Recent acts of vandalism on the campuses of TCU and Baylor prompted responses from both universities Friday afternoon.
TCU director of intercollegiate athletics Chris Del Conte and Baylor director of athletics Ian McCaw issued a joint statement criticizing the vandalism as “unacceptable behavior.”
“These actions will not be tolerated,” Del Conte wrote. “We implore all those who are passionate about their school to respect each other and support their universities in a positive manner.”
McCaw added that it is “disappointing that the actions of a few cast a negative light on a rivalry that dates back more than a century.”
The two athletics directors chose to respond after images of vandalism were posted on social media.
The first was a picture of the Baylor statue of Robert Griffin III marked with purple Thursday afternoon.
Walking the Baylor campus and came across the RG3 Statue… Classless vandalism by TCU fans #SicEm pic.twitter.com/diZIPmyXGH
— Hunter Mandel (@HunterMandel1) October 8, 2015
The next morning, a picture of a “61-58” written in green on TCU’s campus was posted to Twitter.
@Jake_Trotter @HunterMandel1 @TCUCoachP Baylor fans did some retaliation on TCU property. That escalated quickly. pic.twitter.com/cRSMNd1HQQ — Terry Beaudine (@TerryBeaudine) October 9, 2015
Del Conte and McCaw added that they are working with public safety officials on both campuses to investigate the vandalism.
The full statement is located below:
“Due to recent acts of vandalism that have occurred on the campuses of TCU and Baylor, TCU director of intercollegiate athletics Chris Del Conte and Baylor vice president and director of athletics Ian McCaw have issued joint statements.
“TCU and Baylor are both outstanding institutions and share a proud athletics history,” Del Conte said. “Both campuses have recently been hit by acts of vandalism directed towards each other. These actions will not be tolerated. We are working closely with Baylor and public safety officials at both Universities on their investigations. We implore all those who are passionate about their school to respect each other and support their Universities in a positive manner.”
“Baylor and TCU are two outstanding Universities who have great respect for one another, academically and athletically, and it is most disappointing that the actions of a few cast a negative light on a rivalry that dates back more than a century,” McCaw said. “Public safety officials on both campuses are investigating these senseless acts of vandalism and unacceptable behavior.””
