“All of God’s children deserve love and respect,” the statement began. “BYU Athletics is completely committed to leading out in abandoning attitudes and actions of prejudice of any kind and rooting out racism. When a student-athlete or a fan comes to a BYU sporting event, we expect that they will be treated with love and respect and feel safe on our campus. It is for this reason BYU has banned a fan who was identified by Duke during last night’s volleyball match from all BYU athletic venues. Although this fan was sitting in BYU’s student section, this person is not a BYU student. “To say we are extremely disheartened in the actions of a small number of fans in last night’s volleyball match in the Smith Fieldhouse between BYU and Duke is not strong enough language. We will not tolerate behavior of this kind. 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. We want BYU athletic events to provide a safe environment for all, and there is no place for behaviors like this in our venues.”

BYU Director of Athletics Tom Holmoe was quoted in USA Today: “My concern is for Rachel and her well-being, and the school has investigated up to this point. The bottom line is that we are going to have to do more. And we are going to have to be vigilant and continue to say that this is not to be tolerated in any way.” Before the start of the BYU-Washington State match Saturday night, Holmoe addressed the Smith Fieldhouse crowd, calling the for better behavior.

“There were egregious and hurtful slurs directed at members of the Duke volleyball team. This morning I visited with the Duke athlete and their coach. If you would have met her, you would have loved her.

“We fell way short. We have to have the courage to take a stand. We need to be able to take care of each other and more importantly our guests so that we can be disciples of Christ. I love the ROC and the fans that are incredibly supportive of our teams. Cheer as loud as you can but do not cross the line to hurt anyone in any way.”

At the same time, Utah Gov. Spencer Cox issued a statement on Twitter denouncing the fan who used the racial slur and the way the situation was handled. “I’m disgusted that this behavior is happening and deeply saddened if others didn’t step up to stop it,” Cox said.