Athletic article details how a former Ute shortstop sought forgiveness for antisemitic act

Four years ago at the University of Nebraska, Core Jackson drew a swastika on a Jewish student’s dorm door.

Jackson, who later transferred to the University of Utah, recently opened up to The Athletic about his antisemitic act and how he was given a second chance, which included getting drafted by the New York Yankees last month.

He believes he is a different person than he was that night.

“I think it’s important that it is part of my story,” Jackson, now 21, told The Athletic’s Brendan Kuty and Keith Law. “I have this platform now that God has given me, and I can share my story about his forgiveness.”

Core Jackson’s college baseball career

Jackson, who is from Wyoming, Ontario, spent two years on the University of Utah roster after leaving Nebraska and playing one season at South Mountain Community College.

According to KSL Sports, Jackson “was an integral part of Utah’s transition from the Pac-12 to the Big 12 Conference.” He was a semifinalist for the Brooks Wallace Award for the nation’s top shortstop.

He finished in the top 10 of the Utes’ all-time leaderboards for batting average (No. 9 with .363), on-base percentage (No. 10 with .455) and stolen bases (tied for No. 10 with 37), according to the university.

Seeking forgiveness and learning about antisemitism

Jackson told The Athletic he doesn’t recall drawing the swastika or his motive behind it because he was “blackout drunk.”

He said he cried the next day when he was told what he did and that he didn’t know who lived in the dorm of the door he painted.

“I felt like the worst person in the world,” he told The Athletic. “I don’t want there to be any excuses for my actions.”

The Athletic article details how:

• Jackson confessed about the incident to a scout from the Boston Red Sox during the 2024 draft process.
• Jackson’s agent, Blake Corosky, was unaware of the incident and considered dropping him.
• Corosky was also the agent of Jacob Steinmetz, the first practicing Orthodox Jew to be selected in the MLB draft.
• Corosky contacted Steinmetz’s father, Elliot, who is the head coach of the men’s basketball team at Yeshiva University, an Orthodox Jewish school.
• Through Corosky, Jackson ended up working with Elliot Steinmetz on “some intense, gut-wrenching understanding of why what he did was so hurtful and awful.”

In the fall of 2024, Utah baseball head coach Gary Henderson contacted Yankees amateur scouting director Damon Oppenheimer to discuss Jackson and how he had “turned a corner. He’s been a good person, a good teammate,” according to The Athletic.

The article details how the Yankees organization did its “due diligence” in evaluating Jackson. In July, the Yankees drafted Jackson in the fifth round of the MLB draft, No. 164 overall.

“He’s shown his accountability here,” Oppenheimer told The Athletic. “I think his actions have shown his remorse. He’s acknowledged it. I think he’s taken the right steps to continue to learn, to understand what he’s done.”

Read the full article at The Athletic.