COLLEGE PARK, Md. — The University of Maryland has suspended its club tennis team indefinitely after a document shared with teams competing in the university’s 2026 Fall Invitational included an image resembling Ku Klux Klan hoods. The image appeared in a Google document emailed to participating club teams, including Howard University’s. Howard team leaders said they confronted UMD’s club leaders after seeing it, then shared the image publicly. The university has apologized and launched investigations. In a letter to the campus community Tuesday, Oct. 13, UMD President Darryll Pines called the image “deeply harmful and offensive” and apologized for its impact. He said the club’s student leaders had been directed to apologize to the other teams, and that the university had contacted Black campus leaders, including the Black Student Union, to offer support. The university’s Office of Student Conduct and Office of Civil Rights and Sexual Misconduct are investigating, along with the University of Maryland Police Department. Pines also said team members would receive sensitivity training. Howard’s club tennis team is seeking a public apology to Howard University and its tennis club, a formal inquiry into who created the document and how the image remained in it, sensitivity training for UMD team leaders and advisers, and a donation of tournament proceeds to the National Museum of African American History and Culture. The image prompted anger and concern among UMD students. Aniya Baker, vice president of the university’s Black Student Union, said she was disappointed and felt the incident reinforced a sense that Black students were being targeted. Although she appreciated the university reaching out to the group, Baker said that did not erase her concern about feeling unsafe and unheard on campus. The Black Student Union is calling for what Baker described as long-term, systemic accountability, including sustained engagement with Black students rather than a one-time announcement or email. Other students also criticized the incident and urged stronger consequences for whoever was responsible. UMD students interviewed about the incident said the imagery was especially troubling given that Howard is a historically Black university. The university has not publicly identified who created or circulated the document. The investigations are expected to address how the image entered the tournament materials and who was responsible.