Endicott College has banned the Danvers boys’ hockey program from using its arena in Beverly after allegations of violent, racist, and homophobic behavior by members of the 2019-20 varsity team were reported by the Boston Globe.
In an email to the Endicott community Monday, the school told students and faculty it decided not to renew the facilities contract after learning Danvers officials attempted to shield the public from the alleged inappropriate behavior.
Endicott said “both the allegations and lack of transparency are in direct conflict with Endicott’s values and commitment to community.”
Danvers has practiced and played games at Endicott’s Raymond J. Bourque Arena since it opened in 2015. The rink, named after former Bruins star Ray Bourque, is where the alleged incidents took place.
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On Monday night, civil rights leaders, elected officials, and Danvers residents decried school and police officials over the allegations facing members of the team, whose coach was a prominent Danvers police sergeant.
Longtime school Superintendent Lisa Dana was a target of the outcry, as board member Robin Doherty called for her to be placed on immediate leave, while others said anyone responsible for the district’s handling of the alleged misconduct should resign.
A member of the 2019-20 hockey team told the Globe that he reported to police, school officials, and a special investigator that two teammates physically restrained him while another repeatedly struck him in the face with a plastic sex toy because he refused to shout a racial slur in one of the all-white team’s locker room rituals.
The rituals were allegedly known on the team as “Hard R Fridays,” the “R” referring to the final letter of the n-word.
The player said he also reported that a player touched him inappropriately after the team stripped naked and turned off the lights during a locker room ritual known as “Gay Tuesdays.”
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The police sergeant who coached the team, Stephen Baldassare, has denied knowing anything about the locker room behavior or offensive texts, according to town officials.
Bob Hohler and Michael Silverman contributed to this report.
Read more about this story
- Danvers fights efforts to expose high school hockey team’s alleged misconduct
- Danvers community calls for action from leaders in response to boys’ hockey team allegations: ‘Please step down’