Field hockey players from Champlain Valley Union High School have penned a letter condemning hate speech within their community and beyond after an opposing spectator allegedly used a homophobic slur during a recent game in Manchester.
The incident comes after the Vermont Principals’ Association pledged to confront discriminatory behavior following episodes of racist, sexist and transphobic verbal harassment at games across the state last school year.
But the students, who posted their letter on Instagram on Monday night, said the issue stretches beyond the field.
“This community loves to preach inclusivity and acceptance of all backgrounds and identities,” they wrote, “but the message is often lost in the halls of our school as slurs are thrown around like slang, etched into the walls of bathroom walls and whispered among friends at sporting events or just screamed loud and proud with no repercussions.”
Speaking on behalf of the Hinesburg school’s varsity field hockey team, captain Miranda Oppenheimer said the letter was sparked by an incident Sept. 14 at Burr and Burton Academy where a student watching the game “used a homophobic slur against one of our players.”
Dave Miceli, Burr and Burton’s athletics director, said he was in the school building when he was alerted by a Champlain Valley coach that a group of Burr and Burton students “had said something inappropriate” to one of their players just after the first quarter ended.
“The game was at a natural stop, the coach reported the incident and we were able to remove the students without disrupting the game,” Miceli said. “The coach certainly indicated that enough was being done that we could continue playing because that is an important piece of this whole process created by the (Vermont Principals’ Association).”
Miceli said he and one of his coaches approached the group of about nine students and walked them across the field to the other side of the street. When questioned, he said, students denied saying the slur and no one came forward or identified the perpetrator.
He instructed them not to return to the playing field or interact with the CVU team afterwards, Miceli said.
Miceli said he also spoke to other officials present to see if they witnessed the incident. He called CVU activities director Ricky McCollum after the third quarter to see if they could do anything else and apologized to CVU head coach Tucker Pierson at the end of the game.
“I told her I don’t want to cause more trauma by asking your player a bunch of questions so please let her know we’re sorry, and also, if she remembers anything that helps us identify this person, please let us know,” Miceli said.
The Burr and Burton captains also came over to talk and apologize to the CVU player after the game, Miceli said.
He said he hadn’t heard back on the matter since and had not seen or heard about the field hockey team’s post.
McCollum, the CVU athletics director, said he heard from coaches of both schools. Protocol was followed and both sides agreed to continue the game, he said. All sides are “satisfied with the outcomes and how things were handled,” he said.
Pierson, the CVU coach, confirmed that “we felt like the situation was handled effectively with care and concern.”
She commended her team for writing a “heartfelt and courageous letter” and for “standing up to the complacency that prevents real change and growth — within CVU and beyond.”
“Sports is the lens through which we are seeing these ugly actions and hateful language, but this is a larger issue that affects everyone,” she said.
New rules
Following multiple incidents last year — which involved abuse reportedly directed at student-athletes playing volleyball, soccer and basketball — the Vermont Principals’ Association instituted a new online reporting form in order to identify and track such events.
The organization, which governs school sports in the state, also developed a new message to be announced before each game, encouraging good sportsmanship and prohibiting “hazing, harassment and bullying of any kind.”
“The reporting form is part of a broader effort to raise the bar for all participants at athletic events — including fans,” said VPA president Jay Nichols.” The pregame statement makes expectations clear.”
Coaches from both schools said the statement was read before the recent field hockey game. Miceli also completed the VPA online form the organization uses to track these incidents, he said.
Nichols confirmed that the incident was reported using the new tool but said that any investigations are typically left to schools, unless one side appeals or there is an “extenuating circumstance.”
VPA launched an equity initiative in 2019 and started using an anonymous online reporting tool last school year that recorded 58 reports from October to June. Five reports have been filed since September, including this recent incident. Four involve fan conduct, two are racial in nature, two are sexist or misogynistic and one is listed under other aggressive language and behavior, according to Nichols.
“We want to see this stuff be eradicated. Maybe it won’t be eradicated in our lifetime but we’re just going to keep trying to make progress as best we can and make expectations clear,” he said.
It goes beyond school
Oppenheimer, the field hockey captain, said the incident at Burr and Burton was compounded by recent instances of homophobic language being used by Champlain Valley Union students.
The hockey team’s social media post states, “It is frustrating as we realize that this community has changed oh so little internally from the time our parents attended high school, and it is also empowering as we take a stand against it all.”
CVU officials — including Christina Deeley and Bageshree Blasius, who are diversity, equity and inclusion coaches at the school — said they continue to work on the issue.
“Homophobic slurs are never acceptable. Not in our schools, not on our sports fields, not in our communities,” the pair said in a written statement.
CVU Principal Adam Bunting said he and his leadership team are trying to figure out a way to help the student community learn more about the impact of discriminatory language and to repair harm.
He responded to the students, faculty and staff with a letter Monday night that reads: “While coaches and the Leadership team have followed up on all of the incidents of which we are aware, this letter represents students defining themselves to their peers and to their community at large. I’m proud of them for their courage and values.”
Since the incident in Manchester, the staff has held restorative circles for the field hockey team to voice concerns and discuss issues freely. “We want it to be a safe environment for them to share their voices,” Bunting said.
While he declined to share details, Bunting said they are also working with the students who have been identified as responsible for discriminatory remarks in person or online in the last couple weeks to address this behavior.
“We’ve made a commitment that when we have evidence that students have used harmful language that we are going to follow up on it and we are going to hold people accountable, but we’re also going to provide education for those students,” he said.
A cellphone policy instituted this year, partially in an attempt to combat social media harassment, has students silence and put away cell phones and other devices in lockers, bags or at a docking station during class and in other learning environments, among other measures.
‘We need real change’
In a second letter to students, staff, faculty and families Tuesday, Bunting said he sees the field hockey teams post “as a call to be inclusive and aware of impact no matter the context” and “an expression of how people feel when they are marginalized because of the actions, words, jokes, posts, and more that reject a person’s identity.”
Oppenheimer agreed and said, on behalf of her team, the entire community needs a genuine apology from all people who use discriminatory and derogatory slurs, especially from those who target students from minority groups.
During the 2021-22 school year, the high school of almost 1,400 students recorded 24 sexual harassment cases, 16 harassment cases that targeted LGBTQ+ students and nine incidents of racial harassment, according to the data Burngtin shared.
Oppenheimer, on behalf of the team, said the student-athletes feel emotionally supported by the administration but also feel that they are unsure of what to do next. “And that responsibility should not … be put on me and my team or the students at this school.”
“We need support but more importantly we need real change.”