On Dec. 18, 2021, the University of Wisconsin-Madison Women’s Volleyball team won the 2021 Volleyball National Championship, otherwise known as the Big Ten Conference. After their championship win, the players celebrated in graphic victory, which was documented and illegally released earlier this week. 

According to TMZ Sports, “The Badgers’ athletic department released a statement Wednesday afternoon stating the student-athletes reached out to the UW-Madison Police Department when they realized pic[tures] they had taken were going around social media.” This was an alarming issue for each of the players, all of which did not consent to any public release.

Instead of placing blame on the players, The University of Wisconsin-Madison Athletic Department is standing behind them in this  serious invasion of privacy. According to The Washington Post, the athletic department stated that “The unauthorized sharing is a significant and wrongful invasion of the student-athletes’ privacy, including potential violations of university policies and criminal statutes.”

In the consistent manic spread of these pictures across multiple social media platforms, the University of Wisconsin-Madison is trying to maintain a low profile and remove any possible leakage they are aware of with help from the University of Wisconsin Police Department (UWPD). 

“UWPD is not investigating the volleyball student-athletes for wrongdoing in this matter. Our top priority is supporting our student-athletes and we are providing them with the appropriate services and resources,” said the University Athletic Department.

Although this in-the-moment act is only now creating a scene a year later, the team’s volleyball season continues, especially since they are currently ranked No. 5 in the nation. However, their potential embarrassment did not stop them from sweeping the Michigan State Spartans on their first game back after the leakage scandal.

The public has mixed feelings on how the situation should be handled, whether the team should be disciplined or the athletic department fined for allowing such behavior. But as initially stated, the “top priority is supporting our student-athletes…” Discipline can be dealt with later if that is how the university  would like to respond, but the player’s invasion of privacy is the most important. All that currently matters is figuring out who will receive “potential violations of university policies and criminal statutes.”