SACRAMENTO, California.
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) – A Northern California State University said on Friday that its varsity baseball team has embarked on “a tradition of annual initiation” of hazing new players with challenges including “a excessive alcohol consumption and other inappropriate activities ”, leading to the suspension of the team last summer and the resignation of the head coach on Friday.
This included allegations that there were “threats of sodomy, drinking games that go on until a team member vomits, lap dances by returning members and the presence of stripes. -teasers, “part of the team at the University of California, Davis, according to the 36-page partially written report.
The annual hazing dated back to at least 2016 and alumni described it as early as 2009 or 2010, according to the report by director of university investigations Wendy Lilliedoll.
The recruits were split into two teams to participate in various drinking games with a polar dive, a scavenger hunt, and an attempt to eat a live goldfish.
At the end of the day, “the recruits were blindfolded, brought inside and team members did lap dances,” the report said. team.”
Older players used frightening tactics with rookies that “involved sexual contact, although that contact did not actually take place as part of the initiation,” according to the report.
The recruits recalled passing out while drinking and one of them “described seeing pictures of him lying in his vomit”.
Beyond the hazing, and despite denials, the report found that there was a general team culture around alcohol use and “there is strong evidence that some players have used cocaine, marijuana and other drugs in recent years ”.
The suspension and the team’s investigation came two years after the university disbanded the student-led UC Davis Cal Aggie Marching Band over similar allegations of misconduct.
University of California Davis Head Baseball Coach Matt Vaughn immediately resigned after final investigative report criticized him for failing to take appropriate action to address a possible focused hazing issue to his attention in 2018.
He and two assistant coaches have all denied knowing about the hazing or initiation and no player implicated the coaches, according to the report.
Current assistant coaches will remain on an interim basis, the university said, as a nationwide search begins for a new baseball head coach.
The university suspended the entire team and put the team’s coaching staff on administrative leave in July without providing details other than to say the investigation involved allegations of hazing.
However, the university said the last reported initiation took place in the 2019-20 academic year, so most of the current squad did not participate.
Still, he banned unsupervised baseball team activities on and off campus during the 2021-22 baseball season, and said a sports administrator would travel with the team during that time. The schedule for non-conference games will also be reduced for the 2021-22 season.
The university has also launched a series of trainings for student athletes “to make them aware of healthy choices regarding risky social behaviors and health and wellness resources.” This is beyond the hazing and alcohol warnings that had already been provided.
He will also work with an outside group so that issues can be reported anonymously in the future.
The university said eight employees and 13 current or former players were interviewed as part of the investigation.
University officials would not make Vaughn available, forward requests for comment, or provide a representative who could speak on his behalf.
Chancellor Gary May said in a statement the university has zero tolerance for hazing.
“We are deeply saddened that students who have been on the baseball team have experienced events that have had a negative impact on their health and well-being,” said athletic director Rocko DeLuca.
Don Thompson, Associated Press
