Michigan hockey incident in 1980 offers glimpse into the sport's hazing culture

In 1980, five Michigan hockey freshmen were subjected to hazing by upperclassmen. Freshman J.T. Todd was among them, having been driven around in a car trunk for 90 minutes, rendered freezing, intoxicated, and with his genital and body hair shaved, covered in eggs and jam. Todd was one of five who experienced this hazing incident before the 1980 season.

Steve Krahnke, a Resident Advisor at Mary Markley Hall, witnessed the incident when the hockey team brought Todd to the dorm. Krahnke recalled the team laughing about the situation and had taken Todd to a bathroom to raise his body temperature due to his blue skin. Todd was awake throughout the ordeal but wished the situation not to be reported.

A Michigan campus newspaper and later then-Michigan athletic director Don Canham took action, with three players suspended and Todd resigning from the team. University President Harold Shapiro denounced the hazing behavior as "reprehensible." The 1980 incident, though occurring before the lawsuit, sheds light on the prevalent hazing culture in college hockey during that time.

A 1991 survey found that 80% of college athletes participated in some form of hazing. Two years after the 1980 Michigan hockey hazing, the University of Michigan adopted a hazing policy in 1982. Berenson, the former coach, acknowledged in 2012 that he disliked hazing and believed it was used as a means to retaliate for past mistreatment.

Despite the acknowledgment, the culture of hazing persisted, as evidenced by the lawsuit filed in 2023 by 16 former Michigan hockey players who alleged sexualized abuse as part of hazing practices.