Derogatory chants at Cincinnati–BYU game prompt apology, Michigan church shooting survivor speaks out

The University of Cincinnati issued a public apology this week after videos circulated showing groups of fans chanting an expletive directed at members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints during Saturday’s football game against Brigham Young University. For one BYU fan in attendance, the taunts carried a weight far beyond typical rivalry barbs.

Brandi and Jared Hicken had traveled 4.5 hours from Grand Blanc, Mich., to see BYU play at Nippert Stadium—a trip they had nearly abandoned. Eight weeks earlier, their congregation had been the target of a violent attack that left several people wounded, including their family members, and four others killed. In a message she sent to Cincinnati’s athletic director, which she later shared publicly, Brandi Hicken described the emotional difficulty of returning to a large public event.

“The anxiety and fear we have felt since that day has been debilitating,” she wrote, explaining that they had worked intensely to regain a sense of safety. They had planned for months to attend the game. “We almost didn’t come because it felt scary and overwhelming since the attack on our church. However, we know we cannot live in fear and we need to enjoy the things that used to make us happy.”

She said she was hesitant even to wear BYU gear. “I was nervous putting on my BYU fan gear that day because I knew it would identify me as one of ‘the Mormons.’ I did it anyway.”

The couple took their seats and tried to enjoy the atmosphere as BYU built its lead. Then, she wrote, Cincinnati fans in the student section began chanting a well-known slur: “F*** the Mormons.”

“This is not a new chant,” she wrote. “This is not a chant that is specific to your university. This is a chant I’ve heard before… It’s always disheartening to hear. However, now that we Mormons have been quite literally targeted, attacked, chased, shot at, and some of us have been killed simply for being ‘Mormon,’ this chant is no longer just disheartening. It’s crippling. It’s personal. It’s unacceptable. Period.”

Videos shared on social media showed groups of fans repeatedly shouting the expletive as BYU secured a 26–14 win. The chants came one day after volunteers from the Latter-day Saint community delivered 27,000 pounds of food to the university’s campus pantry, which supports students and staff experiencing food insecurity.

Brandi Hicken wrote that she heard a stadium announcement warning fans that such chants would not be tolerated, but she believed stronger action was needed. “It was simply just that — a warning,” she wrote. “It was not just a few fans, it was tens, possibly hundreds of the university’s student fans.”

She urged the university to take firmer measures. “Please, Mr. Cunningham, do not tolerate it. Remove them from the game. Don’t let them come back. Educate them on the seriousness of their actions. Set that standard and expectation moving forward and enforce it.”

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On Monday, Cincinnati athletic director John Cunningham publicly acknowledged the incident and apologized. “The use of offensive or religiously derogatory language by a group of fans during Saturday’s game was unacceptable and does not reflect our values,” he wrote on X. “We remain committed to creating an environment at Nippert Stadium where every visiting team and its supporters are treated with dignity and respect.”

The episode makes Cincinnati the second school this season to apologize for similar chants directed at BYU supporters. In September, Colorado head coach Deion Sanders issued an apology shortly before the Big 12 fined the university $50,000 and issued a formal reprimand.

The Big 12 Conference did not immediately respond to a request for comment about possible disciplinary action against Cincinnati.

Hicken said she knew officials could not control what fans said on the shuttle after the game, where she heard additional insults, but she emphasized that the taunts now feel profoundly different to her. “Now it is personal,” she wrote. “Now it is me fearing for my life everywhere I go because someone decided to take it there. Someone tried to kill me, my kids, and my husband. Someone killed 4 of my friends. Now the chanting means something more than it used to.”

BYU will close its regular season at home against UCF on Saturday. Cincinnati travels to TCU.