Cornell’s Department of Athletics and Physical Education has placed the men’s lightweight rowing team on a three-year probation, according to a recently released report that found team members engaged in multiple acts of hazing during the 2025-26 school year.
According to the report, the team required first-year members and newcomer pairs to give presentations on assigned “humorous” topics “that became increasingly degrading and insulting.”
New team members were allegedly held in a basement and directed “to consume a concoction of alcohol and miscellaneous substances.”
New team members were also reportedly “pressured” during a team training trip “to be nude” while partaking in races and participate in “a group-sharing activity requiring team members to disclose personal and degrading information about themselves or others.”
Athletics placed the team on probation through Spring 2029, delayed its return to competition and has required several extensive hazing prevention education, leadership training and culture development programs.
The team was initially temporarily suspended on Feb. 4. A little over a month later, the team was granted a “phased return,” according to email correspondence between the team and Nicki Moore, director of athletics and physical education, obtained by The Sun.
“This development adds to prior concerns over the past year and reinforces the need for prompt attention,” Moore wrote in a February email to the team. “This pause allows the University to proceed thoughtfully, responsibly, and in coordination with campus partners.”
A member of the men’s lightweight rowing team told The Sun that the hazing allegations were "unreal" and “absolute lies.”
“The wording is very telling of either they don't actually know what happened or they are just ignorant, and to me, I don't even know which one is worse,” the team member said.
The member of the team denied all three of the listed allegations. He told The Sun that he participated in the team presentations when he was a freshman, explaining that they were meant as a way for the team to “get to know the freshman.”
He added that the team was “very, very explicit” that the activities were meant to be for the new members’ enjoyment.
He recalled that the upperclassmen told first-year students: “If you are uncomfortable at any time, please say something.” Some of the upperclassmen filled in for freshmen who did not want to participate in the activities, he said.
The member of the team also denied the allegation that the newcomers were forced to consume alcohol or other substances. He explained that the new members were placed in the basement, blindfolded and sorted into Hogwarts houses. The upperclassmen then “danced” with their respective houses, he said.
According to the member of the team, the event was designed to divide the larger freshman class into smaller groups to help teammates bond and get to know each other.
The Sun previously reported that it was unclear whether the team would be allowed to compete at the National Collegiate Lightweight Invitational, its season opener. When asked in March whether the schedule change was related to the investigation, the University did not respond to The Sun’s question.
The member of the team told The Sun that the team was not allowed to participate in that competition, and that six others were suspended from the Matthews Trophy and Leonard Cup.
The investigation also coincided with significant changes to the program.
“Our two captains and three or four of our seniors and juniors were dismissed from the team effective immediately and the rest of the juniors and seniors, majority of them, quit on the spot because they understood that this [was not] the team they wanted to be a part of anymore,” the team member said.
In a July 13 email to the Cornell rowing community obtained by The Sun, Moore announced the resignation of head coach Tyler Nase, noting that there is “a national search” to find the next head coach. Moore wrote that athletics administrators “will provide additional support to assistant coach David Tigerman.”
Four days after Moore announced his resignation, the University of Pennsylvania announced Nase as its next women’s rowing head coach.
“I cannot believe that we are at such a prestigious school where things like this can happen without any repercussions," the member said. “They can straight up just lie to the world about things that did not happen, and what, we are just supposed to accept it?”
The University did not immediately respond to a request for comment about how the investigation was conducted and the team member’s denial of the allegations.
Zeinab Faraj is a member of the Class of 2028 in the College of Arts and Sciences and a senior editor on the 144th Editorial Board. She was a features editor and assistant sports editor on the 143rd Editorial Board and can be reached at zfaraj@cornellsun.com.
