Virginia high school baseball coach is suspended for allowing racist symbol

Jet, Oct 23, 1995

A Prince William County, VA, high school baseball coach whose players used a racial symbol as a good luck charm recently was suspended for a year by the school board (JET, Sept. 11).

Although the board voted to suspend Matt Ondrof, it opted not to terminate him even though the school superintendent recommended that he be fired.

The 27-year-old Ondrof led the Brentsville District high school to the state championship last year.

Prior to the games, the players drew a Ku Klux Klan symbol in the dirt. It supposedly represents the view a Black man sees after being thrown down a well by four klansmen.

Explaining the board's decision to only suspend Ondrof, William Hundley, the board's only Black member said: "We will not condone action that is racist in nature. The second message we sent is that we are people of compassion."

Ondrof will be suspended without pay through the summer of 1996 and will be assigned to another school for the 1996-97 school year.

During the seven-hour public hearing, Ondrof said he had worked to combat racial tensions in his 10th grade English classes and had informed students that he would not tolerate bigotry.