Dan Lanning Addresses Offensive Chants Made During BYU Game
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On Monday Oregon Head Coach Dan Lanning made it a point to take time out of his press conference to address the obscene and anti-Mormon chants made from a portion of Oregon's student section towards BYU fans on Saturday.
"Before we really start talking about Washington State. I do want to address something that happened in our game this past weekend with BYU," Lanning said. "Like many of you, (I) was really frustrated and disgusted to hear some of the things that were said during the game. Got the opportunity to reach out to Kalani (Sitake). I know our athletic director Rob (Mullens) got to reach out to Tom (Holmoe) their AD there at BYU and express our frustration and also apologize for the behavior of a few that really puts a cloud over a great group and a really fun situation for our players and our fans on Saturday. There's no room for that in our stadium and anybody that's going to partake in that doesn't need to be in our stadium."
The University of Oregon student section, "Oregon Pit Crew" issued a statement on Twitter following the game.
"To all BYU fans in attendance at todays game we would like to apologize for the actions of the students in attendance. We do not condone or support any hateful speech directed towards one’s religion and are ashamed of those who participated."
The University of Oregon also released a statement over social media, apologizing for the incident.
"The University of Oregon sincerely apologizes for an offensive and disgraceful chant coming from the student section during yesterday’s game against Brigham Young University. These types of actions go against everything the university stands for, and it goes against the spirit of competition. We can and will do better as a campus community that has no place for hate, bias or bigotry."
Brigham Young University responded to the incident and thanked Oregon for the apology this week following the game on Saturday.
"We appreciate the sincere apology from the University of Oregon regarding the behavior of some fans at Autzen Stadium on Saturday. We recognize that this isolated behavior does not reflect the values of the University of Oregon. As we all work together to address incidents that seek to divide us, we are grateful for those who are willing to come together to build bridges of understanding."
Oregon plays Washington State in week 4 on the road at Martin Stadium in Pullman (Wash.).
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