Hazing, Booze, Sex Lead to Wisconsin Band’s Probation
October 15th, 2006 by Michael Stephens
Mitch Cozad, a.k.a. the knife-wielding punter at the University of Northern Colorado, officially has competition for weirdest college football story of the year.
The University of Wisconsin put its marching band on probation for hazing and general rowdiness involving alcohol and sexual acts, school officials said.
The school’s chancellor, John Wiley, said a band member was pressured into shaving his head in a hazing incident, while other members danced semi-nude during the band’s trip to the University of Michigan on September 23.
“It has become increasingly clear that certain types of sexualized and hazing behavior are an ingrained part of the band’s culture,” Wiley said. “We will not provide an ongoing venue for this inappropriate and demeaning behavior.”
The band’s antics have gotten so notorious that the UW athletic department reportedly set aside money so cheerleaders and the dance squad can travel in separate buses to avoid harassment.
In an October 3 letter, Wiley told band’s director, Michael Leckrone, to clean up the program, which he has led for 38 years.
Two days later, Wiley warned the band’s 300 members that they risked losing travel and performance privileges. Most reports of misconduct during the Michigan trip involved one of seven buses returning home.
“We had multiple reports of highly sexualized banter taking place that made several women in particular feel quite uncomfortable. We had dancing and disrobing taking place that made some people feel not only uncomfortable but unsafe,” said an eyewitness.
The head-shaving incident was reported by a faculty member who believed “the individual would have preferred to keep his hair.” Separately, the school said it is investigating a sexual harassment complaint against a band staff member. No other details have been released at this time.
Hopefully, the scandal involving these crazy marching band hooligans won’t disrupt Wisconsin’s fine season. The Badgers, who throttled Minnesota yesterday, 48-12, to retain Paul Bunyan’s axe (how many absurd traditions can one conference have?) are quietly 6-1 to date and nipping at the heels of Michigan and Ohio State in the Big Ten.
These guys need to concentrate on football, not the drinking and odd sexual exploits of its spirited pep band. Come on, guys. Every group of college kids knows that if you’re going to haze people and act like jackasses, at least keep it on the down-low.
This is a sad story — not because of what happened to the “victims,” but because the band was dumb enough to get caught. Based on its own personal experiences with hazing, The Sports Truth advises the parties who filed complaints in the Wisconsin band case to man up.
Really now. Who among us hasn’t had our head shaved or been forced to run around naked in sub-zero temperatures? Or been drenched in hot sauce? Grow a pair.
