An apology to the BYU men’s basketball program was issued from the X account belonging to the Providence athletic director for “unacceptable chants” during Tuesday night’s game at the Amica Mutual Pavilion in Providence, R.I.
The post from Providence College vice president and athletic director Steven Napolillo said the chants came from the “student body” and “(do) not represent who Providence College is (and) what we stand for.
“We are sorry.”
Providence defeated the visiting Cougars, 83-64, during a game that was part of the Big East-Big 12 Battle.
A video posted to X indicated that the profane chants were directed toward members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which is the sponsoring institution of BYU.
In 2021, the USC athletic department publicly apologized for “an offensive chant” from the student section during a football game won by BYU in the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. The next year, University of Oregon officials apologized for “despicable chants” aimed at BYU fans and the Latter-day Saint faith during a 41-20 win over the Cougars at Autzen Stadium.
When contacted by the Deseret News, a BYU spokesman said the school wouldn’t be commenting on the incident at this time.