To the men of Harvard soccer and to the men of the world, we invite you to join us, because ultimately we are all members of the same team. Details about the men’s cross country team’s spreadsheets indicate that organized written evaluations of female athletes’ physical appearances have not been limited to the men’s soccer team. Last month, The Crimson published a story about the 2012 men’s soccer team, which produced an explicit document evaluating freshmen recruits on the women’s team on their perceived sexual appeal, prompting current and former members of the cross country team to discuss their own prior practices. Last Thursday, after the Office of the General Counsel reviewed the men’s soccer team’s “scouting report” and discovered that the practice had continued after 2012, Harvard cancelled the rest of the men’s soccer season. “We don’t want the school to find this, without us first bringing it to them,” Price wrote. “We know who they are,” the member wrote. We cannot change the past, but we are asking you to help us now and in the future. In an interview Thursday, before The Crimson reported information about the men’s cross country team, Faust said there have been preliminary discussions as to whether traditions like the men’s soccer team’s “scouting report” take place on other teams.
– When Harvard suspended its men's soccer team last week for the rest of the season due to an "appalling" system of ranking female players, one of the reasons the school gave for its harsh punishment was the fact that team members weren't exactly communicative and cooperative at first (the team as a whole has since apologized). Per Inside Higher Ed, the men on the school's cross-country team were obviously paying attention to the smackdown: Now members of that roster have come forward to admit to their own past spreadsheets (some containing "sexually explicit" remarks) describing female athletes and compiled each year before a dance held with the women's cross-country team, the Harvard Crimson reports. The cross-country team's documents included speculation as to which guys would get an invite to the dance from which girls, with some comments referring to the women's weight or other physical attributes. And per correspondence between alumni seen by the Crimson, even former and current team members acknowledge how bad past spreadsheets were, with one noting, "Hahaha dude 2012 was the absolute worst." Team captain Brandon E. Price, who on Saturday emailed the team to "come clean" about any female rankings, says the team has tamped down the lewdness since a 2014 spreadsheet the team was "particularly ashamed of." The school's athletic director says in a statement: "Harvard Athletics does not tolerate this sort of demeaning and derogatory behavior, and we will address any credible information we receive." (A response from some of the former female soccer players.)