The Keene State College Women’s Rugby team, although suspended for the 2024/2025 academic year for hazing and alcohol violations, has remained active at New England College in Henniker, N.H., according to a number of former team members who asked to remain unnamed.
“I was added to a group chat where they [the women’s rugby team] were already trying to plan practices and carpooling to New England College,” one unnamed source told The Equinox in an interview.
The team, which opted to pursue the negotiated agreement process with the Office of Community Standards, was suspended on July 9, and will remain so until May 10, 2025.
In addition, the team will be placed on college probation for the duration of the fall 2025 season upon its return to campus as a student organization.
The suspension means the team is not presently recognized as a student organization or club, according to the negotiated agreement document from community standards.
The community standards office was notified after a 12-page campus safety report was submitted to the office detailing potential violations of the KSC Student Code of Conduct in regard to hazing and alcohol policies.
The events referred to in the report are said to have occurred sometime from Nov. 13, 2023, to Nov. 21, 2023, the week before Thanksgiving break.
The investigation
Once campus safety began investigating in the spring of 2024, players on the team were brought in for questioning about their knowledge of particular alleged incidents and “traditions.”
Director of Campus Safety and Compliance Chris Buckley, co-author of the report, said the word “tradition” should be synonymous with hazing in many instances.
When asked if players understood they experienced hazing, Buckley said, “They understand the severity of what happened when they’re sitting here talking about it [to us].”
One of the former team members told The Equinox about their experience being interviewed.
“It’s funny because you don’t really realize you’re brainwashed by everybody until you realize that you’ve just lied out of your a** to somebody that could actually help with getting the team together,” they said.
The interviewee continued, saying campus safety had told them not to tell anyone on the team or otherwise about the questions they were asked or the fact they were interviewed.
However, word got out regarding the questions that were asked in interviews, and team leadership began to crack down on behavior that was considered “snitching.”
“That’s immediately when they started sending texts coaching people what to say and being like ‘Oh, you know, we’re trying to focus on reform, just don’t lie about anything, but don’t overtly admit anything [either],’” they explained.
Two sources said they felt the leadership preyed on first-year students looking for a community on campus.
“There were good people on the team. That was the worst part because those people would make you come back,” they said, noting they had positive experiences “away from the other girls [who perpetrated the hazing].”
‘When we had to be there’
The campus safety report, penned by both Buckley and Assistant Director of Campus Safety Jessica Trombley, detailed social events the team hosted where alcohol was provided to minor members of the team.
“[Redacted] said veteran players provide alcohol at all social events,” the report stated.
Some interviewees in the report contradicted this, stating anyone who wished to drink brought their own alcohol and that minors were not given any regardless.
“[Redacted] advised that all of the social events were planned by [redacted] and that the upper-class members of the team, ‘downright refused to purchase alcohol for the underage members,’” the report stated.
The mandatory nature of the social events was also called into question.
“When [redacted] referred to parties and members’ attendance, she initially advised, that it was voluntary and then advised, ‘when we had to be there’ referring to the time. [Redacted] was questioned about the term ‘had to.’ [Redacted] advised, ‘Well, that was a poor choice of words. I apologize when we should be there.’”
Another source who asked to remain unnamed told The Equinox in an interview that there was a choice presented by veterans on the team, but social pressure and ostracism from the team meant players did not feel as though there was one.
“I understand that I made the decision willingly, but I know that it was also heavily influenced that you should go to socials and you shouldn’t miss them because it would hurt [your] social life,” the former team member said.
The first source also backed up the claim.
“It’s interesting because they did give us a choice almost, like they would say you could back out whenever you want, and we did have one person on the team who did that a lot and she was basically outcast,” the source explained.
They added the team member who chose not to participate in social events did not get to play much and was made to be the team’s “water girl.”
The campus safety report also backed up claims about the team hosting the social events and revealed there was no process for verifying members’ ages.
“[Redacted] advised, ‘There’s the assumption that anyone under 21 will not be breaking the law,’” though the interviewee also stated the team did not host parties.
‘B**** of the pitch’
One “celebration” the team took part in was referred to as “b**** of the pitch.”
The team would pick one or two people each week who were considered “MVPs” and tape an alcoholic beverage to the recipients’ hands, after which they would be told to chug it, according to the campus safety report.
Some team members campus safety interviewed described the event as voluntary, but others said there were consequences for not participating, saying a player was still able to attain vet status, although there were caveats.
“I know there were certain extra little things like, ‘oh, you have to drink this extra gross cup later in the week or something because they missed the first day,’” an interviewee told campus safety.
An interviewee also stated that hard liquor was prohibited at all events.
One of the unnamed sources told The Equinox about the tradition.
“Everybody’s cheering and it’s [considered] a great thing,” they said.
Two sources detailed their experience receiving “b**** of the pitch” and how after participating they felt as though they started being accepted and viewed in a positive light by team leadership.
“I realized at that moment that this is when the team liked me,” the source said.
When asked if there was genuine concern shown by any of the veterans on the team when it came to excessive drinking, two sources told The Equinox there was not.
“It was just kind of like, rookies look out for each other and that was it …. I feel like the only concern was shown by all the people who quit the team,” they said.
