Harvard University suspended the remainder of the men’s soccer team’s season after it was revealed that members of the team, both past and present, compiled a yearly ‘scouting report’ of the women’s soccer team. The document, originally reported by The Crimson, Harvard University’s student-run newspaper, described the sexual attractiveness of the female soccer recruits. While the document was originally from 2012, the tradition of producing similar “reports” appears to be an annual occurrence through this season.
In this particular document, the author ranked the incoming female soccer recruits numerically and added extensive commentary on their assessment of each student-athlete. Further, the document opined about sexual descriptions of the women, noting specific sexual positions that purported to correspond with the individual student-athlete’s position as a soccer player. University officials made the decision to end the soccer team’s season early, resulting in the forfeiture of the team’s remaining two games and a chance at post-season NCAA tournament play.
The men’s soccer team apologized to “women everywhere” in an op-ed piece also published in The Crimson newspaper. Since the document was discovered, however, other athletic programs at Harvard University have been under investigation. In particular, the men’s cross-country program also produced sexually explicit documents describing members of the women’s cross-country team. Harvard University President Drew Faust said that Harvard will not tolerate demeaning behavior, and the school has assigned its attorneys to investigate the allegation.