Davidson College athlete files hazing complaint over dances in Speedos

CHARLOTTE — An athlete at Davidson College says the men’s swimming and diving team forced freshmen to dance in skimpy bathing suits in front of hundreds of people, and now the university is reviewing its anti-hazing policies.

The complaint was first reported Friday by our partners at the Charlotte Observer, and Channel 9 verified it with Davidson College.

According to a member of the swimming and diving team, freshmen were forced to join activities outside of practices and competitions “because of tradition.” The complaint says it left the athlete “traumatized.”

The complaint specifically points to one incident when freshmen were “expected to perform” dances in their Speedos at a basketball game against Virginia Commonwealth University. The point, the complaint says, was to distract VCU’s players.

Video of that game was posted to Twitter by CBS Sports and retweeted by the Davidson swim team.

According to the complaint, the swim team member also said they were disturbed because the video went viral. They were also affected by local TV news coverage, according to the complaint. Channel 9 didn’t report on the athletes in their Speedos.

The athlete said the freshmen danced at the VCU basketball game “because I knew deep down we didn’t have a choice.”

The VCU game wasn’t the first time that athletes have been in Speedos in the student section. Back in 2019, Davidson College alumnus Steph Curry visited the campus and was spotted jumping into the student section surrounded by men in Speedos.

The team member says there were at least two separate occasions where they suffered injuries from team activities not associated with practice or competition.

Davidson College told the Observer that it was reviewing anti-hazing policies and auditing sports team traditions.

Jay Pfeifer, the media relations director for the school, told Channel 9, “Our Athletics Department leaders also are determining what actions will be taken.”

“The health and safety of every Davidson College student is our highest priority, and the College takes hazing allegations very seriously. We are prohibited by federal privacy laws from disclosing the names of the students involved,” Pfeifer said in a statement to Channel 9. “We have provided support to the members of our community who raised the concerns by connecting them with staff and resources from the Center for Student Health and Well-Being.”

According to Davidson’s student handbook, hazing violations are a Class 2 misdemeanor.

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