“A ‘noose’ around my neck is why I left Penn State,” Bolton wrote in the tweet. “Head Coach Patrick Chambers, the day after his one-game suspension in January 2019, in talking to me referenced a ‘noose’ around my neck.” Chambers had been suspended for the January 6, 2019, game after shoving a freshman player during a timeout several days earlier.
Bolton said he reported the incident immediately, but he was never given an apology and was only offered “surface level resources” as he finished the season.
“I failed to comprehend the experiences of others, and the reference I made was hurtful, insensitive and unacceptable,” he wrote in the statement, which he posted on Twitter. “I cannot apologize enough for what I said, and I will carry that forever.”
Why Bolton chose to share his experience
After the 2018-19 season, Bolton left Penn State for Iowa State, with little explanation at the time. In his lengthy statement, Bolton clarified why he left — and noted he wanted to “tell this story, because it is not alleged, it was admitted to and documented.”
“A noose; symbolic of lynching, defined as one of the most powerful symbols directed at African Americans invoking the history of lynching, slavery and racial terrorism,” he wrote. “Due to other interactions with Coach, I knew this was no slip of the tongue.”
After the noose comment was made, Bolton said he immediately notified his academic adviser, the athletic director’s office and Chambers himself. He said his parents also drove five hours to campus to meet with Chambers and people in the athletic director’s office “more than once.”
“During this time, Coach Chambers admitted to what he said,” according to Bolton.
As a result of discussing the noose comment, Bolton said he experienced “subtle repercussions,” including his teammates being told he “couldn’t be trusted.”
He also “was provided one meeting and a phone number to text with a psychologist. I was taught ‘ways to deal with Coach Chambers’ personality type.'”
In May 2019, it was announced that Bolton was headed to Iowa.
During his final player/coach meeting in April of last year, Bolton said Chambers issued yet another “subtle insult” — this time directed toward his family.
“Coach Chambers told me he was ‘really impressed with how well spoken and organized my parents were,'” a comment that plays directly into stereotypes presuming low expectations for Black people.
Chambers told The Undefeated that he doesn’t recall making the comment insulting Bolton’s parents.
Until Monday, Chambers had never apologized, Bolton said. Penn State’s Integrity Office reached out six months later, after Bolton had already left the school, to request a waiver.
Penn State official responds
When asked for comment, a spokesperson for Penn State referred CNN to Chambers’ statement, as well as a statement posted by the school’s Vice President for Intercollegiate Athletics Sandy Barbour.
“It’s imperative that we all learn from the mistakes of our past — our own and those of others,” Barbour wrote.
The steps outlined in the plan include: listening by conducting an annual Intercollegiate Athletics climate survey; taking action by establishing an Intercollegiate Athletics Response Team “to more effectively address issues of concerns, affecting the culture, climate and experience of the … community”; and a handful of other efforts, which Barbour described as “just a start.”
Chambers — who has been Penn State’s head coach since 2011 — “has stated that he is committed to educating himself and he is actively working to learn and grow, which will be imperative to his future success at Penn State,” Barbour said.
‘I wasn’t the first and I know I wasn’t the last’
Bolton’s statement, and Chambers’ subsequent apology, come as protests in the US continue over the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery and others. Their deaths reignited a movement for change.
In college sports specifically, Bolton is not the first to speak up against incidents of racism.
“I wasn’t the first and I know I wasn’t the last,” Bolton, who is now 20, said of his experience with Chambers, adding that he believes changes need to be made “in the way players are protected and helped across the country when faced with these situations.”
“Surface level resources are not good enough,” he wrote. “In most cases it is the Coach who is protected, while the player is left to deal with it or leave.”
He ended his statement urging others to “BE the change you want to see.”
Source : CNN
