Oregon officials apologize for 'disgraceful' chant

A general view of Oregon Ducks helmets. Troy Babbitt-USA TODAY Sports

University of Oregon officials apologize for 'offensive and disgraceful' anti-Morman chant during BYU game

By Victor Barbosa | Last updated 9/19/22

The 25th-ranked University of Oregon football team notched a 41-20 win home win against No. 12 Brigham Young University on Saturday, but the three-touchdown victory wasn't the main storyline coming out of the contest.

Only moments after the Cougars scored their first touchdown of the game, Ducks fans "erupted in a chant trashing their opponents." According to Jonathan Edwards of the Washington Post however, the chants weren't directed at the team or school specifically, but rather "homed in on something intrinsically tied to BYU -- religion -- in an obscene, anti-Mormon chant in the sold-out crowd of 54,000 packed into Autzen Stadium in Eugene, Ore."

"Hours after the game, Utah’s governor denounced the chant as 'religious bigotry.' On Sunday afternoon, University of Oregon officials apologized, calling the chant 'offensive and disgraceful.' Students said they were 'ashamed' of their classmates," Edwards wrote. "BYU, located in Provo, Utah, was founded in 1875 by Brigham Young, who served from 1847 to 1877 as the second president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Nearly all of the more than 30,000 students at BYU are Mormon."

Warning: Video contains NSFW language.

Real classy chants from Oregon fans and Students. Why is it ok to chant this about members of this specific religion? @oregonfootball @OregonGovBrown @Oregonian @uoregon @CNN @espn @FOXSports @CBSNews @NBCNews @FoxNews pic.twitter.com/ukhdP1hK7x
— John Hopkins (@JohnHopkins2022) September 17, 2022

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. 2/2
— University of Oregon (@uoregon) September 18, 2022

A BYU alum identified only by her first name -- Aubrey -- sat next to the student section and captured a seven-second video that has been viewed on Twitter hundreds of thousands of times.

"It was really disappointing," she told FOX 13 News Utah. "There’s an unfortunate acceptance in a lot of areas that you don’t make fun of a lot of religions, but Mormons are free game to make fun of. And I would like that to stop."

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