Brook Williams, 18, chose Aurora University for his college home. Just 30 minutes from home, the Plainfield native liked the picture of brotherhood that the program painted for him. The reality was far from that. Less than a year after signing, he’s moving to the portal, alleging that the school shunned him after he accused two of his teammates of racial harassment.

Since the age of five, Brook had dreamed of being a football player. After receiving a $60,000 scholarship from the Aurora Spartans, Brook joined the college last December. However, within the first few weeks after enrolling, Williams saw a drastic change in his peers’ attitude. The locker room that had promised him a safe environment turned hostile as he experienced racial harassment. “I was racially harassed by two football players,” Williams mentioned in his post on X on November 9.

It started when Williams started staying at his teammates’ house to save time on commuting. Instead of locker room bonding, Williams was subjected to racial slurs and ‘inward’ comments that left him shocked. A teammate came up to him and called him the N-word, telling him not to enter his room. Another peer walked up to him, saying, “What are you doing sleeping here? Don’t you guys sleep in trees?”

After receiving the news, Williams’ family was devastated. In a conversation with Fox 32, his mother, Ayesha, shared her account of the ordeal. “I was relentless. Emailed the president, the vice president, everybody.” But she didn’t receive any answers. After numerous efforts, the vice president finally answered her calls and scheduled a meeting with her. Instead of reassuring measures, the meeting took a different turn.

Former NFL player turned head coach Don Bebee’s response left Aisha and her family in distress. “I used to be in the NFL. I had Black friends. We told racist jokes,” Aisha said, quoting the head coach.

An investigation soon followed. However, Coach Bebee was acquainted with the accused’s families. They were initially suspended and placed on probation but were allowed to continue playing on the team while the investigation was ongoing. “The coach allowed both players to keep practicing and even defended them in front of me, my family, and the assistant vice president,” Williams added.

The investigation soon concluded, but the accused did not face stringent measures.

The University found that its racial policy had been violated. According to the documents reviewed by Fox 32, two individuals in the locker room had created a hostile environment based on race. The program stated that they take harassment allegations “extremely seriously.” However, no strict actions were taken against the concerned individuals. The accused hired lawyers, and after the appeal, they joined practice drills in January, having completed a racial sensitivity training program.

On the other hand, it was Williams who bore the brunt of raising his voice. Following their meeting with the officials, neither the coach nor his peers had apologized for the circumstances. Coaches and his teammates had stopped talking to him, making him feel “isolated and unwelcome. He would be ignored during film reviews, and find his equipment missing. He sensed a complete cut-off from his locker room, making him feel “isolated and unwelcome.”

Although two weeks later, his equipment was back in his locker. But by then, relationships had already turned sour. “It hurt. I worked hard for this.” He left the campus in September 2025, within one year of joining the program. “Now, I’m stuck working again until I can go somewhere new,” he shared.

“I have always been an honor student and dedicated athlete who works hard and respects others,” Williams shares. “No student should ever have to experience what I went through,” he wrote. What was supposed to be a fresh, exciting start for Brook Williams turned into an emotional nightmare.