Cornell University has one of the best college lacrosse teams in the country, but university officials say hazing has cost the men's team this fall; the season was suspended earlier this month, and today the university revealed that members of the team made freshmen chug beer until they vomited. Which, while not waterboarding, isn't exactly one keg stand either, kids.
According to a report on Cornell's website, the university discovered freshmen were routinely hazed by the upperclassmen, expected to perform "menial tasks" that "went above and beyond those expected of the general membership." They were also reportedly forced to socialize with the upperclassmen; at one party, freshmen allegedly had to compete against one another in a beer-drinking event called a keg race; the university says they were tied together with string and implored to chug alcohol until "multiple members vomited."
"Hazing practices are harmful and antithetical to our values as a university and our commitment to student-athletes,” Andy Noel, director of Athletics and Physical Education, told the Cornell Sun. “They have no place in Cornell athletics."
The suspension started on September 13, and the team members will have to participate anti-hazing education programs and workshops. Cornell banned hazing over two years ago when a sophomore from Brooklyn was found dead in a fraternity house; last year, they withdrew recognition from another fraternity house after two pledges were sent to the emergency room during an initiation event.
