Residents demand New Trier take action following students’ reported hateful behavior at football game

In the wake of allegations that New Trier High School students on Friday used racist and homophobic language toward Evanston Township High School marching band members, District 203 officials at Monday’s School Board meeting apologized for what transpired and promised to take action.

Meanwhile, community members demanded accountability for those involved.

Acknowledged the alleged harassment at the start of the School Board meeting, both Board President Sally Tomlinson and Superintendent Dr. Peter Tragos read statements.

Tragos, in addition to reading the joint statement that he and ETHS Superintendent Dr. Marcus Campbell released on Sunday, spoke about “the pain and stress by the Evanston students and families who have come forward with accounts of absolutely unacceptable behavior by our fans.”

“No student should ever attend an event at their high school and come away with feeling that their being is in question,” he said. “And on behalf of the entire community, please accept my apology.”

Tragos said he and Campbell are working with their respective administrations to investigate the allegations “so we can take appropriate action.”

He further explained that schools leaders are working with staff, student infinity groups, belonging councils for both students and staff, and leadership groups to take action and “come together as a school.”

Tomlinson said she was “reaffirming the board’s steadfast commitment to inclusion and belonging, not just as words on the page, but in the action we take as a school.”

“Inclusion and belonging are key pillars of our strategic plan and they manifest themselves in our programs like Characteristics of a New Trier Graduate, our motto, … our belonging councils and our affinity groups,” she said. “Any behavior by a member of the New Trier community that runs contradictory to these values must be unequivocally condemned and addressed.”

But she added that means more than just investigating the incident.

“The reality is, whether specific students are identified or not, the adults at this table must accept our responsibility to the community and to all the students to improve our efforts to create the inclusive and supportive spaces needed for all to thrive,” Tomlinson said. “Even one incident of racism, homophobia, or discrimination is one too many.”

‘I Expect You to Take Action’

Of the nine community members who spoke during the meetin’s public comment session, the words of Jennifer Sadler were the most powerful.

Sadler said her daughter was one of the ETHS marching band members who was on the field during Friday’s game. She said New Trier students shouted the n-word and the f-word, an anti-gay slur, toward her daughter and other band members as they prepared to take the field.

An emotional Sadler said words and the context of them are important.

“I do everything I can to make sure she is safe,” Sadler said. “I can’t protect her from everything. It is your job to make sure that she is safe at school.”

She demanded accountability for those involved.

“I expect you to take action,” Sadler said. “I expect direct action, immediate action, or you can expect legal action.”

Bonnie Kim said she was at the game on Friday, and said her “feeling of excitement and pride took a nosedive as I started to hear reports that some of the New Trier students had engaged in truly reprehensible behavior.”

Kim said if that happened in a professional workplace, that employee would be fired, “because that kind of discriminatory behavior is not tolerated in a civil society.”

She also called for accountability for the students who were involved.

“I’m asking you, the School Board, to take the allegations seriously,” she said, “to conduct a thorough investigation, to take steps to be certain the conduct will not happen again, and to tell the community the outcome of the investigation and the steps taken.”

Amanda Nugent also called for accountability.

“As a parent, a community  member, a resident, I want to say that we really expect not just a thorough investigation, but real consequences for the perpetrators if this proves to be true,” she said. “Because we need to set an example for them and to everybody else that this is not OK and not what our school is about.”

Van Gilmer, a Black Wilmette resident who said he participated in sit-ins during the Civil Rights Movement in South Carolina, said he was “painfully hurt” knowing that racist language is still being used today, especially by young people.

“I’m feeling so bad that I can’t sleep hardly,” said Gilmer, a member of the Village of Wilmette’s Human Relations Commission. “Feeling so bad that all the work we have done, the work you have done with equity, diversity, inclusion, that we would even have students that would say those words.”

Gilmer said he believes racial education should start at home, “but maybe here at New Trier, you can make something happen, because it’s not acceptable. And I’m sure that you will do the right thing.”

Jun Yoshitani closed public comment by asking for New Trier, the School Board and the community to do better.

“We can do better collectively to instill a spirit of what is right with our students, our athletes, and community in general,” he said. “It’s time, and it needs to happen now.”

Following public comment, both Tomlinson and Tragos thanked all those who spoke.

“Thank you for your thoughts and your challenges and your beliefs,” Tomlinson said. “We appreciate that you took the time to come share your thoughts.”

Tragos echoed her thanks.

“We are listening,” he said. “We are hearing it.”

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