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'Hazing' incident sinks swimmers, coach
(by Tony Lange - January 25, 2012)
'Hazing' incident sinks swimmers, coach
By TONY LANGE
About a dozen members of the Solon High School boys swim team were disciplined last week in what school officials said was a violation of "hazing" policies for an incident that took place during winter break.
The consequences included out-of-school suspensions and athletic competition suspensions, said Tamara Strom, communication services director.
"It varied, depending on each student's involvement in the situation," she said.
Mike Davidson, Solon's head swim coach, also was disciplined. Mrs. Strom said he was suspended from coaching Solon's Jan. 21 swim meet at Hudson.
When contacted, Mr. Davidson declined to comment.
At the Hudson meet, the Solon boys team lost, 132-49, with just seven swimmers competing -- six freshmen and one sophomore. Eleven seniors, juniors and sophomores on the team did not compete.
On Monday, School Superintendent Joseph V. Regano met with a number of parents, he said. But discussions of disciplinary actions are only to be done with involved parents, and there were far more people at the meeting than those who have children being punished, he said.
"What they have is a right of appeal, and we're hearing all of those appeals, and, like I do on all of them, I'll make a decision at the end of it," Mr. Regano said. "If swim parents tell you the details, great, but we don't disclose those things."
Parents, athletes and staff members are informed at the start of each school year and each athletic season that hazing will not be tolerated, Mrs. Strom said. "Hazing and what constitutes hazing is spelled out in the Solon schools code of conduct and in the Solon High School handbook," she said.
According to the code of conduct, "Hazing is defined as doing any act or coercing another, including the victim, to do any act of initiation into any student or other organization that causes or creates a substantial risk of causing mental or physical harm to any person. Permission, consent, or assumption of risk by any individual subjected to hazing does not lessen the prohibition contained in this policy."
The behavior leading to the discipline of the students involved in the swim team situation is not acceptable at Solon High School in accordance with that policy, Mrs. Strom said.
She confirmed that the hazing took place on school property, but she would not confirm the date that it occurred, what constituted the hazing or how school officials determined which athletes were more involved than others.
No police reports were filed, and school officials would not confirm whether complaints were made by subjects of the hazing.
"In the policy itself, complaints are not a prerequisite to hazing violations," Mr. Regano said. "The problem with the infraction of any rule is harm could have happened, and that's what you try to protect against. The fact that it didn't happen is no issue, and I'm saying that generically."
While an annual pillow fight has been cited as the hazing incident in numerous communications circulating through the area swimming community, neither Mr. Regano nor Mrs. Strom would confirm that as the cause.
A Facebook video from the 2009-2010 swim season dubbed, "The annual freshman fight held at Camp WUB," shows members of that year's boys team partaking in a pillow-whacking event.
Underclassmen on the team are shown running through a passageway of upperclassmen swinging pillows at them. It also shows underclassmen wrestling over possession of an object in an attempt to transport it from one point to another while the pillow whacking continues.
The video shows the activity taking place in the commons area between the natatorium and the gymnasium at Solon High School.
According to the Dec. 19, 2008, edition of the Solon High School Courier, Camp Wub is a tradition that the swim team embraces each year during winter break. Swimmers bring video games, food, sleeping bags and tents and relax during their free time between morning and afternoon two-a-day practices.
More recently, a Facebook page called, "Pillows Kill. Solon Swim Team 2012," has been circulating.
As a result of the circumstances surrounding the swim team, Solon schools will be stepping up educational efforts on the issue of hazing, Mrs. Strom said.
"We want to ensure that there's no mistaking the seriousness of this behavior and that everyone understands what constitutes hazing, so there's no gray areas," she said. "You want to make sure everybody's clear so you don't make those choices to engage in this type of behavior."
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