In late August, Duke volleyball player Rachel Richardson caused a furor when she first accused an athletics fan at BYU of making racist comments and threats during a match. The Utah university was quick to apologize to Richardson, but then—in the midst of national commentary, speculation, and criticism on the incident—the school conducted a thorough investigation. What it found had a profound impact on the entire story, not to mention the future of college athletics, racial discourse, and the issue of student credibility.

Part I of this special report outlined the incident and the immediate aftermath. In Part II, we'll recap the investigation and discuss the takeaways.

BYU Investigates

After Richardson made the accusations, Duke University issued the de rigeur statements supporting the Black athlete. BYU issued the de apologetic statements and took the extra step of banning the fan identified by Duke players. Parties from both schools met to shake hands and make amends.

Then BYU set about getting to the bottom of the matter.

The university spoke with about 50 people who had attended the August 26th match: participants, attendees, and arena management and security personnel. It also looked at video and audio footage to see whether, as was alleged, a fan “racially heckled” Richardson each time she stepped to serve the ball, then threatened her.

The Result of That Investigation

On September 12th, the Brigham Young athletics department said in a statement, “We have not found any evidence to corroborate the allegation that fans engaged in racial heckling or uttered racial slurs at the event.” The school reiterated its commitment to zero tolerance of racism and to ”rooting out racism wherever it is found.”

The fan who had been singled out and subsequently banned was issued an apology, and that ban was lifted.

…and the Fallout That Followed

Richardson has continued to stand by her allegations, and many in the college athletics community and the Duke community, in general, have said they will stand by her. Sports commentators and opinion columnists have weighed in, as has the Twitterverse and users of other social media platforms.

Some folks are pointing fingers at the history of Mormonism for perpetrating racist attitudes.

Some are saying that Richardson's refusal to back down from her claims does the Black community no favors.

Others maintain that it hardly matters what happened; since racism is so entrenched on college campuses as elsewhere in this country, we need to keep fighting it until incidents like the one alleged at BYU are the exception rather than the norm.

When Students and Their Schools Are At Odds

One interesting point that has arisen is the issue of whether individual students, particularly minority ones, are inherently more credible than large organizations that have strong financial and political motives to maintain a certain status quo. Why do we believe certain parties over others? Is there ever a “right” party and a “wrong” one, or is there always some middle ground where the truth likely lies?

If you have found yourself at odds with your school, you owe it to yourself and your family to contact attorney Joseph D. Lento and the Lento Law Firm Student Defense Team.  In addition to their extensive experience fighting for students who are accused of misdeeds, Attorney Lento and his expert team have the communication and negotiation skills to achieve a satisfactory outcome for all parties. Call the Lento Law Firm today at 888-535-3686 or contact us using this form to learn more.