Racism canceled the Emmanuel College at Sewanee lacrosse game Saturday.
Racism unfortunately reared its ugly head on the lacrosse field again this week, this time in Sewanee, Tennessee, during a lacrosse game versus Emmanuel College. In a home game for the University of the South, students in attendance attacked players from visiting Emmanuel College with racist verbal harassment, up to and including use of the N-word. Refs eventually paused the game in the third quarter to eject the student section from attendance, but by that point, the damage had been done.
Sewanee Athletics addressed the situation of racism ending the contest with Emmanuel College early.
The University of the South Vice Chancellor and President Reuben Brigety sent an email out to the school’s campus community Sunday. He said that he wasn’t at the game, but when he learned what happened, he went to the lacrosse field and he and other Sewanee personnel personally apologized to the Emmanuel College team. Brigety asked for help in finding the culprits and called for them to turn themselves in.
“We are also determined to identify those who were responsible for yesterday’s hate speech so that appropriate measures can be taken, as I assured the Emmanuel players and coaches when I spoke with them,” he wrote in the letter. “Our initial efforts to find those who shouted these slurs at our guests proved unsuccessful. And so toward this end I need your help.”
Lacrosse, as a community, cannot seem to get out of its own way. We’ve seen some positives recently. Despite some notable (and very much remembered by this author) exceptions, the majority of the PLL players took the field wearing a BLM patch this past summer. The Black Lacrosse Association has been formed and is helping on that front. The We Stand initiative has been created.
But similar to Amherst before it, major changes will be needed at University of the South for things to continue. We’ve already seen both lacrosse media and active lacrosse players working to get this story out there and make sure some justice comes from it. In the meantime, we can ask ourselves how we can help make this a more inclusive game.
For our own part, Lacrosse All Stars reminds all that we have a zero tolerance for racism in the game, and we are always ready in case we can do anything to help lead our community toward a better future.
That’s the biggest news of the week, but it’s not the only thing that happened in the last seven days. This is the lacrosse news for the week of March 9-15, 2021:
Last Week in Lacrosse
-Controversy in the polls. North Carolina moved up to No. 1 in the men’s media poll but sits at No. 3 in the USL poll this week.
–TD Ierlan is finally back. The faceoff specialist has officially begun at Denver, and will be eligible for the Pioneers’ game against Villanova later this week.
-Jacksonville’s women’s team has entered the top 25 after the Dolphins pulled a huge upset in taking down Florida.
-In professional news, Cannons LC made its expansion draft at last, adding 18 players to a roster already including Paul Rabil.
-St. Bonaventure got its first victory since getting Division I lacrosse back. The Bonnies beat Quinnipiac over the weekend.
–UMass finally got to play its first game this year. The Minutemen were sidelined by COVID-19 protocols for the first month, but returned to beat Fairfield.
-Grow the Game 3000 continues to try and raise money in order to remove the cost of play from lower-income households and thus widen the scope of who can play lacrosse.
Get Caught Up on LAS Content!
Miss out on what we did last week? Here’s a recap of some of our top content from the last seven days:
Indiana Tech Makes Moves – NAIA Weekly Stock Report
Nick Pietras takes you through the biggest winners and losers in NAIA men’s lacrosse for the week, with Indiana Tech climbing after defeating two top-10 opponents.
The Calm Before the Storm: NCAA DI Men’s Weekly Rankings Week 4 Ballot
Ryan Conwell and Nick Zoroya shared how and why they voted in their Week 4 ballots.
Lynchburg Lacrosse Knocks Salisbury Off No. 1 Perch: DIII Big Three Breakdown
Ryan Kuhn explains the impact of Lynchburg knocking off No. 1 Salisbury and two of the other biggest games of the week in Division III.
A Firsthand Account of the Growth & Development of Division II Lacrosse
Marty Ward played and now coaches at the Division II level for almost two decades. He shares the growth and development he has seen in Division II and what it means.
John Paul – Game Grower Spotlight
John “JP” Paul, a former lacrosse player at Michigan and lax coach, explained his experience and work in growing the game ahead of his appearance on the Going Offsides podcast, where he discussed Division I expansion and what it means.
Maryland Handles Rutgers in B1G Statement – DI Rundown Week 5
Ryan Conwell gives you his weekly rundown on what happened in DI in the last week, with Maryland’s statement win over Rutgers serving as one of the biggest results of Week 5.
