In 1993, the national media directed their attention on Cache County's Sky View High School, where five football players bound a teammate, naked, to a towel rack.
Then they called in a female friend of the victim to see their handiwork.Nearly three years after one of the country's most publicized and litigated hazing cases, similar incidents seem to be on the rise among high school athletes in Utah.
There have been four sports-related hazing incidents in the past year, and Evan Excell, executive director of the Utah High School Activities Association, believes it may be time for the association to take some action.
- Ten days ago, five top members of the Hillcrest Huskies football team were suspended for their reported role in a hazing incident in the boys locker room during practice.
Principal Dennis Hansen wouldn't discuss the incident. Jordan School District spokeswoman Patty Dahl would say little except that the behavior was inappropriate, physical and threatening to three victims.
- Two Roy High School senior football players were kicked off the team recently after a group of sophomores complained they were humiliated during a hazing incident at a football camp this summer.
The seniors were accused of holding down the sophomores while one of them sat naked on their faces or the backs of their heads, said Roy Principal Dave Vanden Bosch. "They did a dumb thing at camp."
- And there have been two additional, little-publicized hazing incidents in the past several months.
"With this Hillcrest thing, I think it's something (the association) may need to look at. It seems to be getting more prevalent rather than less so," Excell said.
The high school activities association administers and supervises all interscholastic activities in the state. Several regional boards make decisions about leagues, districts, rules and eligibility.
Student disciplinary issues should be handled at the district level, Excell said, but the association can take a stand on eligibility penalties for some violations. In 1995, the association ruled that any student suspended under his or her district's safe-schools provision - carrying a gun, for example - would be ineligible for sports and other activities for nine weeks.
So even if the district's punishment were more lenient, the student couldn't play for nine weeks, he said. "I can see something similar to this happening with hazing."
The Sky View hazing incident divided the Cache County community. Coach Douglas Snow and many parents blamed the victim. National television magazines conducted interviews. The victim and his family received death threats.
"I think people thought it was an isolated incident. Deep down it waslike people thought, `Yeah, these kinds of things happen, it's part of growing up.' But ultimately, it stopped." Time has passed, and now it's happening again, he said.
After Sky View, Excell can't understand why all school districts didn't adopt hazing policies. A few have them, but most don't.
The superintendent of the state's largest school district signed an administrative order about initiation and hazing activities in December 1990.
Written by then-superintendent Loren Burton, the order expressed concern about reports of hazing behavior and warned Granite School District employees of the criminal and civil liabilities of allowing or participating in behavior that could be construed as hazing.
The district will not pay to defend staff members who endorse or participate in hazing activities, according to the order. The document said examples include: dunking in water, eating foreign substances, nudity and "foolish behavior that could result in injury."
Last week, two days after the Hillcrest incident, Granite's director of high school services sent a computer message to all high school principals reminding them of the hazing order.
"This situation is very unfortunate for all of those involved," wrote Barry Richards, former Kearns High principal. "Remind coaches and staff members to be sensitive and aware of what is happening on their teams, clubs and student groups, and put an end to any hazing activity before it begins."
Other states seem to struggle with the same troubles.
In Washington, the Walla Walla High School football team started practices this week without eight players who were suspended over a hazing incident this summer.
The suspensions occurred over a June 19 football camp incident in Boise in which older players cornered six freshmen players in a dorm at Boise State.
At least two of the freshmen reportedly had toothpaste smeared on their naked buttocks. They and other students also had their legs bound with underwear and their shorts yanked up, according to school officials, parents and an Ada County, Idaho sheriff's office investigation.
Fourteen other players were put on athletic probation for not reporting the hazing, according to the school's athletic director, Don Wilkins. They can play football this season but will lose that right if they take part in any other "inappropriate behavior," Wilkins said.
"They are not bad people, or bad kids, but they made some bad choices," Wilkins said.