A recent article in the Portland Press Herald about an alleged incident of "mild hazing" involving the Bowdoin Women's Squash Team has prompted a flurry of activity by College officials.
The October 26 story was driven by a tip to the Press Herald leading them to photographs of the squash team from 2005 on the Internet, according to Sports Editor Don Coulter.
"We had a source tip us off to some photos that were on Webshots.com," a photo-sharing Web site, Coulter said, "and we brought them to the attention of Bowdoin College officials."
The Press Herald showed the 56 photographs in an album labeled "Squash Initiation" to Dr. Susan Lipkins, whom the Press Herald called a "national expert on hazing."
In the article, Lipkins identified the activities in the photos as "mild hazing."
Coulter said the fact that the photos were two years old "did not matter."
On October 31, President Barry Mills sent out a campus-wide e-mail explaining the situation, noting that the College had "subsequently discovered a second online photo album posted in February 2005 titled 'Bowdoin Sailing Team Initiation,'" and declaring that "at the very least, we must use these incidents to underscore and reiterate to the entire community that there is no place for hazing at Bowdoin, and that it will not be tolerated."
The Orient has learned that the Sailing Team photos were taken in the Fall of 2004.
The e-mail from Mills was also sent to the Board of Trustees, according to Vice President for Communications and Public Affairs Scott Hood.
Mills, who sent the e-mail from London, where he was traveling on College business, announced that there will be an investigation into the alleged incidents led by Director of Athletics Jeff Ward and Senior Associate Dean of Student Affairs Margaret Hazlett.
Ward has met with the students and coaching staff of both teams, and has consulted with Susan Lipkin, the "expert" on hazing quoted in the Herald's story.
"My focus, more than on [the] sailing and squash [teams], is going forward, making sure our education is good so that this doesn't happen again," Ward said in an interview.
Even though the College has significant mechanisms in place to educate athletes about hazing?including having team captains meet with a Portland lawyer who specializes in issues of hazing and sports law?Ward said there is room for improvement.
"I would say that we probably do a lot more [anti-hazing education] than most schools, but the message is, that wasn't enough," he said.
In the future, Ward said, anti-hazing education will involve more "student-to-student conversations."
When contacted by the Orient, Hazlett said she had "nothing to report."
Tomas Fortson, head coach of the men's and women's squash teams, said he was "very concerned" by the allegations but noted "it's going to take a while to really fully investigate."
"A lot of people [allegedly involved] are no longer at Bowdoin, so we're going to have to be patient as we investigate this," Fortson said.
Co-captain of the women's squash team Sarah Podmaniczky '08 declined to comment.
In his e-mail, Mills noted that the photos of the sailing team "are now described on the Internet as further proof that hazing is taking place at Bowdoin."
A Web site, NCAAhazing.com, wrote that "...others wonder if Bowdoin has a hazing problem on its campus, as another public online photo album?given the title Bowdoin Sailing Team Initiation?recently surfaced."
Co-Captain of the Sailing Team Mark Dinneen '08 strongly denied that any hazing has ever taken place.
"The pictures have been taken out of context...by someone who was not there and does not know what went on," Dinneen said.
Morgan Pile '08, a four-year veteran of the sailing team, wrote in a letter to the Orient that the photos "are incriminating only by their title."
A first-year student at the time the photos were taken, Pile wrote, "No one was asked to do anything against his or her will. No one was embarrassed. We were just having fun."
Dinneen agreed. "Hazing has never occurred while we've been here as part of the sailing team. We don't do it," he said.
Dinneen noted that no one from NCAAhazing.com had contacted the sailing team.
An e-mail to the Web site was not immediately returned. Internet records show that the site is registered to a proxy corporation in Arizona.
"I'm not afraid of what anyone [or any investigation] is going to find out about the sailing team because we're a great group of young adults," Dinneen said. "We take care of each other."
In an e-mail to the Orient, Dean of Student Affairs Tim Foster noted, "Some incidents of hazing are more serious than others. The pictures I have seen and what I have heard to date would not lead me to believe that these were serious incidents of hazing; they might be a two on a scale of one to 10."
"I'm thankful that these incidents don't appear to be more serious," Foster said. "They remind us however, to be mindful of hazing."
"This gives us a chance to redouble our efforts and educate our community about hazing and gives student leaders the opportunity to re-examine initiation traditions if they have them," Foster added.