A high school announcer in Greenville, South Carolina, lost his job Friday night after comparing South Carolina State University to the state prison system during a football game.
Christ Church Episcopal School fired the public address announcer for the comment, which came during their game against Riverside. SC State was playing South Carolina the next day in Columbia.
The school hasn’t revealed exactly what the announcer said, but comparing an HBCU to a prison system tells you everything you need to know about the content. He was immediately told to apologize over the microphone and was dismissed from his position.
“While the announcer apologized immediately, the comment was inconsistent with our values,” Christ Church said in a statement. “We have removed him from future events and sincerely apologize to South Carolina State University, its alumni, and our community.”
SC State President Alexander Conyers spoke with Christ Church’s head of school, who offered an apology for the incident.
“South Carolina State has stood for excellence, dignity, and opportunity for nearly 130 years,” he said. “Our expectation is always that our students, alumni, and institution be treated with respect, and we appreciate CCES leadership’s immediate and decisive steps to address this matter.”
This wasn’t some accidental hot mic moment. The guy said it directly into the PA system for the whole stadium to hear. The school fired him and apologized to SC State pretty quickly after that. SC State accepted the apology and said they’re focused on moving forward.
That’s probably the best outcome anyone could hope for after someone decided to compare a historically Black university to the state’s Department of Corrections during a high school football game.
Some mistakes you can recover from. Others follow you around forever. This announcer just found out which category his comment falls into.
About Sam Neumann
Since the beginning of 2023, Sam has been a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. A 2021 graduate of Temple University, Sam is a Charlotte native, who currently calls Greenville, South Carolina his home. He also has a love/hate relationship with the New York Mets and Jets.