Harvard University's men's cross country team is drawing scrutiny for reportedly creating what was called a lewd "scouting record" of female athletes that is being compared to a similar report that got the men's soccer team suspended for the remainder of their season.
The cross country team's "scouting report" consisted of spreadsheets where the team added comments about the women's physical appearance, The Boston Globe reported.
The Globe wrote that the men's soccer team was canceled this month when a similar "scouting report" was reveal. Harvard President Drew Faust said that the soccer team's "behavior and the failure to be forthcoming when initially questioned" as a reason for ending their season, noted the Globe.
"Details about the men's cross country team's spreadsheets indicate that organized written evaluations of female athletes' physical appearances have not been limited to the men's soccer team," wrote the Harvard Crimson Sunday. "Last month, The Crimson published a story about the 2012 men's soccer team, which produced an explicit document evaluating freshmen recruits on the women's team on their perceived sexual appeal, prompting current and former members of the cross country team to discuss their own prior practices."
The New York Times reported that similar exchanges had continued with the soccer team into this year.
Harvard College Dean Rakesh Khurana told the Globe in a statement that he did not know about the cross country team's reported spreadsheet.
"I do know that culture and context matters in shaping individual, group, and collective behavior," Khurana said, according the Globe. "We must strive toward a culture and context of respect, dignity, and compassion — and all of us have a role to play in that work."
The Crimson reported that the cross country team's spreadsheets were revealed when team captain Brandon Price told coach Jason S. Saretsky about them. The spreadsheets were created annually before the annual dance with the women's team, wrote the school newspaper.
Harvard men's soccer team wrote an apology to the women's soccer team in the school newspaper last week.
"There are no excuses for our behavior, and all we can do now is take it upon ourselves to be an example of change for the better," the team wrote in its apology. "Our apology comes from a place of optimism and a willingness to advance an agenda of gender equality that is in line with the relationships that we want to cultivate. We take responsibility for our actions, and we accept the consequences that come from them and now focus on what we can do to move forward. We wholeheartedly promise to do anything in our power to build a more respectful and harmonious athletic field, classroom, and Harvard community."
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