A Michigan State men’s ice hockey player accused a member of the Buckeyes men’s ice hockey team of using multiple racial slurs during the Nov. 11 Ohio State-Michigan State game in East Lansing. Credit: Mackenzie Shanklin | Lantern File Photo
A Michigan State men’s ice hockey player accused a member of the Buckeyes men’s ice hockey team of using multiple racial slurs during the Nov. 11 Ohio State-Michigan State game in East Lansing.
Spartan senior forward Jagger Joshua said in a tweet Monday that during the game, he was called a racial slur. Joshua said an official heard the slur and assessed a game-misconduct penalty.
Neither Ohio State, Michigan State nor the Big Ten have publicly identified the player who is alleged to have used the racial slur, but at 10:39 of the second period Ohio State senior forward Kamil Sadlocha was given a game misconduct penalty, which ejected him from the game.
An investigation by the Big Ten Conference followed the game, Joshua said.
The Big Ten stated Monday it collected and evaluated information from the conference ice hockey officiating crew, Ohio State, Michigan State and “available video footage stemming from the incident,” and that “the conference supports the decision by the official to levy a game misconduct penalty on OSU.”
“Due to the absence of indisputable evidence presented to the conference, the conference has not imposed further disciplinary action,” the Big Ten stated.
Sadlocha played in both of Ohio State’s games against Notre Dame Friday and Saturday.
“The inaction has left me feeling confused and pessimistic about the movement of diversity within hockey culture,” Joshua said. “The ignorance of racism does not belong in our game, and I feel that I need to make people aware that this incident occurred, because without acknowledgement, the problem gets worse.”
The Michigan State athletics department released a statement on Twitter Monday from Vice President and Director of Athletics Alan Haller and men’s ice hockey head coach Adam Nightingale in which both expressed their support for Joshua.
“Michigan State Athletics stands with Jagger Joshua, and commends him for having the courage to speak up against racial injustice,” Haller said in the statement. “As a department, we are committed to providing opportunities for all student-athletes to compete in a space free from discrimination, racism or hate.”
A Buckeye spokesperson said Ohio State’s Department of Athletics and the men’s hockey program worked “collaboratively” with the Big Ten Conference to “come to a resolution” in response to the allegation, which would have violated the Big Ten sportsmanship policy.
Joshua’s brother, Dakota, was a member of the Ohio State hockey team from 2015-19. He played with Sadlocha when the latter redshirted during his first season with the Buckeyes in 2018-19.
