Adrian College Program in Jeopardy as Players, Administration Clash
Adrian College Program in Jeopardy as Players, Administration Clash
The question as to whether Adrian College's men's team can finish the season is very much in doubt after events last week.
There have been two issues bubbling for a while, and they seemed to come to a head last week. Here's the background:
Adrian underwent a rather precipitous coaching change when Zac Mizell took the Penn State job. Chris Hathaway, who had been expected to take over the women's team, moved over to coach the men. Hathaway is a competent coach but not enormously experienced, and some of the more experienced Adrian players had some issues with his coaching.
GRR reached out to Hathaway but he did not return our phone call.
These hoped-for changes expanded into concerns about proper athlete periodization and having trainers at the field during practice days. There, reportedly, was also an expectation over the past few years that a training field closer to campus would be made available. None of these concerns were addressed and seem, in retrospect, to be received in a negative light.
Then, on December 8, some members of the rugby team attended a party at a fraternity. As was the habit of the team, when they wanted to leave the party and return to their residences, they called their captain, Jack Stephens. Not a drinker, Stephens had informed his teammates that he was available as a designated driver any time they needed it. Stephens got out of bed, drove to the party, and picked up a bunch of players, who were in the back of his pickup truck for the short (less than a quarter of a mile) drive home.
That night campus police stopped the vehicle, and eventually waved down an Adrian city Police vehicle. The assertion was some form of reckless driving, but in the end the police declined to issue even a ticket. GRR has seen the police report on Jack Stephens which said he was stopped, but gave no reason for the stop and listed no action taken.
On the face of it, it seems clear that the players all did the right thing—having attended a party, they had ensured they returned home safely using a designated driver, one who not only had not consumed any alcohol that night, but doesn't drink at all.
That would seem to be the end of it. However, the College got involved, insisting that the players perform some community service and write a letter of apology. A few players who felt they had done nothing wrong, refused to apologize. Players who had expected the College, the Athletic Department, and the coaching staff to have their back in this incident, found no support at all.
The upshot of this was that Stephens, the only player from that night whose name was known, was dismissed from the team. Other players offered to quite the team in solidarity but Stephens told them to keep going. However, last week, in a meeting with Frank Hribar, Adrian's VP of Enrollment and Student Affairs, it all got worse. The meeting was expected to be a chance for the players to discuss some issues. Instead, Hribar essentially told the players that the College had decided what it had decided, and the players who either play ball or leave.
GRR Opinion: Hribar clearly got heated and his tone seemed very condescending. It seemed clear to GRR's experienced ear that Hribar's first exposure to rugby however long ago (and he said he's been working in academia administration for 30 years) was a negative one. Longtime readers of GRR work will know we have often lamented the old "drinking team with a rugby problem" image the sport carried for a long time. Apparently Frank Hribar has hung on to that image, or at the very least seemed to think that a) all rugby is mickey-mouse; b) putting together a bunch of dudes to play on a rugby team is easy; and c) everyone else should shut up and go along with it.
GRR reached out to Frank Hribar and he did reply but only to say that he would not be commenting.
In last week's meeting Hribar called the rugby program as dysfunctional as he has seen in any sport. He added: "If you want to be on this program under those parameters: the college's procedures are what they are. The athletic program's policies and procedures are what they are. This is the coach."
By then, several players had apparently quit the team, and certainly names had been taken off the roster on Adrian's athletics website. About 38 players were registered with Adrian Rugby in the fall, but only 20 are listed on the Adrian College rugby team's website right now. At last week's meeting, player representatives suggested Hribar talk to CRAA Executive Director Paul Santinelli. Hribar said that if Santinelli were "worth a grain of salt," he would reach out to Hribar. Yet when players offered to call Santinelli at that moment Hribar said he wasn't interested in doing that.
The issue with CRAA is this: abandoning a season has serious repercussions for a team. Hribar made it plain he was willing to abandon the remainder of the season.
Santinelli did release a statement:
"Upon learning of internal issues within the Adrian College Men’s Rugby program, CRAA immediately engaged with Coach Hathaway and the team to develop a thorough plan that would allow the club to complete its season. Our focus was to ensure player welfare and provide a structured path forward for the student-athletes.
"However, following multiple discussions with the administration, it became evident that there was no meaningful consideration given to the team's requests regarding player welfare or their proposed solutions to continue the season. Despite the clear willingness of the players and staff to remedy the situation, the lack of engagement from the administration ultimately left the team without a viable path forward.
"CRAA remains committed to supporting its member programs and advocating for student-athletes, ensuring that their well-being and ability to compete remain a priority."
There seems to have been some discussion between CRAA and Adrian since then, but the remaining conference games for Adrian—March 1 vs Arkansas State, March 8 vs Lindenwood, and March 15 vs Davenport—seem very much in doubt. At that meeting last week several players apparently took issue with how their concerns were being addressed (or not addressed) and how they were being spoken to, and that, on top of being accused of wrongdoing they feel was unjust, prompted many to walk out, and perhaps walk away from the team. Attendance at practice right now is reported to be very sparse.
