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Cheltenham boys’ basketball teams were greeted with a racial slur written in the Upper Moreland locker room

When the junior varsity and varsity teams arrived at Upper Moreland High School Tuesday night, Cheltenham officials said “the n-word was written on a dry-erase board in the visitors’ team room."

The n-word was written on a dry-erase board in the visiting team's locker room at Upper Moreland High School, pictured here, ahead of a game against Cheltenham Tuesday.
The n-word was written on a dry-erase board in the visiting team's locker room at Upper Moreland High School, pictured here, ahead of a game against Cheltenham Tuesday.Read moreMICHAEL BRYANT / Staff Photographer

The Upper Moreland Township School District is investigating after a racial slur was found on a whiteboard in a locker room by members of the Cheltenham boys’ basketball teams.

When the junior varsity and varsity teams arrived at Upper Moreland High School Tuesday night, “the N-word was written on a dry-erase board in the visitors’ team room,” Brian Scriven, the superintendent of the Cheltenham School District, said in a letter to high school families and staff Wednesday.

He said Cheltenham’s athletic director and varsity boys’ basketball coach, Patrick Fleury, “immediately reported this” to Upper Moreland High School, and “the principal apologized and immediately committed to investigating how this terrible incident occurred.”

In a letter Wednesday notifying the Upper Moreland community of the incident, Superintendent Susan Elliott referred to “racist language and inappropriate images” on the dry-erase board in the locker room, which “do not represent the community we strive to be.”

“I extend an apology to the student-athletes, coaching staff, fans, and the community of the Cheltenham School District,” Elliott said. “This is not the experience we want to provide to our visiting teams.”

Elliott said Thursday that the district was still investigating what happened, and that no one had yet been disciplined. She said there was no discussion at this point of canceling future basketball games.

Upper Moreland’s enrollment is 66% white, while Cheltenham is 53% Black. Cheltenham’s students have previously been the target of racial slurs during area sports games: In 2017, cheerleaders were called the N-word while performing at Quakertown Community High School. Students also reported jeers of “Black lives don’t matter” and rocks thrown at their school buses.

After Tuesday’s game, Cheltenham High School Principal James D’Andrea addressed players in the locker room and “told them how incredibly sorry we are they experienced this horrific incident, shared how seriously we take it, and outlined our follow-up steps,” Scriven said. He said staff members met with each player Wednesday, and that counselors were available to students.

Scriven said the district would communicate with Upper Moreland regarding its investigation, and would also be contacting Suburban One League and Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association leadership.

In a Dec. 22 letter to the PIAA, state Sen. Art Haywood, whose district includes parts of Philadelphia and Montgomery Counties, asked the organization to “immediately place Upper Moreland’s boys’ basketball team on probation.”

He cited its bylaws on sportsmanship, which say, “Actions which are unethical or intended to demean, embarrass, intimidate or injure” other teams, spectators or officials “will not be tolerated since they... convey lessons incompatible with the reason why high school sports exist.”