By James Kimberly
Tribune staff reporter
September 22, 2006, 7:32 PM CDT
North Central College in Naperville put its baseball team on probation and temporarily suspended 17 players and two coaches for a 2005 freshman initiation that officials described as disturbing but said did not rise to the level of hazing.
Laurie Hamen, vice president for enrollment management, athletics and student affairs at the private liberal-arts college, said the Feb. 19, 2005, party that kicked off the baseball season violated a number of school policies but did not violate an Illinois anti-hazing law.
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Hamen said the party, which included freshmen playing baseball in their underwear, dressing in women's lingerie and drinking alcohol, violated school policies that prohibit underage drinking and conduct unbecoming to the college. But Hamen said officials decided the party was not hazing because participation was voluntary and no one was physically harmed.
"In any of these situations where you have upperclassmen and underclassmen, you have some pressure. We would be silly to not recognize that," she said.
But some students did leave the party early and others opted to drink soft drinks instead of alcohol at the party, Hamen said.
"Generally, hazing doesn't involve choice." Hamen said.
Hamen said the school became aware of the party about three weeks ago after a college hazing watchdog group posted photographs of it on its Web site, www.ncaahazing.com. The school began an investigation as soon as it learned about the party, Hamen said.
This is the first time North Central has sanctioned an athletic team, Hamen said. The North Central Cardinals play in the NCAA Division III.
The college adopted a new hazing policy and distributed it to student athletes at the beginning of the school year, Hamen said. The new policy consolidated and clarified a number of existing school policies, she said.
Hamen said this was not the first time the baseball team held a party like this.
"We have some evidence to suggest that incidents like this, not exactly this incident, had happened in the past," Hamen said.
Seventeen returning players as well as head coach Brian Michalak and a graduate assistant coach were suspended for the first three games of the season.
Hamen said the coaches were disciplined because the party happened on their watch.
In addition, the players and eight other North Central students will be punished for violating school policies.
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Thank goodness the players had some choices so as to prevent this incident from being considered outright hazing.
Some players opted to leave early...before the seventh inning stretch and last call for beer.
Others elected to wisely imbibe soft drinks rather than alcohol.
And most importantly some of the players likely chose the sensible and relatively comfortable Queen Comfies® cotton panties over the naughty No Panty Line Promise® low-rise thong.
It's amazing what some will do to stay out of trouble!