High School with Top Football Program Claims President's Resignation Unrelated to Hazing Allegations

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange

Father Walter E. Jenkins, president of Mater Dei High School in Santa Ana, California, will not return to the role as allegations of hazing in the school's football program are investigated.

The announcement was made on Saturday in a letter addressed to the Catholic school's community, which was later published by the Orange County Register and the Los Angeles Times. Jenkins will return to South Bend, Indiana, where he will take up an assignment with his religious order, the message said.

Jenkins' departure comes after the family of a former Mater Dei football player filed a lawsuit against the school and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange in November 2021 after the student allegedly suffered brain damage and other injuries during a hazing ritual, according to the O.C. Register.

Representatives for the high school told PEOPLE the resignation has no relation to the hazing allegations.

"Father Jenkins will be returning to his Order," a spokesperson said. "We will be announcing his replacement shortly, in the interim Mater Dei leadership will work closely with the Diocese of Orange until the (to be named) incoming president joins. There is no connection between the litigation and his departure from the school."

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John W. McDonough/Sports Illustrated via Getty

The Mater Dei Monarchs are a storied football program in Southern California that won the CIF open division state championship with a 44-7 victory over Junípero Serra High School last month.

They are ranked No. 1 in the country in MaxPreps' high school football rankings, ahead of Texas' Westlake and New Jersey's Bergen Catholic. Mater Dei alum Bryce Young, now quarterback for the University of Alabama, won the 2021 Heisman Trophy in December.

According to the OC Register, the alleged hazing ritual that injured the unnamed student occurred last February.

Two videos obtained by the newspaper reportedly show a Mater Dei player punching his smaller teammate three times in the face in a ritual called "Bodies" inside a school locker room. As the smaller player was punched, his teammates allegedly shouted racial epithets at him, per the outlet. PEOPLE was not able to review the videos.

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In a statement on Nov. 30, Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer said his office could not prove "beyond a reasonable doubt" that a crime was committed during the incident.

"Neither player involved in this fight was made to participate against their will. Other players in the locker room were seen milling around, playing on their phones, and largely uninterested in the punches being thrown by two of their teammates," he said. "The participants knew they were being filmed and they started throwing punches. Some punches landed; others did not, but it is unequivocally clear that both participants attempted to land as many punches as possible."

"There is not a single shred of evidence to show that this was anything other than a mutual combat situation with two willing participants who traded blow for blow, including repeated punches to each other's heads," he added. "That does not make it acceptable. But it is not a crime."

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The school hired an independent firm to review safety protocols at the school and on the football team, they told PEOPLE.

"We hired Van Dermyden Makus, an investigations law firm, who is conducting an independent assessment of the school's and in particular our athletic program's safety protocols," a spokesperson said. "Their review will include employee, student, and parent interviews, surveys, and intake from an anonymous reporting line they will establish and monitor. The culmination of their review will be a comprehensive written report and presentation that will include: recommended safety initiatives, such as any modification of policies, training, mission alignment, and involvement of additional external resources if needed."

"In addition to the outside review, we are creating a task force of professionals within high school athletics to assist in an overall review of how athletics is engaged at Mater Dei," they added. "The results of the task force's findings and recommendations will also be made public. Both the independent review and the task force are continuing as planned."

Bruce Rollinson is still listed as the team's head coach on Mater Dei's website.