The chancellor of New Mexico State University announced the indefinite suspension of the men’s basketball program Saturday night after learning about a suspected hazing incident involving the team, ABC News reports.
In an example for a certain House committee chair on how to handle a reported assault on a sports team, Chancellor Dan E. Arvizu said he ordered the team to cancel Saturday’s game against California Baptist University, suspended the team’s future activities and put the coaching staff on paid administrative leave. The team returned to Las Cruces from their trip to Riverside, California without playing the scheduled game. Upon their arrival, school administrators required them to be individually interviewed by a team that specializes in investigating institutional reports of assault and hazing.
Although the details of the alleged incident were not revealed, Arvizu said in a state that “hazing is a despicable act. It humiliates and degrades someone and has the potential to cause physical and emotional harm, or even death. … Sadly, hazing can become part of an organization’s culture left unchecked. NMSU policy strictly prohibits hazing, in all forms, and it’s something we simply will not tolerate.”