Kentucky cheerleading coaches fired amid hazing, public nudity, alcohol use scandal

All four Kentucky cheerleading coaches were fired after an investigation revealed a culture of alcohol use on school trips, public nudity and hazing.

Kentucky cheerleading is looking for new coaches after the entire coaching staff was fired after a three-month investigation into allegations of alcohol use, public nudity and a culture that allowed hazing.

Jomo Thompson and assistant coaches Ben Head, Spencer Clan and Kelsey LaCroix were all let go as the program with 24 national championships, including the 2019 title, is now in the middle of a salacious scandal. Thompson was originally hired in 2002. All of the former coaches were previously members of the cheerleading team as students.

“Coaches knew or reasonably should have known of inappropriate conduct by cheerleaders and failed to take sufficient steps to address the conduct, investigators concluded, via The Courier-Journal.”

According to Tim Sullivan of The Courier-Journal, the Blue and White squads had been operating under little oversight for years and potential conflicts of interest in addition to the hazing, public nudity and use of alcohol on school trips.

Kentucky president Eli Capilouto released a statement saying:

"“A commitment we make and renew every day at the University of Kentucky is that the success of our students is at the center of everything that we do. But for that sentiment to be more than words, we must always act in ways that honor that commitment — especially when we discover rare instances where those who supervise and guide our students don’t meet the standards of integrity we expect of each other. This is one of those times.” “The University of Kentucky has built the nation’s premier collegiate cheerleading program. But regrettably, the integrity of the program has been compromised by inappropriate behavior by some squad members on off-campus trips and by lax oversight by the program’s coaches and advisor.”"

A pair of Kentucky cheerleaders, Riley Aguiar and Chas Welte took to Twitter to defend their now former coaches.

https://twitter.com/RileyAguiar/status/1262423907304423434

Kentucky’s Office of Institutional Equity and Equal Opportunity has reports of allegations of some team members being touched in a sexual manner without consent, male cheerleaders compared the sizes of their genitalia and students were forced to engage in oral sex. The report categorized the allegations as “without merit” according to the Courier-Journal after interviews with the team members could not corroborate the details in the report.

Team members said there as drinking and nudity on the team’s annual retreat on Lake Cumberland and coaches knew about it and did little to curb it. Three cheerleaders said they saw nudity on the boats while three more heard rumors about nudity but didn’t see it.

Through interviews, team members said some of the cheerleaders either voluntarily or through peer pressure performed a basket toss where a female cheerleader was topless and a male cheerleader was bottomless.

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