DAILY LOBO new mexico
The Independent Student Voice of UNM since 1895
THURSDAY August 21, 2014 | Volume 119 | Issue 5
Correia: ‘dropped charges justify protest’ By Daniel Montaño
Sergio Jiménez / Daily Lobo / @SXfoto
New Mexico women’s soccer Head Coach Kit Vela awaits questions from the media at the Tow Diehm Athletics Center on Wednesday. UNM Athletics Director Paul Krebs confirmed at the press conference that the team did commit acts of hazing.
Details of hazing incident emerge By Thomas Romero-Salas The New Mexico women’s soccer team did commit an act of hazing while attending several parties Sunday night, UNM Athletics Director Paul Krebs confirmed. During a nearly 40-minute press conference Wednesday, Krebs and head coach Kit Vela discussed the incident, which allegedly involved underage drinking and freshman players being sprayed with “soap and water.” Krebs said the incident involved the entire women’s soccer team, but that none of the players were forced to drink. The Athletics Department cancelled the team’s season opener at Texas Tech due to the investigation. Krebs said the team is going through a hazing education program and that some of its upcoming practices will be repurposed for community service. As for other sanctions, Krebs said everything is still on the table, including: canceling the season, suspensions or expulsion from the University. However, the Dean of Students Office would decide whether a student should be expelled from UNM. “There is absolutely no place for hazing at the University of New Mexico or anywhere in athletics. It is wrong,” Krebs said. “I think anybody who thinks that it builds teams or [adds] any value to it is sadly mistaken.” Krebs said he wanted to use Wednesday’s press conference, originally intended to be the women’s soccer media day, to give an update on the situation. Rob Burford from the Dean of Students Office and Breda Bova, the recently retired faculty representative and professor in the college of education, are continuing their investigation, which began on Monday, Krebs said.
On Tuesday the team was confined to one area and met individually with Burford and Bova, who asked a series of questions to discover the details of what happened during the incident. Krebs said he briefed the women before the interviews and told them that if they weren’t cooperative and honest that the punishments they received would be more severe. “I think at this point, I want to tell you that these are good young women in our program. They’ve made a mistake. They’ve made a big mistake,” Krebs said. “They’ve damaged the reputation of the University, they’ve damaged the reputation of the soccer program, they’ve damaged the reputation of the athletics department and they’ve damaged their own reputations.” Local television station KOBTV reported that, in addition to the women consuming copious amounts of alcohol, freshmen were forced to strip naked and were sprayed with urine. Krebs emphasized those reports were inaccurate. “Based on every interview we’ve had, I feel confident, based on all the information that I’ve had, that there was no nudity involved,” Krebs said. “The allegation that there was urine sprayed on the women on the team is absolutely not true.” However, Krebs said the women were sprayed with “a liquid that when you go to a gas station you clean your windshield with.” At one point during the night, the women did switch from street clothes to just undergarments, Krebs said. He added that no one on the team tried to intervene. “I’m still trying to get my arms around (the situation) as well,” Vela said. “I’ve not been part of the
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Soccer page 6
UNM Hazing Outline As part of its compliance procedure, UNM requires student-athletes to sign a statement of understanding about hazing before allowing them to take the field. The statement describes what hazing may involve. • Any initiation activities where some team members subject others to ridicule. • Forcing an individual to consume alcohol or illegal substances. • Forcing an individual to eat objects that individuals would not eat otherwise. • Forcing the shaving of an individual’s body parts, or any other cosmetic alteration. • Pressuring individuals to engage in any illegal acts, public humiliation, public degradation, or any other public or private acts that are perverse. This includes pranks, theft, etc. • Awakening individuals during normal sleeping hours. • Forcing individuals to participate in any activities, such as extra workouts, that they do not endorse. • Physical abuse or other abuse to the body, such as marking or defacing an individual’s body with mud, paint, etc. • Psychological abuse, such as verbally ridiculing individuals or belittling them. Source: UNM Athletics Department
The City of Albuquerque will not pursue charges against UNM Associate Professor David Correia, according to court documents. Correia was charged with felony assault against an officer after being arrested while participating in a July 2 sit-in protest at Mayor Richard Berry’s office. The protest was in response to the 27 APD shootings since 2010. Kayla Anderson, public information officer for the Albuquerque District Attorney’s Office, said the charges were dismissed without prejudice, meaning charges can be filed in the future. The District Attorney’s Office is still reviewing whether they plan to refile charges, she said. The paperwork to forgo filing charges was submitted on Aug. 5, according to court records. However, Correia said neither he nor his attorneys received notification. Correia said he is pleased that they stopped pursuing charges, but he thinks the District Attorney’s actions prove that there was no evidence to convict him in the first place. “The truth of the matter is at the end of the day, if they had any evidence to convict me on that, they would be pursuing prosecution,” he said. “They don’t have that and this is acknowledgment that these charges have always been without merit.” Chris Banks, a local activist who was at the protest, said Correia was unjustly arrested and that charges should never have been pressed against Correia in the first place. The protesters were a peaceful delegation that wanted to speak with the mayor regarding APD violence, he said. When the group entered the mayor’s office, they were confronted by a plain-clothed officer who initiated contact with Correia while
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Correia page 6
File Photo / Daily Lobo
UNM professor David Correia speaks at a vigil for APD shooting victim Armand Martin on May 4. Charges against Correia, stemming from his arrest on June 2, for allegedly assaulting a police officer during a nonviolent sit-in at the office of Mayor Richard Berry, were dropped.