The University of Maryland's club tennis team has been suspended for distributing racist imagery ahead of a fall tournament, school officials said Tuesday.
University President Darryll Pines said members of the school's club tennis student group shared racist images directed at Black people in an email to other school tennis clubs in the region, including one at Howard University. Newsweek reached out to both institutions, but was referred to their public statements.
"This matter has been referred to the University of Maryland Police Department for investigation," Pines said in a statement. "While this incident may have directly involved only a few student team members, UMD RecWell has suspended the entire UMD Club Tennis team indefinitely pending an administrative investigation by the Office of Student Conduct. The incident will also be reviewed by the Office of Civil Rights & Sexual Misconduct."
Maryland's team forfeited its matches in the tournament, which was held on Saturday and Sunday, and sent apologies via email to each of the programs involved, Pines said.
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"In addition, we conducted swift outreach to many Black leaders throughout campus offering support as part of our standard practice to target communications and resources to those who are most affected, and address harm where it most occurred," Pines' statement continued. "And, importantly, we condemned the image in no uncertain terms. It was deeply harmful and offensive, and I offer my apology for its detrimental impact on one and all."
The Howard University Tennis Club said in a statement Monday that participating teams received a Google document that contained a "recognizable symbol associated with the Ku Klux Klan" on the first page, near the UMD club's tennis logo. The image depicts “KKK hood masks,” team officials said.
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"The imagery is a recognizable symbol of white supremacy, organized hate and violence," HU tennis club president Toni Rachal said in a statement. "The inclusion of this imagery raises fundamental questions: Why was this racist imagery included in the materials, how long has this image been used in UMD documents, and what review process permitted it to remain there?"
Howard tennis club officials confronted Maryland reps after discovering the image, according to Rachal, who called for a formal investigation into who created the Google document and sensitivity training for Maryland tennis club team members.
"The HU Tennis Club team showed an unbreakable spirit on and off the court," Rachal said. "In true Bison form, the team stayed the course through the tournament, competed in the final day, and reached the semifinals silver draw. The HU Tennis Club Team achieved their best result since the club’s founding in 2021."
Camryn Bryant, a member of the University of Maryland's club tennis team, characterized the situation as "heartbreaking" during an interview with WJZ.
"I know I'm not the person who opened the message, but just the fact that it targeted my group — targeted African Americans — it just makes me feel some type of way," the freshman told the station. "I'm interacting with these people all the time, and I've been nothing but nice to everyone who was here, so it's just really sad and disturbing."
Bryant said she believes more than one of her teammates may have been involved in disseminating the imagery.
"Tennis is really cliquish, especially here, so I know if one person did it, their whole friend group knew," Bryant said.
Pines, meanwhile, said Maryland is committed to repairing the "hurt and harm" caused by the incident, which he described as a teachable moment.
"This has also impacted all tournament participants, and any person who has seen how acts of hate ripple through our society," Pines said. "We seek justice in the context of a legal system that provides few consequences for hate speech, and one power we have as a society is to never allow hate of any form to be normalized and accepted."
School officials were "horrified" by the incident and the subsequent harm it caused, Pines said.
Howard University's interim president, Wayne A. I. Frederick, said students who were set to compete in a tennis tournament were instead met with "deeply offensive" symbolism.
"Let me be unequivocal: There is no place for racism, intimidation, or imagery rooted in hatred and racial violence in collegiate athletics, on our campuses, or anywhere in our society," Frederick said in a statement. "The imagery displayed evoked a painful history of racial terror and exclusion that has no place in an environment dedicated to learning, personal development, and mutual respect."
Newsweek’s reporters and editors used Martyn, our AI assistant, to produce this story. Learn more about Martyn here. Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Samantha Beech and Gray R. Thomas