One day after video of it surfaced online, Oregon Gov. Kate Brown weighed in on the offensive chant Oregon Ducks football fans could be heard shouting at BYU fans during Saturday’s game.
A tweet from Brown’s official Twitter account on Sunday quote-tweeted a statement from the University of Oregon about the chant, which was directed at members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, stating, “In Oregon, we strive to be a welcoming, inclusive state to all, regardless of race, religion, gender, or background.
“Our state and nation have an ugly history of discrimination and bigotry. The chant at yesterday’s Oregon-BYU game was unacceptable. We must do better.”
Brown’s comments came after Utah Gov. Spencer Cox on Saturday shared a video of the incident and wrote, “Religious bigotry is alive and celebrated in Oregon.”
The statement from the university that Brown quote-tweeted read, “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.”
That was essentially the same statement as the university gave to the Deseret News on Saturday, which said the school would investigate the matter.
Cox took note of the university’s apology, quote-tweeting it with a pair of emojis.