The Oregon Ducks squared off against BYU in a top-25 matchup in Eugene on Saturday. They ran out convincing winners on the field, but off the field a bigoted chant directed at BYU’s Mormon population saw them draw ire from all corners of the internet.
The Chant
It was looking to be a glorious day for Oregon and TSD’s favorite mascot, Puddles the duck. They had just blown out BYU in a top-25 matchup and thoughts of the season opener loss to Georgia were on the backburner. But while things on the field were going well, a small section of fans were about to cause the university a headache.
During the victory, a small section of Oregon fans could be heard chanting,
“F**k the Mormons.”
“F**k the Mormons!”
a.) this is what you get when you spread a lie and indict a university and an entire state
b.) seen how easy it is to find evidence of brazen bigotry in a stadium when it actually exists
— Will Cain (@willcain) September 18, 2022
University of Oregon forced to apologize
After the video went viral on Twitter, the backlash was hasty. Utah’s governor, Spencer J. Cox took to Twitter to fight back at Oregon, saying that “religious bigotry [is] alive and celebrated in Oregon.”
Religious bigotry alive and celebrated in Oregon. https://t.co/l8BdsSJWu2
— Spencer Cox (@SpencerJCox) September 18, 2022
Eventually, the University of Oregon themselves would release an apology. In a series of tweets, the university said,
“The University of Oregon sincerely apologizes for an offensive and disgraceful chant coming from the student section during yesterday’s game against Brigham Young University. These types of actions go against everything the university stands for, and it goes against the spirit of competition. We can and will do better as a campus community that has no place for hate, bias or bigotry.“
The University of Oregon sincerely apologizes for an offensive and disgraceful chant coming from the student section during yesterday’s game against Brigham Young University. 1/2
— University of Oregon (@uoregon) September 18, 2022
These types of actions go against everything the university stands for, and it goes against the spirit of competition. We can and will do better as a campus community that has no place for hate, bias or bigotry. 2/2
— University of Oregon (@uoregon) September 18, 2022
There is still no word on whether or not the students involved will face disciplinary action from the university.
BYU will be at home for their next four fixtures against Wyoming, Utah State, Notre Dame and Arkansas. Oregon travels to Washington State next week before returning to Eugene to face the Stanford Cardinals on October 1st. Hopefully there are not any offensive chants about nerds or trees on show that day.
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