Disruptive Ole Miss players disciplined
The Ole Miss players who were among the audience members who heckled actors during a performance of a play based on the death of a gay University of Wyoming student will be required to participate in an "educational dialogue" after causing a disturbance.
The Jackson Clarion-Ledger reported that the athletic department is still collecting information about the incident that involved 25 freshman football players who attended the performance on Tuesday night as part of a class requirement.
Some of the players shouted homophobic slurs and insults at the actors during "The Laramie Project," which was based on the murder of gay student Matthew Shepard. According to a performance report, they were "taking pictures of cast members while making fun of them, talking on their cell phones, hollering at the females in the cast and talking to other audience members during the acts."
Ole Miss coach Hugh Freeze has not yet announced additional punishments or suspensions.
"The football players were asked by the athletics department to apologize to the cast," Ole Miss theatre department chair Rene Pulliam said. "However, I'm not sure the players truly understood what they were apologizing for."
