BC Defends Decision to Suspend Swim Team Claiming Hazing Event Is Annual Tradition

Just over a month after Boston College indefinitely suspended its swim and dive program for hazing, more details surrounding the scandal emerged during court proceedings this week.

BC dean of students Corey Kelly and athletic director Blake James filed affidavits on Monday claiming that freshmen were told to wear vomit bags around their necks at a team party on Sept. 3 where several students passed out. They said the event is an annual tradition, noting that team members were also busted for unspecified hazing in the spring of 2022.

“The way you stop a team tradition is to take action against the team,” BC’s attorney, Daryl Lapp, said at a hearing on Tuesday, according to The Heights.

BC also addressed the fact that not all swimmers and divers were present at the team parties last month where hazing allegedly occurred, defending the university’s decision to suspend the entire program.

“Someone or a group of people are [abusing] the power of the team to perpetuate hazing against people who want to be a part of that,” Lapp said. “Not just membership on the roster, but fully a part of the team, considered one of us, part of the tribe.”

Middlesex County Superior Court judge Diane Freniere is expected to make a ruling soon on whether to grant a preliminary injunction that would temporarily reinstate the program after 37 Eagles filed a lawsuit last week. However, even if the suspension is lifted via injunction, BC retains the legal right to suspend the team again after its official internal investigation is finished.

“The conundrum is [BC] could shut [the decision] down immediately anyway,” Freniere said.

Notably, the allegation of freshmen being forced to consume their own vomit was absent from BC’s legal defense. That allegation was first mentioned in a letter from an administrator in the Office of the Dean of Students that was obtained by The Heights.

The swimmers’ attorney, Regina Federico, accused BC of depriving her clients of a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity” to compete at the U.S. Olympic Trials next summer. The university responded by saying “there is no evidence that any of the plaintiffs would qualify for the Olympic Trials or compete in the Olympics.”

BC junior Jack Doyle came within two seconds of qualifying for Olympic Trials in the 200 IM at May’s Pro Swim Series stop in Mission Viejo, but it’s unknown whether he’s involved in the lawsuit because the plaintiffs remain anonymous, at least for now. Ali Kea and Haley Dolan became the first Eagle women to qualify for the U.S. Olympic Trials in 2021.

Lapp said that BC has conducted more than 80 interviews as part of its ongoing investigation, which he called “an enormous process.”

Both the BC men and women’s teams placed 12th out of 12 teams at the 2023 ACC Championships in their first season under former Notre Dame assistant Joe Brinkman. Still, it was a relatively successful season for the Eagles considering they’re the only Power Five swimming program that doesn’t offer scholarships. They broke three school and 15 pool records at their rivalry meet against Boston University in January and were starting to gain momentum on the recruiting trail under the new coaching staff.

It’s rare for colleges to self-suspend entire programs for hazing, but it has happened before. In 2015, Western Kentucky suspended its men’s and women’s swimming and diving program for five years in the wake of a hazing scandal that resulted in the termination of the coaching staff. Ultimately, the school cut the program.

Brinkman leads a BC coaching staff that includes assistant coach Brian Keane, assistant coach Alexander Santana, and diving coach Jack Lewis. The Eagles were slated to start their regular season against George Washington on Oct. 7, and their second dual meet of the season was supposed to be Friday at home against Army.