SHAWANO (NBC 26) — Community members react to the Menasha boys basketball team's discovery of slurs in the visitors locker room in Shawano last week. The Shawano School District says an investigation is underway.
- Meet one Menasha native who said she is heartbroken about the hateful language which was written on the Shawano Community High School visitors locker room lockers last week
- It is unclear when the slurs were first written on the lockers
- The Shawano School District says they have opened an investigation
(The following is a transcription of the full broadcast story.)
Racist and homophobic slurs were found written in a locker room here at Shawano Community High School during a basketball game. I'm Pari Apostolakos and the school district tells me they have opened an investigation. But, some community members are asking for more action to be taken.
Watch Pari Apostolakos' full story in the video below:
"I was enraged and heartbroken," Menasha native Olivia Bauer-Shimek said over Zoom Tuesday when asked how she felt about the graffiti.
When Abby Flores Green of Menasha heard the Menasha High School boys basketball team found hateful words written on lockers in the visitors locker room while playing at Shawano Community High School last week, she wanted to make sure people knew about it. So, she posted on Facebook, where another Menasha native, Olivia Bauer-Shimek, found out about it while living in Madison for school.
"Growing up in small-town Wisconsin as a person of color, like, stuff like this is not new," Bauer- Shimek said. "For some, yes, they're just words. But, in actuality, there's a whole system of oppression behind these words."
Cassandra Baron, another Menasha native, tells me she was really disappointed to hear this happened.
"Seeing that kind of language in a locker room isn't just offensive—it's completely unacceptable," Baron wrote in part in a message to me Tuesday. "It also raises serious concerns about what kind of culture is being allowed to exist within the Shawano School District and in school athletics in general."
In a statement to our newsroom, Shawano School District Superintendent Kurt Krizan says the school was made aware of the graffiti and removed it immediately.
"The words used in the graffiti were also unacceptable. We took this situation very seriously," Krizan wrote in part. "We are committed to ensuring a safe and inclusive environment for all students and visitors. Respect and accountability are core values of our school community, and we will continue to uphold and instill these values."
Bauer-Shimek tells me she would like to see an apology from Shawano Schools to the Menasha boys basketball team.
"I overall hope that they are taking initiative to ensure that their students are safe and so that stuff like this doesn't happen again," she said.
I reached out to Menasha Joint School District for comment, but did not receive a written statement in time for the publication of this article.
I reached out the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association to ask about the incident and they told me that my inquiry was the first they had heard about it.
WIAA said schools usually work these issues out amongst themselves, asking for WIAA support only when schools find it is necessary.
