Harvard women’s hockey is at a crossroads.
After 27 seasons, the era of coach Katey Stone (Watertown, Conn.) ended in June with a retirement announcement blanketed in controversy on the heels of reports by The Boston Globe and The Athletic that brought forth allegations of misconduct and mistreatment of players within the program.
Laura Bellamy, who played for the Crimson under Stone from 2009-13, was hired in August to take over as head coach and guide Harvard into a new era. She previously had been an assistant at the University of Minnesota Duluth.
However “new” this era will be remains unclear, as neither Bellamy nor athletic director Erin McDermott has answered meaningful questions about the future of the program or how it is responding to the allegations of misconduct. Harvard declined a request to speak with Bellamy for this story.
The lack of transparency from Harvard, which has not released the results of an investigation it commissioned into the allegations during Stone’s tenure, begs the question if anything can truly change within its culture.
Claims of hazing were prominent in the reports by The Athletic and the Globe. In her first year as head coach, Bellamy — according to experts — has the opportunity to change the way things are done and tradition is perceived.
“First and foremost, coaches and administrators, whether it be in the athletic department or higher, need to certainly establish a zero-tolerance policy for hazing,” said Todd Shelton, the executive director of the Hazing Prevention Network. “Unfortunately hazing is a tradition that gets passed along. While sometimes it comes across as innocent play, it quickly gets more dangerous, both mentally and physically.”
McDermott denied the team had a problem with hazing in a written statement in June: "It is clear that some traditions in recent years were experienced differently by different people and not all were comfortable with those activities or with expressing concerns relating to the program,” McDermott wrote. “We now have an opportunity to end team traditions that are harmful to team culture and inconsistent with our community norms."
While Bellamy is now tasked with creating a successful on-ice product, she’s also responsible for the overall identity of the program and the standards that are upheld inside the Crimson locker room.
Bellamy came up through Stone’s system. She was one of the best goaltenders in program history, with a goals-against average of 0.92 in the 2012-13 campaign. Following her graduation, Bellamy joined Stone’s staff in scouting and training capacities and led video coordination before heading to Duluth in 2015.
So Bellamy’s career is very much tied – and perhaps entangled – in Harvard history that now needs a facelift.
As a head coach, how might she balance legacy and change?
“She should be proactive,” said Dennis Goodwin, co-founder of the Anti-Hazing Collaborative. “She should be going to the administration, the athletic director and say to them, ‘Hey, look, I understand that we have this black mark on our name, but let’s clean the slate, let’s bring someone in, let’s attack it.’ And I think people will respect her a lot more.”
Heading into this season, Bellamy and her team are going to sit in rooms and play in arenas where everybody knows their story. Staying silent about how they will combat the program’s problems won’t make them go away.
“That’s where hazing thrives. It thrives in secrecy,” Shelton said.
Not just at Harvard, but at many schools, hazing has been conceptualized to have a link to loyalty. Harmful activities are disguised as tradition, offering those involved little escape from full participation.
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“I always tell people, the difference between hazing and bullying is that bullying is keeping people out. So you can’t sit at this chair in the cafeteria, you can’t come down this hallway,” Goodwin said. “What hazing is, is you have to prove yourself to be part of the team or organization.”
What will Bellamy and McDermott do now to end those “harmful” team traditions?
Players need to feel safe to speak up, Shelton said. Not to the media over 10 years later, but to those in charge in the present moment. It will be important for Bellamy to build a culture of transparency and trust among her players, Shelton said.
“They need to know her expectations and they need to have a level of trust that if student-athletes come to her or the coaching team or administration with concerns about hazing, that it’s going to be addressed and not something that’s just hidden,” Shelton said.
Harvard opens the season Oct. 13 against Dartmouth, led by captains Shannon Hollands, Alex Pellicci and, of course, Bellamy behind the bench.
The team’s narrative has become about more than just the score or top players. Now the Crimson have the power to write the next chapter.
“Rip the Band-Aid off and say, ‘We did it and this is what we are doing to change our culture,’” Goodwin said. “'We’re here, we’re proactive now, we learned from our lesson and if anyone was offended we’re sorry, but we’re starting a new culture with a new coach and a new vision of what we want to be.’ ”
