Lesbian Harassment in College? Lawsuit Alleges ‘Sexually Charged’ Hazing

Lesbian Harassment in College? Lawsuit Alleges ‘Sexually Charged’ Hazing

Earlier this month, St. Joseph’s University announced it had suspended its women’s softball program after “a parent and student came forward in late March, alleging freshman had been forced to drink alcohol and engage in sexual conduct when they joined the team in the fall.” Four players were suspended in April after reports of what Philadelphia ABC affiliate WPVI-TV called “allegations too graphic to be outlined.” Now a former player has filed a federal lawsuit:

A former softball player at St. Joseph’s University claims in a lawsuit that she endured sexually charged hazing so bad that she contemplated suicide and was forced to quit the team.
The federal lawsuit by the unidentified plaintiff against the university and softball coach Terri Adams alleges “a widespread and well-known culture of abusive and sexually charged hazing” on the team.
The plaintiff alleges that during a weeklong hazing period in 2013, the player was subjected to demeaning behavior such as being forced to perform a sexually lewd dance, to ask and answer sexual questions and tell sexual stories. She alleges that she saw other freshman players forced to simulate sex acts. . . .
The lawsuit alleges that throughout her freshman year and continuing into her sophomore year, she was given demeaning nicknames, harassed and belittled and was “often reduced to tears and began having suicidal thoughts.” She said she was eventually forced to quit the team.
The suit alleges that officials were aware of the activities and intimidated and threatened her for trying to draw attention to them.

(Hat tip: Lead and Gold on Twitter.)

Anybody who knows anything about women’s collegiate sports knows how prevalent lesbianism is among female varsity athletes. So the “culture of abusive and sexually charge hazing” was lesbian hazing, and the “sex acts” players were “forced to simulate” were lesbian sex acts and, while I haven’t seen the full complaint yet, it is entirely reasonable for the reader to assume that the upperclassmen who led the hazing were lesbians, and that the team’s coach is also a lesbian. Yet the word “lesbian” appears nowhere in any of the media coverage of these allegations, because it would be considered homophobic to mention it. Because facts are now hate, you see.

No one in the media dares even suggest the nature of the psychological brutality allegedly inflicted on this girl “subjected to demeaning behavior” and driven to the brink of suicide because, perhaps, she didn’t conform to the “well-known culture” enforced by her lesbian teammates.

This happened at Saint Joseph’s University, a private Catholic school where annual tuition is $40,580. Does anyone imagine that the pious Catholics who founded Saint Joseph’s in 1851 could have imagined such a thing? Or do you suppose that the alumni whose contributions help support this university are aware of what is being taught to Saint Joseph’s students today? The Gender Studies program at the university requires all students minoring in the subject to take “Seminar in Feminist Theories,” and here is the course description:

GEN 200 Seminar in Feminist Theories
This course provides a survey of feminist frameworks for thinking about sex, gender and oppression. The course begins with a consideration of whether the distinction between gender and sex is tenable, what it means to say that a category is socially constructed and how socially constructed categories can be oppressive. Given women’s diversity, the latter part of the course considers critiques of attempts to provide a single systematic feminist framework. This will lead us to rethink the project of feminist theory and consider its possible new directions.

GEN 200 Seminar in Feminist Theories
This course provides a survey of feminist frameworks for thinking about sex, gender and oppression. The course begins with a consideration of whether the distinction between gender and sex is tenable, what it means to say that a category is socially constructed and how socially constructed categories can be oppressive. Given women’s diversity, the latter part of the course considers critiques of attempts to provide a single systematic feminist framework. This will lead us to rethink the project of feminist theory and consider its possible new directions.

UPDATE: Thanks to Stephen Sheiko on Twitter for sending the link to the full federal complaint in Jane Doe v. Saint Joseph’s University, which is an absolutely horrifying document to read. Coach Terri Adams began recruiting this player while the girl was just a sophomore in high school, and repeatedly assured the girl and her parents what a “wholesome” family-oriented Catholic environment SJU provided. The hazing included a letter to freshmen players that made explicit reference to same-sex activity and yet — here’s your kick-in-the-head irony — the plaintiff says that she was later subjected to gaybaiting!

Members of the team told the girl she was a lesbian and should “come out” as such, despite the allegedly “wholesome” Catholic atmosphere that Coach Adams had promised. You will notice that the lawsuit referencesassistant coach Brooke Darreff, who graduated from SJU in 2010 and returned to the university in 2012 as a graduate student to help coach the softball team. What was Coach Darreff’s major? Psychology.

Anybody want to convince me that a 27-year-old psychology graduate student doesn’t know what this kind of sexualized torture of teenage girls is intended to accomplish? Bullshit.