Read the latest post about President Monaco’s decision to overturn the suspension here: http://blogs.tuftsdaily.com/?p=5034
POST UPDATED THURSDAY AT 5:40 PM: In a letter to the men’s crew team posted on the website of the Office of the President, University President Anthony Monaco has announced that the team’s suspension has been overturned, and that the team will be allowed to compete in this weekend’s New England Championships. Read President Monaco’s letter here: http://president.tufts.edu/2012/05/letter-to-mens-crew-team/
POST UPDATED THURSDAY AT 11:28 AM: According to several people who heard or saw the text of the bias incident report that was filed, and wished to remain anonymous, the report stated that the shirts were offensive toward women and promoted a culture of rape and sexual aggression. Bias reports are generally made public on the Tufts Webcenter, but the most recent incident currently posted on the Webcenter occurred on March 31; Spring Fling was on April 28.
POST UPDATED THURSDAY AT 1:47 AM: According to Dean of Student Affairs Bruce Reitman, the recent suspension of members of the men’s crew team in response to their Spring Fling shirts was a decision made by the team’s coaches, not by the university. It was not a university judicial action or an action taken by the Dean of Student Affairs Office, Reitman said, and thus it will only affect the rowers’ participation in this weekend’s New England Championships, not their university standing. However, the Daily has confirmed that a bias incident was filed, and is still investigating whether the university played any role in influencing the decision to suspend the rowers.
ORIGINAL POST: Wearing matching, custom-made shirts to Spring Fling with your friends is all fun and games — that is, until someone gets offended. The men’s crew team has learned that the hard way.
Image originally from barstoolsports.com
After a student anonymously reported the team’s Spring Fling shirts as a bias incident to the Dean of Student Affairs Office, the rowers involved were suspended for this weekend’s New England Championships, the Daily has learned. Neither the novice nor the varsity squad will have enough eligible rowers to fill a boat, and therefore neither team will compete this weekend. In addition, both teams’ co-captains — two varsity, two novice — were asked to surrender their captain positions. The rowers’ suspensions will be lifted before next weekend’s ECAC Championships, the last scheduled competition of the season.
The tank tops in question have the phrase “check out our cox” written across the middle, a reference to the “coxswain” (pronounced coxun) in crew who sits at the front of the boat and gives instructions to the other rowers. Below the words is an image depicting four rowers in a boat and a coxswain in front of them who appears to be shouting directions.
Tufts Director of Rowing Gary Caldwell declined to comment on the situation, other than to say that “it’s an internal team issue.” The members of the team have written individual letters of apology, which they gave to Caldwell to pass along to the Dean of Student Affairs Office.
On Tuesday, the popular website Barstool Sports: Boston posted an anonymous reader email about the incident, which states, among other things, that “some feminist reported [the rowers].” However, the incident was reported anonymously. The email also states that “the dean said the picture was too phallic and promoted aggression and rape,” though it does not specify which dean is being referred to.
The Daily is still attempting to reach the Dean of Student Affairs Office for further comment. This post will be updated if and when more information becomes known.
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Suspending the whole team just for a slogan on a T-Shirt?!? This is absolutely asinine! The icon on the front of the T-Shirts of the guys rowing a regatta boat should be clear as the light of day to people of how innocent this slogan really is, especially because cox is short for “coxswain”. Why should a whole team get suspended and/or be forced to change their slogan just because afew uptight or dirty-minded individuals either misinterpret it, or choose to interpret it as being dirty. Also, one must bear in mind that no word is unclean unless someone thinks of it that way.
First all of, the group of guys (both freshman and varsity) I had the pleasure of meeting at a recent event have shown me that despite a few years of poor results, the character and quality of rowing is improving at Tufts. We’re seeing outstanding leadership from the (now defunct) captains and a Tufts boat favored to medal for the first time in 5 years. Do these student-athletes, whose dedication has brought them to this point in the season, deserve to get thrown under the bus (or rather, out of their most important event of the year) for this lone act, without the administration (or coaching staff) hearing a word from members of the team?
An education at Tufts is meant to teach everyone to think before they decide, to know the facts, hear arguments and defenses, and only then to judge. Here, we’re seeing a quick judgement without any discourse, and the coaching staff and administration has entirely failed to live by its own message.
