Target Decision Makers

• Brett Yormark, Commissioner, Big 12 Conference
• Big 12 Conference Athletic Directors

Across multiple Big 12 sports, student sections have repeatedly directed vulgar, coordinated chants targeting members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (commonly known as Mormons) at BYU athletes, coaches, and fans.

So far, Commissioner Brett Yormark and the Big 12 have failed to address this consistently. While the league fined Colorado (football) and Oklahoma State (basketball) $50,000 after the fact, schools like Arizona (basketball) and Cincinnati (football) faced zero conference fines for the exact same chants. Instead, host universities let the abuse run uninterrupted during the game and issue bland, boilerplate apologies the next day claiming the behavior "does not reflect their values."

Occasional Monday morning checks and copy-paste PR statements do nothing on game day. Picture an eight-year-old child at their first college game surrounded by thousands of adults screaming profanities at their faith. After enduring these chants at Oklahoma State, BYU basketball coach Kevin Young said it best:

"I've got four small kids at home. I'm a Mormon. When I go home, they're going to ask me about it, same way as they asked me about it last year at Arizona. There's just too much hate in the world to be saying stuff like that."

College sports already know how to stop crowd misconduct in real time. When fans throw tortillas or trash onto a field or court, referees immediately halt play, issue warnings, and assess 15-yard penalties or technical fouls against the home team. If officials can penalize a team over a tortilla on the turf, there is zero excuse for ignoring thousands of fans screaming religious slurs at 19-year-old athletes.

We call on Commissioner Yormark and the Big 12 to enforce three real-time standards across all sports:

• Two-Step In-Game Penalties: On the first coordinated discriminatory chant, officials halt play for a mandatory PA warning. If the chant continues or restarts, officials assess a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty (football), a bench technical foul (basketball), or the sport-equivalent penalty against the home team. When a coach's win-loss record is on the line, crowd control will happen immediately.
• Mandatory In-Venue Ejections: Require host security to actively remove instigators from student sections and revoke student ticket privileges.
• Consistent, Escalating Sanctions: End selective enforcement. Apply mandatory fines to every violation, and penalize repeat offenders with reduced student-section capacity.

Sign and share to demand the Big 12 enforce real-time scoreboard penalties and protect families and athletes in the stands.