Hazing Incident at Nichols Unveils Potential Deadly Impact

Saturday, December 06, 2014

Patrick Sargent, GoLocal Worcester Contributor

On Friday, four Nichols College baseball players were charged with hazing and providing minors with alcohol. Three freshmen members of the Nichols baseball team were sent to the hospital for alcohol poisoning following a party on November 7.

"Charlyn Robert, the athletic director at Nichols, is doing an incredible job and she's dealing with this situation the best she can, but it's a tough situation no matter what you do. As I tell the kids at every orientation, 'One mistake can screw up your life.' It's too bad for these four players that they have to end their collegiate career on this kind of note," said Michael Mudd, Worcester State University's Athletic Director.

Hazing Statistics

According to hazing expert Hank Nuwer's 2012 report, 82% of hazing deaths are due to alcohol abuse.

According to statistics put together by Babson College's 'Hazing Prevention Initiative,' more than 250,000 students experienced some sort of hazing to join a college athletic team, but only five percent of all college students admit to being hazed. Forty percent of college students admit to knowing about hazing activities and 40 percent report that a coach was aware of the hazing. 22 percent report that the coach was involved in the hazing.

Babson's statistics name "Alcohol consumption, humiliation, isolation, sleep- deprivation, and sex acts' as common hazing practices. There are public aspects to student hazing including: 25% of coaches or organization advisors were aware of the group’s hazing behaviors; 25% of the behaviors occurred on-campus in a public space; in 25% of hazing experiences, alumni were present; and students talk with peers (48%, 41%) or family (26%) about their hazing experiences."

Is Hazing an Issue in Massachusetts?

"Without generalizing, I really think in this day in age most athletic administrations take hazing very seriously. The reality is you can put measures in place, but no matter what you do, it's not always 100 percent fool proof. You can't be with the student athletes 24/7. Part of that maturation process is that they have to learn to live a clean life on their own. Part of what we can do is educate them constantly and consistently and teach them life skills and hope that it sinks in. Unfortunately, the reality is that every day you wake up and open the paper is hazing is happening to kids all over the country," said Mudd.

In Massachusetts, hazing is defined as "any conduct or method of initiation into any student organization, whether on public or private property, which willfully or recklessly endangers the physical or mental health of any student or other person. Such conduct shall include whipping, beating, branding, forced calisthenics, exposure to the weather, forced consumption of any food, liquor, beverage, drug or other substance, or any other brutal treatment or forced physical activity which is likely to adversely affect the physical health or safety of any such student or other person, or which subjects such student or other person to extreme mental stress, including extended deprivation of sleep or rest or extended isolation."

A former Nichols College baseball head coach, who wished to remain anonymous, said "The players won't go tell the coaches when something like this happens. They do it behind the scenes. It's the same thing every year with initiations. When I was coaching there, everyone looked out for one another. I think this was an isolated incident. This incident just went overboard."

The former coach said "When I was there, I told them they have to be smart. It's a college team, they're going to go out, but I told them to be smart when they did. You represent the baseball team and you represent the school and your represent your family. They're going to go out there and have their fun. It's college life and they want to experience it. But if you want to continue playing, you need to get good grades and keep your nose clean."

Hazing Kept Quiet on Campus

"I'm sure it happens and we don't hear about it. That's the slippery-slope. It's always possible that the upper classmen student athletes are afraid to go to the authorities to get immediate help for a potential deadly issue because they're afraid they will get in trouble. When in fact, they're going to get in a lot more trouble if a dire consequence happens," said Mudd. "We always stress to never put yourself or a life in the hands of not reporting a potential deadly situation."

According to a statistics from InsideHazing.com, 46 percent of college student athletes believe that keeping a code of silence on hazing is important. 36 percent say they would not report a hazing primarily because 'there's no one to tell' and 27 percent feel that 'adults won't handle it right.' An Alfred University's 'National Survey of Sports Teams,' 60 percent of athletes and coaches said they would not report acts of hazing to administration.

60 percent of college athletes agree that it is important to tolerate psychological stress and 32 percent believe it is important to tolerate physical pain. 67 percent agree that a significant part of initiation is humiliation.

The Punishment for Hazing in Massachusetts

According to Massachusetts Law, 'Whoever is a principal organizer or participant in the crime of hazing...shall be punished by a fine of not more than three thousand dollars or by imprisonment in a house of correction for not more than one year, or both such fine and imprisonment.'

Failure to report an act of hazing is punishable by a fine of not more than one thousand dollars. Each school and organization is required by law to annually provide their students with information on these laws and to report with the board of education that such information has been delivered to the students.

Mudd said, "We have an orientation for each sports season for all of our student athletes and certainly hazing and alcohol awareness are addressed and talked about deeply. This year we just started instituting freshmen workshops for our student athletes. It's a two hour seminar on a special topic. It could range from alcohol awareness to mental health to study skills. Hazing is something we talk about at length. Our coaches are very much told to keep an eye out on things and make it very clear that it's a very important topic."

"It's not an exact science, all you can do is educate, educate, educate," said Mudd.