Black cheerleaders from a Colorado Springs High School say students subjected them to racial slurs, intimidation, and other harassment during a football game, leading their coach to pull the team from a later matchup there.
The alleged incidents happened on Sept. 24 during Sand Creek High School’s game against Lutheran High School in Parker, Colorado.
Students and parents said members of the Lutheran crowd made racist comments toward Black students, blocked cheerleaders as they moved through the stadium, and engaged in behavior that left some students concerned for their safety.
Millani Jeeter, a Sand Creek cheerleader, said one of the first encounters occurred as she and other cheerleaders walked past the Lutheran student section. A student allegedly told her she did not belong there and should return to her side of the stadium before calling her “Harriet Tubman.”
Jeeter said the comment was especially disturbing because someone made it openly as the cheerleaders passed through the stands.
The comments did not stop there, according to the cheerleaders.
Serenity Lewis, another Sand Creek cheerleader, said students photographed and recorded the girls while yelling, “Go back to where you came from.”
A parent, Taura Williams, said students also suggested that Black students should use separate bathrooms from white students in the stadium.
Williams recalled one student telling a cheerleader, “Oh, don’t use that toilet. There, use that one. Don’t touch that sink. They touched that one.”
Jeeter detailed a similar encounter involving an adult white woman in the bathroom. According to Jeeter, the woman hesitated after Jeeter used a stall, waiting for a white cheerleader to use it before entering it herself.
Jeeter said that the woman “looked at me a little confused and disgusted” before refusing to use the stall after her.
The students also said a Black male student traveling with the group had his hair grabbed by two people sitting in the Lutheran section. Jeeter said the individuals reached down from the bleachers and pulled his hair as the group passed by.
“He ends up getting his hair touched by two students who felt comfortable enough to do it,” Jeeter said.
Sanaa Ford, an assistant cheerleading coach at Sand Creek, said she witnessed another incident when students allegedly removed their belts and swung them toward the Black cheerleaders.
Ford said she photographed the students because she viewed the behavior as threatening.
“You’re whipping your belt, and you won’t let us through the crowd. That’s a threat,” Ford said.
Williams offered a similar account, saying students allegedly swung their belts while telling the Sand Creek group to return to where they belonged, KRDO reported.
The accusations also extended to the football field.
Williams said Sand Creek players reported that students hurled racial insults at Black players during physical plays, telling them to “stay down” and saying they would send them “back home where you belong.” She reported that the other team called the players racial slurs during the game.
The allegations have drawn a response from Lutheran officials, who say their own investigation produced a different account of the belt incident.
In an Oct. 4 message to Lutheran families, Executive Director Dan Gehrke said the people involved were not Lutheran students. He said they told administrators they had been chasing one another and hitting each other with belts, and that security footage supported their account. The school also said it had not received an official report of inappropriate behavior by Lutheran players during the Sand Creek game.
Gehrke also said he met with Sand Creek’s principal and apologized for the cheerleaders’ experience at the stadium. He acknowledged that the stadium layout requires visiting students to pass through the home student section.
Lutheran said it was also continuing to investigate the broader allegations.
“Lutheran High School upholds values of respect, integrity, and love for others,” the school said in a statement. “Any form of racist language or behavior is a direct violation of those values and will not be tolerated.”
The school said investigators were speaking with students, employees, and witnesses from both schools and would take disciplinary action if the investigation substantiated any misconduct.
For the Sand Creek cheerleaders, the response they received during the game was part of the problem.
Ford and the students said Lutheran administrators did not take their complaints seriously when they raised concerns about what had happened.
“The Lutheran admin did not care,” Ford told CBS News. “I feel like he wanted to sweep it under the rug.”
The cheerleaders eventually left the game early. As they walked out, they said students directed racist monkey noises at them.
Jeeter said the cumulative effect of the encounters made the situation feel threatening rather than like ordinary tension between opposing schools.
“With it being so upfront and in my face and aggressive, it definitely was intimidating,” she said.
Laila Bryant, another Sand Creek cheerleader, said the size and location of the Lutheran student section made the experience even more frightening because the Sand Creek students had to pass through the crowd.
“We’re outnumbered. This student section was huge,” Bryant said. “It’s terrifying.” She added that she had never experienced the same level of disrespect, even while competing against Sand Creek’s biggest rivals.
The fallout continued after the game. Ford said she heard from Lutheran parents who expressed concern about what their children had witnessed. Some, she said, told her they had removed their children from the game because they found the student section’s behavior unacceptable.
Additional allegations surfaced on social media involving another Colorado Springs school. A Rampart High School parent later claimed that a student wearing Lutheran gear called her and her daughter a racial slur during a separate game.
The Sand Creek cheerleaders did not return to Lutheran for the junior varsity game the following week. Ford said she made that decision because she did not want the students placed in another environment where they might feel unsafe.
“I don’t want them to be uncomfortable,” Ford said. “We’re supposed to support a team, and we can’t do that.”
The students now want the school to address what they say happened.
“All we’re asking for is accountability,” Lewis said, arguing that adults at the game should have recognized that the behavior was unacceptable.
Jeeter said she hopes the students’ decision to speak publicly will encourage other young people who experience discrimination or bullying to do the same.
“Our voice should be enough. Our pain should be enough,” she said.
Sand Creek officials have supported the cheerleaders throughout the controversy, Ford said, praising the students for speaking about their experiences.
“Our admin team was fully supportive of us standing by our girls,” Ford said.
As Lutheran’s investigation continues, neither school has publicly announced disciplinary action related to the Sept. 24 allegations. Lutheran has said it will take action if officials substantiate the misconduct.
