Harvard 2022-23: What's Up?

[hab]

From bad to worse. Ridiculous. If it was my daughter in that situation, I would strongly advise her to leave the program and quite possibly Harvard and transfer if she wanted to continue playing hockey. The administration has to answer for this.

If it is true, and I am a bit skeptical, then the only way that the admin can answer for this is to have them truly embarrassed. The program should be shut down for at least a year, and the same should happen to other programs with similar tolerance for abusive behavior.

[Skate79]

https://www.espn.com/mens-college-ba...-resume-season

Incredible similarities, yet total hypocrisy coming out of the Harvard athletic administration. Apparently some "protected classes" play by a different set of rules.

Remember, its usually not the crime that gets people fired, but the cover-up.

Not sure what you mean by "protected classes". It's standard operating procedure at Harvard to go into denial mode until they can't. If more information continues to come out about the abuse, then they will have no choice but to take action. I doubt they would cancel the season at this point.

[thirdtime's . . .]

https://www.espn.com/mens-college-ba...-resume-season
Incredible similarities

Yes, great find, the similarities are not just incredible, they’re positively uncanny! Make room for the additional indictments!

If you want to feast on this sorry situation so be it, but show a little discipline when it comes to accuracy. Things are nasty enough as is, so we don't need lit torches and brandished pitchforks. The light of day, when it does come, promises to be stark enough.

[Nobody98]

Trillium's recent posts are on point! I'm adding my 2 cents as somewhat of an insider:

Stone's pets continue to defend her legacy for two main reasons:

1. Most victimized players refuse to talk about their experience to anyone who isn't in their circle of trust, including their favoured teammates, so in many cases the pets genuinely don't know about the negative experiences. Many players went through their college career knowing that some favoured player(s) had bad-mouthed them to Stone, resulting in irreparable damage to their Harvard experience and their hockey career, but they could never know exactly who said what, leading to paranoia towards their teammates which remains to this day. This is a major hurdle for reporters who continue to investigate the program.
2. As Trillium touched on, Stone tended to favour players with narcissistic traits, and those players will never consider that perhaps they didn't deserve Stone's favouritism any more her victims deserved to be punished. The myth of meritocracy is seductive when you are one of the haves. On top of their hockey experience, keep in mind that these recruited athletes just waltzed into the most prestigious academic institution in the world despite mediocre or sub-par academic credentials, where they joined a network of over-privileged young adults who understand that the key to protecting their privilege is to be loyal to the institution and protect the illusion that they've earned it. This is a recipe for having your head WAY up your own ***.

Trillium provided a compelling analysis of how Stone's career depended on early success owing to a small number of star players, but she failed to adjust to the changing landscape of the game. That analysis helped me to notice a remarkable parallel between Stone's career and her friend Digit Murphy, another coach who rode on the coat tails of Olympians in the years when having one or two superstars on the ice for half of the game was all it took to be successful. I'm not sure which is more surprising: that Stone lasted this long or that Brown listened to the athletes and pushed Digit out in 2011. Factors contributing to Digit's quicker downfall may have included her flamboyant volatility in contrast to Stone's more reserved demeanor, her difficulty recruiting top players to a less alluring academic institution, and dismal team performance in her final years at Brown (although Stone is following in Digit's footsteps on the last point).

Stone has an additional protective factor which Trillium touched on: her incredible success at garnering donations. An under-recognized aspect of Stone's favouritism is that some of it is linked to financial contributions of wealthy parents. Some kids likely would not have been recruited at all if it wasn't for their parents' donations. Presently, some of Stone's most vocal supporters are major donors, and it isn't lost on me that they have children who already have or soon will be on Stone's recruiting list if she isn't removed from her position. Hohler's article quotes one such supporter, Holly Johnson, as saying she hopes her child will play for Stone one day. One way to read that is "Stone is so great I would entrust her with my child". Another way to read that is "Stone is my child's ticket to Harvard and I'll do anything to keep her there". Recently, this same alumnus went to the trouble of writing a letter to the Globe, leaning hard into the meritocracy myth:

https://www.bostonglobe.com/2023/02/...me-under-fire/

Prowler Breath!!! The first 16 will embolden more. Aside from the culture of bullying, Stone's lack of concern for players' mental and physical wellbeing, and her losing approach to team building, there are a number of serious incidents which haven't surfaced yet. Some of these are being actively investigated by the university and by reporters. Stone bears ultimate responsibility for the culture because she is aware of everything (her pets make sure of it), but the players also bear responsibility as the ones who invent and propagate the details of their offensive and outdated hazing practices and inside jokes. I expect the program defenders will come to regret it.

[Skate79]

I'm not an insider to the program although I've met a few parents and players over the years. One such player is a former Olympian, and I had an opportunity to have a drawn-out conversation with her about her experience. She confirmed what Nobody98 related in his/her post; that there are favorites or 'pets' in the program and Coach Stone makes no secret as to who they are to the rest of the team. Curiously, this Olympian from what I could tell by her sharing this information was not considered a favorite of Coach Stone. She was pointed in her complaints about the favoritism, and I got the sense it didn't sit well inside the locker room with the "non favorites."

Mercifully the season will conclude either this weekend or if they are the eighth seed, the following weekend. I don't know what else will be revealed if anything, but it would seem that Harvard will have an uphill climb to continue to look the other way. The toothpaste is out of the tube so to speak.

