Guilford College administration is denying claims ‘racial remarks’ were made against Virginia State University soccer students at a recent soccer game.
Members of the Virginia State University women’s soccer team claimed that racial slurs were yelled at them during a Sept. 26 game on the Greensboro, NC campus. Guilford College President Kyle Farmbry issued an apology to Virginia State University President Makola M. Abdullah for the remarks and alerting him of an investigation into the incident. The school’s director of athletics also reached out to VSU AD Peggy Davis. However, VSU requested a personal apology to its student-athletes.
GC has apparently completed its investigation and says that the heckling originated with a group of 14 students. Three students are facing student conduct disciplinary action for hacking and one student has been held out of an athletic contest for a violation for the athletic code.
“The investigation did not discover any evidence that racist remarks were directed by Guilford fans toward VSU players,” the college said. “However, the fact that VSU supporters found the environment to be extremely unwelcoming for their players is of deep concern to the College and resulted in action that has been taken.”
This determination was made after interviewing more than 30 Guilford athletics staff members, non-athletics staff members, students and parents who were at the soccer match, according to the school’s release.
HBCU Gameday reached out to Virginia State University officials for a reaction to the Guilford College investigation, but officials declined comment.