Chris Weiland dismissed from cross country and track teams
By Toi Creel
A UCLA student-athlete is under fire for his usage of racist, sexist and homophobic language in text messages and video.
UCLA senior Chris Weiland, a former UCLA cross country and track student-athlete, was dismissed from the team Monday February 22 after months of public scrutiny from students and staff.
Originally, video and text messages were posted by @ucla_is_racist on Instagram. In the video, Weiland is shown visibly upset in speaking of a former girlfriend referring to her new love interest as a “n—-” who lives in the “ghetto.” He also used homophobic slurs and towards the end of the video was seen wearing a UCLA sweatshirt. According to the LA Times, the video was recorded before Weiland was a UCLA student. He enrolled in the fall of 2019.
“When first learning of this a few months ago, I was disgusted and immediately suspended him indefinitely from the team,” said UCLA Track and Field Director Avery Anderson.
Weiland was reinstated in January, but after protest from teammates and public scrutiny, he was officially dismissed. The dismissal came following a statement by the UCLA Black Student-Athlete Alliance which was released via Instagram condemning UCLA Athletics.
“The racist actions that took place by a member of the cross country team are unacceptable and disrespectful, and we at BSAA refuse to accept the actions of that athlete, as well as the lack of action to address the issue by the coaches, staff, and administration,” read the statement in part. “We do not feel safe with this person on campus, and we demand UCLA athletics take action immediately and remove this student from the team.”
