Alleged Hazing At Dearborn Fordson Under Investigation

DEARBORN, MI — A Dearborn Fordson High student has been suspended after an alleged hazing of a freshman football player at the school on Oct. 9, according to a Dearborn Press and Guide report. The Dearborn Police Department is investigating the incident, multiple media outlets have reported.

Glenn Maleyko, superintendent of Dearborn Public Schools, said Monday the district is cooperating in the investigation with police and urged the community to be patient. He said too many rumors and too much misinformation about the incident has already been circulated.

“I have read inaccurate statements presented as fact, rumors and gossip that included wild speculation, and in some cases no regard for the children involved,” Maleyko wrote in a blog published on the district’s website. “This is not a ‘reality show,’ this is reality. Comments made in the virtual world can impact children in the real world. Children with real emotions and real feelings.”

Dearborn Police didn't respond to a Wednesday afternoon request for additional details of the incident by Patch. (For more local news, click here to sign up for real-time news alerts and newsletters from Dearborn Patch, click here to find your local Michigan Patch. Also, follow us on Facebook, and if you have an iPhone, click here to get the free Patch iPhone app.)

The alleged hazing was against a Dearborn Fordson freshman, WWJ-Radio reported. Multiple players from the junior varsity were involved, the radio station reported. District officials have described the incident as being “rogue.”

“However, I can confirm it was not an incident of rape,” Maleyko said in an Oct. 12 blog. “These were students involved in behaviors that we will not tolerate in this district. All responsible are being dealt with appropriately and we have been in contact with the Dearborn Police to determine if any further legal action will be taken.”

Details about the incident have not been released by the district. Maleyko said doing so would jeopardize the investigation and violate state privacy laws because the involved students are minors.

The superintendent spoke Monday about the Fordson hazing incident at a meeting of the Henry Ford College Board of Trustees, which also oversees Dearborn Public Schools, the Press and Guide reported.

“We are bound by law to provide all students with the due process they deserve,” he wrote. “For the incident that occurred at Fordson, that process started last Tuesday and will continue until it has reached an appropriate conclusion.”

Photo by Bill Pugliano / Stringer / Getty Images News / Getty Images