Moxie

By Elaina Moradi – Moxie Intern

Harvard University cancelled the remaining games in the men’s soccer season after the discovery of a document in which the men’s team judged the women’s soccer members on their appearances.

The document, called “The Scouting Report,” assigned each woman a numerical rating, nickname and sexual position.The document was revealed by the “Harvard Crimson” and was immediately brought to the attention of major media outlets.

Harvard Director of Athletics Robert Scalise tried to brush off the scandal with a “boys will be boys” and “locker room talk” approach, but Harvard President Drew Faust said he wouldn’t tolerate such behavior. He said the team’s behavior had “no place at Harvard,” and canceled the rest of their season.

People are praising Harvard for taking serious action at a time when multiple universities are under investigation for mishandling sexual assault cases and people like college athlete Brock Turner serve only three months in jail for sexual assault.

A few members of the women’s soccer team wrote a letter in response to the men who degraded them, inviting them and men everywhere to join them in combatting sexism.

The final sentence of their letter is resounding, resilient and strong: “I can offer you my forgiveness, which is—and forever will be—the only part of me that you can ever claim as yours.”