Disclaimer: I am not a lawyer! However, I think that at least one of the Harvard women should contact a lawyer to discuss the possibility of a suit for defamation.
Viewing this only through the lens of possible “hostile environment” or “sexual harrassment” does not cover the full scope of the behavior.
I fully support free speech. At the same time, I recognize defamation as a tort. A question is whether actual damages will be provable. (Again, I am not a lawyer, but I think that lawyers will back me up on this.)
This is a case of everyone on the team likely knew of the existence of the book and the nature of its contents. Especially considering the 2012 book seems to have been not only accessible to the entire team, but also to the public at large up until recently according to some earlier posts.
In that light and considering one aspect of being part of a sports team is the close bonding and camraderie among members, it’s exceedingly unlikely any team member could claim they were completely in the dark about it.
And my larger point is that some colleges/universities do regard the lack of being forthright when questioning students about misconduct not directly involving them as a serious offense in itself meriting serious punishments up to and including suspension/expulsion. This is even moreso the case with Federal Service Academies and colleges/universities which adopted similarly strict student honor codes*.
Players typically agree to sportsmanship contracts of some sort when they play for a team. The team has the right to make whatever requirements they want to allow a student to be part of the team - maintain certain grades, don’t drink during the season even if of age, don’t get in trouble, and don’t do things that reflect poorly on the team. Harvard may have promised free speech to express opinions in the classroom, but that probably doesn’t extend to a ranking system of women players outside the class.
It is not a free speech right, as these athletes, much like professionals, agree to abide by the rules when they join the team. If there are no team rules, then you may have a point. Nobody is stopping them from speech, just from playing on the team with the Harvard name
“It is not a free speech right, as these athletes, much like professionals, agree to abide by the rules when they join the team. If there are no team rules, then you may have a point. Nobody is stopping them from speech, just from playing on the team with the Harvard name”
The LAST thing Harvard wants is of athletes to be considered quasi-professionals (Just ask Northwestern). The issue is purely a contractual one. Unless private school athletes are told upfront that they will be under different rules than other students, the contractual argument (to the extent it will work) remains the same.
At public schools like Berkley or Michigan, those rules which would limit free speech would not be ok. You can’t be asked by a State Actor to waive your free speech rights.
When Scalise wrote that the practice had continued into 2016, I thought he was referring to the actions of the one athlete who decided to re-circulate the 2012 report and suggest his teammates make one for 2016. However, nowhere does it say that anyone actually did so. If they did create a new scouting report, then the punishment fits. Also, the fact that the students were not forthcoming means they were being smart in a legal sense. Would you advise your son to admit to anything of this nature, especially if his only crime was knowing about what some Harvard kids did 4 years ago?
@mom2and Good point – at D3, my kid is subject to student athlete code of conduct set forth in athletic handbook. Treating fellow student athletes in the degrading and demeaning manner expressed in the “scouting reports” would almost certainly violate any general conduct expectations about sportsmanship etc. I’d be surprised if it were much different at D1.
@Jara123 : I do not give an implied contractual right between school & student (one that is at adds with an express code of conduct) much chance of success. Regards.
Does any one know what the code of conduct is for student athletes at Harvard and whether these students were provided with their contractual hearing rights under that code of coduct?
This seems more like an AD Board issue and Harvard generally requires a hearing before any action can be taken.
This is insane! To consider this 'sexual harassment" is ridiculous. Doesn’t the person being harassed have to be privy to the fact that someone is bothering them? This list is 4 years old. The team that was ranked isn’t even around to be bothered by this. Quantmech@ why would anyone even consider a law suit? I hope to God that the girls on that list have better things to do with their time. I would imagine as Harvard grads they are all out in the world feeling self-empowered and trying to make a difference. I would hope that they are strong young women, who are confident enough to never let a silly, pathetic list make them feel degraded. I would hope that they were raised with enough self esteem to see the list for exactly what it was…a stupid act of male immaturity. No more time or consideration should ever be given to the topic. Its should be case closed.
As for the boys on the team, I agree with GFG and momofthreeboys. Go after the idiots who decided to resurrect the silly list. But to punish the whole team is extreme. However, once again that’s just a display of weakness on behalf of Harvard. God forbid they single out the one or two to three trouble makers. NOOOOOOO…Lets just dole out the punishment to everyone, so “we” don’t look like we are being impartial. Ridiculous. Get a backbone!
