Wellesley Public Schools is investigating following a Friday night high school basketball game where students in the crowd allegedly used racial slurs against players from the opposing team.
The incident is said to have started during warm-ups when students used slurs against Weymouth High School players. These players reported the comments to their coach who alerted the Wellesley team.
Members of the school’s athletic department had to intervene several times to prevent what the principal described as a potentially dangerous situation. At one point, the referee asked Wellesley’s sporting director to move the student crowd further up the stands after there was physical contact between the students and the Weymouth players.
After the match was over, a number of fans rushed onto the pitch to celebrate the home team’s victory and continued to taunt the Weymouth players.
Wellesley High School principal Jamie Chisum said more action will be taken in future games.
“We are all upset and disappointed that someone at our school may have engaged in the behavior of abusing others with racist language,” Chisum said in a statement to parents. “We hope you take this opportunity to tell your children about the harm of using racist language and that hate has no place in the Wellesley community.”
Superintendent of Wellesley Schools released a statement saying, in part: “It is critical that we speak with a clear voice and call this behavior unacceptable and contrary to our core values as a district. No one deserves to be blamed. to be treated this way, especially student athletes who travel to our district to compete.”
Students attending the last home game of the season on Tuesday evening must be accompanied by an adult.