I wonder if anyone has any insight into why we have not heard from AJ Mleczko, Jennifer Botterill, Angela Ruggiero, Nicole Corriero, or Sarah Vaillencourt?

[Steamboat]

I wonder if anyone has any insight into why we have not heard from AJ Mleczko, Jennifer Botterill, Angela Ruggiero, Nicole Corriero, or Sarah Vaillencourt?

Why would anyone want to wade into the swamp that is being exposed at Harvard? Yes, it is a good question, but what is the upside to those people getting involved right now?

[Skate79]

Why would anyone want to wade into the swamp that is being exposed at Harvard? Yes, it is a good question, but what is the upside to those people getting involved right now?

No question you're right; no one should want to get near this dumpster fire. Yet Julie Chu who was a prominent member of the program went on the record and I'm wondering if the players I mentioned (I should have included Jillian Dempsey who lives in the area and plays for the Boston Pride) were contacted, asked not to be quoted or even speak off the record. That's perhaps how I should have phrased it.

[thirdtime's . . .]

No question you're right; no one should want to get near this dumpster fire.

Yes, I think we have to leave the former stars alone. They are in an untenable position, either having to reimagine their mentoring as making them unwittingly complicit, or now, improbably, saying “Yeah. It didn’t seem right at the time.” No way out. The common denominator is the vulnerability of the young athlete, and this is the sadness of the current situation.

[Nobody98]

I wonder if anyone has any insight into why we have not heard from AJ Mleczko, Jennifer Botterill, Angela Ruggiero, Nicole Corriero, or Sarah Vaillencourt?

By process of elimination, it’s easy to guess the non-favoured Olympian you referred to…

Chu is well meaning but naive.

Vaillencourt supports Stone and was a bully, but her identity was never wrapped up with Harvard the way it is for many players and I wouldn’t expect more than a “thumbs up” from Canada from her.

Corriero is an active ringleader for defending Stone, but she is also a lawyer and I expect her to approach this cautiously and strategically.

The others are presumed supporters but keeping a low profile, I’d say wisely.

[Nobody98]

Yes, I think we have to leave the former stars alone. They are in an untenable position, either having to reimagine their mentoring as making them unwittingly complicit, or now, improbably, saying “Yeah. It didn’t seem right at the time.” No way out. The common denominator is the vulnerability of the young athlete, and this is the sadness of the current situation.

Meh. The old-timers aren’t young athletes any more. Their voices carry weight, as does their silence.

The “way out” would be openness and empathy for those who had a different experience. It can be simultaneously true that they had positive experiences while many alumni did not.

The past is the past, but refusing to seriously consider and make space for the experiences of others is what makes them complicit today.

[Still Eeyore]

https://www.espn.com/mens-college-ba...-resume-season

Incredible similarities, yet total hypocrisy coming out of the Harvard athletic administration. Apparently some "protected classes" play by a different set of rules.

Remember, its usually not the crime that gets people fired, but the cover-up.

The New Mexico State case has additional elements that are not present at Harvard, or pretty much anywhere else. One of the NMSU basketball players shot and killed a University of New Mexico student in December, after a game at UNM. The police ruled it a case of self-defense, but coaches and other players are in legal jeopardy for trying to conceal evidence, including the gun used, from the police.

[Skate79]

By process of elimination, it’s easy to guess the non-favoured Olympian you referred to…

Chu is well meaning but naive.

Vaillencourt supports Stone and was a bully, but her identity was never wrapped up with Harvard the way it is for many players and I wouldn’t expect more than a “thumbs up” from Canada from her.

Corriero is an active ringleader for defending Stone, but she is also a lawyer and I expect her to approach this cautiously and strategically.

The others are presumed supporters but keeping a low profile, I’d say wisely.

Thanks for the insights. I don't think there is a 'win-win' under any scenario that can materialize from this mess. I'm hoping that the women who suffered the abuse can find some peace and move on with their lives realizing there are bad apples everywhere and it's best not to ingest their poison.

I caught some of yesterday's game. I don't want to say that the team has quit entirely but mentally there are players who have clearly checked out. And this is the first time since the '97-'98 season that Brown has swept a season series from Harvard. Perhaps the final nail in the coffin.

[FiveHoleFrenzy]

Decided to take a look at the Yale and Harvard stream, mostly to get a look at Yale. Cheese and Rice, Harvard is truly awful. Literally standing around watching Yale control the puck in Harvard's zone. This game should be on running time.

[reggiedunlap9]

I'm sorry but losing 10-1 to your arch rival Yale tells me all I need to know. This team has completely checked out on its coach. Stone need to go and Stone needs to go now. I don't care if the playoffs start next weekend. Give Mirasola a chance to show Harvard what she can do as the head coach. It cant be worse than 10-1 . This is really embarrassing

[Skate79]

There's not much you can say after yesterday's debacle. Yale ran a power play for the entire game. Pellicci was hung out to dry by her teammates and as reggiedunlop noted, they have quit on Stone. Absolutely disgraceful. I know this will never happen but for the good of the program, they should forfeit next weekend. There is no need to add to the embarrassment. The Yale players were laughing both on the bench and on the ice. If Harvard chooses to show up next weekend, it will be nothing more than a JV scrimmage for Yale. If that. I'm not sure how any Stone supporter can continue to have her back after watching what unfolded yesterday.