Wellesley High School Principal Dr. Jamie Chisum has informed the Wellesley High School community of reports from Friday night’s boys’ home basketball game that players on the Weymouth team were subjected to racial slurs from the stands as well as other unruly behavior by attendees.
A racial incident involving students from Medway High was reported in December at a Wellesley girls’ basketball away game.
Friday night’s issues, according to Chisum’s memo, involved a report from Weymouth High’s coaches that “during warmups for the game, racial slurs were directed toward some Black players on the Weymouth team from our student section. According to the report, the players heard the terms but did not see who said them. They reported the incident to their coaches after the game and it was then the coaches brought the information forward to us. This violation of our core values is deeply disturbing and unacceptable.”
The referee had to ask Wellesley Athletic Director John Brown to move Raider fans off the court to ensure no physical contact between them and the opposing team’s players, as some had been reported.
“Our athletic department intervened on several occasions,” Chisum wrote. “When the game ended, a number of our fans rushed the court in celebration and they reportedly taunted the Weymouth players who had not yet even had a chance to go through the handshake line. This was a potentially very dangerous situation.”
The 2 schools have been in touch since the game, for Wellesley to apologize and to update Weymouth school officials on Wellesley’s investigation into the matter. Chisum stressed that the Weymouth coaching staff complimented the Wellesley basketball team’s behavior that night.
“We are in the process of conducting a thorough investigation. Any student fans found to be involved in any of these acts will be subject to disciplinary action and education as outlined in the Wellesley High School handbook. If anyone has information they think could help us determine who was involved, please let us know,” Chisum wrote.
The Raiders play their last home game on Tuesday vs. Brookline. Student attendees will be required to sit with an adult.
Chisum concluded: “We are all upset and disappointed that anyone from our school could have engaged in the behavior of abusing others with racist language. We hope that you will take the opportunity to talk to your children about how harmful the use of racist language is and that hate has no place in the Wellesley community. If we can be a resource for any of you please reach out to us for that assistance.”
Swellesley welcomes school parents/guardians/students to pass along school memos—good & bad—to us. These are public records. This helps the entire Wellesley community understand school issues better: theswellesleyreport@gmail.com
