The Leader's Duty

On Sunday, a sophomore on the Duke women’s volleyball team received an outpouring of support after she detailed a saddening account of enduring racial harassment at a recent road match.

Rachel Richardson, an outside hitter, said she was heckled relentlessly by some fans at Brigham Young University at a tournament over the weekend and that the slurs eventually turned to threats.

Richardson, just 19 years old, crafted a poignant statement in which she credited BYU’s athletic director for intervening when he found out, but said the Cougars’ coaches and game officials dragged their feet in taking action, despite being alerted to it.

“I do not believe this is in any way a reflection of what the BYU athletics stand for,” she wrote. “It is not my nor Duke Volleyball’s goal to call BYU’s athletics out but to call them up.”

It’s an important leadership reminder.

When injustice takes place, many people will observe it and internally condemn what's transpiring. Some may offer sympathies after.

But as leaders, when we directly see someone facing some form of discrimination — being treated differently on account of race, a disability, age, appearance or some other factor — the moment cannot be too big for us. We have to stand up for what's right and shield those impacted from further abuse, right then and there.

If we’re hoping to get the most out of our team members and are asking that they give us maximum effort at all times, they must know that we have their backs as well. It simply isn’t sufficient for us to turn a blind eye to something incredibly hurtful that impacts someone around us.

Richardson and her teammates seem to have exhibited extreme maturity in how they handled the moment, and BYU has apologized and banned the fan involved from all events, adding that he was not a student of the university.

But it also seems indisputable that with 5,500 people in attendance at the match, this should not have gone on for nearly as long as it did and that far more could've been done in the moment to keep this from spiraling.

In our positions, we have to remember that we're held to higher standards — and it's not always enough to have answers after the fact. We have to be decisive, we have to have conviction, and we always have to be quicker than everyone else to stand up for what's right while condemning what isn't.

Anything less is ultimately a failure in leadership.