Tag Archives: hazing

Central Michigan U Hockey Club Suspended for Five Years, Given “Death Penalty” Over Hazing

And now, Central Michigan University, just up the road from the BadJocks Bunker is getting serious about sports hazing. Just a few weeks ago we had the SUNY Geneseo adminstration handing out the death penalty to the women’s volleyball team. Now, CMU has suspended the school’s “club” hockey team (not an official NCAA team) for five years after an off-campus hazing party. The most interesting part of the story is that players from the team went into the hearing thinking the worst they could get was a four year suspension, but somehow they ended up with five. They really must have made a strong case for their side.

More details from CM Life:

The Central Michigan club hockey team received a five-year suspension Friday for violating the Code of Student Rights, Responsibilities and Disciplinary Procedures, according to the Office of Student Life.   The team was charged with violation of section 3.2.13 (alcohol policy), section 3.2.19 (hazing) and section 3.2.25 (violations by a registered student organization), said Tom Idema, assistant director of Student Life.

“There was a hearing this morning and the men’s club hockey team at CMU was found in violation of all charges,” Idema said. “As a result, (the team) has been suspended for five years, or until fall 2017.”   Team president Matt Cinader, a senior from Ortonville, and team adviser Robert Gergehl met with Idema and other members of the Office of Student Life Friday morning for the team’s hearing, said senior captain Ricky Jones.

“There were four of us, and our faculty adviser, but only the faculty adviser and Matt Cinader went into the hearing,” Jones said. “It lasted about an hour and each side told their side.”  Jones said the team went into the hearing wanting a one to two year probationary period, with weekly meetings with the Office of Student Life, community service hours and meetings with the community’s youth to promote abstinence from alcohol and hazing.

“The university proposed a four-year ban, but, somehow, it became a five-year ban after the hearing,” he said. “They said they wanted every person involved in the organization to be gone by the time the team came around again, including the freshmen.”

HS Football Coach Fired After Hazing Incident That Involved “Butt Cheeks Hanging Out”

Have we heard of worse high school hazing incidents? Of course. Should a coach always be fired when an hazing incident is uncovered on their team? No. It depends on whether it can be proven the coach knew and/or condoned the behavior and if there is reason to believe they could have prevented it.

This most recent hazing incident involves Scott Pearne, the now former head football coach at Jurupa Valley Patriot High School (CA). From the report in the Press Enterprise, the school district made a pretty quick decision to fire him after the incident came to light.

We also found the testimony of one school mom about the incident to the school board:

The district learned of the hazing allegations on Monday, Aug. 20, when a member of the community contacted school officials and later spoke during the public comment section of that night’s board meeting.  In the video recording of the meeting on the district website, the female speaker said she was “delivering a casserole” to an event at the high school and “was shocked as a community member and just disgusted as a parent to see the behavior of these boys.

“I guess it was dress as a girl night, and all these boys were dressed up in girl attire. … There was one particular young man that had a, I don’t know if you know what a cheeky bathing suit is, but it actually shows your butt cheeks, and this boy’s butt cheeks were hanging out.”

Division II College Suspends Men’s Soccer Program Over Hazing Incident

Ever heard of Humbolt State University? Neither had we, until this report came out from Soccer America about them cancelling the entire 2012 season after an alleged hazing incident involving some heavy drinking came to light.

Division II Humboldt State suspended its men’s program for the 2012 as a result of a hazing ritual at an off-campus party where new players were ordered to perform humiliating acts and engage in heavy drinking.

“Following careful investigation including interviews with team members, the university has concluded that an incident of hazing did occur, and that it placed the lives of two students in real jeopardy,” Humboldt State president Rollin Richmond said in a letter to the campus. The announcement followed an investigation into the Aug. 4 incident of hazing and underage drinking at the party attended by more than 20 players from the Northern California school.

Seem extreme? Sometimes this is the only solution if you really want to get the point across that sports hazing will not be tolerated.