BYU says it found no evidence of racial heckling toward Duke women's volleyball player

According to the school, there was no evidence of racial heckling during the women's volleyball game against Duke.

Duke volleyball player Rachel Richardson, who is Black, alleged that she heard a racial slur directed at her during a match in August. She was called a racial slur every time she served.

The school lifted its ban on fans after it reviewed all available video and audio recordings and contacted more than 50 people who attended the event, including some Duke athletes. Audio was removed from the security camera footage and from the Mormon TV show.

There was no evidence to corroborate the allegation that fans engaged in racial heckling or uttered racial slurs at the event. We will not tolerate any conduct that makes a student-athletes feel unsafe. That's why we immediately responded and conducted a thorough investigation.

The ban on the fan who uttered the racial slurs has been lifted. There is no evidence that that person engaged in that activity. The ban has caused hardship to that fan, and they apologize for that.

The findings of the investigation were communicated to Duke by the school. The school's athletic directors have been in regular contact with each other.

Richardson told her coaches about the hecklers. She said that she heard a negative racial slur. I was able to get through the play after serving the ball. I heard it again when I returned to serve, but that was the end of the game.

The fan code of conduct was changed after a meeting with Richardson. Richardson told Rowe that he could see how sorry he was and that he was shocked by it.

The zero tolerance policy for racism was reiterated in the Friday statement.

The statement says that there will be some who think we are being careful. We have tried to be as thorough as possible in our investigation and we invite anyone with evidence that is not in line with our findings to come forward. Despite being unable to find evidence of racial slurs in the many recordings and interviews, we hope that all those involved will understand our sincere efforts to ensure that all student-athletes are safe.

The South Carolina women's basketball team canceled a home-and- home series against BYU due to the Duke-BYU volleyball match.

"I don't think it's the right time for us to engage in this series at this point in time," she said.

The Mormon church asked for patience as it reviewed the allegations after South Carolina's decision.