After middle school game was halted, Rye and Eastchester try to figure out what happened. Were racist taunts used?

What happened is still at issue, but the Eastchester and Rye school districts have closed their investigations into whether Rye Middle School students directed racist remarks toward players on the Eastchester girls middle school basketball team last month and whether an Eastchester parent responded by threatening the students.

The game, played Jan. 24 at Rye Middle School, was called off at halftime, and a game scheduled for the next day between the same Eastchester team and another Rye modified girls basketball team was canceled.

The events leading up to the game ending at the half reportedly began before it even started.

According to Eastchester parents who were there, Eastchester players told coach Joseph Utschig at halftime that during pregame warmups, Rye students had told Eastchester's lone African-American player to "Go eat fried chicken."

Another player of mixed racial ethnicity was allegedly told, “Go mop the floor.”

The remarks came from members of a group of seven to 10 boys identified as eighth-graders, one Eastchester parent said.

The alleged use of racist language drew initial rebuke from both the Rye and Eastchester athletic directors.

Rye athletic director Susan Reid Dullea told Eastchester players before they left the gym that what was said was, "Totally unacceptable, inappropriate, wrong." That interaction was recorded by an Eastchester parent and shared with The Journal News/lohud.com.

However, since then, Rye officials have said the students' remarks were misinterpreted and were not racist. They have also blamed an Eastchester parent for causing the game to be stopped, saying she walked on the court during the game.

In denying that, the parent said Rye has also falsely accused her of threatening to kill the involved Rye students.

Rye students: remarks misinterpreted

A letter received by Eastchester on Jan. 28, which Rye Superintendent of Schools Eric Byrne said came from the accused students, says what was said was misconstrued. The letter says the students had no "malicious intent," but were "sincerely sorry" for their actions.

“We made comments that were perceived in a way that we did not intend," the letter says. "We understand how these comments may have offended some of your players and parents. We promise it was not our intention to make hurtful comments to anybody in the gym.”

The boys, Byrne said, denied ever saying, "Go eat fried chicken." But they did acknowledge saying the word "chicken."

Byrne said they did so parroting a term used in the "NBA 2K" video game. In the game, "chicken" is repeatedly shouted as a compliment, referring to players who sink their shots.

"They did not intend the language to be harmful," Byrne said.

Early on in the investigation, he had issued a statement characterizing Rye as intolerant of "language or actions that are disrespectful, demeaning, or insulting" and alluding to the possibility of students being disciplined if the allegations were true.

But Byrne said that based on interviews with Rye players, fans and staff members, Eastchester's “allegations are unfounded."

Neither Reid Dullea nor Eastchester coach Joseph Utschig responded to requests for comment.

Initial responses

But Rye's conclusion stands in marked contrast to what some Eastchester parents and players continue to say happened, and to what both Reid Dullea and Eastchester athletic director Brad Gitlin initially said after the game.

Brian Cassese, the father of a white seventh grader on the Eastchester team, said of the alleged fried chicken remark, “Many girls on our team heard it."

Cassese said players have not veered from their initial accounts of what they said occurred.

Gitlin initially said Utschig had called him from the gym during halftime and they agreed the game should be ended.

"There is no excuse" for what was said," Gitlin told The Journal News/lohud.com a day after the game was played, adding, "... It's behavior everyone should take a stand against."

Gitlin has since said he’s unable to comment on the incident and has referred queries to Eastchester Superintendent of Schools Ronald Valenti.

In the recording, Reid Dullea tells Eastchester players, "You should walk through the doors and feel safe at any time."

"I wish it would never have happened, but it happened. ... It's not fair. I'm sorry," she added, promising they'd hear back from Rye on the matter.

Byrne said Reid Dullea's apology was appropriate at the time given the information she had.

He acknowledged that Rye officials, during their investigation, did not speak with Eastchester players or anyone else affiliated with Eastchester who was there. He said doing so wouldn’t have been the normal course of action, and the districts had told each other what they had learned from their respective interviews.

"This isn't a law enforcement investigation," Byrne said.

Parents dissatisfied

Byrne maintained the “actions and behavior” of an Eastchester parent − not remarks by Rye students − led to the game’s cancelation.

