Cincinnati athletic director John Cunningham issued a statement of apology Monday in regards to offensive chants directed at BYU during the Cougars’ road football game against the Bearcats this past weekend.
“On behalf of the University of Cincinnati and Bearcats Athletics, I want to sincerely apologize to the BYU community and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints,” Cunningham said.
“The use of offensive or religiously derogatory language by a group of fans during Saturday’s game was unacceptable and does not reflect our values. We remain committed to creating an environment at Nippert Stadium where every visiting team and its supporters are treated with dignity and respect.”
The chant, which was recorded on video and shared various times on social media, was “(expletive) the Mormons,” as previously reported by the Deseret News.
Cincinnati is the fourth university over the past year to issue an apology following the same or similar chants against BYU. Providence, Arizona and Colorado have all done so, with Colorado even being publicly reprimanded and fined $50,000 by the Big 12 afterward.
Additionally, USC (2021), Oregon (2022) and Stanford (2022) have all put out statements in the past following similar chants or other instances of religious bigotry when playing BYU.
As of Monday morning, the Big 12 has not announced any sort of punishment, fine or reprimand for Cincinnati regarding the chants.
BYU defeated Cincinnati 26-14 in Saturday’s contest.