College responds to incident of animal cruelty
Sometime over the course of the week of Sept. 12, two freshman Wofford baseball players were dismissed from the team for animal cruelty and violating team rules. Reports are that one of the players, assisted by a teammate, tied a shoe string around the neck of a hamster and swung it around at a party.
The incident reportedly happened on-campus during the second session of summer school, when athletics teams often spend considerable time training in preparation for their seasons.
The baseball program appears to be handling the situation, dismissing the two players from the team. The Dean’s report at the Sept. 20 Campus Union meeting reported that the incident is under investigation.
On Sept. 20, the Office of Marketing and Communications also issued a joint statement with the Athletics Department and college administration on the matter:
“Wofford College is investigating an incident of animal cruelty involving students. The investigation is in its early stages, but two students have been removed from an athletics team and more disciplinary action could occur. Pets and other animals are prohibited from residence halls with a few exceptions, including approved emotional support animals and service animals. The college’s code of student rights and responsibilities emphasizes integrity as its highest value, and members of the campus community are expected to be honest, trustworthy, responsible and honorable.”
Roberta Hurley, vice president and dean of students, further clarified that the two students withdrew from the school, and were, consequently, not expelled. Their withdrawal precluded the college from taking further judicial action on campus.
Initial news of the incident circulated on the anonymous social media app Yik Yak, with more details trickling in over the course of the week, and the whole campus only becoming aware around Sept. 16 and 17.
A further incident between one of the offenders and another student occurred at RJ Rockers brewery in downtown Spartanburg on the night of Sept. 16. Comments made by several students directed towards the offender about the incident reportedly set him off, and he became verbally and physically confrontational.
“The person in question…I saw him in RJ’s walking through, and I said, ‘You’re the guy that killed the hamster?’” an anonymous Wofford student reccounted, “And he said, ‘I just lost my scholarship over this. It’s just a rumor; I didn’t do it.’ Well it turns out it was not a rumor, it is confirmed.”
The student stated that a video of the initial incident with the hamster was recorded, and they saw a screenshot of the video showing the animal being abused.
A number of additional, unsubstantiated allegations have circulated on social media and through word of mouth. Such discrepancies include whether the hamster was bought for the sole purpose of killing it or whether it was someone’s pet, as well as the allegations that the students doused the creature in alcohol and named it a racial epithet.
It should be noted that despite the horrific, core facts of the case, students should be hesitant about some of the supplementary details, as not much is known as a matter of record.