As a former member of the Tufts crew team (from long, long ago), this makes me quite angry and embarrassed. I won’t even mention some of the slogan I saw on shirts back in the 80’s from the crew team and the swim teams, but this is pretty tame. I am a bleeding heart liberal, but there is such a thing as overreacting and fear that borders on cowardice and not leadership. Some response and discussion was certainly called for, but the particular response and the passing of the buck of responsibility and leadership is disappointing.
My open letter to the Dean and the Director on this matter: http://www.andysayler.com/output/CrewOpenLetter/
FIRE sent Tufts a letter about it. http://thefire.org/article/14451.html
“promoted a culture of rape and sexual aggression”
Proof?
We’ve “progressed” to the point where one anonymous person’s opinion can result in this, particularly at a top rate research university is a sad commentary on the state of things.
The appropriate response to that person should’ve been “you’re, of course entitled to your opinion, but as you are the only one who feels this way, why don’t you just not look at the shirt?”
There is all manner of potentially “offensive” material/behavior in the world. Get over it.
With sandor, except for the removal of the bias incident report and coach telling them it was to avoid punishment and making them write apology letters to nobody in particular.
It’s reactionary by a coach thinking he is protecting some rowers while he is just upholding a ridiculous school policy. I don’t fault him for anything besides a lack of forethought in seeing how silly a suspension is.
The **only** reason i can think of that the coach would uphold the regatta-suspension of the rowers is this:
The coach heard of the plans to make the shirts/wear them, and he (the coach) **directly** told those that were planning to be involved to **not do it under penalty of suspension**.
If we only have 1/2 the story, and the suspension was because of direct insubordination, irregardless of the nature of the jest (i remember a boat suspended for going out the night before a race – no for going out, but because beforehand they were explicitly told that the results of them going out would be suspension).
If this was simply a reactionary action by the coach because of the complaint, it is ludicrous.
I’ve seem women’s crew members wearing “We only do what our cox tell us” shirts… offensive? no. it is actually just the rule of the boat.
Does ANYONE think that the punishment for these rowers is up to par with what they’ve done?
Look, whether or not the Tufts administration doled out the punishment themselves or if the program director did it himself doesn’t matter. The fact is that these guys were punished explicitly as a result of these shirts. The administration can wash their hands of these events by saying “it was a coach that did it, NOT US” but the reality of the situation is the program director thought this was an appropriate punitive action ON BEHALF of the administration so they wouldn’t have to do anything about it.
It all makes me sick. It’s such blatant ass-covering and bureaucratic nonsense at the expense of these guys who just want to row. And one of those captains is a senior, who has rowed all four years at Tufts. Is this really fair?
The men’s rowing program is dying at Tufts, and they finally have a team that is making some wins. Let’s hope that this incident doesn’t send the team back to Square 1. Hope you guys can stay together despite this setback!
To Tufts: I love you, but I’m beginning to lose faith in how you handle difficult situations.
To the girl who reported this: It’s terrible that you were offended, but do you really want to ruin someone’s future because of a harmless shirt like this?
So, because one (1) person complains out of a student population of 5,400, that person’s opinion must be “respected” and given standing above all others?
The administration, including the coaches should be ashamed of themselves.
And the entire crew team should resign, leaving the boats empty for good.
Upset by this decision? Like this page for more information and to coordinate further activism:
http://www.facebook.com/SupportFreeSpeechAtTufts
Seriously? There is obviously a pretty pervasive trend of wearing a “team” t-shirt with thinly-veiled sexual humor to Spring Fling, but I fail to see how this particular one could possibly be offensive to anyone in attendance. Translation of the shirt: “Please look at my penis,” NOT “Rape is okay.” I wonder if the person who reported this, or the administration, even bothered to read the definition of a “bias incident” (”Bias Incident – any act directed against a person or property that includes the use of slurs or epithets expressing bias on the basis of race, color, national or ethnic origin, age, religion, disability, gender, sexual orientation, or gender identity and expression”). This is yet another incident demonstrating our lovely little culture of victimhood. Grow up, Tufts – not everyone is out to get you.
“Tufts believes free inquiry and expression are indispensable in attaining the goals of the university” (http://uss.tufts.edu/studentaffairs/handbook/campus/gatherings.asp)
…unless someone complains? It’s easy to claim to have ideals, Tufts. Quite frankly, this is an embarrassment.
I’ve seen much worse shirts from the Sororities. This is seriously ridiculous.
FIRE is on it. http://thefire.org/case/898