After being accused of a pair of alleged racist incidents earlier in the season, the Illinois High School Association has concluded its investigation into Lincoln Way-East, which is located 24 miles southeast of Chicago.
According to a report from Michael O'Brien of the Chicago Sun Times, Lincoln Way-East has been placed on probation for the remainder of the year. Any more violations could lead to more serious consequences in the future.
The IHSA released a statement Friday, Oct. 16, regarding the situation.
"The IHSA found that the Lincoln-Way East administration, and then later the Lincoln-Way Community High School District 210 Board of Education, reacted swiftly and responsibly in condemning the ugly behavior and addressing the situation to the best of their ability," the statement from the IHSA released on Friday reads. "Given that the involved students are no longer enrolled in District 210, the students were not subject to any additional sanctions from the IHSA.”
The situation stemmed from a football game played between Lincoln Way-East and Homewood-Flossmoor (IL) on Sept. 4, when five Lincoln Way-East students in the student section were removed after harassing and hurling racist insults towards Homewood-Flossmoor students, who were also in the bleachers.
Video captured six Lincoln Way-East students making monkey-like gestures toward the Homewood-Flossmoor student section.
According to the Chicago Sun Times report, those students in question were allowed to withdraw from the school rather than be expelled, as unanimously voted on by the Lincoln-Way School District Board of Education back in September.
While Lincoln-Way East acknowledged the situation in a Facebook post, another incident stemming from a cross-country meet between the two schools happened a day later.
In written statements from Homewood-Flossmoor students-athletes, which were obtained by USA TODAY Sports, three runners described LWE coaches making comments about running “past those monkeys” to their team prior to the race.
According to those written statements, some runners for LWE then proceeded to make monkey sounds and gestures towards the Homewood-Flossmoor runners. However, despite the written statements, the IHSA could not determine if any malicious language was directed at anyone during the cross country meet.
“The IHSA recognized that the Lincoln-Way East coaches exercised poor judgment in some of the terminology they used toward their own student-athletes in attendance,” the statement continues. “Independently, the IHSA confirmed that a portion of the course historically has been known or referred to by a term that may have appeared innocent, but when used in a different context can be interpreted as racially insensitive. Lincoln-Way East imposed educational requirements on its coaches as a result, and the IHSA accepted the actions imposed by the school.”
According to the IHSA statement, the situation “may be the subject of further litigation,” adding that the association reserves the right to reopen its investigation at any time, should any new information be revealed.
Follow Sports Reporter Joe Spears on X at @joe_spears7 or via email: JSpears@usatodayco.com. For additional high school sports coverage, be sure to follow USA TODAY High School Sports on Instagram and X.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Illinois high school given IHSA punishment after alleged racist incidents