After suspending operations for the school's men's heavyweight crew team Tuesday, Yale University's Director of Athletics, Thomas Beckett, continued an investigation yesterday into an alleged hazing incident over the weekend.
Beckett levied the suspension — which prevents the team from using the boathouse or other facilities — in response to events following the team's annual bowling night Saturday which allegedly included underage drinking.
A Yale freshman counselor reported to the athletic department that two freshmen on the team were allegedly given medical attention for intoxication after the event, Yale's Director of Sports Publicity Steve Conn said.
The suspension is indefinite pending an ongoing investigation by the department of athletics to see if the alleged incident violated Yale's zero-tolerance policy for hazing, other University regulations or Connecticut state law. No timetable has been set for concluding the investigation, Conn added.
The alleged incident has sent more than just ripples through the national crew community — especially at Princeton's own Shea Rowing Center.
"You don't like to see anything like that happen to your competitor," men's heavyweight crew head coach Curtis Jordan said.
Jordan spoke with Yale heavyweight head coach Dave Vogel yesterday in response to the alleged incident.
"Every coach in the league will use this as an example that this type of drinking and hazing comes with a price [under a] zero-tolerance policy," Jordan said. "Yale could have had a good crew. I expect that they will be reinstated later in the year. As with anything, it's not what you do as much as how you respond."
"I have empathy for our colleagues at Yale," Princeton Director of Athletics Gary Walters '67 said. "It's unfortunate that it happened. I'm sure [Beckett] was deliberate but at the same time forceful in responding to it."
Like Yale, Princeton athletics are also governed by a zero-tolerance policy with regard to hazing. The policy is enforced through coaches and reinforced at coaches' meetings almost monthly, Walters said.
"Almost from the day I arrived here, we talked about issues of hazing," Walters said. "We have a short institutional memory. Unless we're eternally vigilant on these issues, one could see how easily one could forget."
In his tenure as Director of Athletics, Walters recalls only one or two "minor issues related to initiation concerns" — none of which rose to the level of hazing.
"We haven't had anything of a serious nature because I think our coaches have done a good job of conveying the University's policy on this," Walters said.
As for defining what constitutes hazing, Walters said that can only be determined on a case-by-case basis. "I know hazing when I see it," Walters said.
"We know that whenever you get groups, people tend to engage in rites of initiation," he added. "We're very proactive on this, but I can't sit here and say that it will never happen."
School policy
Princeton's guidelines for hazing are distributed to every varsity athlete through the University's Student-Athlete Handbook.
The Handbook states: "Team hazing and other initiation activities involving the use of drugs and alcohol are violations of University policy. Violation of these policies are grounds for disciplinary action by the University and Department of Athletics against individuals, teams and/or coaching staff members."
As for enforcing Princeton's zero-tolerance policy with his team, Jordan said that he writes a letter to his team every year on the hazing issue and spoke with the team yesterday specifically in regard to the alleged Yale incident.
"You say if you're on this team, there are responsibilities for being on the team," Jordan said. "It's education and reinforcement."
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