RAPID CITY, S.D. – The Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) announced on Nov 24, that they have fined South Dakota Mines for what they say were racist comments made at a Colorado Mesa and Mines football game on Nov 13.
The RMAC conference says the racist comments from the stands were directed at the players from the CMU Mavericks and that those comments “stand in a complete contradiction to the values and policies of the conference.”
Staff at South Dakota Mines say they removed the individuals responsible for the racist remarks during the game and those people have been banned indefinitely from all RMAC events.
Mines President Dr. Jim Rankin and Athletic Director Joel Luken also released statements saying,
“South Dakota Mines has zero-tolerance for racism,” said Rankin. “We apologize to all who were harmed by the unacceptable actions of those individuals. Their behavior goes against the core mission, vision, and values of our institution.”
AD Joel Luken added, “My sincerest apologies go out to the members of Colorado Mes’s football team and staff that witnessed and were involved in completely unacceptable behavior while on our campus. We will endeavor to be better hosts, hold ourselves to a higher degree of sportsmanship, and strive to be better human beings. We will improve.”
According to the statement, the School of Mines is, “taking action to make sure this sort of appalling behavior is not repeated.
