A survey conducted as part of a University of New Mexico doctoral student's dissertation showed, perhaps surprisingly, that hazing among female student-athletes was quite prevalent. The study also found, perhaps not surprisingly, that most athletics administrators agree that hazing is a problem, but not at their institutions.

New Mexico visiting assistant professor Colleen McGlone, who received her doctoral degree in sport management earlier this year, conducted a Web-based survey in 2004 about hazing policies at individual institutions, the perceptions and prevalence of hazing practices, and the consequences of hazing. She surveyed athletics directors, senior woman administrators and more than 5,000 female Division I student-athletes in all NCAA sports.

McGlone said she became interested in the topic of female hazing after the media broadcast news of the "powder-puff football game" incident in suburban Chicago during which younger female students were beaten and showered with debris and feces by older female students. Some of the younger girls in fact were hospitalized. The episode inspired McGlone to start speaking confidentially with female student-athletes at New Mexico. What she found surprised her.

"We have this perception that this doesn't occur among women athletes," she said. "I was shocked by some of the things that I was finding out."

Those conversations motivated her to explore hazing among female student-athletes for her dissertation.

"My biggest question was 'what is the prevalence?' " she said. "Then I started going from there -- are there policies, do (the student-athletes) know the policies, and would they report incidences? Hazing is underground, and some of them never report this stuff. I was just trying to get a bigger picture of what's going on."

Nearly 1,100 Division I student-athletes responded, and about one of every two reported being hazed in some form. Slightly fewer student-athletes reported knowing about hazing on women's teams at their institutions.

McGlone said most administrators reported knowing that hazing occurred -- about 60 percent suspected it was happening -- though only about half had an incident actually reported.

"However, when I got down to the perceptions of hazing as a problem, both the athletes and the administrators say overwhelmingly that hazing may be a small problem in Division I intercollegiate athletics overall, but it's not a problem at their institution," she said.

The number of administrators and student-athletes who suspected hazing was occurring is small when nearly half of the student-athletes reported being hazed -- an obvious problem with perception. McGlone said that administrators are not in a position to deny that hazing is occurring.

"If somebody gets hurt, and the administrators say, 'I had no idea,' well, my research says a lot of them have some idea, and the athletes definitely know what's going on," she said. "It's all underground, and that's part of the problem with hazing."

Another issue McGlone identified through her research is that while institutions may have written policies, not all student-athletes are aware of them, and many schools don't even have definitive stances against hazing.

Alcohol-related hazing

Experts agree part of the problem is that hazing is not clearly defined. Occasionally, what coaches, administrators and student-athletes regard as fostering team cohesion or continuing traditions can be classified as hazing. Often, student-athletes don't feel they were hazed because they participated willingly. McGlone said that a student-athlete's compliance with the activity doesn't mean it's exempt from hazing status.

"By definition, hazing is any activity designed to harass, humiliate or embarrass, regardless of willingness to participate," she said. That definition also was used in the 1999 Alfred University study done in the wake of hazing incidents among student-athletes on that campus. Research there found that women student-athletes were just as likely to be hazed as their male counterparts, and that women were more likely to participate in alcohol-related hazing. A few brief questions in the most recent NCAA drug-use survey also found that female student-athletes were more likely to participate in alcohol-related hazing. The most recent NCAA survey, released in 2005, was the first to ask questions about hazing practices on campuses.

According to McGlone's survey, a little more than 20 percent of Division I student-athletes were subjected to alcohol-related hazing, which translates to about 11,000 student-athletes in Division I every four years. That percentage was surpassed only by what she termed as "mental hazing," which includes singing or dancing, practical jokes and being stranded or "kidnapped." Nearly 10 percent were subjected to physical hazing, such as being branded, tattooed, beaten, thrown in water or having their head forcibly shaved.

What shocked her most, though, was that nearly 6 percent were subjected to sexual-related hazing, including various forms of sexual harassment, actual assault or being expected to act out or simulate sexual activities. That percentage, McGlone said, was what actually was reported from a list of possible activities as having happened to the individual filling out the survey. But in qualitative questioning, students listed more incidents of sexually themed hazing, enough that McGlone believes the actual number of student-athletes subjected to that type is closer to 9 percent.

"That's just shocking," she said.

McGlone said she hopes her research helps push institutions -- and the NCAA -- into at least examining some practical applications.

"Both the NCAA and member institutions need to send a clear anti-hazing message by establishing clear anti-hazing policies specific to the athletics department," she said. Many administrators indicated a clear policy from the NCAA would help, while others indicated it might be considered overbearing. She also said increased educational programs among student-athletes, coaches and administrators also would help, particularly regarding the definition of hazing.

"What I think is hazing may not be what you think is hazing," McGlone said.

-- Michelle Brutlag Hosick