An investigation is underway at a university in Vermont, where there are allegations of branding and waterboarding within the women’s rugby team as part of a hazing ritual.
Northfield Police Chief John Helfant said law enforcement obtained evidence of the hazing on Friday at Norwich University, a private military school, via search warrants for two dorm rooms and electronic devices, according to the Barre Montepelier Times Argus.
Officers questioned students in a conference room as opposed to meeting them in their dorm rooms, which Helfant stressed goes against “the established past practice,” which the report said had been to interview students in their rooms with campus security present.
“There are a host of issues which this presents for law enforcement,” he said.
Daphne Larkin, the director for media relations at the university, insisted the university has been cooperating with the local police department regarding the investigation.
“Norwich University is subject to federal student privacy laws and other restrictions on what it may disclose. Sometimes, law enforcement officials become confused about the extent to which we may respond to their requests,” Larkin said in a statement.
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Police responded to reports of a person being held at knifepoint, officer Karie Tucker said in her affidavit from March 20, according to the report. An unnamed female student had been found intoxicated by a urine-soaked window along with a knife and her cell phone, according to court documents.
Two days later, the victim told Tucker that she had been intoxicated and grabbed her knife to threaten someone who she believed came into her room, according to the affidavit. The female student was unclear about the outcome due to being intoxicated, per the court documents.
Tucker was informed by the girl that she had been “branded” with pliers and a lighter and gave consent to having her cellphone searched for evidence, according to the affidavit. Tucker said that she viewed a Snapchat video showing the girl holding a chair down while another girl poured water over the face of a girl who was wearing a washcloth, according to the affidavit.
Based on the video footage that Tucker watched on the girl’s phone, the officer described what happened as “waterboarding,” according to the affidavit.
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The Washington Examiner reached out to the Northfield Police Department and Norwich University for a statement but did not receive a response.
