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KANSAS University cheerleaders were made to strip naked during a “humiliating” initiation ceremony.

New recruits were blindfolded, stuffed into a washing machine and cardboard boxes, before being ordered to strip in front of male squad members, it has been revealed.

 Kansas University cheerleaders were made to strip naked during a 'humiliating' initiation ritual (file photo)
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Kansas University cheerleaders were made to strip naked during a 'humiliating' initiation ritual (file photo)Credit: Getty - Contributor

One victim was so traumatised she left the university before finishing her studies, News.com.au reports.

The university launched an investigation into the incident following complaints by the victims that cheerleading coaches allowed the hazing to take place on a yearly basis.

As a result the whole squad have been put on a year-long probation.

Two team members, who wished to remain anonymous, said they were abused during an “initiation” event for six first-year members last July, while the team was on campus for a children’s summer camp.

 A Kansas University cheerleader performs at a college event
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A Kansas University cheerleader performs at a college eventCredit: Getty - Contributor

The cheerleaders arrived at Kansas football’s Memorial Stadium in running shoes, per the team’s orders, and were told to sprint up and down a hill.

The older team members then blindfolded them, placed them in cars one by one and brought them inside an empty house, the two victims said.

One said she was forced inside of a washing machine, while the other said she was put in a cardboard box and jostled around as they banged on the sides.

They were then frogmarched into another room and asked a series of questions.

 Kansas University cheerleaders during a performance at a college sports event
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Kansas University cheerleaders during a performance at a college sports eventCredit: Getty - Contributor

For each question they answered incorrectly, they were required to remove an article of clothing.

Eventually standing there naked, the six cheerleaders allegedly were taken into another room, while one of them said she remembered being separated from the group.

“I had taken my blindfold off along with another girl sitting next to me, and two alumni guys walked in and saw us naked,” she told student newspaper, The Kansas State Collegian.

Split into two groups, two of the cheerleaders said to have been taken downstairs and deemed “initiated,” while the others were subjected to public shaming.

 One hazing victim said she had been forced to pull out of her studies (file photo of a Kansas University cheerleader)
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One hazing victim said she had been forced to pull out of her studies (file photo of a Kansas University cheerleader)Credit: Getty - Contributor

“They took me and two other girls, put us in a room together and told us we are ugly, we don’t deserve to be on the team and our skills weren’t good enough,” one of the cheerleaders said.

“They sat us down with all the alumni and all returning cheerleaders.”

The incident has left the two cheerleaders emotionally traumatised, they said, leading one to leave the school permanently.

“The reason why I’m leaving KU is solely because the university and the athletic department decided to treat me and my other teammates like we didn’t matter and were instead just pretty faces for the media,” she said.

Kansas’ cheerleading team came under national controversy in November 2016 when a photo surfaced on Snapchat showing four team members, three male and one female, wearing matching Jayhawks sweaters emblazoned with “K” on the front, with the caption “Kkk go trump.”

The university temporarily suspended the cheerleaders from competition as a result.

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