Let this be a lesson to all college kids who attend sporting events: Racist chants will not be tolerated.
During the Kansas State University/University of Southern Mississippi game in the first round of the 2012 NCAA Tournament late last week, a handful of people from the Southern Miss pep band tried to distract KSU's Angel Rodriguez while he shot free throws by chanting "Where's your green card?" in his direction. Although the chant was barely audible, CBS did manage to pick it up on TV and a video of the chant quickly went viral on the Internet. That led USM to issue an apology (although, for the record, that ended up doing more bad than good when they inexplicably spelled Rodriguez's name "Rodriquez") to point out that the chant was inexcusable. Rodriguez accepted that apology. But, in the aftermath of USM's departure from the tourney, it's also caused them to take even further action by stripping five members of the pep band of their scholarships. They were also removed from the band and they've been required to take a two-hour cultural sensitivity course this week.
"The students have been forthcoming, cooperative, contrite, and sincerely remorseful," the school's Vice President for Student Affairs Dr. Joe Paul said in a statement released earlier today. "They acted rashly and inappropriately, and now see the gravity of their words and actions. This is a teachable moment, not only for these students but for our entire student body and those who work with them."
Yes, it is a "teachable moment," indeed. And we're glad USM is using it to teach these students—and all their students, for that matter—a lesson. It's the only way to stop stuff like this from happening again in the future.
[via CBS Sports]
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