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American Morning

Hazing Incident in Illinois

Aired May 08, 2003 - 07:17   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Back to this story now in Illinois. Criminal charges may be filed, we're told, in the weekend hazing incident in Northbrook, Illinois, just outside of Chicago.
It started as a touch football game between juniors and seniors from Glenbrook North High School, but as Whitney Casey now reports, it turned into an all-out assault.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: People were bleeding. Girls were unconscious. A girl got a bucket put on her head.

WHITNEY CASEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Students at this suburban Chicago high school describe the weekend's melee, caught on tape, the aftermath of a powder puff football game, a tradition: junior girls vs. senior girls. Except this year, the hazing got way out of hand, sending five girls to the hospital and injuring many more.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, this is from a paint can being thrown at me and Tabasco sauce and vinegar and stuff like that in my eye, and just spam on my face, and fish guts, pig ears. There was a pig intestine wrapped around my neck.

CASEY: Dr. Michael Riggle, the school principal, says, with the help of school deans, authorities have identified 50 of the girls on the tape. Criminal charges are pending. Dr. Riggle says alcohol was an escalating factor in the fracas. And another factor?

DR. MICHAEL RIGGLE, PRINCIPAL, GLENBROOK NORTH HIGH SCHOOL: And there were some similar actions that happened the year before, but nothing that we really were knowledgeable of. And I think that the girls had that done to them that year. And now this year, they have looked at that and said, you know, this is something that I've got anger about, and I want to do the same thing to someone else.

CASEY: Some 200 people attended the off-campus game. Witnesses say buckets of animal and human waste were used in the hazing, along with paint thinner, blood and spoiled food.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Obviously, I'm angry that this happened. I'm disgusted. I'm appalled 100 percent. I'm embarrassed to say that I go to Glenbrook North High School because of this. It's disgusting.

CASEY (on camera): And while some remain outraged here, others underscore that this one incident should not sully the academic achievements of this school, a school that in 2003 will have 97 percent of its seniors go off to college.

And out of the 2,100 here in the student body, only 250 actually went to the powder puff game. However, the principal pointed out to us that many of the seniors he saw hazing on that videotape were some of the most accomplished "A" students, "A" students that may soon face, as late as Friday, criminal charges.

Whitney Casey, CNN, Northbrook, Illinois.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Nich Babb is a senior at Glenbrook North. He was at the game when the hazing incident happened. He is with us now this morning from Northbrook, Illinois.

Thanks so much for being here, Nich.

You know, I wonder, tell us exactly what you saw.

NICH BABB, GLENBROOK NORTH HIGH SCHOOL SENIOR: Well, what I saw was, I saw the juniors come out to the field, and the seniors were already there putting on gloves and stuff, because a lot of stuff was really messy, as you know. And then once the juniors got out to the place where it was all going to happen, they got on their knees. And the seniors just started throwing a bunch of stuff at them, like -- I don't know exactly what it was. I think it was just a bunch of gross stuff mixed together in a bucket.

I actually helped carry one of the buckets out, and it had some sort of red fish guts. I don't know.

COSTELLO: Nich, how much...

BABB: There was even a bucket with glitter.

COSTELLO: Right. How much drinking did everybody do beforehand? Do you have any idea about that?

BABB: Well, there were definitely two kegs at our party, the senior party before. And I mean, I don't know about the juniors. But you could tell that the juniors were pretty drunk. I mean, while they were walking and -- well, everyone -- the juniors and the seniors were both really trashed. And while they were walking, you could tell that they were drunk, because they're all happy and stumbling and stuff. I mean, not everyone drank. I mean, there were sober people there...

COSTELLO: It was definitely there, is what you're saying. Tell me when you started to notice that things had really gotten crazy and had gotten out of control.

BABB: Well, once I noticed some senior girls taking it upon themselves to start, I don't know, punishing the junior girls in a way that wasn't really the way the powder puff is all about, such as like fighting and punching and throwing buckets at their head, I kind of knew it was starting to get -- it started to turn into a fun -- it was a fun time turning into an anger-driven time. And I just kind of like walked away at that point and -- I mean, you can't...

COSTELLO: So you didn't try to break it up? Did anybody try to break it up?

BABB: There -- you could see that there were people who were trying to regulate it a little bit, but there was no individual person who was, like, hey, we should all just stop this right now. I mean, a lot of people wanted to do that. I mean, there definitely was those people who wanted to stop it, but in this kind of situation, there's really nothing you could do. I mean, there's no rules that anyone was breaking, because there is no rules at this powder puff thing, so you can't be, hey, stop that, that's against the rules.

(CROSSTALK)

COSTELLO: Nich, I know that this is a pretty well-known secret at your high school, and it's been going on for quite some time. Every year, people know that this is going to happen after the game. What's the word at school now? Is everybody talking about this?

BABB: Oh, yes. Everyone is definitely talking about it. I mean, people are spending their whole class talking about it in the class, and even if it's a class like medals or something. And it's like it's kind of frustrating, because people who weren't there, they have their opinion, and it's such a strong opinion, like they're saying like the school is now like the worst school and they're ashamed to go to this school. And they're saying that everyone who was at powder puff should go to jail and they should throw away the key and stuff. And I mean, people are just overreacting at our school, and it's kind of -- I don't know. It's kind of like sad -- I don't know. It's...

COSTELLO: Well, Nich, you know, we appreciate you being here this morning...

BABB: ... just confusing.

COSTELLO: ... to tell us what you saw because you were there.

BABB: No problem.

COSTELLO: Nich Babb, Glenbrook North High School coming to us this morning from Chicago. Thanks again, Nich.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.







