The Harvard University men's soccer team had its season cut short following the discovery of sexual comments made by players about the women's soccer team.
In a statement released on Thursday night, Harvard University President Drew Faust announced that a report found that instances of members of the men's team rating the attractiveness of female recruits was not limited to one incident in 2012, but has continued through to the current season. This so-called "Scouting Report" included lewd comments about members of the women's soccer team and circulated online.
“The decision to cancel a season is serious and consequential, and reflects Harvard’s view that both the team’s behavior and the failure to be forthcoming when initially questioned are completely unacceptable, have no place at Harvard, and run counter to the mutual respect that is a core value of our community,” Faust wrote in a statement.
Faust also said that there have been initial discussions looking into whether this behavior occurs on other sports teams.
In an email to Harvard student athletes, Athletics Director Robert L. Scalise said that his decision to cancel the remainder of the team’s season was because the “practice appears to be more widespread across the team and has continued beyond 2012, including in 2016.”
This means that the team — currently first place in the Ivy League — will forfeit all remaining games and "decline any opportunity to achieve an Ivy League championship or to participate in the NCAA Tournament this year.”
Six of the women rated in the 2012 report wrote an op-ed in the Harvard Crimson condemning the men's team's actions and the wider culture of objectification of women, but ultimately forgave the players involved.
The Harvard women's soccer team continued its season today with a match against Columbia University.
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