If a class required licking whipped cream off a man’s chest or downing a shot lodged between a woman’s breasts, it would be considered inappropriate and nobody would stand for it. This same behavior is considered hazing, which is defined by the college as actions with the intent to humiliate or disconcert a peer. Put in a collegiate sport setting, this degradation is no more in line with the objectives of an athletic organization than it would be as supplement to an academic course.

Athletic hazing is cause for disciplinary action according to the student handbook’s section pertaining to athletes. It is an offense against the college community and a criminal activity according to New York state law.

There is no inherent problem with activities used as “rites of passage” for acceptance into an organization. A case can be made that non-dangerous hazing is acceptable in a fraternal organization because the organization is social in nature. Students willingly take part in those initiation activities because they are desirous to bond over a shared experience with the organization’s members who have themselves taken part in similar activities before.

This is the distinction between hazing in a social organization and in an athletic organization. If the rite of passage for an athletic organization required running laps or practicing late into the evening, activities more central to the team’s purpose, there may be a case to be made for the acceptability of this behavior. But activities like forced consumption of alcohol and pressure to engage in sexual activity lie far from the purpose behind membership in a sports team.

The culture of athletic hazing is not something the college can afford to ignore. Its inherent physical and emotional threats increase the risk of injury to those who represent our college, and it is an absolute disservice to the promotion of athletic skill and confidence on campus. Idle acceptance of athletic hazing by the athletic department will further the marks left on the college’s public record and reputation. It will serve as a public embarrassment for the college, one that began when photos allegedly containing members of the wrestling and gymnastics teams were posted on NCAAHazing.com on Sept. 18.

The members of the men’s wrestling, women’s gymnastics, and men and women’s basketball squads under investigation for hazing must take responsibility for their actions if found guilty of this crime, but the necessary action to address athletic hazing does not stop there. The current seasonal education on athletic hazing is clearly not sufficiently abating the issue, and so the need has arisen for student athletes to publicly stand against hazing.

Team captains and athletic advisers must take responsibility for what they have kept secret and work to curb this type of behavior in the future. Inevitably, there will be individuals who are dismissive of the effects of athletic hazing or those who enjoy this type of “welcome” activity, but a tradition that is illegal, unhealthy, degrading and disrespectful of the college’s ethical policy cannot be continued. Our athletes and athletic leaders have a responsibility to shape a healthy environment for future athletes at the college. It is up to them to speak for those players who may have silently accepted victimization and take a stand for the security of all current and future athletes on campus.