You are here
CONCORD, N.H.: Police investigate hazing at Episcopal boarding school
The Union Leader
September 18, 2004
CONCORD, N.H. -- Police are investigating reports of hazing involving several senior girls at St. Paul's School.
The incidents allegedly involved groups in two dormitories at the private boarding school last weekend. Dean of Students Douglas J. Dickson said he learned about the incidents this week and reported them to police. He said the school also will investigate and consider disciplinary consequences for the young women involved.
"We're extremely disappointed in what's happened here at our school," Dickson said.
Dickson said the school is offering counseling to all the girls involved.
School officials would not say what students had done that was considered hazing. They did say the behavior did not involve physical contact or physical harm.
The Union Leader reported that multiple unnamed sources indicated the hazing was directed at about a dozen new girls and involved at least partial nudity in one of the two dormitories involved. The newspaper also reported the hazing in the second dormitory allegedly involved a "truth-or-dare" game with questions about sexual experiences.
Bishop Craig B. Anderson, who heads the Episcopal boarding school, informed parents in an e-mail message about the incidents, saying "...students engaged in a welcoming ritual with the new students in their houses that most would consider to be hazing."
Hazing is a crime in New Hampshire and is defined as any coercion or intimidation presented as a condition of initiation into a group and that might cause students to hurt themselves physically or psychologically.
St. Paul's School is a private school offering a college-preparatory program. Democratic presidential nominee Sen. John Kerry is one of its prominent graduates. The school is part of the National Association of Episcopal Schools.
END
