Kaila White

The Republic | azcentral.com

Several days after a photo of six smiling girls wearing T-shirts depicting the N-word brought national attention to a Phoenix high school, the ripple effect continues to alter the lives of the girls, fellow students and the community.

At least one of the girls at Desert Vista High School may have lost the opportunity to play soccer for an Arizona university.

Another has hired a public-relations firm to represent her, according to the Rev. Jarrett Maupin, a civil-rights activist who contacted all of the girls' families and coordinated one's appearance and public apology at a protest Monday.

Desert Vista High School girl apologizes for N-word incident

The school has yet to comment on disciplinary action against the girls. School administrators met with activists Tuesday afternoon, Maupin said, and plan a future forum for parents.

Doors potentially close

One of the girls posted in September that she had verbally committed to play soccer for Northern Arizona University, but a university spokeswoman said Tuesday none of them would be playing.

“None of the individuals involved in the incident had received an athletic scholarship and they aren’t going to be on any athletics team on NAU,” Cindy Brown said.

“I can say that ‘signing day’ is next week, so nothing about a team’s roster would be set until that time.”

National Signing Day, or National Letter of Intent Day, is the earliest day prospective student-athletes and colleges can sign binding agreements for a student to play for them. The signing period for soccer begins Feb. 3.

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Another girl had committed to play soccer for Western State Colorado University, according to online records. That university has not yet replied to a request for comment.

Social-media comments spread that one of the girls had planned to attend Texas Christian University to be a member of the school’s dance team, and many contacted the school asking for her to be denied.

TCU spokeswoman Holly Ellman told the Star-Telegram that “admission’s records show no such student has been admitted to the university,” and that “a different student with the same first and last name had previously attended TCU but graduated in 2013.”

Petition-creator: Vitriol is too much

Bri Handy, 27, created the change.org petition that now has more than 44,000 signatures from as far away as Australia asking for the girls to be expelled and for the principal to resign

Handy, who lives in Phoenix, said she did not regret creating the petition but that the vitriol against the girls has escalated too far.

“I may be adamant about having punishment, that I deem fair, be doled out, but I absolutely do not condone threats of violence against these students,” she said in a Facebook message.

Handy said she has seen people's outrage over Twitter profiles that are actually fake.

Someone created fake Twitter accounts under the girls’ names the day of the incident and posted vulgar and racist messages that many online have mistakenly thought were real, she said.

Handy said she has contacted the FBI to report the cyberbullying.

Phoenix police said they have not received any reports of threats against the girls.

“I have not been advised of any threats against these young ladies,” said James Holmes, Phoenix police spokesman.

Rachel Steigerwald, the "R" in the photo, is the only one of the six to make a public statement of apology.

"I have come here to say that I know people have been offended from what I did, and I’ve come here to say I am incredibly, incredibly sorry," she said Monday afternoon to a group of at least 50 protesters outside Desert Vista. "I have love for everyone in my heart. I am not a racist, and I am asking everyone for forgiveness."

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Next: A request for federal oversight

Maupin said he is working with civil-rights attorney Benjamin Taylor on a letter to the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights asking for an investigation into racial discrimination as well as federal oversight for the Tempe Union High School District.

"We don’t mean to take over; we just mean monitoring," Maupin said. The department "can provide academic resources or training resources that will help to reform or re-educate ... around issues of diversity."

"I think they’ve (the district) been swift in their response, but the question is not a matter of swiftness; it’s a matter of substance," he said. "If we’re going to really solve this racial disconnect, which has a lot of do with communication, we have to provide kids with the opportunity … to have a chance to talk and to find out what’s offensive and why it’s offensive and look at the curriculum."