Aired May 8, 2003 - 07:17   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Back to this story now in Illinois. Criminal charges may be filed, we're told, in the weekend hazing incident in Northbrook, Illinois, just outside of Chicago.
It started as a touch football game between juniors and seniors from Glenbrook North High School, but as Whitney Casey now reports, it turned into an all-out assault.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: People were bleeding. Girls were unconscious. A girl got a bucket put on her head.

WHITNEY CASEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Students at this suburban Chicago high school describe the weekend's melee, caught on tape, the aftermath of a powder puff football game, a tradition: junior girls vs. senior girls. Except this year, the hazing got way out of hand, sending five girls to the hospital and injuring many more.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, this is from a paint can being thrown at me and Tabasco sauce and vinegar and stuff like that in my eye, and just spam on my face, and fish guts, pig ears. There was a pig intestine wrapped around my neck.

CASEY: Dr. Michael Riggle, the school principal, says, with the help of school deans, authorities have identified 50 of the girls on the tape. Criminal charges are pending. Dr. Riggle says alcohol was an escalating factor in the fracas. And another factor?

DR. MICHAEL RIGGLE, PRINCIPAL, GLENBROOK NORTH HIGH SCHOOL: And there were some similar actions that happened the year before, but nothing that we really were knowledgeable of. And I think that the girls had that done to them that year. And now this year, they have looked at that and said, you know, this is something that I've got anger about, and I want to do the same thing to someone else.

CASEY: Some 200 people attended the off-campus game. Witnesses say buckets of animal and human waste were used in the hazing, along with paint thinner, blood and spoiled food.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Obviously, I'm angry that this happened. I'm disgusted. I'm appalled 100 percent. I'm embarrassed to say that I go to Glenbrook North High School because of this. It's disgusting.

CASEY (on camera): And while some remain outraged here, others underscore that this one incident should not sully the academic achievements of this school, a school that in 2003 will have 97 percent of its seniors go off to college.

And out of the 2,100 here in the student body, only 250 actually went to the powder puff game. However, the principal pointed out to us that many of the seniors he saw hazing on that videotape were some of the most accomplished "A" students, "A" students that may soon face, as late as Friday, criminal charges.

Whitney Casey, CNN, Northbrook, Illinois.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Nich Babb is a senior at Glenbrook North. He was at the game when the hazing incident happened. He is with us now this morning from Northbrook, Illinois.

Thanks so much for being here, Nich.

You know, I wonder, tell us exactly what you saw.

NICH BABB, GLENBROOK NORTH HIGH SCHOOL SENIOR: Well, what I saw was, I saw the juniors come out to the field, and the seniors were already there putting on gloves and stuff, because a lot of stuff was really messy, as you know. And then once the juniors got out to the place where it was all going to happen, they got on their knees. And the seniors just started throwing a bunch of stuff at them, like -- I don't know exactly what it was. I think it was just a bunch of gross stuff mixed together in a bucket.

I actually helped carry one of the buckets out, and it had some sort of red fish guts. I don't know.

COSTELLO: Nich, how much...

BABB: There was even a bucket with glitter.

COSTELLO: Right. How much drinking did everybody do beforehand? Do you have any idea about that?

BABB: Well, there were definitely two kegs at our party, the senior party before. And I mean, I don't know about the juniors. But you could tell that the juniors were pretty drunk. I mean, while they were walking and -- well, everyone -- the juniors and the seniors were both really trashed. And while they were walking, you could tell that they were drunk, because they're all happy and stumbling and stuff. I mean, not everyone drank. I mean, there were sober people there...

COSTELLO: It was definitely there, is what you're saying. Tell me when you started to notice that things had really gotten crazy and had gotten out of control.

BABB: Well, once I noticed some senior girls taking it upon themselves to start, I don't know, punishing the junior girls in a way that wasn't really the way the powder puff is all about, such as like fighting and punching and throwing buckets at their head, I kind of knew it was starting to get -- it started to turn into a fun -- it was a fun time turning into an anger-driven time. And I just kind of like walked away at that point and -- I mean, you can't...

COSTELLO: So you didn't try to break it up? Did anybody try to break it up?

BABB: There -- you could see that there were people who were trying to regulate it a little bit, but there was no individual person who was, like, hey, we should all just stop this right now. I mean, a lot of people wanted to do that. I mean, there definitely was those people who wanted to stop it, but in this kind of situation, there's really nothing you could do. I mean, there's no rules that anyone was breaking, because there is no rules at this powder puff thing, so you can't be, hey, stop that, that's against the rules.

(CROSSTALK)

COSTELLO: Nich, I know that this is a pretty well-known secret at your high school, and it's been going on for quite some time. Every year, people know that this is going to happen after the game. What's the word at school now? Is everybody talking about this?

BABB: Oh, yes. Everyone is definitely talking about it. I mean, people are spending their whole class talking about it in the class, and even if it's a class like medals or something. And it's like it's kind of frustrating, because people who weren't there, they have their opinion, and it's such a strong opinion, like they're saying like the school is now like the worst school and they're ashamed to go to this school. And they're saying that everyone who was at powder puff should go to jail and they should throw away the key and stuff. And I mean, people are just overreacting at our school, and it's kind of -- I don't know. It's kind of like sad -- I don't know. It's...

COSTELLO: Well, Nich, you know, we appreciate you being here this morning...

BABB: ... just confusing.

COSTELLO: ... to tell us what you saw because you were there.

BABB: No problem.

COSTELLO: Nich Babb, Glenbrook North High School coming to us this morning from Chicago. Thanks again, Nich.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.