A former athlete at Central Connecticut State University has filed a lawsuit against the school and a retired track coach, making some pretty alarming allegations that the coach harassed him for three years, reports the New Britain Herald.
Charles Ngetich, a Kenyan, claims he was forced to drink blood, among other things during his time on the track team, the New Britain Herald reports. Ngetich lost his full scholarship, and was dismissed from school on Sept 4 because he could not pay outstanding school fees, the paper reports.
The suit alleges:
- he was encouraged to drink a cup of blood in front of team members because the coach had seen a documentary mentioning that Kenyan tribes engaged in ritual blood-drinking;
- he was also given an entire bottle of blood to drink;
- teammates pointed to a puppy and asked how many people he could feed with the animal;
- and he was pressured to change his major to engineering because there's no use for a math degree in Africa
U.S. & World
According to court documents, Ngetich filed the case on Sept. 14.
His lawsuit alleges that he has been reported to the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service and is in the country on a student visa, became clinically depressed because of the incidents, and his athletic and academic performances suffered as a result.
CCSU released a statement to the paper that said:
“Central Connecticut State University views the lawsuit recently brought by a former student-athlete very seriously. Because of our commitment to diversity at CCSU and to ensuring that it is a welcoming place for all, we are especially pained that we cannot comment on this matter... We welcome this process through which all of the facts of the case will come out.”
