The Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference has fined South Dakota Mines an undisclosed amount for racist comments made by fans to visiting players at the Hardrockers football game with Colorado Mesa on the 13th.

The RMAC says the comments “stand in a complete contradiction” to its values and policies

The individuals responsible for the remarks were removed from the stadium and have been banned indefinitely from all RMAC events.

Mines President Dr Jim Rankin and AD Joel Luken issued statements of apology while the school said it is “taking action to make sure this sort of appalling behavior is not repeated.”

Rankin said “South Dakota Mines has zero-tolerance for racism. We apologize to all who were harmed by the unacceptable actions of those individuals. Their behavior goes against the core mission, vision, and values of our institution.”

Luken wrote “My sincerest apologies go out to the members of Colorado Mesa’s football team and staff that witnessed and were involved in completely unacceptable behavior while on our campus. We will endeavor to be better hosts, hold ourselves to a higher degree of sportsmanship, and strive to be better human beings. We will improve.”