Contact: Lydia Sermons-Wilkerson

202-803-3501; mediarelations@Howard.edu

Date: October 12, 2026

This past weekend, members of Howard University's Club Tennis Team traveled to the University of Maryland, College Park, to participate in a tournament that should have been an opportunity for friendly competition, sportsmanship, and fellowship among students. Instead, our students were confronted with deeply offensive and racist imagery included in tournament materials distributed by members of the University of Maryland Club Tennis Team.

Let me be unequivocal: There is no place for racism, intimidation, or imagery rooted in hatred and racial violence in collegiate athletics, on our campuses, or anywhere in our society. The imagery displayed evoked a painful history of racial terror and exclusion that has no place in an environment dedicated to learning, personal development, and mutual respect. 

Howard University has long stood as a beacon of educational opportunity, dignity, and justice, even in the face of discrimination and adversity. Our students should never have to question whether they will be treated with dignity and respect when representing our University. 

I appreciate University of Maryland President Darryll J. Pines, who immediately upon learning of this incident, expressed his profound concern and apologized on behalf of his institution. President Pines and his leadership team acted swiftly, suspending the University of Maryland Club Tennis Team indefinitely pending an investigation, referring the two club leaders directly involved to the Office of Student Conduct, and requiring the team to forfeit its tournament matches. These actions reflect a commitment to accountability, and I appreciate his leadership in addressing this matter.

We stand firmly in support of our students who participated in the tournament. They deserved an experience defined by fair competition and mutual respect and their dignity, safety, and well-being remain our highest priorities.

Howard University will remain engaged with the University of Maryland as its investigation proceeds. As institutions of higher learning, we share a responsibility not only to confront acts of racism but also to foster communities where respect for the humanity of others is an expectation, not merely an aspiration.

Our shared humanity demands nothing less.

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