Eight college volleyball players at SUNY Geneseo – including one local athlete – are facing charges of first-degree hazing and unlawfully dealing with a child after allegedly forcing the youngest team members to drink alcohol, according to a report published Sept. 7 in the Irondequoit Post.
According to the report, the young team members were allegedly blindfolded, handcuffed and forced to drink alcohol by 11 older current or former team members at an off-campus party on Sept. 2.
Carissa Gagliardi, 19, of Wantagh is among those facing charges, and is due in court on Oct. 9. Gagliardi, a Wantagh High School graduate, is a junor defensive setter for Geneseo. She is one of four from Long Island charged in the incident along with Noelle Morrison, 20, of Stony Brook , Laura Rahab, 21, of East Northport and Megan Johnson, 19, of Moriches.
According to the New York State Penal Code, hazing in the first degree occurs when "in the course of another person's initiation into or affiliation with any organization, he intentionally or recklessly engages in conduct which creates a substantial risk of physical injury to such other person or a third person and thereby causes such injury." Hazing in the first degree is a class A misdemeanor.
The Post reported that Geneseo police began investigating the incident after an 18-year-old player on the team was taken to NOYES Memorial Hospital for treatment for alcohol poisoning.
SUNY Geneseo administrators said via a statement on its website that the college is cooperating with the police investigation and has canceled the team's practices, games, and upcoming tournament.
The college also said: "Hazing is not only a violation of college policy but is a crime under New York State law. We reinforced this with all of our students and their parents all summer long during new student and parent orientation and devoted considerable time to the topic at a recent mandatory meeting for all student-athletes. Unfortunately, as we have seen from a number of news reports already this fall, hazing is a widespread problem in higher education and students far too often fail to heed our messages about the consequences of such acts."
IF ANYONE ONE OF MY KIDS WERE REPOSNSIBLE for someone getting alchol poisoning I MYSELF WOULD USHER THEM TO THE POLICE STATION and DEMAND that they beheld reposnsible as well i would KICK their ASS OUT OF SCHOOL AND DEMAND THE SCHOOL DO THE SAME> There MUST be Standards that we expect our children to be held to I dont know about you but as a MOTHER I never made an excuse for my kids behaviour they do the crime they do the time so to speak. You can make as many excuses for these half heads but the fact remains they participated and should be held accountable Make excuses for your kids and they will grow up to be USLESS excuse making adults where nothing is EVER their fault it is always someone elses. Your excuse is much the same as a rapist- SHE asked for it ? You are in my opinion a fine example of WHAT NOT TO DO as a parent. MAKE EXCUSES- Our parenting styles are VERY DIFFERENT- Mine produced two very responsible educated highly respected senior executives in their fields. Lets see what your parenting skill sets produce in the future.
If someone was getting reckless and i didint know them then i would speak to the bartender or the manager or even one of their friends and say hey dont you think this is getting out of hand and this isnt safe? Again thats where we differ. Again how old are you- i suspect a teenager, possibly a friend of the idiots, soon to be expelled criminals.
Please keep things civil on the comment thread. Thank you. -- Matthew Hogan Associate Regional Editor
They jeopardized the life of these freshmen and deserve the appropriate consequence.
"if you stand with a group who is doing something wrong or illegal such as bullying or hazing, you are as guilty as the worst offender because you are giving them strength by standing with them." You summed it up perfectly - well said.