Amid success, CSB hockey players are leaving the program

*Content warning: This story implies vulgar language and contains discussion of body image.*

Despite their most successful season in program history, the end of the academic year marks a point of uncertainty for the CSB hockey team. The team has two seniors graduating, two players transferring to other institutions, another two not returning to play next season and others still making a decision on their future with the team.

According to three former players, after the interview process for a new coaching announcement prior to the season, the team saw an additional departure of five players, either during preseason or during the first week of practice. All five were involved in the interviews for coaching candidates. This past winter marked the first season at CSB for head coach Lindsay Macy, who, mid-season, was at the center of a human resources investigation related to complaints about her verbal behavior towards players, according to Emily Heying, nutrition professor and faculty athletics representative. Previously, Macy coached at Finlandia University in Hancock, Mich., where she coached the team for two years and rebuilt the program to earn their best record since 2017. Macy did not respond to a request for comment on this story. The reports began when several students approached Heying. Typically, her role exists to be a liaison between students, professors and athletics staff, often to handle conflicts between athletics and academic overlap or absences.

“When the first student came to me, I was trying to be supportive and validate her experiences, but I was also trying to keep an open mind to learn more information and not jump to conclusions,” Heying said.

In total, four players approached Heying with concerns regarding Macy’s behavior, Heying said. Addy Hackley, a junior defender and assistant captain, was the first. For her, the season started out smoothly before concerns were developed midseason, she said, particularly after the Bennies’ two losses against Gustavus Adolphus, a team that would go on to win the DIII national championship, on Jan. 13 and 14.

“After the Gustavus game, [Macy] called the defenders to the back of the bus and talked to them about how they were letting [the team] down because they were too slow and needed to eat better and talked about how she did ‘fat camp’ when she was younger. She basically implied that ‘I’m putting you guys in fat camp,’” Hackley said.

Heying said that multiple students approached her after the Gustavus series and reported that Macy used a profanity and offensive epithet about people with disabilities to describe how they were playing. After this was reported to her, Heying had a conversation with CSB Athletic Director Kelly Anderson Diercks and filed her own bias and hate report with the colleges. Anderson Diercks did not respond to a request for comment on this story. Heying said that she filed a bias report because she believed that the situation was having a significant impact on the emotional wellbeing and mental health of the student-athletes, and she didn’t feel like student-athletes were safe. Several athletes also filed bias reports.

“I was an athlete; I’ve been coached by a lot of people in a lot of different situations in a lot of different sports. I have been a coach myself. I trust myself and my experience to know the difference between what an intense situation is and where a situation can become emotionally or verbally abusive and become unsafe for a student’s mental health,” Heying said.

On Jan. 31, prior to a game against the University of Wisconsin-Superior, Macy was suspended for one game, according to Hackley. Macy and the team found out about the suspension after they arrived in Superior.

“You could tell the coaches were stressing over something, and [Macy] walks out with everything in hand and walks past me and goes, ‘I hope you’re happy now,’” Hackley said. “We got called into our locker room and were basically told that she had been suspended for a game and that she had to leave. That is all we knew.”

Throughout the season, several parents of players had called the school, reaching out to several administrators, such as Anderson Diercks, the joint president’s office and student development, according to Hackley. In an email obtained by The Record, Mary Geller, associate provost for student success, announced to families of players that they would no longer field calls from parents and that the school would be opening an investigation on the matter. Brooke Anthony, compliance investigator for both campuses, was appointed to lead the investigation on behalf of human resources, which was performed independently of CSB athletics. CSB+SJU Human Resources led the investigation.

Erin Muckerheide, CSB+SJU chief human resources officer, could not discuss details of the specific case, but said that generally, investigation processes at CSB+SJU are initiated by a complaint and the timeline for the investigation can vary. She also said that the determination is based on the information obtained through interviews, while keeping in mind values, precedent, employment best practices and the law. In this case, the investigation process involved interviews with players, coaches and others involved, according to an email obtained by The Record. Several players who had relevant voice recordings of Macy’s actions also submitted them for the investigation, according to Hackley.

While the investigation continued, the team also continued their season, coming to a close in the MIAC tournament semifinal game against Augsburg. Their successful playoff run marked a tie with an all-time record for wins in a season (14) and secured the highest finish in program history. In March, after their season had ended, athletes received an email from Muckerheide stating that the internal investigation had been completed and that “Coach Macy will continue as the CSB women’s hockey coach for the upcoming season,” according to the email obtained by The Record. The email also invited athletes to a team meeting that was held for players to ask questions to HR officials and Anderson Diercks.

The Record reached out to several former and current players at Finlandia University, the previous institution that Macy coached at. Two players, both of whom requested to remain anonymous in fear of retaliation, reported similar experiences.

“When I reached out for her help, she never helped me. She consistently degraded each of us telling us to…go kill ourselves and much more,” one former Finlandia University player told The Record. “For hockey and [knowledge] she’s a wonderful coach. For a person and for a team, she was a NCAA violation waiting to happen.”

While coaching at Finlandia, Macy earned the title of NCHA Coach of the Year. Since the season ended, Hackley decided to quit the hockey team and has turned her focus towards lacrosse, a team that many former and current CSB hockey players are also on. In its first year as a varsity sport, the team has been successful, having just won the MWLC championship last week.

“I decided to play lacrosse and sports became fun again…I thought I was going to play hockey forever when I was younger, and now, I’m not even upset about the fact that I won’t be a part of that team anymore.”