When Hazing Causes Harm

The longer Joleen Youngers practices, the more she rejects the early career advice she was given: “Be a dispassionate advocate, fight for your clients without emotional involvement.” To her, that mindset never felt quite right.

This was especially true when student-athletes from the New Mexico State University men’s basketball program alleged that teammates had assaulted them during the 2022-2023 season. “What started as hazing, as the school likes to characterize it, went far beyond an initiation rite to a culture of sexual assault and harassment that basically was unchecked,” she says.

The students reported being restrained, stripped of their clothing and having their genitals twisted. Some alleged they were digitally penetrated or forced to perform exercises when exposed, all while athletic staff failed to intervene. “It’s difficult for any victim to come forward, but with male-on-male assault, the trauma and shame make it extremely difficult for them to speak out,” Youngers says. “They came to play basketball and chase their dreams, not to fear violence in their own locker room.”

Youngers filed a lawsuit against the university, its athletic director, coaching staff and three players. Before depositions began, the university settled for $8 million after a police report and a Title IX investigation. Youngers says the school responded swiftly, shutting down the basketball program for the season, firing the head coach and placing the rest of the coaching staff on leave until their contracts ran out.

Then two more student-athletes and a student-manager came forward. “We learned a lot more,” Youngers says. “Not only were harassment and sexual violence going on—there was an atmosphere of intimidation and coercion, with guns present in the locker room and on team trips.” She filed a second lawsuit, which is set for trial in June.

The cases felt personal to Youngers. Her experience growing up in Iowa and attending its flagship university shaped her belief that institutions of higher learning should be places of opportunity and safety. “I wasn’t a student-athlete, but I care about what happens in our institutions,” she says. “Guns, aggression, assault and intimidation shouldn’t be part of that.”

The hazing allegations paralleled her pre-law career in New Mexico teaching children from migrant farmworker families. Youngers witnessed some of their families’ lives being turned upside down from physical and sexual abuse but had little power to intervene. “They needed someone in their corner,” she recalls. The events shaped her understanding of what it takes to advocate for others, and her reluctance to be a “dispassionate advocate.”

She first came to New Mexico when Youngers visited her sister for the summer—and promptly fell in love with the region. She never left. “Law school became the clear choice,” she says, and she enrolled at the University of New Mexico School of Law.

Although the new NMSU cases began internally as Title IX investigations, Youngers shifted her court filings due to recent Supreme Court rulings that have limited awards to economic losses. Since the most significant harm in these cases typically stems from humiliation, degradation and emotional trauma, Youngers pursues compensation for these damages through claims of negligence and civil rights violations.

Hazing is unfortunately common among student-athletes, with research from nonprofit Stop Hazing showing that 74% experience it during college. Youngers also points to an ESPN study that found student-athletes have a 50% chance of experiencing sexual misconduct during their college careers. “As a society, can’t we do better than that? It’s not as simple as saying, ‘Oh well, they’re adults now, so it’s on them.’ It’s not enough to blame the individuals involved; it’s also on the school. So often, we hear about institutional control in sports, and that control goes beyond simply making sure you have academically clean students. It extends to the culture the school promotes in its athletic department.”

Youngers writes her filings in great detail, a practice that has drawn criticism from opposing counsel. Still, she feels it’s her responsibility to fully capture her clients’ stories and highlight the systemic issues
at play.

“Where can things be made significantly better for more people than just your client?” she asks. “We have to practice law with an open head and heart. It can’t be dispassionate if we’re going to truly carry their story and understand what they’ve been through.”