Last spring an unknown person posted photos of students from different colleges found on Webshots and Facebook on their personal website. These photos were then in turn sent to administrators of the appropriate schools.

A photo was sent to the Rensselaer Dean of Students Office that contained only women’s rugby players—one of whom was wearing a rugby shirt. Since there were more than six players present, in addition to alcohol, The Rensselaer Handbook of Student Rights and Responsibilities states “An event (on or off campus) is defined as any gathering for a specific purpose where there are more than six people in attendance and alcohol is present.” After questioning the players, the administration discovered that there was no hazing involved, rather, just an event where no alcohol restrictions were in place. The team has now come off suspension, but it continues to be on probation until December 2007.

The team was unable to recruit during the fall, which is its normal Division II season, but is currently in the process of finding new players. Approximately 40 percent of the team is in its first season.

Roughly four weeks ago, in the Four Leaf Tournament—their first of the season—eight out of the 15 players on the field had never played before. The first game of the tournament started off rough, but the players slowly got the hang of things and came back in the second half—ending the game in a 20-12 loss. This experience empowered them, however, to come back in the second game, winning 17-5. Senior captain Lindsay Bromage said, “They decided to take the tournament as a learning experience and come back and build off of that.” They were invited to the finals but unfortunately ran out of players.