Wheaton College Hazings A 'Well-Established Tradition': Lawsuit

WHEATON, IL — A lawsuit filed by a former Wheaton College football player alleges that hazing had long been a known part of football there. The lawsuit, which alleges that some even viewed reported kidnapping and hazing incidents as an "act of love," was filed by Charles Nagy, 21, who was allegedly kidnapped, beaten, threatened with sexual violation, and left injured on a softball field during an alleged 2106 hazing incident involving five Wheaton College football players.

The accused players, Benjamin Pettway, James Cooksey, Noah Spielman, Kyler Kregel, and Samuel TeBos face several felony charges in connection with the incident, including mob action and kidnapping. The complaint names Wheaton College, Pettway, TeBos, Cooksey, and Kregel, along with Tyler Sigler and Nick Blazeck as defendants.

According to the complaint, "Wheaton College and its football program had a long history of hazing new members of the team."

Football coaches and administrators allegedly turned a "blind eye" to this "well-established" tradition, the complaint asserts.

The Accusations

The complaint further states that one football player, Justin Miller, said "hazing was done regularly in Wheaton College football program before [the March 19, 2016 incident], as an effort to bring the team closer together and was done 'out of love.'

To help support this claim, the lawsuit references a December 2015 article by the college's student newspaper, "The Wheaton Record," that wrote an article about campus hazing and quoted a player who referred to hazing as "team bonding," the complaint states.

According to the complaint, this article was published "mere months" before the alleged March 19, 2016 attack.

Patch did find an article about hazing posted by The Wheaton Record, but this article's date was listed as March 2016.

The Wheaton Record's hazing article, begins: "To some, hazing invokes images of cuts, bruises, bags over heads and humiliation. To most Wheaton students, initiation is simply a means of inclusion; it is good, old-fashioned fun to bring members closer together."

The article went on to state that "The college condones healthy bonding rituals but will not permit anything harmful to the students."

The Alleged Attack

Nagy's complaint alleges that he was forcibly kidnapped on the night of March 19, 2016, "as part of the well-established and long-standing hazing ritual of freshman players on the football team.

The accused players allegedly "forcibly tackled" Nagy in his dorm room, placed a pillow over his head, and bound him with duct tape, according to the lawsuit. The complaint states that they then carried Nagy past Wheaton College security officers and out of the building.

According to the complaint, the accused players placed Nagy in the back of a pickup truck and began playing "Middle Eastern music" and "making racially and religiously offensive comments about people of the Islamic faith and/or of Middle-eastern ethnicity."

Nagy's complaint also alleges that the accused players threatened to violate him sexually and started to remove his shorts. He was then allegedly punched and kicked by the accused players and "felt an object near and being inserted into his rectum."

Nagy was then allegedly left injured and partially clothed on a nearby baseball field with "torn labrums in each shoulder requiring surgery, numerous abrasions, bruises and friction injuries," the lawsuit states.

The Aftermath

After the players were charged, Judge Brian Telander placed a gag order on the case, but then removed it in November 2017 to allow the players to publicly deny any claims of sexual threats during the alleged incident.

Per the complaint, Nagy was hospitalized and underwent two surgeries before preparing to leave Wheaton College.

The lawsuit states that "knowing the above, one or more of the attackers, acting individually and/or in concert with each other, immediately notified Mike Swider, the head football coach, on or about March 20, 2016, around 6pm. Rather than promptly turn the matter over to the College’s investigatory and disciplinary apparatus to preserve the integrity of any criminal or disciplinary hazing investigation of his own football players."

The lawsuit alleges that Swider attempted to cover up the incident and coordinated with students to discredit Nagy's allegations and "develop a common claim that Plaintiff was exaggerating what occurred, specifically as to any attempts to insert an object into the Plaintiff’s rectum."

Swider allegedly also left several voicemail messages for Nagy, one of which allegedly indicating, "that the incident was not hazing, but meant to be a joke."

According to Chicago Tribune, Nagy, who chose to remain anonymous at first, decided to permit himself to be identified publicly.

Kregel, Cooksey, TeBos, Pettway, and Spielman (who is charged, but not named in the complaint), posted bond shortly after turning themselves in to the police after news of the incident broke in September 2017.

Statement From Wheaton College

In a statement Friday, Wheaton College officials said, "We can confirm that Wheaton College has been named as a defendant in civil litigation regarding a March 2016 incident. We take the allegation that any member of our community has been mistreated in any way to be a matter of grave concern. We strongly deny that the College has allowed a permissive environment of hazing or violence, and are confident that it will not be found to have legal responsibility.

Wheaton College is committed to providing Christ-centered education in a positive environment for every student. The Board of Trustees, President Ryken, and the College administration, faculty, and staff remain committed to this goal."

Read the full complaint here:

Related Articles on Patch:

• Wheaton College Hazing: All Suspects Surrendered, Released on Bond
• Players Accused In Wheaton College Hazing Case Plead Not Guilty
• Accused Wheaton College Players Can Leave State
• Judge Removes Gag Order On Wheaton College Hazing Case
• Wheaton College Hazing Defense Attorneys Request Medical Record

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