College disinvites, reinvites murdered cop's daughter to event after 'diversity' worry
(FOX NEWS) - Southern Methodist University and its volleyball program are apologizing to the family of a slain Dallas officer for what it calls a breakdown in communication.
Sgt. Michael Smith's wife, Heidi, shared her story about a recent interaction with the SMU volleyball program on Facebook. Her 14-year-old daughter, Victoria, had been invited to give the honorary first at a volleyball match on Saturday.
The event was to honor Smith, a Dallas police officer who was shot and killed in the Downtown Dallas ambush on July 7. But Heidi said someone from the volleyball program emailed her Thursday and essentially uninvited Victoria.
"Hello again Heidi,
I regret to inform you that we will not be able to go through with the honorary first serve. In the switch between staff members and the handling of volleyball promotions, some information was not forwarded on correctly from (name omitted) to myself and I deeply apologize for that.
The volleyball program was not correctly informed that this would be taking place at the game, and feels that in light of recent events and diversity within the SMU community, that the demonstration could be deemed insensitive.
However, the coaching staff would like to still do something for Victoria and the team. They are invited to stay after the game for an autograph session with the players, if you would like.
Again, they apologize for the inconvenience and late notice, especially in regards to the sensitivity of this matter.
I do hope that you all will still join us on Saturday. If you would like to discuss this further, you can reach me at (name and # omitted)."