Westhill denies wrongdoing in hazing case tied to 2025 lacrosse scandal

Westhill Central School District has told an Onondaga County court it did nothing wrong in the hazing case that turned a 2025 lacrosse scandal into a lasting test of school safety and supervision. The district’s May 26 affidavit came as parents of two boys accused it of failing to stop a culture that, they say, put freshmen in danger.

The dispute began in late April 2025, when the Onondaga County Sheriff’s Office said it was investigating a possible hazing incident involving Westhill High School lacrosse players. By April 30, authorities said 11 Westhill players were expected to face charges, and the players surrendered to law enforcement. On May 15, 2025, four Westhill High School varsity lacrosse players were arraigned in Onondaga Town Court on charges tied to the alleged abduction and hazing, and the judge closed that hearing to the public.

Onondaga County District Attorney William Fitzpatrick said criminal charges would be filed, putting the district under intense scrutiny across Onondaga County. Westhill’s superintendent then told parents in May 2025 that players involved in the serious hazing would face school discipline, showing the district was pursuing two tracks at once, criminal prosecution and school punishment.

The civil case filed in May 2026 by Michael Glover and Gina Glover sharpened the conflict. Their lawsuit said older team members tied up one freshman, covered his head with a hood, placed him in a vehicle trunk and drove him around before releasing him and calling it a prank. The suit said the boys were freshmen at the time, alleged emotional and psychological trauma, and claimed hazing had occurred in prior years, arguing the district should have known and acted.

Westhill’s court response in June 2026 pushed back hard, saying the district was not at fault and that the boys assumed the risk of their conduct after school hours. That filing matters because it shifts the fight from the original criminal case to a broader question of whether Westhill’s supervision, reporting and athletic culture changed after the scandal broke.

For parents, athletes and staff, the unanswered questions are not just about one night in 2025. They are about what Westhill knew, when it knew it, and whether the district’s response has done enough to make another hazing case less likely inside a program that remains under a harsh spotlight.