Frantz said that the two events, however, wereunrelated.

The Recruit

Burnham, who attends the private Landon Schoolin Bethesda, Md. said that the night at D.U.changed his life.

"I've actually had nightmares about ithappening again," he said. "I'm a fairly big guyand that's some thing that's not normal. It scaresme."

Burnham's father Richard, who graduated fromHarvard Law School in 1961, said he was bothdisturbed and outraged by the matter.

"I was in Hong Kong, I got the first plane backwhen I heard my son had been hurt," he said.

Both son and father have been in contact withHarvard's coaches and deans.

John Burnham said he was told be the Collegethat 18 members of the D.U. alleged that he hadinitiated the fight.

"They all said that I had given Hansen a blackeye, that they were just restraining me," JohnBurnham said.

But John Burnham said he walked in the door tofind a mass assault awaiting for him. The otherHarvard students, according to his father, mustbe fabricating a story to protect a teammate, hesaid.

"[T] here was never any talk [from witnesses]of John hitting anyone the day after it happened,"Richard Burnham said. "What really makes me upsetis that all these people are able to defame myson."

"I can't be sure whether [my son] wanted tofight with that one person," Richard Burnhamadded. "But did he want to fight with five.?"

"One high school senior being set upon by fiveseniors in college," he said, "what were they,afraid? It doesn't make sense."

Football players interviewed yesterday saidthat Hansen would not have caused a fight unlesshe were provoked.

"I know what has to happen for Sean to raisehis fist at anyone, especially a footballrecruit," said Patrick G. Hannon '96. "If he getsa bad rep [utation] for this thing, it'sunfair."