CMS Men’s Swim and Dive Workforce Investigated for Misconduct, Briefly Suspended

The Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (CMS) males’s swim and dive group was briefly suspended final week as they underwent an investigation by the Claremont McKenna College (CMC) Office of Civil Rights into “some concerns” concerning the group’s tradition, in response to an e-mail from Coach Charlie Griffiths obtained by the Independent.

The short-term suspension arose from a criticism made by a black member of the swim group to CMS athletics in mid-October concerning the habits of teammates. The criticism reportedly cited the title of a Clash Royale clan, “Ben Higgers,” that members of the swim group belonged to, and extra in-person commentary made by some swimmers, together with referring to one another as “Nate,” or “Higger,” an allusion to the spoonerism “Nate Higgers.” The complainant has since stop the group and moved out of the dorm room he beforehand shared with a teammate.

After receiving the criticism, CMS Athletics engaged Claremont McKenna’s Vice President for Human Resources and Chief Diversity Officer to seek the advice of. The males’s swim and dive group was briefly suspended, and employees from the CMC Office of Civil Rights carried out interviews with every males’s swim and dive group member, ultimately advising that the group stay underneath suspension “so that each member of the team can reflect.” The investigation additionally sought details about a number of alleged derogatory remarks made by particular person males’s group members about girls, together with members of the CMS girls’s swim and dive group. 

Early this week, the vast majority of the group was again to observe. Lifting the suspension was contingent on every group member offering statements on “the impact of their and their team’s actions and how they plan to contribute positively to the team’s culture.” Sources acquainted with the state of affairs informed the Independent that two to a few members of the group stay underneath danger of additional punishment, together with attainable season-long suspension.

Members of the group may even be required to “partner with the coaching staff, CMS administrators, and campus partners” to create a curriculum round “recognizing, intervening, and responding when behaviors do not align with community standards,” in an effort to “promote lasting culture changes.”

Men’s group members whose “satisfactory statements” are permitted will probably be permitted to attend their Nov. 15 meet in opposition to CalTech, the place some Claremont college students are reportedly planning to protest the group.

This is the second incidence of an investigation into CMS swim and dive lately—in 2019, following the invention of the “Stag Survival Guide,” CMC decided group members exhibited “inappropriate” conduct that “justified the assignment of mandatory educational programming for the teams.”

Representatives from CMC and HMC did not respond to a request for comment.

Dhriti Jagadish and Arjun Vohra contributed reporting.