The University of St. Thomas men’s hockey team has apologized to Hispanic and Latino members of the St. Thomas community for using a sombrero to honor good performances in post-game celebrations and posting pictures of players wearing a sombrero on the official St. Thomas men’s hockey Instagram account.

“On behalf of the hockey team we send our sincerest apologies, and by no means were we trying to demean them,” coach Jeff Boeser said, referring to an apology email that was sent from the athletic department on behalf of the team. “It was just a symbol of celebration, and that’s all it was. We sincerely apologize, and we did not mean to hurt anybody or anybody’s feelings. We realize we did that, and we apologize.”

At least three photos were removed from the hockey team’s Instagram account last week, some dating back several months. The photos were brought to the administration’s attention by members of Hispanic Organization for Latino Awareness, a Hispanic student organization on campus, after another student tipped off the club president. HOLA decided to share the photos on its own page to alert people that this kind of behaviour can happen at St. Thomas even if no harm was intended, a member of the group said.

“We felt obligated as representatives of Hispanic students on campus,” said junior Yastril Nanez, the public relations chair of HOLA. “We’re supposed to be bringing light to Hispanic and Latino students on campus … to teach the majority of our campus about our culture … So we wanted to give this out as an example of, ‘Hey, this does happen, and this does happen here.’”

Junior Dylan Conde-Brooks, president of the Association of Latino Professionals for America chapter at St. Thomas said his initial reaction on seeing the photos was shock.

“That’s the greatest way to put it. It was on a St. Thomas affiliated thing. You see it on kids’ Facebook once in awhile … but this was affiliated with the school,” Conde-Brooks said. “It was pictures going back a year and a half, and no one stopped to think, ‘Hey, this might not be right.’”

After posting screenshots of the photos to HOLA’s Facebook page, Nanez, Conde-Brooks and other Hispanic and Latino students contacted Student Affairs and met with President Julie Sullivan, Vice President of Student Affairs Karen Lange, Assistant Director of Campus Life Ed Kim and other faculty and administration to voice their concerns and plan action.

“There has been some dialogue, yes, and certainly, absolutely I support the students — that the pictures were not appropriate,” Lange said. “We had a very good conversation, and one of the things we talked about was really wanting to educate the community on why these pictures were not appropriate.”

Sullivan issued a statement announcing the apology.

““Two of our core convictions are dignity and diversity,” Sullivan said in a Newsroom article. “We must continue to educate ourselves on cultural biases and ensure that our actions portray our respect for the dignity of all individuals and our appreciation for the unique contributions each person brings to our community.”

Although both Nanez and Conde-Brooks said they are happy with the president’s and student affairs response, they were disappointed with the apology issued from the team. The apology was sent to five students who initially raised their concerns, but it came from Michelle Morgan, the associate athletic director, on behalf of the hockey team.

Conde-Brooks acknowledges that there was no intent to offend or harm but still felt that this was an insufficient apology and wants to hear directly from a team representative, or at least the director of the Athletic Department instead of through a proxy.

“No one took ownership of it; no one said this was wrong. No one owned up to it,” Conde-Brooks said regarding the language of the apology. “Where the apology should be coming from is not coming. It’s insulting and very disrespectful, and nothing is more important in the Hispanic community than respect. I personally feel disrespected, and I know lots of my peers feel disrespected from it.”

Conde-Brooks said he has received messages from fellow students and alumni asking about the photos and communicating their concern.

Beyond a more direct and public apology to the entire Hispanic and Latino student body, not just those who raised complaints, the students are asking that this incident be used as an educational opportunity – something the students, Student Affairs, Athletic Department and the coach are in agreement on.

“There has been no team discipline, and there won’t be because there was no intent to harm here,” Athletic Director Steve Fritz said. “Obviously, it did demean a portion of our community, so we’re using this as a learning opportunity more than anything. It’s good for the hockey team and anyone involved in the athletic department, too, to use this as a learning time.”

The students’ primary goal is to make sure this educational opportunity is not missed so that it doesn’t happen again long after they and the hockey players will have graduated.

“Because it was through the administration and part of St. Thomas, the administration has an obligation to put this together and help both parties get together and have this dialogue,” Nanez said. “I think we did our part in things.”

To meet that goal the administration is planning a facilitated campus-wide discussion to educate about cultural misappropriation, Lange said. Details are not solid yet, but Sullivan said she will host a forum after spring break to discuss the importance of inclusivity. Additionally, the Athletic Department and student athletes will undergo a presentation by Interim Officer for Diversity and Inclusion Artika Tyner on the importance of an inclusive community.

“I just want them to understand where we’re coming from,” Nanez said. “They don’t have to come all the way to where we are, and they don’t have to feel how we feel, but I want them to understand why we feel the way we feel and understand that this is not OK. Not only for the Hispanic culture but for any culture. It’s not OK to do this to anyone’s culture.”

The players were not made available to TommieMedia for contact.

Simeon Lancaster can be reached at lanc4637@stthomas.edu.