The Claremont-Mudd-Scripps baseball team (13-8-1, 6-6 SCIAC) was not allowed to practice or meet all week, and will miss three games this weekend as the CMS athletic department and its member schools continue to investigate potential hazing and conduct violations that may have occurred at a team talent show last Saturday night.
The actions, which are being reviewed for violations of the hazing policy and student codes of conduct, occurred Saturday evening at Claremont McKenna College, according to an email sent Monday from CMS interim athletic director Mike Sutton and the vice presidents of CMC, Scripps College and Harvey Mudd College.
The incident involved the team’s annual senior-organized “talent show,” in which first-year players typically perform talents for the rest of the team, a baseball team alumnus told TSL via message. The alumnus, speaking on background because he did not want to represent a team he is no longer a part of, said he heard “no one was hurt or in danger, but it sounds like [security] was nearby and felt obligated to intervene.”
All CMS baseball activities were canceled for the week as the department “gather[ed] facts and details of the incident to determine the appropriate response,” CMS’ email said.
Team captain Zach Clarke CM ’20 declined to comment on the team’s suspension. Other team members and alumni also declined to confirm details about Saturday’s events.
The team (13-8-1, 6-6 SCIAC) has won six of its past nine outings and had to cancel three games against Willamette.
This marks the second team suspension in the past two school years for CMS Athletics. Both the men’s and women’s track and field teams were suspended last February while the department investigated potential conduct violations, including the alleged assault of a student employee at Pomona College’s Rains Center. The men’s team was eventually barred from competing in three meets and select women’s team members were banned from one.
This article was last updated April 5 at 12:55 a.m. to add information about the team’s “talent show.”