COLLEGE PARK, MD — School officials have suspended the University of Maryland club tennis team indefinitely and university police are investigating claims the club emailed "racist imagery" to other collegiate teams before a fall tournament in College Park last weekend.
University leaders told the school newspaper, The Diamondback, on Monday that University Recreation and Wellness learned some club tennis members had distributed "programming material with a graphic containing racist imagery targeting people who are Black or African American" to teams ahead of last weekend's two-day tournament.
A day before the event was supposed to take place, Howard College's club tennis team president, Toni Rachal, was looking over a Google document that included details about the tournament, including scheduling and a campus map. While reviewing the document, Rachal said she stumbled across a graphic depicting Ku Klux Klan hoods, according to WUSA.
Rachal contacted University of Maryland leaders about the upsetting discovery.
"My intention in raising these concerns is not simply to seek punishment, but to ensure that the harm caused is acknowledged, that meaningful accountability follows, and that all student-athletes can participate in collegiate tennis without being confronted with imagery associated with racial hatred and intimidation," Rachal wrote.
The incident will be investigated by the University of Maryland Police Department and the university's student conduct office, according to school leaders.
"The University of Maryland is horrified and expresses its regret and sincere apology for the harm that this has caused," the university said in a statement sent to the school paper.
The student-led club tennis team forfeited all matches in last weekend's tournament and met with other club leaders at the event to apologize and take accountability for their actions. The team's leaders also sent individual apology emails to each club invited to the tournament.
Maryland Club Tennis executive board members said in the email to participating clubs they take "full responsibility" for not identifying and removing the imagery, according to a copy of the message the team shared with The Diamondback on Monday.
"We understand that an apology alone cannot undo the hurt caused," the email read. "We are deeply sorry to everyone affected and are committed to doing better."
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