Reacting to the Georgetown Controversy

By Alex Fox

​It was not a good weekend to be a Georgetown Hoya. You as the readers may or may not have heard the news that has surfaced over the past two days, but the Georgetown University is in the process of investigating two major claims against the track and field/cross country program. One investigation is centered around racial bias that allegedly exists within the program, while the other is concerned with accusations of hazing and inappropriate sexual assault and harassment. The second of the investigations is primarily centered around Georgetown’s men’s distance team. While college track has had some controversies, it is very infrequent that accusations like this surface around the sport, and because of track’s low profile in American sports, this story is not receiving much coverage.As a result of the inattention this situation has received, I will provide some details for context (I’ll provide links at the end where you can read full accusations if you so desire): The first accusations come from Georgetown junior Stefanie Kurgatt. Coming out of high school, Kurgatt was a high profile recruit, but since joining the Hoyas, Kurgatt has felt that because she was African American, her and other African Americans on Georgetown’s team have faced disparate treatment and their needs were not made a priority; in short, Kurgatt accused Georgetown’s program, top to bottom, of racial discrimination. The second investigation, which is looking into hazing and the like, involves a team end of season awards which include some sexual categories, a scavenger hunt with inappropriate incentives, sexual behavior between teammates, and hazing of freshman. I am not comfortable commenting on the racial bias accusations; I am a white male, and I realize that because of this, I am privileged. I do not know what Kurgatt has experience nor do I know what it is like to experience racial discrimination, and because of this, I am in no position to formulate an educated opinion about her accusations. I have faced discrimination (being Jewish in a small town doesn’t always end well), but it is not my place to pick a side in her argument. With that said, I do have very strong feelings about the accusations about Georgetown’s men’s distance team. I have run for a college team, and many of my experiences were similar to those depicted in the accusations. In this, I will detail how my freshman year running cross country and track was similar to what is described in the accusations about the Hoyas, and based on this, I will advise you to take the allegations with a grain of salt. 

 

​Before I begin my argument, I want to make one thing crystal clear: I am in no way condoning hazing or sexual misconduct. Hazing, whether it is physical or mental abuse, is not right. I go to a school with over 30 fraternities, and many of friends have joined them. Fraternities haze, and some of my friends’ experiences have shook me to the bone. There is no excuse to bringing a person to their physical and or mental breaking point, I do not care about tradition or ritual. I am especially opposed to hazing which involves alcohol; binge drinking is dangerous and I know through very real experiences that the consequences are haunting. I have no tolerance for hazing or sexual assault and harassment. With this in mind, based on what I have lived through and having read through the accusations, I do not believe that serious or damning hazing/sexual delinquency has occurred at Georgetown University. I do not know this for a fact and what I say should not be taken as such; this is my opinion, and you or anyone can react to it as they will. Before I go into the specific accusations, I want to bring in the background of these accusations: this is Georgetown University’s men’s distance team. Let’s start withthe fact that this is Georgetown University. For those of you who may not know much about the school, Georgetown is one of the most prestigious schools in the entire country; the school has a reputation of strict morals and strong academics in all departments. Moreover, Georgetown is affiliated with the Catholic Church, and religious values are prominent in the social and academic lives of the school. I visited Georgetown, and was impressed by the academic opportunity and the caliber of students that I interacted with, but ultimately was turned off by the religious aspects of the campus, which conflicted with my somewhat relaxed Jewish upbringing. So that’s the school as a whole, what about the men’s distance team? Georgetown’s distance squads, both men’s and women’s, have a long history of national prominence. While not dominating cross country, the men’s team has been especially strong in the mid to longer distances on the track, boasting names like Ahmed Bile, Ryan Manahan, Cole Williams, and others in recent years. This adds up to a self-selecting group of highly motivated individuals; if you are talented enough to earn an athletic scholarship from Georgetown University for track and field as a distance runner, you undoubtedly have other offers. Accepting an offer from Georgetown means you WANT to be a part of the social life, values, and academic rigor that is connected with being a student there. Finally, without trying to sound too biased,distance runners are almost always just the nicest people. I know there is no evidence to back up this argument, but I think we’ve all experienced this: distance runners are for the most part genuine and well intentioned. Is every single human who competes at a distance over 1500 meters going to be nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize? No, of course not, but I will say this: I have more distance runners whom I disliked because they were too nice (I’m talking makes you want to go crazy because they’re so nice) as opposed to distance runners whom I’ve disliked because they were nasty or mean. What does all of this have to do with the accusations? I simply do not think that the members of Georgetown’s distance team have the capacity to do what they have been accused of doing…or at least what we as outsiders might perceive. The evidence is damning without question, but I am confident that what appears to be inappropriate is actually harmless. Distance runners at Georgetown University are some of the last people I would expect to be cynical and abusive, and based on this; I seriously doubt that what they are being accused of is detrimental in its nature. I would like to reiterate that this is my opinion and I could very well be 100% wrong, but based on the context of the accusations; I have my doubts about if people were actually harmed by what has been surfaced. 

