UConn shooting itself in the foot with something insanely stupid is nothing new, but the university has outdone itself several times over as the Huskies prepare to take on Wichita State on Saturday.
The game, which tips off at 6 p.m. at Gampel Pavilion, will be a white-out, so all fans are encouraged to wear white to the arena. UConn, rightfully, thought it’d be smart to remind us all of that this morning. It did so in the worst way possible with this since-deleted tweet:
In the event that you’re the person who posted this and are therefore the only person on Earth who doesn’t see the problem here, please allow me to explain: See, you tweeted “don’t be that guy” and then circled literally the only non-white person in a photo of dozens of fans. See how that’s not a great look?
Now obviously we get the intent here. That circled person is also the only one not wearing white and this is a “white-out,” but…how do you not notice this beforehand?
My guess would be because the athletic department simply doesn’t give a damn and can’t be bothered to maintain the level of oversight you’d expect of a multi-million dollar business. This may be its first truly problematic tweet, but it’s not even the first dumb thing it’s done this week. Remember, uh, two days ago, when it decided to promote its white-out by giving out blue (and hideous) t-shirts to students who bought tickets?
🚨🆓👕‼️
Student tickets are still available for the @UConnMBB vs. Wichita State #WhiteOut game this Saturday in Gampel.
Visit the Ticket Office (M-F, 9AM-4:30PM) to buy yours in advance and get a FREE t-shirt! pic.twitter.com/f5XRiLcNOp
— UConn Students (@UConnStudents) January 23, 2019
Of course even hosting a white-out game is stupid because, well, they NEVER work at UConn for a variety of reasons, including UConn not selling out games anymore and failing to market these events effectively (granted UConn has done better with it this time).
But fine. Keep trying to make the white-out thing work. Just don’t be accidentally racist on Twitter in the process.
