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Scandalous details have emerged in the Northwestern hazing story that has resulted in a two-week suspension to head coach Pat Fitzgerald.
Based on a report in the Daily Northwestern, an anonymous former Northwestern player alleged that the “hazing” identified by an independent investigator in a report issued Friday involved forced sexual acts among players, and that Fitzgerald may have known about it.
The report was confirmed in the college campus newspaper by a second player who also chose to remain anonymous.
“I’ve seen it with my own eyes, and it’s just absolutely egregious and vile and inhumane behavior,” the player said. “It’s just a really abrasive and barbaric culture that has permeated throughout that program for years on end now.”
According to the student, the hazing involved an activity called “running,” which was used to intimidate freshman team member if they made mistakes on the field or in practice.
The Daily Northwestern provided the details of “running” team members. Those administering the practice would restrain a player in a darkened locker room. At that point, as many as eight upper classmen would “dry hump” the victim.
It was indicated in the report that Fitzgerald knew about the practice as well as other hazing activities. However, the head coach said in a statement that he had no knowledge of any of the abuse that had been reported.
“Northwestern football prides itself on producing not just athletes, but fine young men with character befitting the program and our university,” Fitzgerald said in his statement. “We hold our student-athletes and our program to the highest standards; we will continue to work to exceed those standards moving forward.”
Independent investigation
The university revealed that it had undertaken an independent investigation of the hazing activities that had allegedly taken place at the team's preseason training camp in Kenosha, Wisconsin last August.
That investigation was based on a complaint made by a player last year, and it was headed by Maggie Hickey, the former inspector general of Illinois. Her investigation reported that hazing had taken place, but none of the specific details that the college newspaper reported were released.
Fitzgerald's two-week suspension was announced at the same time.
Northwestern president Michael Schill issued a blanket statement condemning hazing, without identifying what happened.
“Hazing in any form is unacceptable and goes against our core values at Northwestern, where we strive to make the university a safe and welcoming environment for all of our students,” Schill said in a statement. “Our athletics programs are held to the highest standards, and in this case, we failed to meet them. I expect that today’s actions will prevent this from ever happening again.”
The issue at hand
While Northwestern tried to get out front of the situation by commissioning an investigation that revealed some type of hazing, it tried to whitewash the details of what happened to some players.
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The university clearly did not want to be associated with the ugly details published by the student newspaper because it was embarrassing to the football team, the athletic department and the university as a whole.
Fitzgerald, a former star player at Northwestern and the head coach for the last 17 years, has been widely respected during his tenure as head coach. Northwestern has been a far more successful program during his time as head coach than it was during any other time in the last 60-plus years, with multiple bowl appearances and a spot in the Big Ten title game following the 2018 regular season.
However, the Wildcats were 3-9 and 1-11 during the last two seasons.
Regardless of whether the team is winning or losing, the head coach of the team cannot permit one group of players to intimidate and sexually batter another group of players. Fitzgerald is a coach who is known to have a firm grip on all aspects of his program.
The thought that he had no knowledge of the allegations published in the student newspaper seems far-fetched.
Conclusion
The university had this incident investigated by a respected professional. It needs to go back to Hickey and ask her to deliver a more detailed report that addresses the specifics.
Perhaps it is undignified to report the ugly details that appear to have gone on at Camp Kenosha. However, there are far worse things than undignified.
A university that whitewashes the facts to protect its reputation is far worse. If all details are not confirmed, there's nothing to prevent another generation of players from getting hurt.
Those who are responsible need to be held accountable.