He said the parent walked onto the court while the game was being played, but did not identify the parent or say what the parent did.

But parent Tiyan Nardi identified herself as the accused person. Both she and Cassese deny she ever went onto the court while the game was being played.

“Rye is obviously trying to deflect,” Cassese said. "They’re pushing this onto us."

Cassese said Utschig huddled with the opposing coach and referee during halftime, then told Eastchester parents what his players said they heard and that the game would end.

"He said, ‘We’re not playing anymore',“ Cassese said. He described Utschig as "livid" about what had been said to his team.

Cassese said he, his wife and other Eastchester parents backed the decision to end the game. Some parents, he said, cried at hearing what the girls reported hearing.

"We expressed how proud we were that the coach made a stand and that this is far more important than the game itself — proud that the girls and coach kept composure and handled it maturely," Cassese said. "We believe he made the right decision to cancel the game and remove our girls from that environment and stand up for the players."

Parents of the two allegedly targeted girls did not attend the game, he said.

Removed from the gym

Nardi, who is Black and was the only Eastchester parent of color in the gym, had been late to the game and hadn't been sitting with the other Eastchester parents, she said.

She noted while parents told her what was happening, Utschig reconvened with the ref and opposing coach. Cassese said at this point, Rye was clearing all remaining student fans from the gym after the accused boys had run out.

Nardi said Utschig approached her and asked if she'd be okay with the game resuming. Nardi said she said yes.

But while her daughter, who is of mixed race, was not a target of the alleged slurs, she still wanted answers. So, she said, she asked the gym monitor for the names of two Rye administrators and of the boys involved.

The monitor responded, she said, by walking her toward the exit.

She said she thought he was looking for a private area to speak to her but instead, told her, "That's it. Get out."

She said the monitor closed the door behind her even though she'd told him she needed to get her jacket and daughter.

“I’m like, ‘Oh my God, What’s happening?'” Nardi recalled thinking, noting she walked back in and told other Eastchester parents what had occurred.

According to both Nardi and Cassese, the monitor then came over and told the parents to "relax," remarking it was only a "girls modified basketball game."

He then said, "I can’t have a parent in here who says she’s going to kill a child,“ Nardi said and announced he was stopping the game because "Everybody's tension is really high."

Nardi said she didn't respond to the monitor's remark about making threats because "I didn’t think he was talking (about) me. … I didn’t even attempt to defend myself.”

Nardi said she was on her phone with her husband while Reid Dullea apologized to the other Eastchester parents. She said the AD apologized to her separately after she got off the phone.

While Rye has refused to comment on this aspect of the dispute, Nardi said Eastchester Middle School principal Madelin LoBue contacted her the next day and told her Rye officials said she’d threatened to kill students. She said she denied making a threat, explaining she'd gone to the monitor only for names he never provided her.

"I don't know how it turned into this," she said.

Cassese said Nardi was "entitled to be upset" and was, but hadn't shouted when talking to the monitor.

Now, the two parents say, they and other parents are upset with Rye’s response and its portrayal of what happened.

With students apparently unpunished and their letter of apology "so generic, it's not taking ownership," Nardi asked, "Then how do we prevent this from happening again?”

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Moving forward

Eastchester's Valenti said he had worked closely with Byrne in looking into the matter, which, he indicated, was investigated by multiple people in both districts.

Valenti concluded, “In my view it has been resolved as amicably as it could be. They issued this letter from the middle school students. I think the issue is, ‘Let’s move on.’ … We have to move on. I don’t think everyone 100% agrees to who said what."

Cassese said he wouldn't oppose taking Rye off Eastchester's sports schedules.

But both Valenti and Byrne said they didn’t expect the matter to interfere with the schools playing each other, including in modified girls basketball, although that season is about to conclude for the year.

Nardi said she's upset her team's players, 13-year-olds, have gone through this.

She said her daughter was upset enough that she stayed home from school for a couple of days after the incident.

“It’s still a lot for me to process," Nardi said. “It just hurts my heart."

Nancy Haggerty covers cross-country, track & field, field hockey, skiing, ice hockey, basketball, girls lacrosse and other sporting events for The Journal News/lohud. Follow her on Twitter at @HaggertyNancy.

This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Rye, Eastchester modified game triggers racism accusations, denials