University hazing is still a problem: researcher

Hazing continues to be a significant problem in Atlantic Canadian universities, according to a University of New Brunswick researcher.

Ryan Hamilton, a UNB graduate student and an expert on hazing in university sports, said hazing continues to be a significant problem in the region.

Hamilton, who even admits to having participated in the ritual himself, said his research shows hazing continues to be pervasive at universities throughout Atlantic Canada and that nearly all university athletes become victims of it.

Hamilton interviewed more than 300 athletes at seven universities in Atlantic Canada in the last four years.

He said drinking is a factor in the majority of hazings.

"Sixty-five per cent of athletes competing in the [Atlantic University Sports], at least according my study, have been hazed using alcohol," Hamilton said.

The university researcher said hazing continues to carry on because it is a tradition even if university administrations say they've done a good job of shutting it down.

"Tradition, I think, is a really convenient explanation," Hamilton said.

"At some point, teams and groups and culture have to question what traditions are. I think athletic institutions have to do that especially where hazing is concerned."

Student death

The issue of sports hazing came to light in New Brunswick when a St. Thomas University volleyball player died last fall after being at an on-campus hazing party.

The university suspended its men's volleyball team after the death of Andrew Bartlett, 21.

In December, Dennis Cochrane, the university's president, accepted a recommendation from an internal committee to suspend the team for the rest of the academic year for violating school rules by organizing the team party, at which heavy drinking and hazing took place.

The university launched the internal review after Bartlett's death.

Fredericton police discovered his body early the morning after the party.

A police report released concluded Bartlett had been drinking and later fell down some stairs at his Fredericton apartment building and hit his head.