Early in the morning of Sept. 23, witnesses at Jimmy’s Saloon at 37 Memorial Boulevard told police they had seen three Salve students and several other people involved in a scuffle over a racial slur written on the back of one student’s T-shirt.

The student wearing the shirt reported he hadn’t known about the writing on the back, according to police Lt. William Fitzgerald.

He believed the slur had been written on the shirt earlier in the evening while he and the other students were drinking at a party on Spring Street, Fitzgerald said.

When the epithet written on the shirt attracted attention, sophomore soccer player Patrick Romani, 19, of Frankfurt, Ill., came to the student’s aid.

Fitzgerald said Romani was punched in the face and then kicked in the head after he fell to the sidewalk, according to witnesses’ accounts.

Police charged Luis Viruet, 19, from 20 Chapel St., with simple assault.

In a statement announcing the suspension of the men’s soccer games, Salve’s athletic director, Del Malloy, said earlier this week that “we will not discuss the incident or talk about any individuals, but we feel confident this group has a better understanding of our department policies and goals.”

The suspension began Sept. 27, when the Salve Regina Seahawks were scheduled to play at Western New England College. Competition will resume Oct. 13 at New England College.

Meanwhile, a spokesman for NCAAHazing said today that the Sept. 23 incident marks the third time there have been hazing allegations at Salve Regina in the last two years.

NCAAHazing is dedicated to exposing hazing in college athletics, according to spokesman William Schut.

Schut said both the earlier incidents at Salve reportedly occurred in 2005, when athletes on the men’s soccer team and the women’s lacrosse team posted photos on the Internet depicting initiation parties.

One of the photo albums, still on NCAAHazing's Website, appears to show women’s lacrosse players at a drinking party.

In one of the photos, a young woman -- her face blacked out -- is shown inside a dog cage while another woman kneels to the side.

Schut said ncaahazing.com notified Salve officials when it learned of both incidents, months after they occurred.

Today, Hendrickson denied Schut’s contention that the university took no action.

“We’ve dealt with the individuals involved with the photos on his Web site,” she said.

The students involved have already graduated, Hendrickson said.

The university holds educational programs about hazing with all student athletes, she said.

“They are all aware they will suffer the consequences if they engage in that type of behavior,” she said.

The only incident of hazing that is part of the current ongoing investigation is the one that occurred Sept. 23, Hendrickson said.

She declined to release any other details of the investigation or the number of students involved, citing federal privacy laws.