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"GBS athletes' hazing probed
Teens say varsity lacrosse players welcomed new team members with a paddle
BY SARA LOEB AND LYNNE STIEFEL
STAFF WRITER
Glenbrook South High School officials have canceled varsity lacrosse practice while they investigate whether paddle-wielding veteran players initiated new team members with a swat.
Superintendent Dave Hales confirmed Tuesday afternoon that "an incident is under investigation involving the varsity lacrosse team," although he declined to provide further details "because we're still investigating and don't have complete information."
What some students described as a paddling incident took place "maybe a few days" before the beginning of spring break on March 20, according to a current varsity lacrosse player, who asked not to be named.
A former Glenbrook South lacrosse player, who also asked not to be identified, said he was told the incident occurred at a private residence.
That former player said it has been a tradition for years for returning Glenbrook South varsity lacrosse players to swat players newly named to the varsity squad with a paddle. He said similar paddling also occurs at other area high schools, including Glenbrook North, New Trier and Loyola Academy, and other sports teams have similar traditions.
"It has happened every single year for every team at every school I can think of," the student said. "The reason it's being blown out of proportion is because of the Glenbrook North (powder puff) scandal. If it wasn't for that, there would be no media involved and no repercussions."
But, the former player said, Glenbrook South football and hockey teams canceled their paddling tradition this school year in light of the district administration's anti-hazing policy. That policy now specifically states it applies to events both on campus and off.
A Glenbrook South junior who plays lacrosse said Tuesday the paddled students "weren't hurt." No one sought medical attention, she said. "They're all friends, and it's something that they do," said the girl, who asked not to be named.
The boys' varsity lacrosse team didn't practice on Monday or Tuesday, said Glenbrook South Principal David Smith, who refused to say when or how school officials got word of the incident. Smith said administrators are deciding on a daily basis whether to let the varsity team practice.
Hales and Smith also declined to say how many students school officials are interviewing. They are informing the school's police liaison officer of their findings, Hales said, but as of Tuesday afternoon, police weren't involved in the investigation. Smith said he hopes to have the investigation complete "by the end of the week."
If school officials determine the students engaged in hazing, they will be able to turn to more explicit policies put in place after the May 4 "powder puff" incident in Chipilly Woods, which involved more than 100 Glenbrook North students.
During the hazing, Glenbrook North seniors pelted juniors with animal parts, vomit and feces, and punched and kicked them. At least five juniors sought medical attention for their injuries.
The Glenbrook High School District 225 Board expelled 33 seniors and suspended 20 juniors for participating in the hazing. Fifteen Glenbrook North seniors were charged with battery, and two adult women were arrested for providing alcohol for the hazing. The School Board last summer approved changes that make it clear students at either high school can be disciplined for violating school rules at "any event having a nexus with the school."
The handbooks at both Glenbrook South and Glenbrook North include new language specifying that hazing is prohibited "on or off" campus.
Hazing, according to the handbooks, includes "verbal or physical harassment, mental or physical discomfort, intimidation, embarrassment, ridicule, bullying, or demeaning activity..."
Hales said he'll be disappointed if the school's investigation confirms that students were hazing others, given the district's efforts to raise awareness after last May's incident.
"It's absolutely obvious that the school district has made an effort to have students understand how to treat each other," he said Tuesday.
He noted the Northbrook/Glenview Hazing Advisory Task Force brought together administrators and teachers from schools in both towns, to recommend ways to prevent future incidents similar to the powder puff hazing.
Several Glenbrook South students buying lunch at a local McDonald's on Tuesday said they'd heard about the incident from friends on the lacrosse team. They said they didn't think it would be fair to compare paddling to the abuse endured by the Glenbrook North "powder puff" participants.
"It's not a big deal," said junior Ingrid Swanson. "It's not like the hazing. They just got paddled." Lacrosse was added as a club sport at Glenbrook South, with freshman, junior varsity and varsity levels, beginning in the 1999-2000 school year. That designation brought the then-7-year-old Glenbrook South Lacrosse Club under the school's auspices.
Established in 1993 by parents as a non-profit entity, the club had been governed by bylaws, run by volunteer parents and self-funded via participants' fees, donations and fund-raising activities.
The parents lobbied the Glenbrook High School District 225 Board for several years to recognize the sport, so that it could be administered through the athletic department.
Board members at that time expressed concern about incurring the annual cost of running and staffing another sport, and wondered if they would be justified in doing so in response to a vocal parents group.
Others on the board, though, thought school officials had presented a demonstrated need to fund this sport as well as water polo, which also became a school sport then, by surveying student interest.
In 2000, the Glenbrook South Lacrosse team won the state championship."
it's sad that when this stuff is in the news and people are like "oh my god" when the students know it goes on all the time. also, paddlings are nothing new at powder puff either.
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