Racially charged exchanges at OES homecoming game

By Emmalyn Song, ‘22

Multiple players from the Catlin Gabel School (CGS) girls varsity soccer team have claimed to be the target of racial and sexual harassment at the Oregon Episcopal School (OES) homecoming game on Friday, September 24th.

Reports passed onto the school, and an email announcement on the following Sunday mentioned that the athletics departments of both schools are working to determine what steps to take next.

Players reported repeated use of racist language and sexual harassment directed towards certain team members, including racial slurs, body shaming, and objectification. These remarks came from a crowd of about 40 OES spectators, majority male-identifying.

CGS and OES administrators immediately connected and took action. CGS Head of School Aline Garcia-Rubio said she and OES's Associate Head of Upper School Peter Kraft discussed the best next steps to mediate the situation.

We reached out to OES Administrators, including Peter Kraft, the Head of the Upper School, Sarah Grenert-Funk, and Athletic Director Dennis Sullivan. However, we were unable to schedule an interview. Kraft shared a short apology in our email correspondence.

"This was a really ugly incident, and we are sorry for all the pain it has caused your students, community, and respective collective schools," wrote Kraft.

Garcia-Rubio said they are working to "make amends" between the two communities. Student Government Associations from each respective school are discussing joint activities OES and Catlin Gabel can do with one another to bridge the gap and hostile sentiment.

OES's follow-up is in progress and is taking disciplinary action. When asked regarding their next steps, Garcia Rubio was unsure.

"They will follow their usual disciplinary process, but I suspect that they will keep those internal. We can't dictate what they can or can't do." She expressed. "I did give them suggestions."

Garcia-Rubio, CGS Head of School Tim Bazemore, and the athletics department addressed the team the following Monday to apologize on behalf of the students and outline the administration's next steps.

Garcia-Rubio and Athletics Director Kate Williams are working to support the team. They have continued to converse about how to best support the athletes, including making the US counselor Erin Gilmore specifically accessible. Their priority is making sure the athletes feel safe in this community.

In her closing statements of the interview, Garcia-Rubio emphasized, "We have work to do, we have collective work to do. In the collective of young people in Portland, this is an indication that we have work to do. This is an opportunity to stand up and be allies."