At this point we have a whole lot of unsubstantiated accusations pointed at a whole lot of people who may or may not have actually been the ones at fault. For instance, the can of sardines/bleach thing is based on hearsay and, so far as I can tell, that hearsay is from people who were not the gymnasts. There seem to be assumptions that specific members of the team did these things, but we have no names attached to them. All we have are vehement denials from Marz and Sekai that they had anything to do with such things, and don’t know of anyone who did them. They could very well have happened but we have no idea who did them if they did.
The only specific accusations we have are Sekai having heard AJ use the n-word (after which AJ stopped using it around Sekai), a second-hand statement that other gymnasts heard her use it more often among other hurtful statements, and the fallout of the team meeting. We also have the third-hand statements that gymnasts from UCLA reached out to gymnasts from LSU defending AJ. And, likely most importantly, we have a description of the way in which the coaches handled the incident from the point of view of two gymnasts sharing what they know of it, and actions taken collectively by the team as a whole. I think the things in this paragraph, as stated, with attribution as stated, are the only sure things we have in this case.
I do think there is a possibility a lot of young women are acting with less maturity than perhaps they could BUT I also recognize that most of the team feels hurt at this point. It really does seem like there was a lack of support and inappropriate handling of the situation from those in charge. We probably shouldn’t expect full maturity from college students, many of whom are still teens and navigating a fraught situation for the first time.
What on earth were Waller et. al. doing addressing the matter in a series of one-on-one meetings with gymnasts, including those who had no knowledge of the situation to begin with? Why on earth did the only group look at the problem fall to the gymnasts? Why did it get spread to a larger number of individuals than it originally involved?
I feel like the coaches could have headed this off by calmly talking with AJ about the need to use respectful speech around her teammates the first time they heard an allegation, ramping that up to a discussion with AJ and the gymnast/gymnasts involved in a second hurtful event if it happened again and laying out consequences at that time should it continue to occur, and moving on to the consequences if it continued. If needed they could have put her in touch with the campus counseling service at any point, but doing so shouldn’t mean that she now has no consequences.
Honestly it feels like this is the sort of thing for which they should have a defined process, and they clearly did not. Said process could be used for any and all substantiated grievances, equally and without bias. As such, I do feel that leadership failed to, well, lead, and at this point that is the real problem here.
Edit to add- I have real respect for the way that Jay Clark is handling this, honestly. He reached out to those most likely to be impacted by the decision and respected their voice. He reached out to the professionals at his institution and gained their advice. He stated that he has a diverse team that he appreciates and that that diversity must be respected. He made it clear that racism within the team is not tolerated. And he worked with the sources he directly had, using what he knew from them and only what he could directly substantiate. It’s not his fault that those in charge at UCLA did not communicate with him, and it would not be his fault if anyone gave him an incomplete story. Hopefully the situation at LSU will be totally different from the one at UCLA, and if it is it will be because leadership was more intentional and prepared. Yeah, there’s a possibility that he made a mistake, but at this point if he did I feel like he would own it. Clearly noone in charge at UCLA is owning any responsibility for the situation there beyond showing fear that their actions would harm one gymnast’s mental state. Fear is not a good end reaction from leadership. Proactive care is.
Just a feeling then I guess. She just annoys me in this matter, though she was one of my favorites of the UCLA team 
