On September 4, during a varsity football game between Lincoln-Way East High School and Homewood-Flossmoor High School in the Chicago suburbs, six Lincoln-Way East students who were not on the team stood in the stands, made monkey sounds, and flapped their arms at Black players and attendees. They were caught on video. The Illinois High School Association condemned the behavior. The community demanded expulsion.
Lincoln-Way East’s response was to allow all six students to voluntarily withdraw from the school, which meant they avoided expulsion and, more importantly, avoided having it on their records. Student Danny Ruffin said expulsion was the appropriate punishment. The school said it “followed district discipline policies to the fullest extent.” The fullest extent, in this case, was: please leave. The students left. Records clean.