University says ‘extremely offensive report’ on female soccer players was produced over several years by male players, who had been leading Ivy League

This article is more than 3 years old

This article is more than 3 years old

Harvard University has suspended its men’s soccer team for the remainder of the season because of sexual comments made about members of the women’s soccer team.

University president Drew Faust said in a statement on Thursday night that an investigation into the 2012 team found their “appalling” actions were not isolated to one year or the actions of a few, but appeared to be more widespread across the team and continued through the current season.

Welcome to the red zone: what’s wrong with sexual assault training on campus Read more

“The decision to cancel a season is serious and consequential, and reflects Harvard’s view that both the team’s behaviour and the failure to be forthcoming when initially questioned are completely unacceptable, have no place at Harvard, and run counter to the mutual respect that is a core value of our community,” Faust said.

A 2012 document uncovered last month by the Harvard Crimson student newspaper rated the attractiveness of recruits on the women’s team and included lewd comments about them. Members of the men’s team called it their “scouting report” and circulated it online.

“I was saddened and disappointed to learn that the extremely offensive ‘scouting report’ produced by the 2012 men’s soccer team continued through the current season,” dean Rakesh Khurana said in a statement. “As I have stated, such behavior is antithetical to Harvard’s fundamental values.”

Athletics director Robert Scalise sent an email to student athletes on Thursday announcing that the university was cancelling the remainder of the team’s season, including postseason play.

The Harvard Crimson (@thecrimson) Soccer coach: "We are beyond disappointed that our season has ended in this way, but we respect the decision made by our administration."

The men’s soccer team is currently in first place in the Ivy League.

Scalise said the team would forfeit its remaining games and decline any opportunity to achieve an Ivy League championship or participate in the NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) tournament this year.

“As we move forward, Harvard Athletics will partner with the office of sexual assault prevention and response and other Harvard College resources to take additional steps to further educate the members of our men’s soccer team, and all of our student athletes, about the seriousness of these behaviours and the general standard of respect and conduct that is expected,” Scalise said in the email.

Six of the women rated in the report expressed their disappointment with the men’s soccer team and with a culture that permits widespread objectification of women in the Harvard Crimson last week.

“Having considered members of this team our close friends for the past four years, we are beyond hurt to realize these individuals could encourage, silently observe, or participate in this kind of behavior, and for more than four years have neglected to apologize until this week,” the women wrote.

The women – Kelsey Clayman, Brooke Dickens, Alika Keene, Emily Mosbacher, Lauren Varela and Haley Washburn – graduated in 2016 and had seen the entire “scouting report”.

“This document attempts to pit us against one another, as if the judgment of a few men is sufficient to determine our worth,” they said. “But, men, we know better than that”.

The men’s team was at the top of the Ivy League rankings and set to secure an automatic bid into the NCAA tournament had it won Saturday’s scheduled home game against Columbia University.

But with the suspension, the team must forfeit the remaining regular season and postseason competitions. “We are beyond disappointed that our season has ended in this way, but we respect the decision made by our administration,” said men’s coach Pieter Lehrer in a statement. “Actions have consequences, and character counts. We accept responsibility for our actions, and I know that we will use the experience of this terribly unfortunate situation to be better”.

Harvard’s women’s soccer team is still scheduled to play Columbia on Saturday.