Maryland suspends club tennis team over racist tournament graphic

The University of Maryland has suspended its club tennis team indefinitely after it sent other schools tournament materials containing an altered state flag with Ku Klux Klan imagery. Maryland’s team forfeited its matches, while the tournament continued without it.

Howard University club tennis president Toni Rachal found the graphic in a shared Google document emailed to participating clubs before the weekend tournament, The Guardian reported. Howard’s team said the image appeared on the first page below Maryland’s club tennis logo. Klan-style pointed hoods with eye holes replaced parts of the Maryland state flag, including its Crossland coat of arms.

“The imagery is a recognizable symbol of white supremacy, organized hate, and violence,” Howard’s team said. It posted the image on Instagram on Tuesday, saying it was “important for people to see what is being condemned.”

Maryland’s Recreation and Wellness department, which oversees the club, said the university learned of the graphic on Saturday. It suspended the entire team pending an investigation by the Office of Student Conduct, although the incident may have involved only a few members. University police are also investigating. The Guardian reported that Maryland’s office of civil rights and sexual misconduct has launched an investigation as well.

How the image entered the tournament materials, and who was responsible, remains unclear.

“Although we did not intend to share an image evoking hate and racism, we take full responsibility for failing to identify and remove it,” Maryland’s club tennis team said in an Instagram apology. “We understand this was unacceptable and does not reflect the values of our club.”

The team said it apologized to affected teams in person and later emailed their captains. It said a public apology was warranted because the impact extended beyond those who received the materials. Howard’s team asked Maryland’s club to donate all funds from the tournament to the National Museum of African American History and Culture. Maryland’s team said it would do so and said it had made a donation. It also pledged education and training about racism and hate symbols.

University President Darryll J. Pines said the school condemned the image “in no uncertain terms.” He called it “deeply harmful and offensive” and apologized for its impact, particularly on Howard’s team, Black members of Maryland’s tennis club and other Black members of the university community.

Black Student Union leaders at Maryland called for a response that goes beyond discipline. Vice President Aniya Baker said in a statement Thursday that a safer campus requires “sustained accountability, intentional engagement, and a genuine commitment to protecting and supporting Black students.”

In an interview with The Guardian, union president Bryant Reed said Black students were “extremely disturbed” by the incident. He said some Maryland tennis players who had not known about the graphic were disturbed, too. Reed described the episode as part of a broader pattern of racism experienced by Black students at the university. Baker told The Guardian she did not feel university officials had consistently taken Black students’ concerns seriously.

Howard’s team reached the tournament semifinals, its best showing in the event since the club was established in 2021, The Guardian reported. Maryland’s club remains suspended while the investigations continue.