Central Catholic decided to cancel class for two days after a high school baseball player used a racist slur during a pregame huddle in Oregon. In-person instruction will be changed to “digital learning days.”
This will allow the staff and faculty to effectively respond to the needs and concerns of their students.
The Rams are currently in line to continue the remainder of the high school baseball season despite internal calls for cancelation. Their next game is scheduled for Tuesday even though class is canceled.
Central Catholic forfeited two high school baseball games.
As the name would suggest, Central Catholic High School is a Catholic college prep school. Established in 1939, the private institution of secondary learning enrolls approximately 850 students in Grades 9-12. It is located in Portland, Oregon as the only archdiocesan high school in the Archdiocese of Portland.
The student body is roughly 54% male and 46% female with a racial demographic of 65% White, 16% Multiracial, 10% Black, 4% Asian, and 3% Hispanic. The annual tuition hovers around $19,000 but “the actual cost to educate each student is $23,299.” It is not cheap. That is a total of ~$80K per four years.
The Rams compete in on the Class 6A-4 level of the Oregon School Activities Association as members of the Mt. Hood Conference. Their baseball program ranked No. 33 in the state before its record took an unexpected hit over the weekend.
Central Catholic chose to forfeit both games against Barlow due to the use of an undisclosed racial slur. The Rams dropped to 7-6 on the season with the back-to-back forfeitures on April 16 and 17.
Class is canceled because of a racist slur.
Not only did the Rams choose to forfeit, Central Catholic High School decided to cancel class on both Monday and Tuesday in wake of the incident. In-person learning was moved online.
According to the school, a member of the baseball team used “racial hate speech” during a pregame cheer on more than one occasion. It sounds like it was used during a players-only huddle before an April 9 game versus Lake Oswego and before an April 10 game versus Gresham.
The slur was not used within earshot of an adult but a parent reported it to head coach Justin Barchus on April 11. Barchus then informed the administration, which triggered an immediate investigation.
The school did not elaborate further on which word was used. It only classified the language as “offensive, harmful, and in direct conflict with who we are as a community” and hinted at the specific slur by saying “we are especially mindful of the harm this has caused to our Black students, families, and community members, and we are taking steps to address it with care and accountability.”
A teacher at Central Catholic started a petition for the baseball team to forfeit the remainder of its season but the school plans to resume play. The entire team has since issued a school-wide, in-person apology.
As things currently stand, the Rams are scheduled to play against Clackamas on Tuesday. However, the game could also be canceled because in-person learning at Central Catholic is canceled for Tuesday.