Western Kentucky University swim team hazing scandal

WKU is a public university in Bowling Green, Kentucky, whose swimming program had been noted for a history of success over several decades, including training one Olympic gold medalist.

In January 2015, Collin Craig, a former member of the team, filed a report with the Bowling Green Police Department alleging several incidents of hazing that he had experienced the previous year as a freshman.

Following a search of a house in which Craig said the incidents took place, the police charged one swim team member with possession of cannabis and drug paraphernalia.

The coordinator found a culture of hazing dating back several years which the coaching staff had been aware of but had not directly addressed in a consistent manner.

[1] According to multiple sources, the university's swimming and diving programs had, by the 2010s, developed a "rich history"[2][3] that included numerous consecutive winning seasons and conference championships for both the men's and women's teams.

[15] Craig also told the police that he had witnessed the sexual assault of a drunk female recruit and that a false accusation of rape had been threatened against him.

"[14] In addition to notifying the police, Craig also submitted a formal complaint of sexual harassment to Huda Melky, WKU's Title IX coordinator and equal opportunity employment (EEO) director, via letter on January 7.

[12] Melky and Joshua Hayes, the university's Title IX investigator and EEO assistant director, then had a telephone interview with Craig and his father on January 19.

[17] The house, located in Bowling Green, had been occupied by various members of the swim team for several years and had a reputation as a place where large parties occurred.

[17][18][19] In late February, the BGPD showed Melky and Hayes the picture boards they had obtained, after which the two initiated a Title IX investigation into the matter.

[12] The investigation also revealed that the swim team's head coach Bruce Marchionda had been aware of the hazing since at least the spring of 2012,[20] as evidenced by an email he had received from a former swimmer, but had enacted inconsistent disciplining that, by design, did not impact the program's ability to compete in championship meets and other competitions.

[21] On April 14, in direct response to the Title IX investigation, the university announced that the men's and women's swimming and diving programs would be suspended for five years.

[22] On April 22, Marchionda released a statement addressing the decision, stating in part, "With the clarity that only hindsight can afford, I accept the criticism that more supervision over the team members' personal conduct outside of Program activities should have been in place.

[28] That same month, Schwingenschlögl, who had earned All-America honors at WKU and was training to compete in the NCAA Division I men's swimming and diving championships,[9][11] announced that he would be transferring to the University of Missouri.

[30] In addition to current swimmers and divers, Zach Apple and Haley Black, two high-profile recruits who were planning to attend Western Kentucky prior to the scandal, instead enrolled at Auburn University.

[26] Following the department's closure of the case, Vanessa Cantley, an attorney representing Craig, expressed disappointment that the police had made no arrests under a 2008 harassment statute that addressed hazing.

[13] However, on October 2, 2015, multiple news sources reported that Craig had filed a federal lawsuit in Bowling Green against the university, several athletic officials, and former teammates, over the alleged abuse.

[32][33][34] Specifically, the lawsuit named Stewart, Marchionda, Thomas, associate athletic directors Craig Biggs and John McCammon, and former teammates Tyler Gorneck, Harrison Griffin, and Seth Musser, as defendants.

[32] Pertaining to the coaches, the lawsuit states that Marchionda "created a culture of silence and encouraged swim team members not to disclose wrongdoing", while the administrators were accused of not providing support for athletes per NCAA and university guidelines.

[28] In October 2017, a spokesperson for WKU stated that the university "will evaluate the return of the swimming and diving program closer to the expiration of the five-year suspension".

[43][44] In the late 2010s, SwimSwam published several opinion pieces addressing the issue,[45] saying that the problem was "almost reaching epidemic levels in the sport of swimming over the past few years".