After giving a presentation Sunday evening to athletic director Peter Baxter, interuniversity sport coordinator Wally Gabler, and vice president of Student Affairs David McMurray, the Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks men’s baseball team was given the green light to continue the rest of their season.
The Hawks were suspended last Thursday following a hazing incident that occurred at a rookie initiation party over the previous weekend. The suspension lasted four games, all of which took place over the weekend.
Laurier gave the student athletes the chance to make an appeal Sunday night in a presentation, outlining their values as a student athlete and what they will do to rectify the situation.
It was announced Monday afternoon that the team would be allowed to continue their season.
“For me it’s been tough,” co-captain Ian Fillion said. “I’m obviously regretful for my actions and I apologize for them. Being a co-captain it’s my responsibility to make sure the team operates in a respectful manner and I apologize that that did not happen.”
The team outlined activities they will participate in to acknowledge individuals about the negative aspects about hazing, including being a part of the university’s peer-to-peer education programs, getting involved in the community, further developing the code of conduct, making new team-building traditions, and mentoring support.
“We’ve learned a lot about each other this week,” co-captain Brett Van Pelt said. “We’ve been together every day for hours on end working on this project. We’ve been eating meals together while working on this project. We’ve literally been a big family this week.”
Baxter also addressed that the incident involved no criminal activity.
The Hawks now have six games left in their season. They currently sit at 4-8 after being handed four forfeits over the weekend.
“We’ve got just as good a shot as those teams to continue to make the playoffs. It’s something that’s definitely still in the forefront,” head coach Scott Ballantyne said.
The Hawks will practice tonight for the first time before battling the first-place Brock Badgers tomorrow.
