Cornell University officials announced on Monday that their entire men's lacrosse program will be suspended for the fall semester, after freshmen recruits reported having beer-drinking competitions that made them physically sick.
According to Bloomberg News, the suspension went into action on Sept. 13, clearing the squad's fall schedule. Team members will continue to practice during the suspension, but must attend anti-hazing workshops.
"It's a team-wide penalty for a team-wide incident," Cornell spokesperson John Carberry told Bloomberg News. "It involved coerced alcohol consumption by underage freshmen."
According to the Associated Press, freshmen were expected to do various favors and duties for upperclassmen. The team also hosted a party that entailed a "keg race" for freshmen - the youngsters were instructed to chug hefty amounts of beer. Freshmen were also forced to stand in a circle, their belt loops tied together with string, and drink more beer, whereupon "multiple members vomited."
"Hazing practices are harmful and antithetical to our values as a university and our commitment to student athletes," Cornell athletic director Andy Noel wrote in a statement. "They have no place in Cornell University athletics. I am particularly concerned with coercive traditions that abuse the power differential between new students and upperclassmen."
Hazing is a particularly sensitive and serious issue at Cornell, where former student George Desdunes died in 2011 after a hazing ceremony for a fraternity where he was forced to drink alcohol while bound with duct tape.
Cornell's lax team went 14-4 last season, eventually losing to Duke in the NCAA semifinals.