Regarding the team’s actions, Brandon Carta, former student center programs coordinator and advisor to the interfraternity council, described the severity of the case to The Equinox in an August 16 interview.
“The women’s rugby hazing incident is the worst hazing incident I’ve seen since I’ve been here,” Carta, who was at the college for nearly four years, said. “I would say club sports and athletics right now have their stuff worse at this point [than Greek Life incidents].”
Carta said he submitted an initial report after someone on the team came forward following the hazing prevention seminar in the spring titled “Love, Mom and Dad.”
“You can’t agree to be hazed, that’s just not how it works,” Carta said, noting the common misconception many hold about the practice.
Rookie Week
One activity that first-year and new members of the team participated in was called “Rookie Week.”
Veterans on the team would instruct rookies to take part in a scavenger hunt in which physical activities were performed beforehand. A rookie would have to obtain a “big stick” and there was a group of players at the Cumberland Farms in Keene where items could be dropped off by rookies or clues could be obtained, according to the report.
In regard to the stick, veterans would determine if the size was large enough to be considered acceptable. In addition to the stick, rookies were instructed to obtain the underwear of a player on the men’s rugby team, as well as a pair of socks or bra from someone who had quit the women’s rugby team.
Rookies would receive “rookie points” for completing tasks assigned by vets, one of which was taking a hit off someone’s vape, according to the report.
An interviewee told campus safety that they did not necessarily view the week as initiation.
“‘It was halfway or the final marker to becoming a vet on the team. But it was a requirement to be a vet, but it was either your first or your second season and that determined whether or not you would be a vet in that season or the next season,’” they said.
When a player received vet status, they would not have to perform as many tasks for the team, such as bringing bags to practice, according to the report.
In a separate incident, rookies were also asked to kiss the “bare a**” of a vet, though they stated it was not required.
“The rookie players were then lined up and each one had to kiss the bare a** of [redacted],” according to the report.
Blindfolding and branding
The campus safety report details another incident in which rookies were blindfolded and put into a vehicle for an unknown amount of time.
After the car stopped, the group was brought to the basement of a house in which they were told they would all be branded.
“Once in the basement, someone told them they were all about to [be] branded. The next thing that was said was ‘scream when I tell you to scream,’ and [a] female started screaming until she was told to stop,” the report states.
When asked about the event and blindfolding, one interviewee again stated the practice was optional.
“‘Blindfolds are not instituted in a malicious way. It’s meant to be a, it is a fun thing that we do with no malicious intent. I can definitively say that this past fall, I took several girls aside and anyone who had a history of anxiety,’” they told campus safety.
Team members interviewed by campus safety said that while branding did not occur, a panini maker was turned on and cheese was placed on it to simulate a sizzling noise.
They also said those who were blindfolded did not scream, but one interviewee agreed that those who were blindfolded could have been fearful of being branded given the circumstances.
Impacts and consequences
Two of the unnamed sources told The Equinox the hazing they endured at the hands of the team leadership has had and continues to have long-lasting impacts on them.
“I can’t drink alcohol anymore,” one of the sources said. “That isn’t necessarily a bad thing in the long run but I have noticed a definite change in my stomach just from the night of blacking out on how bad my gut health has gotten just because of that.”
In addition to this, some said they are scared to join any student organization or club.
“Other people have been like, ‘Oh, why don’t you join a club?’ and I’m like, ‘No, I’m not joining another club.’ I know it would probably be fine, but I just don’t want to join a club ever again,” a different source said.
One source also spoke to their feelings of anxiety regarding clubs.
“I’ve had to go through a lot of therapy sessions just to be OK with joining one this spring and I don’t even know if I’m going to do it,” they said.
Assistant Dean of Students Kat Dougherty spoke to the community standards outcome for the team.
“Those statuses [suspension] are really what denotes participation, so there’s no participation in that activity for this academic year, and if there was to be participation, it would be on a status for the fall of 2025,” Dougherty said.
In terms of changes made in the aftermath of the case, Dougherty said one of the student code of conduct changes made in the fall was to notify organizations from the outset of the community standards process that suspension is a real possibility, in a drive for increased transparency.
“The more transparent community standards can be with the student leaders of organizations about the potential ramifications or outcomes of community standards cases, the better,” Dougherty said.
However, despite the existing prohibition on team activities, members of the women’s rugby team continue to engage in practices and play at New England College, according to two former team members.
“[The community standards sanctions] didn’t even work because they’re playing for New England College now,” an unnamed former team member told The Equinox. “It didn’t even really affect them, getting suspended. The only thing that happened was them getting rid of rookie week, and I don’t even know if they did.”
They said the team members were able to do this because the communications from the college said to not play on Keene State grounds, which the source said members took as a nod to go somewhere else.
When asked if community standards should have gone further in their punishment of the team, the other source agreed.
“I think a lesson hasn’t really been taught …. I feel like it’s not really pushing them to actually change,” they said. “I don’t want to judge the college … because I’m not running a college or trying to deal with a whole team, but it’s just uncomfortable.”
Nathan Hope can be contacted at
nhope@kscequinox.com
