Mater Dei has apologized to Montclair High for a since-deleted social media post that surfaced after the schools’ two-match series in the CIF Southern Section boys soccer playoffs, officials said.
The post, which Mater Dei stated was made on a boys soccer team account, showed a Mater Dei player and Montclair player side by side as they sprinted to the ball.
In the post’s caption, emojis of a tree and a banana were separated by the greater-than mathematical symbol (>) with the symbol pointing toward the banana. The symbol typically points toward the smaller of two values.
Mater Dei eliminated Montclair on penalty kicks in the first leg of the Open Division playoffs on Feb. 9 and went on to claim the championship on Feb. 23.
“The Mater Dei community extends our sincerest apologies to the Montclair High School community and those who may have been offended by the social media post,” Mater Dei president Michael Brennan said in a statement on Feb. 29.
“After careful consideration, investigation, and review of the situation, we have concluded that the social media post on the Mater Dei Boys Soccer team account truly meant no harm.”
On Monday, Montclair principal Joshua Cho called the social media post “offensive” and said his school contacted Mater Dei.
“On Friday, February 16, officials with Montclair High School were made aware of the offensive social media post and immediately contacted Mater Dei High School to request that appropriate action be taken, including removal of the post,” Cho said. “On February 23, we received a formal apology from the Mater Dei coach and on (Monday), received a formal apology from the school.”
Cho said that his school continues to check in with one of its players shown in the post.
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“We have remained in contact with the Montclair High School student who was pictured in the post, as well as his family and teammates, reinforcing our own district-wide commitment to ensuring that every student will be treated with respect and that no form of discrimination is acceptable,” Cho added.
Brennan said Mater Dei considered the situation a high priority.
“We take all situations of this nature seriously,” he said. “Mater Dei strives to foster a Catholic environment of respect, understanding and inclusivity.”
Correspondent Dennis Pope contributed to this report.
