Harvard Suspends Entire Men's Soccer Team Due to Explicit Documents Rating Women

Harvard University reportedly elected to cancel its men's soccer team's season Thursday "after an office of general counsel review found that the team continued to produce vulgar and explicit documents rating women on their perceived sexual appeal and physical appearances," per Andrew M. Duehren, C. Ramsey Fahs and Daphne C. Thompson of the Harvard Crimson.

In an email to student-athletes, athletic director Robert L. Scalise said he made the decision after finding the practice extended beyond 2012 and into 2016 and was widespread, per the Harvard Crimson.

This comes after the Harvard Crimson previously reported the men's soccer team made a "scouting report" in 2012 of incoming recruits for the women's team. There were a number of crude references and descriptions in the report, and the team's Google Group (which was publicly accessible for some time) ranked the recruits numerically based on attractiveness.

The six 2012 women recruits responded in the Harvard Crimson with a story titled "Stronger Together."

While the women offered their forgiveness for the scouting report, they expressed their hurt and urged for more productive conversation on Harvard's campus surrounding the topic and how women are perceived.

Aaron West of Fox Sports called it a "powerful response," especially since the players didn't use anonymity in the article.

As far as Thursday's decision to cancel the remainder of the men's season, Scalise clarified in his email that the team will not be eligible to win the Ivy League title or play in the NCAA tournament.

Harvard went 10-3-2 overall and 4-0-1 in its conference and was riding a six-game winning streak before the decision. The Harvard Crimson said it would have clinched a spot in the NCAA tournament with a win Saturday against Columbia.