Presbyterian College acknowledges ‘hateful’ incident before lacrosse game against HBCU
Presbyterian College is investigating an incident involving racist remarks that school leaders say occurred Friday before a home women’s lacrosse game against Howard, a historically Black university in Washington, D.C.
According to a statement released by PC, the incident involved a group of Presbyterian College students “yelling inappropriate and hateful comments, including racist remarks, toward the visiting players and coaches” from Howard. It occurred about an hour before the game began, the statement said, and the school has since launched a “student conduct investigation.”
Friday’s game, which Presbyterian won 16-6, was Karen Healy-Silcott’s first as the Bison’s head coach. Healy-Silcott spent the previous four years in California directing a youth girls’ lacrosse club.
Presbyterian College is located in Clinton, South Carolina — about an hour northwest of Columbia.
Healy-Silcott’s husband, Brian T. Silcott, who is also a USA Lacrosse board member, tweeted about the incident Saturday morning.
“My wife had her first game as the Head Coach of @HowardU yesterday at Presbyterian @presbycollege They were greeted by a bunch of boys hurling obscene and threatening insults. This is the life of black female athletes. Wish I was there, thankfully my wife can take care of herself,” Silcott said in the tweet.
Silcott’s tweet received a reply from Presbyterian’s Twitter account a few hours later.
“We are just learning about and investigating the incident. We condemn and do not tolerate racism, misogyny or hate. We will work to hold our spectators accountable. Our deepest apologies to our friends at @howardu,” the tweet said.
Healy-Silcott told Inside Lacrosse publisher Terry Foy in an article published Sunday that “pickup trucks full of white boys” shouted obscenities toward her and the Howard women’s lacrosse team from a hill beside the stadium as they entered before warm-ups.
Healy-Silcott, in the interview with Inside Lacrosse, said the group of males told the team “you’re not welcome here” and talked “about their guns, and their scopes, and their gauges.” She called the targeted language “the worst experience I’ve ever had with this type of thing at any game in my entire career.”
Howard athletic director Kery Davis provided a statement to the Washington Post regarding the incident at Presbyterian.
“I am deeply troubled that some of our student-athletes were subjected to slurs and abusive language before the women’s lacrosse match on Friday vs. Presbyterian College. Howard does not condone such disgraceful behavior in any form, and the use of harmful language such as this runs counter to the values of this institution, which celebrates respect, diversity, and inclusion on its campus.
“We appreciate Presbyterian College’s initial response, and demand a thorough investigation be launched. We condemn this deplorable behavior, and will continually support, defend, and protect our Bison,” the statement read.
The Big South Conference, Presbyterian’s athletic conference, released a statement Monday stating the school would release its findings from the investigation to the conference.
“The Conference is shocked and saddened by the horrific and unacceptable behavior by some Presbyterian College students. These actions are alarming and completely contrary to who the Big South is and what our values are. No student-athlete should experience such things when visiting a Big South institution.
“It is the Conference’s expectation that appropriate measures will be taken against anyone found to have participated in this abhorrent incident,” the statement read.
Presbyterian head women’s lacrosse coach Eric Clakeley posted an apology to Twitter on Sunday.
“We apologize to the Howard University women’s lacrosse coach and her players, and we deeply regret the experience they had on our campus. We respect and support Coach Healy-Silcott and the Howard Women’s Lacrosse team. We wish them well for the remainder of the season,” Clakeley’s tweet said.
The statement from Presbyterian College, which was signed by Presbyterian provost Kerry Pannell and Diversity & Inclusion Advisory Council chairperson Will Harris, stated the administration has started “gathering the facts and reaching out to those directly impacted.” It said the college would seek “consequences” for students found to have been involved.
Full statement from PC about lacrosse incident
“As you may be aware, there was an incident about an hour before the women’s lacrosse game Friday vs. Howard University where a group of our students outside of the stadium were yelling inappropriate and hateful comments, including racist remarks, toward the visiting players and coaches.
First, let us be clear: No visitor to our campus should be subject to that kind of treatment, and this type of behavior is completely unacceptable. It is in no way aligned with the expectations and values of the college. We apologize to the Howard University women’s lacrosse coach and her players, and we deeply regret the experience they had on our campus.
Immediately upon learning of this situation, the administration began gathering the facts and reaching out to those directly impacted. A student conduct investigation already has begun, and any student found responsible for this reprehensible behavior during the event on Friday will face consequences. Such behavior does not stand at PC.
We must hold ourselves accountable and do better as a community to ensure all visitors to our campus are treated with dignity and respect.”
This story was originally published February 14, 2022 at 2:27 PM.
