Brandeis University’s men’s basketball coach has been hit with accusations of racial abuse for years, and he’s finally been fired.
Brian Meehan, who has been working for the university since 2003, according to the Boston Globe, was the subject of several “serious discrimination complaints,” according to a letter posted to the university’s website.
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President Ronald D. Liebowitz wrote on Thursday that those complaints had led him to take action against the longtime coach.
“I am deeply disturbed by these complaints,” he wrote. “…I want to be absolutely clear: At Brandeis, there is zero tolerance for discriminating against any student, staff member, faculty member, or visitor because of their race, sex, religion, sexual orientation, gender, or any other aspect of their identity.”
“Respect for our varied identities, for our similarities and our differences, is an absolute value at Brandeis. It is non-negotiable.”
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While the letter from the university said that the decision to fire Meehan was made because of complaints filed last year, Deadspin reported that students were complaining about the coach way back in 2013, but the university didn’t act until now.
Several former players and a former student manager told Deadspin about the racial abuse, including one incident in which Meehan told a Black player, “I’ll ship you back to Africa.”
The former student manager, who is Jewish, also claimed that Meehan would refer to him as a “Jew boy.”
What’s more, last year, on MLK Day, Meehan reportedly asked three Black players to act out the “see no evil,” “hear no evil,” “speak no evil” monkey emojis. That same day, he reportedly remarked to a Black player who was using the white side of his reversible black and white jersey that “being white must be a dream come true.”
In light of the backlash against the school and the outcry over how long it took to address these allegations, Brandeis University officials are reportedly conducting a review of their policies and procedures and have hired two outside lawyers to do so.