University of Maryland suspends tennis club after members allegedly distributed racist imagery

The University of Maryland (UMD) has suspended its tennis club after officials learned that racist imagery was included in program materials sent to other tennis organizations about a weekend fall tournament held at the College Park campus. 

The university has apologized to the team members who received the racist imagery, including those at Howard University. 

The imagery was discovered Saturday by officials at UMD's Recreation and Wellness (RecWell), the office that handles recreation activities for the university, said a statement provided to CBS News Baltimore by UMD.

"The Maryland Club Tennis student organization distributed programming material with a graphic containing racist imagery targeting people who are Black or African American," the statement said. "They emailed this information to other university tennis clubs in the region about this weekend's fall tournament at College Park."

The racist imagery reportedly included a graphic that depicted Ku Klux Klan hoods.   

Howard University, a Historically Black University (HBCU) in Washington, D.C., was among the club teams participating in the weekend tournament at UMD.

UMD was "horrified" by the incident and expressed "its regret and sincere apology for the harm that this has caused." 

"In addition to UMD club tennis apologizing and forfeiting its matches, UMD's director of [RecWell] issued an apology to the club presidents of all the participating teams," it added. 

Officials from RecWell said they immediately referred the matter to UMD's police department. The incident is also being investigated by the university's Office of Student Conduct. 

RecWell suspended UMD's entire club tennis sports team, while noting that only a few student team members had taken part, the statement said. UMD staff also provided on-site support to players and met with visiting teams.

As a result of the club's suspension, club tennis teams forfeited their matches during the weekend tournament. 

Team member outraged 

University of Maryland freshman Camryn Bryant is on the club tennis team that is embroiled in the scandal. 

She spoke to WJZ about the controversy involving at least one of her teammates who is accused of sending racist imagery depicting the Ku Klux Klan to other teams competing against them in a tournament over the weekend.

"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 WJZ Investigator Mike Hellgren. "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.

She called the situation "heartbreaking" for what is supposed to be a welcoming athletic environment.

"I don't know if they feel threatened by us. I just don't understand what went through their head as they sent it," Bryant said. 

Whole team affected by actions of a few

Bryant said it is upsetting that everyone on the club tennis team, including her, is being punished. 

"Everybody who didn't do anything is getting impacted for a student who they won't even tell us who it was, Bryant said. 

She also believes more than one of her teammates may be involved. 

"Tennis is really cliquish, especially here, so I know if one person did it, their whole friend group knew," the freshman said. 

Bryant's friend Christian Dortch used to be on the team with her. 

"I was very disappointed. I wouldn't have expected anything of that sort to happen," Dortch told WJZ. "I was saddened to see that some on my own tennis team hold such a negative connotation about Black people."

She called for transparency in the investigation 

"We should know who said what so we can put a name to a face because it should be out in the open," Dortch said. 

Bryant told WJZ, "Social media has desensitized a lot of people. It has made them feel a lot bolder because it's online. They're not having personal conflict or confrontation with the person, so them sitting behind a screen doing whatever they want makes them feel like they have a power trip."

In addition to campus police, the university said the matter has also been referred to the Office of Student Conduct.

Howard calls for further accountability

Howard University's club tennis team is calling for further accountability after discovering imagery associated with the Ku Klux Klan in a Google document shared with teams participating in a tournament, according to the club.

Club tennis president Toni Rachal said she noticed the graphic on the first page of the document emailed to participating teams.

The Howard club team described the image as showing "KKK pointed hood masks complete with eye holes" in the top-right and lower-left quadrants, replacing the Crossland coat of arms on the official Maryland state flag.

"The imagery is a recognizable symbol of white supremacy, organized hate and violence," the Howard club tennis team stated.

The team said it raised its concerns with the University of Maryland's club tennis executive board.

Although Maryland's club tennis team has been suspended and issued a general apology, Howard's team said "true accountability has yet to come."

Howard is calling for a public apology to the university and its tennis club, a formal investigation to determine who created the document containing the imagery, and sensitivity training for Maryland club team leaders and advisers.

The team is also asking for funds from the tournament to be donated to the National Museum of African American History and Culture to promote cultural awareness.

Howard says team remains focused on competition

Despite the controversy, Howard's club tennis team said its players remained focused on the competition.

"The HU Tennis Club team showed an unbreakable spirit on and off the court," the club team stated. "In true Bison form, the team stayed the course through the tournament, competed in the final day, and reached the semifinals silver draw."

On Monday evening, Howard University released a statement about the situation. "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," the statement read. "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."

The statement went on to say that the university stands firmly in support of the students who participated in the tournament. "They deserved an experience defined by fair competition and mutual respect and their dignity, safety, and well-being remain our highest priorities," it stated.

"Howard University will remain engaged with the University of Maryland as its investigation proceeds. As institutions of higher learning, we share a responsibility not only to confront acts of racism but also to foster communities where respect for the humanity of others is an expectation, not merely an aspiration."

Howard's full statement can be read on thedig.howard.edu.