(9-5-26) Last night in the Chicago suburbs…Five Lincoln-Way East High School students were accused of engaging in “racist harassment” during a football game at Homewood-Flossmoor High School.

Statements below from both school districts and the IHSA on the incident—

September 5, 2026

Dear HF families and Community,

It is with great disappointment and sadness that we communicate today. On Friday, September 4th at the end of the 3rd quarter during the Varsity Football Game against Lincoln Way-East HS, 5 Lincoln-Way East student fans made a very bad choice to engage in disrespectful and racist harassment towards HF students seated in the bleachers. We want to commend our staff who acted swiftly and safely removed those individuals from our property and helped our students remain in the bleachers and safe.

Currently, HF leadership and Board of Education are working with Lincoln-Way East leadership and local authorities as we consider all options to protect against this in the future, including legal options. We will communicate with our entire student body next week about what occurred and offer guidance on how to navigate our feelings from this type of offense.

We as an HF Community are an example for how to live and thrive as a community of diverse individuals. We want to remain the model and also a model for how we respond to those who attempt to disrespect and ultimately distract us from our goals. It is imperative that we communicate with our students how not to respond in ways that may jeopardize their future or safety. Instead, we must respond with continued excellence and forge ahead into an even greater future.

We will not allow this ignorance to distract us from our commitment to excellence and our long history of inclusion and racial respect in our community at-large. We also will not tolerate this type of racism and disrespect towards members of our HF Community.

We thank each of you for your continued support of our students and programs and look forward to forging ahead with greatness, reflective of who we are as an HF Community and more importantly who our students are as HF Vikings.

Thank you,

Dr. Jennifer Norrell, Superintendent
Dr. Clinton Alexander, Principal

IHSA Executive Director Craig Anderson issued the following statement Saturday:

“The IHSA strongly condemns the racist actions that were perpetrated by a small number of Lincoln-Way East High School students in attendance at its football game against Homewood-Flossmoor High School on September 4. High school sports are defined by community and camaraderie, and every high school student-athlete in Illinois deserves to compete in a safe and respectful environment. These values are requisite to remain a member in good standing of the IHSA, and the Lincoln-Way East administration has affirmed that they recognize the serious nature of this situation and are acting accordingly. We will be working with both schools to make sure an appropriate resolution is reached and to be a resource in any way that we can.”