On Tuesday night, a University of Mi si sippi student theater production of "The Laramie Project" was met with hara sment from the audience, which included about 20 football players, .The play is based Matthew Shepard, an openly gay student at the University of Wyoming, who was killed in 1998 in Laramie, Wyo., because he was gay.The play's director and theater faculty member Rory Ledbetter told The Daily Mi si sippian that members in the audience heckled cast members and used homophobic slurs during the show. He called it "borderline hate speech.""The football Steven Matz Jersey players were certainly not the only audience members that were being offensive last night," . "But they were definitely the ones who seemed to initiate others in the Mookie Wilson Jersey audience to say things, too. It seemed like they didn't know that they were representing the university when they were doing these things."Ole Mi s president Dan Jones and athletic director Ro s Bjork released a joint statement on Thursday afternoon saying "we strongly condemn the behavior exhibited Tuesday night."The statement says that the incident included freshman athletes from several different sports and it was "clear that some students badly misrepresented the culture of this university.""As a member of the Ole Mi s family, each of us has a responsibility to be accountable for our actions, and these individuals will be held accountable," the statement said. "Our investigation will determine the degree to which any and all students were involved."The cast was informed after the second act that the football players wanted to Adeiny Hechavarria Jersey apologize for their actions. This apparently was prompted by the arrival of Drew Clinton, the athletic department's A sociate Director of Academic Support. Clinton went to the theater because a coach was called and alerted to the players' behavior, Gary Carter Jersey according to the report.The players' apology was delivered by one player. Ledbetter said someone from the athletic department emailed an apology.On Thursday, Ole Mi s head coach Hugh Freeze responded on Twitter. He also acknowledged later Thursday to the A sociated Pre s that some of his players did attend the play.We certainly do not condone any actions that offend or hurt people in any way.We are working with all departments involved to find the facts Hugh Freeze (@CoachHughFreeze) The football players were reportedly at the show because they are taking a freshman level theater course and have to attend a certain number of plays during the semester."That was by far the worst audience I've ever performed in front of," sophomore Rachel Staton told the newspaper. "It Tug McGraw Jersey wasn't all football players, but they seemed to be the leaders. If I can go support and respect the football team in their stadium, I feel like they should be able to support and respect me and my fellow cast members when we are doing a show."The A sociated Pre s contributed to this report