The Harvard women’s hockey team is facing new, troubling allegations

Harvard’s women’s hockey program is under intense scrutiny following an article by Katie Strang and Hailey Salvian. The Athletic which revealed a dark underbelly of abuse and mistreatment at the hands of head coach Katey Stone.

Let’s follow a January article from the Boston Globe Detailing the toxic culture that Stone introduced and allowed to die among his teammates, Strang and Salvian report on the abusive, racist and at times cult-like behavior of the longtime Crimson bench boss.

Among the incidents described in the Globes’ initial report, Stone was said to have berated his team at practice in March 2022, notably lashing out at his teammates for an alleged lack of respect, saying the team boasted too many chiefs and not enough Native Americans.

With a number of Indigenous players in the club, including defender Maryna Macdonald, who claims Stone looked directly at her during the comment, the tirade had immediate resonance.

Macdonald eventually left the team, as did Taze Thompson, who represents Indigenous heritage, after the remark, a microcosm of the toxicity within the Crimson ranks that had driven an alarming nine players with remaining eligibility over the past two seasons. Harvard’s women’s program also ranked last in track and field culture and satisfaction, according to a 2019 survey of Harvard athletes.

I had learned to navigate a lot in his toxic environment, Macdonald told the Boston Globe. But now he was disrespecting me and my family and my heritage in front of everyone.

Strang and Salvian outline a much deeper culture of inappropriate and violent behavior such as barking and verbal abuse. The Athletics article describes a non-skating nude skate that the team participated in until at least 2005, which made some players uncomfortable. In addition, in some cases, the Freshmen were forced to superman slide on the ice, leaving some with ice burns and bleeding nipples.

Story continues

Notably, Stone and his staff ruled the event illegal in 2023 after a player became concussed and no direct evidence was found of Stone’s involvement in the skate. Nevertheless, however, The Athletic reports that one anonymous player from the last 10 years, fearing retribution, made things pretty clear about Stone and what he would often remind his players:

There isn’t a single thing about this team that I don’t know about.

Other shady dealings covered by The Athletic includes initiation week, which included pressuring freshmen to participate in underage drinking, in some cases until they passed out or threw up.

One such case is described from the 2016-17 team, where a classmate allergic to alcohol was put in circumstances where he felt he could not help drinking. The player and a classmate eventually separated from the group, while the allergic player eventually threw up on the steps of Harvard Yard.

The program reportedly maintained a culture of obfuscation, including a penalty system that covered everything from a player’s clothing to their relationships and, in some cases, even their sexual orientation or race. The players were also reportedly constantly teased about their weight and diet, leading to several players developing eating disorders while playing for the team.

Stone allegedly sought to foster an atmosphere that kept his players on top, sowing division in the locker room and creating an environment that one source compared. The Stanford Prison Experiment.

Although the school eventually conducted an evaluation back in 2022 of Stones’ racially insensitive remark, Harvard refused to label the situation an investigation and failed to obtain sufficient independent outside sources. Instead, Harvard’s NCAA faculty athletics representative, Mike Smith, was tasked with interviewing players about it, thinking that Smith understood Harvard.

As for the players and the alumni themselves, the division has remained divided on how to agree and ultimately resolve the situation at hand. According to The Athletic, there is a split between those who want to hold Stone accountable, while others remain fiercely loyal to their former head coach. According to Strang and Salvians’ story, several women said they no longer felt welcome at former players’ gatherings and feared they would be alienated from Harvard’s powerful alumni network if they spoke honestly about their experiences.

Stone, who has served as the head coach of the Harvard women’s hockey team for the past 25 seasons, remains in the same position as of this writing.