Education

Champion cheerleading team gets rare suspension for secret hazing

Robby Soave Reporter
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Towson University’s national championship cheerleading squad has been suspended from competition for a year for its hazing ritual, the details of which have been withheld.

After learning of the hazing incident, the university launched an investigation and eventually decided to bench the entire team for a full year.

What exactly did the cheerleaders do? Administrators aren’t saying.

“Hazing in any form will not be tolerated at Towson University,” said Deb Moriarty, vice president for student affairs, in a statement. “Out of concern for students’ privacy and their rights to due process that includes their right to appeal the suspension, it would be inappropriate for the university to comment further.”

The punishment is certainly extreme, noted Jim Lord, executive director of the American Association of Cheerleading Coaches and Administrators.

“I have never heard of a whole team getting suspended,” he said in a statement to The Baltimore Sun. “That is pretty rare, maybe unheard of.”

Towson’s cheerleaders won their division championship last April.

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