Colorado State University officials issued a public apology on Saturday night after fans made anti-Mormon chants during a 41-23 loss to Brigham Young University.
The expletive-filled battle cry from fans — “F the Mormons” — isn’t uncommon during games featuring BYU, the flagship university for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. The University of Colorado and the University of Cincinnati issued similar apologies following games against BYU last season.
“Colorado State University apologizes to BYU, its student-athletes and fans, and to members of the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-day Saints for the chant directed at them during Saturday’s game,” the statement said. “Mocking anyone’s faith has no place at CSU. It runs counter to our community’s values and to who we are. BYU’s players, coaches and fans deserved better. We are addressing this with our students.”
Last season, the Big 12 conference fined Colorado for the chants. The Pac-12 had announced a similar punishment for Colorado State by Sunday morning.
“Everyone’s human and I’m not going to dwell on that. …,” Colorado State coach Kalani Sitake said in a post-game press conference. “You can’t judge the entire fan base on a few, so that’s what we’re going to focus on. The environment here was awesome, the fans were excited about their team.”
BYU, now 3-0, faces Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, Texas, on Saturday. Colorado State (2-1) will play the University of Texas at San Antonio next weekend.
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