Northwestern Suspends Female Soccer Team Over Hazing Pics

Northwestern University has suspended its female soccer team pending an investigation of hazing of freshman athletes. The scandal erupted after the web site badjocks.com posted graphic pictures of team members, in various states of drunkenness and undress, engaging in simulated sexual activity and other forms of forced humiliation. Team alumni have denied the posted photos represent a longstanding tradition. Northwestern, of course, prohibits hazing, as the Chicago Sun Times reports here.

The San Jose Mercury News draws the obvious parallel to the Duke lacrosse scandal: "Progress was supposed to mean that drunken, ignorant male athletes wouldn't demean or harass women, not that drunken, ignorant female athletes would have equal opportunity to demean and harass one another. But that's how progress happens. For every step forward, there is at least one step backward. Sometimes two or three."

The NCAA and its members schools need to get tough, fast, on student athletes posting albums and other derogatory and demeaning information on photo-sharing web sites (guest blogger Tim Epstein discussed potential issues with such a move here). Badjocks.com got these pictures off of an album posted by the players on the internet. While it may take an athlete only a second to upload a photo to the web, it can take a lifetime to live it down. Loyola University Chicago has banned its athletes from posting on facebook.com. Perhaps other schools, or the NCAA as a whole, needs to consider a similar prohibition.

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