Dive Brief:
- As the University of New Mexico investigates an apparent hazing incident involving its women’s soccer team, it has scheduled a press conference on the issue and canceled the team’s first game.
- The alleged team initiation event occurred off campus on Sunday, with players forced to strip naked and drink alcohol excessively, additionally being sprayed with urine, according to a school spokesman quoted by Reuters.
- Police said two freshman players were taken to the hospital due to extreme intoxication, and two players have since left the team and dropped out of school, KOB4 reported.
Dive Insight:
The investigation into the incident is headed by an unidentified senior university official with no connection to the athletics department. At least one of the alleged victims has hired a lawyer. KOB4 interviewed the father of a former scholarship player on the team who said she left the team and the school last year after a similar initiation event where she was forced to drink alcohol in excess and other players wrote vulgarities on her skin. New Mexico does not have an anti-hazing law.