East Catholic, Montville Exchange CIAC-Brokered Letters

CHESHIRE, CT — East Catholic and Montville high schools have released letters written — to each other — in response to what Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference officials termed the "events surrounding a football game between the two schools on Friday, Sept. 24."

The "events" are accusations by a Montville cheerleader that a racial slur and other bullying behavior had been directed at her and teammates during a postgame celebration at East Catholic.

The two schools will be sending student representatives to the CIAC offices for an upcoming Class Act Council training session and discussion, officials said. The CIAC's Class Act Schools initiative is designed to "empower schools," and particularly students, to "take ownership for all issues related to sportsmanship within the athletics department."

No other sanctions were mentioned by CIAC officials in a news released issued Tuesday afternoon.

From East Catholic to Montville

"I would like to provide an update on our examination of the unfortunate events that took place during the September 24th football game between East Catholic High School and Montville High School.

"We are heartbroken that a young woman from Montville High School had such a negative experience at East Catholic. If we knew who the offending party was, that person would have been disciplined by now.

"So instead, on behalf of our entire school, and myself personally, I apologize to this young woman and any others who may have had a negative experience. I am deeply sorry this happened, and I promise you that we can and will do better.

"On Wednesday, September 29th, we joined representatives from Montville High School to meet with the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference (CIAC). We had an amicable, open discussion about the events that took place at the game and its conclusion.

"In addition to our pledge to work together to reinforce our schools' commitment to equality, tolerance and embracing of all people, we committed to have student leaders from both schools attend a meeting and Class Act Council leadership training at CIAC offices. The CIAC's Class Act Schools initiative is designed to empower schools and particularly students to take ownership for all issues related to sportsmanship in athletics.

"At East Catholic High School, our Mission Statement closes with 'Guided by the teachings of Jesus Christ, East Catholic is a welcoming environment for all students,' and we have no tolerance for derisive and unkind words or behavior directed at our own students or students from other schools. Interscholastic sporting events are times for celebration of teamwork, leadership and achievement — not derision and negativity. As educators, we all have the responsibility to teach our students not only about their scholastic subjects, but also about acceptance, responsibility and leadership.

"With that in mind, let me reiterate that not only can we do better, we will do better. We look forward to working collaboratively with you and your students in the future."

From Montville to East Catholic

"Thank you for investigating the events that took place at the September 24th away football game against East Catholic High School. We appreciate your efforts to identify the people who participated in making offensive remarks and displaying inappropriate behaviors towards our cheerleaders. On behalf of the Montville High School community, we accept your apologies and recognition that what occurred was not acceptable. We respect the work which you have begun in your community to reinforce the values of equity and tolerance; we are committed to this same work in our community. We actively seek to protect our students from acts of intolerance and to teach them to display acceptance and respect in their interactions with others.

"We are grateful for the fact that you heard and responded to our community's concerns when we met on Sept. 29th at CIAC offices. We look forward to bringing together student leaders from both of our schools to ensure that we all learn from this incident. Montville strives to be a community that stands for kindness and respect, and our goal is to foster equity by building deep relationships with one another, celebrating our differences and growing from our shared experiences. It is with that goal that we will approach our future opportunities to work collaboratively with students and staff at East Catholic High School"

The cheerleader complained that tensions had been escalating throughout the fourth quarter of the Sept. 24 game and, after East won 27-26 in overtime, its students stormed the field in celebration.

The cheerleader said the attention then turned to the the Montville contingent and a slur was directed at her specifically. Cheerleaders then said that East Catholic students also pushed and spat at them while stepping on their belongings.

Sean Brennan, president of East Catholic, said administrators met with students the following Monday to reiterate the school's Student Code of Conduct and the behavioral expectations they have for students.