Pines: The Terrapin Community Rejects Hate

UMD President Darryll J. Pines sent the following message to the campus community on Tuesday afternoon: 

While most of our students, faculty and staff were away for fall break, members of the Maryland Club Tennis student organization distributed programming material with a graphic containing racist imagery directed at people who are Black or African American. They emailed this to other university tennis clubs in the region about last weekend’s fall tournament at College Park. 

UMD staff responded immediately. 

University Action

This matter has been referred to the University of Maryland Police Department for investigation. 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 and Sexual Misconduct. 

The UMD Club Tennis team forfeited its matches in the tournament, which continued for all other participating teams. UMD Club Tennis team student leaders met with other tournament team captains to take responsibility, apologize for their actions and acknowledge the harm caused. They also sent an apology email to each of the invited club team programs.

UMD staff provided on-site support in addition to meeting with visiting teams. UMD’s director of RecWell sent an email acknowledging and apologizing for the incident to directors of university recreation at participating institutions and their club presidents.

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. That is how we approached the first 24 hours. 

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. 

Recognizing harm 

We are committed to doing all we can to repair the hurt and harm that this has caused, but first we must acknowledge how this incident has impacted our community members who are Black or African American, the Howard Club Tennis team, and our Black students on the Maryland Club Tennis team. Our Club Tennis players who are Black forfeited their matches as part of the measures taken, and Student Affairs staff and our Belonging and Community team will continue to offer support at this time. 

This has also impacted all tournament participants, and any person who has seen how acts of hate ripple through our society. 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.

And we must use this moment to educate. That is why Howard University President Dr. Wayne A.I. Frederick said this after acknowledging the measures that UMD has taken: 

“Our collective responsibility extends beyond responding to individual acts of racism. As institutions of higher learning, we must confront prejudice wherever it exists and cultivate environments where respect for the humanity of others is not merely an aspiration, but an expectation.”

I want to echo this statement and thank Dr. Frederick for giving voice to what this moment demands. We will continue to stay in close communication as the investigation proceeds. 

Our work ahead

We will continue to consult campus constituent groups, including student leaders, faculty experts and staff who support belonging. We will do this in meetings and in personal conversations to gather more ideas about ways to educate and acknowledge the pain that this has caused. We will work with the Social Justice Alliance to provide cultural sensitivity training for members of the Club Tennis team.

As a reminder, please report hate when you see it to Bias Incident Support Services or the Office of Civil Rights and Sexual Misconduct, and check on your fellow Terps. We remain dedicated to maintaining a Terrapin community that rejects hate in all forms, and we will all continue to do our part to use this as a teachable moment to eradicate hate. 

Sincerely,