Statement in Response to Offensive Social Media

This past weekend Andrews University hosted the Newmyer Classic, a basketball series welcoming Adventist high school student teams and their families from across North America. We were greatly blessed by their outstanding talent, passion and sportsmanship. 

Sadly, today (Sunday) we learned that some crude and cruel comments from an unknown source were posted to a public social media forum during the final games on Saturday night. The racist and other discriminatory comments were directed at both the students playing in the tournament and those who objected to the comments.

Andrews University absolutely condemns these reprehensible comments; not only do they have no place in a civil society, but they are especially inappropriate and indefensible in the context of Seventh-day Adventist Christian values. As an Adventist community, we are unabashedly committed to these values, which include the love and respect we are called to demonstrate toward all persons. We value and respect each member of every team who participated in the Newmyer Classic. Each is a child of God, created in His image!

Andrews will continue to explore any and all options available to respond to this incident. In the meantime, we thank those of our local and wider Newmyer Classic community who have joined us in condemning the offensive posts and upholding the values of Andrews University.

Frances Faehner
Vice President for Campus & Student Life

Andrea Luxton
President