And by the way…Harvard is not alone in this matter. My niece went to ND. Shortly after arriving she found out that the football team ranks the girls on campus. So, not just a small component of the female body but the entire female body. (How they do that I have no idea. I’m sure some girls are left out. lol) Not for a second did she feel harassed or violated or assaulted or even degraded. I’m not going to lie. I was a bit taken back, not because of the list but because the girls were actually fighting to be at the top of the list. To me, that meant that boys will be boys, but I would tell my niece, “why do you have to play into that nonsense?” For her and many others it was just about being popular. Do I think popularity is that important? No! But that’s how I was raised. So yes, we should teach our sons to not objectify women, but more importantly we should teach our daughters to be more confident. What someone thinks of a female should never define them. However, in the social climate that these millennials live in, this is socially accepted.
Not to mention, women are equally guilty of this behavior. For college campuses across the country Greek Life is notorious for ranking. On any given campus where Frats/Sororities are prevalent, there are rankings. When guys and girls go through rush they all know the reputations associated with the frat/sorority they are rushing. Sororities on every campus are ranked. The number one sorority is always considered the sorority with the “hottest” girls (Sorry CC’ers, you’re delusional if you think the ranking is based on brains or GPA.) So should they stop allowing greek life on campus’ because that’s sexual harassment? Give me a break. And remember that it goes both ways. The girls on campus know that the number one Frat on the campus (yes, the boys are ranked too.) are also the hot guys.
The bottom-line is that where there are boys and girls, living, cohabitating and communing together there will always be some ‘sort’ of ranking, beauty will always beat brains, and tenacity, and morals. Thats just human nature.
So if Harvard is going to cancel the soccer season then they should, in all fairness, cancel any other social event, or club or greek life that ranks too. And since they are do, then there goes all the fun and extracurriculars.
@Dungareedoll You’re either not reading closely or choosing to ignore the facts. This type of behavior continued into 2016, not just in 2012. Additionally, how do you know it was only 1, 2, or 3 people? You aren’t privy to seeing what the administrators at Harvard have seen. You do realize that this goes far beyond ranking girls for their attractiveness? So I’m not sure I get the applicability of your rant above about Notre Dame and Greek life. Again, take the time to read the articles linked and the comments here.
Again, please show me why you think that any current students participated in ranking other current students. When the administration states this continued into 2016, how do you know they don’t just mean a current athlete tried to resurrect the “scouting report”? That is all that is reported to have occurred.
^^ I don’t agree, but if is is defamatory, what are the damages? Who do you collect them from? Would the woman have to prove she doesn’t have an STD?
Really, who would want to go to court and prove that the were injured because of that? She’d have to bring witnesses that said “Well, I used to think she was a nice person but now I think less of her. In fact, I was going to hire her but after reading on facebook that some soccer players think she has and STD, now I won’t hire her.”
IMO this is childish, immature young adult behavior, completely undeserving of this level of punishment. That’s the bottomline. Do I agree with it? No. But to punish it to the level of cancelling an entire season is ridiculous. That’s my stance on this topic. And my final point is that this behavior goes both ways. They make these boys out to be a lot worse than what they are, which is stupid and immature. This silly list, is just that SILLY. No one was actually harmed. And if you feel harmed by it than that is your problem… because its all sticks and stones. Women should be stronger than this silly list. I actually think the only thing degrading about this is if indeed there are women out there who feel sexually harassed and/or victimized. Thats sad.
I am shocked by the number of people on this board who are willing to excuse this behavior and think that the women should not be bothered. Please join the 21st century and understand that this is NOT acceptable. It is not just hi-jinks. It is degrading and demeaning and unworthy of students at an elite (or any institution). I give the Harvard administration high praise for taking a firm stand with a significant action to drive the point home.
dungareedoll, what you DONT understand is that if Harvard athletes had code of conduct rules, like honor code rules, and they VIOLATED them, then it does NOT matter what the rules were- making lists of girls they want to bed, making lists of profs they hate, or ANY other behavior that was forbidden by those rules, BECAUSE they have BOTH the privilege AND the responsibility of representing Harvard on the playing field. And the excuse of them being" immature", and “boys everywhere do this” does not hold more weight with the Harvard administration.
Harvard has the right to expect more from their student- athletes.
[quote=CBS Sports]
In 2012, according to The Harvard Crimson, a review was conducted concerning documents from that year’s team. The team reportedly produced a report on the freshman from the women’s team, rating them based on their perceived sexual appeal. As the review found that the team continued to do this through this year, it said goodbye to the team’s season, handing down a strong punishment with two games left in the regular season.
“As a direct result of what Harvard Athletics has learned, we have decided to cancel the remainder of the 2016 men’s soccer season,” Harvard Athletics Director Robert Scalise wrote.