 

​Now that I’ve covered my bases on the background of my reservations, let’s talk specifics. My freshman year, I ran cross country and track at Muhlenberg College. There were initially four male freshmen on the distance squad, and Jarrett Felix was one of captains. Here is what I can tell with absolute certainty: 1) many of my experiences were uncannily similar to those described in the accusations at Georgetown University and 2) at no point in time at Muhlenberg did I feel uncomfortable, abused, or like I was being hazed. Let’s get into specifics. I’ll start with the “Snaxa Awards.” Part of the claims against the Hoyas distance runners are unsuitable honors being given to individuals at the end of the season and a sexually explicit trailer to accompany them. We at Muhlenberg had end of the season awards. Were they always flattering or “nice?” No. Were they taken as humorous and enjoyed by the entire team? Absolutely. When we had our end of the season awards, no one was offended or upset by what was said about them, because everyone understood what was being said. We were part of the team, and taken out of context, it could’ve easily been construed as inappropriate, but it was all in good fun to us. I’ll be honest, none of our awards were as explicit as those described at Georgetown, but ours were not PG either. That said, because the team understood and accepted the awards, no one was offended or hurt by our awards, and moreover, it was something we all enjoyed. What about the scavenger hunt? When the accusations against Georgetown first surfaced, pictures were released on Twitter depicting some of the objectives of Georgetown’s scavenger hunt (the pictures have since been deleted). If taken completely seriously, the tasks of the scavenger hunt appear to be wildly inappropriate…but also completely ridiculous. Without being graphic, some of the objectives did involve sexual content, but were also unrealistic and would not be taken seriously by anyone who took more than a few seconds to examine them and compare them to other objectives on the list. While I did not participate, Muhlenberg’s distance team also had a scavenger hunt. This event ended the year before my arrival due to an injury, but based on the several stories I was told, some of the things of the hunt were 1) inappropriate and 2) unattainable. Moreover, it was completely voluntary, and up until the injury, all of those who participated enjoyed what they were doing. Moving onto the hazing: in the pictures provided by the accuser, there is an email singling out freshman with a skit at the Snaxa Awards. By definition this is hazing, I won’t be cute about it for the sake of my argument. Definitions aside, look further into that email. While freshman were required to perform something (this performance seemed to me to be funny and lighthearted), other members of the team were encouraged to also take part. In addition, the email describes how past performances were enjoyed by those who took part; Ahmed Bile’s poems were specifically mentioned. So yes, freshmen were singled out at Georgetown, and by definition, this constitutes hazing. However, I did not find this singling out to be offensive or abusive, as the word hazing usually is taken to mean. I myself had a similar experience at Muhlenberg’s pep-rally freshman year. Two members of each sports team were required to perform a task in front of all fall sports teams at Muhlenberg. The men’s cross country team (as well as literally every other team) used freshman. Jaryd Flank and I, in addition to freshmen from the girls’ XC team, boys’ and girls’ soccer, football, etc., competed in a dance competition in front of about a hundred fellow athletes. Jaryd and I made it to the semi-finals, and as a result, I have a very fond memory, and built a strong friendship with Jaryd, and earned the respect of my teammates. Yes, by definition, I was hazed that night, and I wouldn’t trade it for anything. My teammates knew that Jaryd and I were comfortable dancing in front of strangers, and if we weren’t, they wouldn’t have asked us. Yes, I was singled out as a freshman, but only because I had the ability to handle being singled-out. I am confident that this was the case at Georgetown. Finally, let’s address the accusations of sexual indecencies. This is not easy to describe, and I do not want to come across as offensive or dismissive as I write this. I am sure that some sexually explicit acts occurred in the locker room at Georgetown. Simply put, that is what happens when a bunch of guys in their 20s shower together. That sounds much worse than it is. While this may sound uncomfortable and undesirable, what occurs in a men’s’ locker room is not meant to be abusive or harmful, but is crude humor. A lot of seemingly inappropriate stuff happened around and to me while in the locker room at Muhlenberg, and I can say with 100% honesty I never felt uncomfortable. Heck, I gave it right back to the guys! I experienced this sort of thing because my teammates knew I was comfortable with it. If I was not okay with anything, it would not happen, and my teammates who did not want to participate in the “boys will be boys” behavior were never subject to it. To an outsider, this may not sound innocent, but I assure you, it was no way wrong or damaging. Taken as a whole, none of my experiences as a freshman on a collegiate sports team made me feel the victim of hazing or abuse, despite how it may appear to an outsider. I believe that what I have describe should be seriously taken into consideration when analyzing the accusations against Georgetown.

 

​There it is: I believe that Georgetown is innocent. Did things go down? Absolutely, and I acknowledge this fact throughout this piece. However, based on what I know about Georgetown, their distance program, distance runners in general, and my own personal anecdotes, I do not think these accusations should illicit in punishment of the team, because I do not think what has occurred is damaging in nature. Once again, what I have written is completely my opinion, and I could be completely wrong. I hope you will take the time to understand the allegations against Georgetown’s track team, and use what I have written to formulate an informed and unbiased opinion of the developing situation. The links to the accusations are as follows: 

http://exposegtowntrack.blogspot.com/

http://georgetowntrackandfieldexposed.blogspot.com/