Fallout from Monday's posting of pictures on the Internet allegedly depicting Northwestern women's soccer players engaged in hazing may have planted the seeds for change Tuesday.
A review of the NU athlete code of conduct, particularly focusing on the proper usage of Internet picture hosting sites such as Facebook.com, Webshots.com and MySpace.com, is "already being looked at," athletic department spokesman Mike Wolf said.
While the university cannot mandate that students should not use Internet hosting sites, Athletic Director Mark Murphy has advised coaches to have players exercise vigilance in what they post, according to Wolf.
NU men's tennis coach Paul Torricelli confirmed in an interview with The Daily that Murphy met with a gathering of the varsity coaches on Monday but declined to specify what was discussed.
"We have not ordered them to take pictures down," Wolf said. "With privacy laws and freedom of speech, we cannot tell them what they can and cannot do. We've just urged them to use caution."
Some coaches have already asked players to take down any photos from online hosting sites. Many football players, for example, no longer have pictures posted on Facebook.com.
"My guess is some coaches got the message better than others," Wolf said. "Mark (Murphy) has told the coaches that in light of other national stories, this is what can happen."
The athletic department also held a meeting with athletes at the turn of the month, according to Wolf, where "numerous issues were discussed." Wolf declined to elaborate.
A source who attended the seminar said assistant director of academic services Betsi Burns reviewed the school's hazing and drinking policies and warned players about what they say and post on the Internet. There was no mention of the women's soccer team, but the meeting was framed as a response on how to prevent a situation similar to the Duke lacrosse scandal from happening at NU, the source said.
The athletic department first learned from BadJocks.com publisher Bob Reno on Sunday night that he would be posting the photos of alleged hazing on the NU women's soccer team on his site Monday morning, Wolf said.
Murphy responded by announcing the indefinite suspension of the entire team, pending a Division of Student Affairs investigation of allegations that hazing took place at a party attended by several team members August 29.
Sixteen photos on BadJocks.com showed NU women's soccer players in what appear to be initiation rituals. Players could be seen in their underwear, dressed in costumes, blindfolded with their hands bound by athletic tape, consuming alcohol and performing sexually suggestive acts. There did not appear to be foul play.
The athletic department has told NU student athletes not to comment on the women's soccer team. Some teams have already met to discuss the incident, and others have meetings planned for the near future.
Men's swimming coach Bob Groseth said he and his team already have met since the news broke and that they discussed how to react to media inquiries.
"We don't want to exacerbate an already bad situation," Groseth said.
Still, some athletes have expressed sympathy for the soccer players.
"You can mess up, but if you mess up, sometimes the one time is going to count for a long time," NU junior and varsity swimmer Mike Alexandrov said.
Many team members have spoken with their families about the incident. Michelle Maxfield, who said she talks to her daughter Molly "all the time, about all sorts of thing in her life," has discussed the ordeal with the Communication senior but declined to comment on the alleged hazing.
Linda Lowey, the mother of Communication senior Tabitha Lowey, was on vacation when the story broke. Returning after 11 p.m. Monday, she did not hear the news until late that night. She has since spoken with her daughter but said she does not know what the school plans to do in response to the incident.
"I think (Tabitha) has some concern over this," Lowey said.
Reach Ben Larrison at blarrison@northwestern.edu and Zach Silka at z-silka@northwestern.edu.
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