If zero tolerance truly means zero tolerance, then Harvard got it right.
The men’s soccer team has an abhorrent tradition of ranking student-athletes on the women’s team by appearance and assigning them ideal sexual positions in “scouting reports” uncovered by the student newspaper, The Harvard Crimson.
Reports of similar behavior from the men’s cross country team are now being investigated by the paper and school as well.
The comments and teams were vile, repugnant and repulsive.
It would have been easy for administrators at Harvard to brush it off or to levy minimal punishment because most of the documents were from the 2012 team, but after finding that the practice continued to today’s team, they didn’t.
The school suspended the men’s soccer team and barred it from any postseason play because of their actions.
It was the right thing to do.
In the past few months alone, stories of sexual assault and misconduct have dominated the media.
The presidential election and Republican nominee Donald Trump’s “locker-room talk” video brought it to the forefront.
[Related: Dismissing misogyny as ‘locker room talk’ perpetuates prejudice]
But before that, there was Stanford swimmer Brock Turner’s grossly insufficient sexual assault sentence and then there was the irresponsible cover-up with Baylor’s football program.
Zero tolerance is always the tag line, but rarely – if ever – is it truly enforced.
Stanford did. The school banned Turner from campus, the “harshest disciplinary sanction” it could impose on him.
The swimmer, who was convicted on three counts of sexual assault, was released after just three months in jail, but the school indicated that people like him were not welcome in Palo Alto, California.
Baylor didn’t make the same stand.
The school dragged its feet as long as possible until after a long investigation, the football coach, athletic director and chancellor either resigned or were fired after findings revealed they were negligent and fostered an environment that endangered female students.
Boosters and fans were outraged, not at what coaches and administrators had done, but at the possible effect on the upcoming football season.
Baylor’s Board of Regents was criticized for its attempts to bring back coach Art Briles despite allegations that his players gang raped multiple women while in Waco, Texas.
Last weekend before kickoff against rival Texas Christian University, Baylor fans sold shirts with #CAB in support of Briles while some coaches wrote the hashtag on their hands.
The administration had already failed women on its Waco campus, and by not admonishing coaches or shutting down the shirt sales, it has failed them again.
Taking a strong stance is not always the popular choice – especially with the expectation to win and bragging rights on the line.
Harvard’s men’s soccer team was first in the Ivy League and likely would have earned a spot in the NCAA Tournament before its suspension, but the team members’ own actions cost them.
In an op-ed, the Harvard women’s soccer team wrote about the “sad reality” of coming “to expect this kind of behavior from so many men.”
The reality is they, Brock Turner’s victim and the women at Baylor are all resilient, holding others accountable.
Because of them, the focus is now on getting rid of degrading practices.
By taking this step, Harvard is holding itself accountable and saying the reality is this behavior is no longer tolerated.