After issuing a public apology to Virginia State University, the Guilford College administration is denying claims that racist remarks were made against the VSU women’s soccer team per a report by HBCU Gameday. During a match at Guilford College on September 26, the VSU women's soccer team reported that they were subjected to racial slurs from Guilford fans.
Guilford College President Kyle Farmbry issued an apology to Virginia State University President Makola M. Abdullah and assured that there would be an investigation regarding the incident. Virginia State athletic director Peggy Davis received an apology from the Guilford director of athletics. However, VSU requested that its student-athletes receive an apology as well.
It appears that Guilford College has completed its investigation and says that the taunting began with a group of 14 students. Three of those 14 students are now facing student conduct disciplinary action for their involvement and another student has been suspended from an athletic contest for violating the athletic code.
“The investigation did not discover any evidence that racist remarks were directed by Guilford fans toward VSU players,” the college said in a statement about the findings of the investigation “However, the fact that VSU supporters found the environment to be extremely unwelcoming for their players is of deep concern to the College and resulted in action that has been taken.”
This discovery was made after more than 30 Guilford athletics staff members, non-athletic staff members, students, and parents who attended the match were interviewed, according to a statement released by the school.
Virginia State University has declined to comment on the latest updates on the Guilford College investigation.