The “Culture and Climate” of Boston University’s Men’s Ice Hockey Team

Over the course of six months, beginning in March and concluding in September, 2012, Boston University researched the “culture and climate” of its men’s ice hockey program and issued a self-commissioned report.  The decision to conduct such an assessment came after two BU male hockey players were charged with sexual assault.  The goal of the investigation was to determine if “systemic problems” existed within the program, as well as to ascertain if the program achieved “the same high standards” of the larger university community.

The self-described “thoughtful and impartial assessment” became the object of media interest subsequent to its release, both on the local and national levels.  Let’s see how different media organizations deconstructed the report differently.

 “Boston University hockey team has culture of 'sexual entitlement,' report says,” by Lisa Dillman, LA Times

Paralleling the alliteration used in the original report’s phrasing of “culture and climate,” Dillman begins with the alliterative phrase “sobering and straightforward” to describe the task force work.  Later, she calls again upon alliteration when pinpointing that the report declined to include particular details of student behavior “confined to confidential subcommittee reports.”

The article tends toward active voice verb tenses (“Fourteen recommendations were made by the panel” and “documents, which were obtained by the Globe on Thursday”).

Dillman uses parallel sentence structure to illustrate inherent contradictions in which “Jack Parker stepped down as athletic director but will continue as coach” and in which, when the task force asked him about particular reports of post-game celebrations, he “professed ignorance… but later acknowledging (sic) he knew of ‘a few guys drinking in the locker room.’” Interviewees revealed that “within days of the party, Parker reprimanded the entire team for its behavior” but “campus police did not find out about the party, nor did BU administrators.”

The article shifts focus early on and zooms into the “tone of the reports.” Repetition of specific terms sets the tone for Dillman’s own text. 

• She repeats the word, “salacious”(meaning “sensational” and “scandalous”), pointing to “late-night festivities,”  “sexual debauchery,” “adoring fans,” and BU’s upcoming “fund-raising campaign later this month.” 

•  She repeats the word “naked” in conjunction with “shooting pucks” and "drank from kegs in the locker room showers and took to the ice.” 
•  She repeats a comment from a student who attended the party: "It was insane. People were having sex in the penalty box."

It is not until late in the article that background of the task force work, which was initiated after “two BU hockey players were charged with sexual assault,” is discussed. Dillman refers to allegations about “special treatment for athletes” as “troubling, if poorly supported.” Near the end of the article, Dillman lists Parker’s foreseeable status at BU: he will alliteratively “continue as coach” and “earn the same salary.”

“Panel hits ‘culture of sexual entitlement’ at BU hockey,” by John Zaremba and Joe Dwinell, Boston Herald, Wednesday, September 5, 2012 

The authors of this Herald article, like Dillman, favor alliteration:  “hallowed hockey team,” but Zaremba and Dwinell differ considerably in its focus on the report in several ways. 

• They slow down the narrative and describe the two “Terrier hockey stars” who were charged with sexual assault.  The authors name both men and outline their subsequent judicial process (charges against “Nicastro were dropped in June” and “Trivino pleaded guilty in August to assault and battery and trespassing”).
•  They interrogate BU’s oversight history and include details about how the players in “near seclusion from the student body,” how “team members generally pull worse grades than other undergrads,” and how “nearly a third of the Terrier hockey team hits the ice already committed to an NHL franchise.” 
• They extend the recommendations to include “better integration of hockey players into everyday student life,” “new policies to ensure the school handles athletes’ discipline cases the same as it would for non-athletes,” and the need to “establish expectations and support structures for our student-athletes who play elite-level hockey.”

“BU making a bad situation worse,” by Brian McGrory, Boston Globe Columnist, September 07, 2012

 

In an opinion piece written for the same publication--- the Boston Globe--- that broke the BU report’s release, McGrory extends the summary of the report to comment on it. He compares the events on the BU campus to “football factories of the Midwest” where “blind pursuit of championships causes major universities to constantly stumble and fall.”

McGrory decries the report as “deeply embarrassing” and BU’s post-report decisions as “infinitely worse.”  He labels Parker’s sole sanction of loss of the “entirely meaningless title of ‘executive athletic director’” as contrary to the spirit of team sports, and he points to other teams who have risen to championship status “without criminal charges and controversies.”

Using the repeated phrase “he should have known” for emphasis, the author examines the culpability of Parker as coach and guide to the men’s ice hockey team players.  Parker “should have known” about:

•  “ the entitled culture in the classroom and with women” 
• “ the excessive drinking” 
•  “his players were acting like basic morons all across the campus.”

Returning to BU’s administrative responsibilities to the men’s ice hockey team and to its general student body at the end of the column, McGrory calls the response “muted, foot-shuffling” and includes the aphorism, “some cows will always remain sacred.” He says that the BU President, Dr. Robert Brown, “is now failing his school, sacrificing dignity in pursuit of another championship.”

Synthesis: These three articles take three different approaches to describing the release of the Boston University Report on its men's ice hockey team.  Located on the opposite U.S. coastline to that of Boston, the LA Times chose to focus on sexualized generalities in order to interest its long-distance readership.  The Boston Herald took a local perspective, giving names and identities to the two men whose violent actions became part of public sphere discourse.  And the Boston Globe columnist moved beyond the contents of the report to critically analyze the actions of the BU administration in light of the revelations.

The most interesting commentary of all on the BU report may be the lack of extended multiple media channel analysis and critique of BU’s “culture and climate.”  The story ran for a few days but did not receive sustained media attention.  For example, Glenn Ordway on WEEI’s sports talk radio program, The Big Show, allowed that, if the Bobby Valentine story wasn’t so important, they’d focus on the BU report more.  (Bobby Valentine, manager of the MLB team, the Boston Red Sox, had experienced a torrent of media criticism as the team foundered in last place in the American League east division.)

It seems that sexual assault and the report’s own determination that “a culture of sexual entitlement” may not be enough to capture the ire and rage of media channels.  If this is so, then the patriarchal forces that control much of the sports world are in sadder shape than ever.