After alleged chants of ‘F the Mormons’ surfaced at the BYU vs. Oklahoma State game on Wednesday night in Stillwater, Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark released a statement on Thursday morning saying they were investigating the situation from Gallagher-Iba Arena.
Brett Yormark said in his statement, “The Big 12 Conference is aware of and is investigating reports of inappropriate chants that occurred during last night’s BYU-Oklahoma State Men’s Basketball game. All parties have been notified. The Conference has zero tolerance for behavior of this nature and will address the matter in accordance with Big 12 sportsmanship policies.”
Now, there have been Oklahoma State folks who have insisted that the chant is “Ref’s a mormon”, not “F the Mormons!”
You can decide here.
No matter what, there is a history here of this being a problem for BYU at some of their road games, notably in football and basketball.
Big 12 Recently Fined Colorado for ‘F The Mormons’ Chants
During the most recent football season, the Big 12 took action against Colorado during the football season. The Big 12 has issued a public reprimand and $50,000 fine to the University of Colorado following offensive chants that took place in their September game against BYU at Folsom Field.
In a statement at the time, Big 12 Commissioner Brett Yormark addressed the incident directly. “Hateful and discriminatory language has no home in the Big 12 Conference,” Yormark said. “While we appreciate Colorado apologizing for the chants that occurred in the stands during Saturday’s game, the Big 12 maintains zero tolerance for such behavior.”
The league determined that the conduct violated its Principles and Standards of Sportsmanship, which prohibit discriminatory language of any kind.
Will will see a similar decision on Thursday by the Big 12? We’ll wait and see.
