PSU responds to hazing claims
By Kevin Horan and Matthew Spolar
Collegian Staff Writers
Responding to alleged hazing photos brought to its attention Tuesday, Penn State’s athletic department issued two statements yesterday — one saying an investigation into the wrestling team has been launched; the other saying an investigation into the Icers hockey team has long been closed.
The statements are in response to photos sent by an anti-hazing activist in an e-mail message to The Daily Collegian, wrestling coach Troy Sunderland and a coach of the Penn State ACHA Division I Icers. Attached to the e-mail were photos found on the popular photo-hosting site, Webshots.com.
Some of the photos, posted in fall 2005, depict men stripped down to jock straps with 40-oz. beer bottles duct-taped to their hands. One has the caption “the wrestlers freshman initiation….haha.”
Other photos, including one of a fully nude man using his mouth to take a dollar bill from the hands of a fully clothed woman, were posted in the same account. The captions indicate that the men in the photos were “freshman hockey players.”
The photos were deleted from the Webshots site yesterday.
Around 5 p.m. yesterday, Meg Handley, coordinator of team sports at Penn State, released a statement on behalf of the Icers. The statement said the university had become aware of the photos sent in the e-mail “last summer, “investigated the incident and concluded that no hazing had taken place.
However, three players were disciplined following the incident, according to the statement. The university said since the episode was dealt with last summer, no further action would be taken at this time.
The statement also says the Icers have since met for educational sessions on the dangers of and no-tolerance stand against hazing of any kind for any Penn State team.
The Webshots album indicates that the photos were posted during the fall of 2005. During that time, the Icers were coached by Joe Battista, who said the incident came to light after he had stepped down in March 2006.
“I don’t think this was a hazing incident, “Battista said. “I think it was a bunch of guys at a party just making bad decisions.”
By the time the team was disciplined last summer, Scott Balboni had taken over as coach of the Icers.
Balboni was reached at his home Tuesday night, a few hours after the e-mail message with the photographs had been sent to the Collegian and two coaches. Balboni said he had not received the message.
“We have an absolutely-no-hazing policy with our team, “Balboni said
Tuesday. He also indicated that Battista had a similar policy. Balboni had served as a volunteer assistant to the team since 2002 before becoming head coach.
Senior goaltender Chris Matteo said the investigation following the incident was handled professionally by Handley and the coaching staff, but added that it has since become “a little bit of a witch hunt.”
“I know we’re athletes and we’re supposed to be held to a higher standard, but you can’t just label the acts of college kids as hazing, “he said.
He said players were disciplined as a result of team policy, not because of hazing. He added that the team now considers the incident a “dead issue.”
The statement regarding the wrestling team investigation was released early yesterday afternoon and said Athletic Director Tim Curley would be investigating the incidents involving the wrestlers. In the statement, Curley promised to “take appropriate action against those involved.”
In the same statement, Sunderland said he was “angry and upset at those involved.”
“We are obviously very disappointed that our program was involved in such activities back in 2005, “Sunderland said in the statement. “When the facts are clear, those involved will have to own up for their actions.”
Senior wrestler Aaron Anspach and former Penn State wrestler Nathan Galloway have said they were aware of the incident, but didn’t consider it “hazing. “Galloway, who transferred in January after a falling out with the coaching staff, said he had been at the event and called it “a theme party.”
“It was just a fun thing where people who wanted to do it, did it, “Galloway said. “It wasn’t at all like, ‘You’re a freshman on the team, and this is what you have to do.'”
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