Northwestern, at the eye of a hazing scandal, must have thought it would be easier than this
The Northwestern sideline, with coach Pat Fitzgerald in the foreground, during a loss to Ohio State at Ryan Field in 2022.
Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images
We weren’t in the proverbial room with Northwestern president Michael Schill whenever it was that he decided — presumably with input from others including athletic director Derrick Gragg, and possibly coach Pat Fitzgerald himself — to suspend Fitzgerald for two weeks without pay after an independent investigation into alleged hazing within the Wildcats football program.
We can imagine what they might have been thinking, though. First, dump the news of the suspension on a Friday and the public might hardly even notice it, right? After that, a beautiful summer weekend on the North Shore. Perhaps a sunny stroll past the Baha’i Temple? An evening campfire at Dempster Beach?
“By the time Monday rolls around,” someone might have suggested, “this whole thing probably will have blown over.”
Alas, no such luck. Instead, Evanston became the eye of a storm of controversy Schill and the school must not have seen coming. Student journalists from The Daily Northwestern broke a massive story Saturday detailing allegations brought by a former player of such lewd acts of hazing — mostly by veteran players against newbies — writers from across the land who’d never dreamed of putting the words “dry” and “hump” together in a story suddenly were doing just that. What did Fitzgerald really know? Will he survive this scandal? Where is the silent Gragg in all this, hiding under his desk?
By late Saturday night, Schill had issued a new statement addressed to members of the Northwestern community in which he admitted he “may have erred in weighing the appropriate sanction for Coach Fitzgerald.”
“The confidential report concluded that while there was corroborating evidence that hazing had occurred, there was no direct evidence that Coach Fitzgerald was aware of the hazing,” Schill wrote. “In determining an appropriate penalty for the head coach, I focused too much on what the report concluded he didn’t know and not enough on what he should have known. As the head coach of one of our athletics programs, Coach Fitzgerald is not only responsible for what happens within the program but also must take great care to uphold our institutional commitment to the student experience and our priority to ensure all students — undergraduate and graduate — can thrive during their time at Northwestern. Clearly, he failed to uphold that commitment, and I failed to sufficiently consider that failure in levying a sanction.”
On Sunday, a university spokesman offered a terse reply to an email from a reporter:
“No one will be available for comment today.”
Northwestern’s official policy on hazing defines it as “any action taken or situation created, intentionally or whether on or off University premises and whether presented as optional or required, to produce: mental, physical, or emotional discomfort; servitude; degradation; embarrassment; harassment; or ridicule for the purpose of initiation into, affiliation with, or admission to, or as a condition for continued membership in a group, team, or other organization, regardless of an individual’s willingness to participate.”
Examples written into the policy include “sexual violations or other required, encouraged, or expected sexual activity, whether actual or simulated.”
The allegations against the football program check many of those boxes in fat marker.
Regardless of where this heads for Fitzgerald, the coming days, weeks and longer will only get more humiliating and awkward for Northwestern. Big Ten’s football media days later this month in Indianapolis will be a staging ground for a deep, wide dig into the Wildcats’ culture. Forget their 14-31 overall record and 9-25 Big Ten mark over the last four seasons, which is bad enough. Forget focusing on the title hopes of league powerhouses Michigan, Ohio State and Penn State, too. Is there football hazing at those places, too? Does this stuff really happen everywhere, as some claim? Many reporters will be asking.
Meanwhile, Northwestern still is trying to get an $800 million redevelopment plan in action for a new stadium and surrounding grounds. Was this ever a good idea? That’s debatable. Is it now a matter of terrible timing? That’s not debatable.
Northwestern football has a hard enough time staying in the news under normal circumstances. But this? This is bad.
Happy Monday?