BYU students respond to explicit chant at football game by Oregon fans

At a recent football game between the University of Oregon (UO) and Brigham Young University (BYU), an affiliate of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS), hateful chants broke out against the religious school. 

A viral video of the Sept. 17 game surfaced on Twitter, in which UO students and fans appear to chant “f*** the Mormons.”

UO was quick to release a statement on Twitter condemning the behavior of its student body at the game. 

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“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,” the Sept. 18 statement reads. 

The school concluded by tweeting, “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.”

UO’s Interim President Patrick Philips also issued a statement on Sept. 19, condemning the intolerance displayed at the game.

“It is worth considering how corrosive this kind of behavior can truly be to each of us…There are members of [LDS] on our own football team, and we know there were members of that faith wearing green and yellow sitting right next to those chanting on Saturday,” Philip’s statement reads in part. 

Jon McBride, BYU’s Associate AD for Communications and Media Strategy, provided Campus Reform with the following statement regarding the game:

“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.”

McBride also directed Campus Reform to the LDS style guide, which “discourages” the use of the word “Mormon” when referencing the church and its affiliates, including BYU.

This incident comes in the wake of another controversy regarding the BYU volleyball team, in which a player falsely accused a spectator of yelling racial slurs during an Aug. 26 game against Duke.

After investigating the situation, BYU athletics announced, “[W]e have not found any evidence to corroborate the allegation that fans engaged in racial heckling or uttered racial slurs at the event.” 

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Campus Reform spoke with two BYU students regarding both previously mentioned incidents. 

Thomas Stevenson and Luke Hanson, BYU students and members of the BYU Conservatives, were more worried about the mainstream media’s coverage of the incidents over the “f*** the Mormons” chants. 

Stevenson is a Campus Reform Correspondent.

“We are sure that the mainstream media’s pace of action with respect to each story expresses their ideological bias very clearly,” Stevenson told Campus Reform.

He continued, saying that “[t]his is even more apparent because the second instance was caught on video instead of an unverified accusation.”

Hanson expressed similar views, telling Campus Reform, “I'm not very offended by some college dudes yelling obscenities. What is concerning is that it exposes the massive double standards for treatment of minorities.”

“It seems over the past few years, attacking the Church in Hollywood is becoming more acceptable. What concerns me is what could happen if this continues to become more and more accepted,” Hanson concluded. 

Campus Reform reached out to the University of Oregon and BYU for comment. UO did not expand upon its previously issued statements. 

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