By Philip Sean Curran, Staff Writer
The men’s swimming and diving team at Princeton University had its season cancelled as an outcome of the revelation that racist and vulgar “content” was found in a team email list and other material.
School athletic director Mollie Marcoux Samaan, who was not made available for comment, broke the news to the squad, the university said in a statement Thursday.
The team finished its season 2-3, and will not compete against Navy, scheduled for Jan.7, and Harvard and Yale universities, scheduled Feb. 5, and the Ivy League championship at the end of February.
The move came exactly a week after the university announced the team’s season had been suspended following the revelation of the material, none of which has been released by the school. The university had previously told the New York Times that the women’s swimming and diving team was the target, but Princeton spokesman John Cramer would not elaborate Thursday.
“The decision to suspend the season was made after a complaint alerted the University to several materials, including content on the University-sponsored men’s swimming and diving team listserv, that was vulgar and offensive, as well as misogynistic and racist in nature,” the university said in a news release last week.
It was not clear if the entire team was responsible or just some athletes. The informant who notified university officials has not been identified publicly.
“We make clear to all of our student-athletes that they represent Princeton University at all times, on and off the playing surface and in and out of season, and we expect appropriate, respectful conduct from them at all times,” Ms. Marcoux Samaan said in a statement last week. “The behavior that we have learned about is simply unacceptable. It is antithetical to the values of our athletic program and of the University, and will not be tolerated.”
Princeton joins other Ivy League schools dealing with this kind of issue. In November, the men’s soccer team at Harvard had its season cancelled after it was learned that players now and in the past had been ranking the bodies of female soccer recruits, while some wrestlers at Columbia University were suspended for what that school called “offensive” group messaging and text messages.
