through the rest of the game, instead of just being able to focus on our playing so that we could compete at the highest level possible."
The volleyball player added that the BYU athletes she was competing against "showed nothing but respect and good sportsmanship on and off the court."
BYU Athletics announced Saturday that it banned at least one fan who had harassed the Duke players.
Though they were sitting in the student section during the game, the fan was not a student, BYU Athletics said.
"We will not tolerate behavior of this kind," athletics officials wrote in a statement. "Specifically, the use of a racial slur at any of our athletic events is absolutely unacceptable and BYU Athletics holds a zero-tolerance approach to this behavior. We wholeheartedly apologize to Duke University and especially its student-athletes competing last night for what they experienced."
According to Marvin Richardson, more than one person shouted racial slurs. He told CNN that a police officer was stationed at the student section after BYU officials were made aware of the racist comments.
"It becomes the responsibility of those who are in authority to make sure the atmosphere stays safe and free from any of those kinds of elements that would prohibit people from playing at their highest level," he said. "What I would like to see going forward is that we take every effort — make every effort — to make sure that those venues are safe and free from that kind of action."
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