Ben Crump, for years now, has been viewed as one of the great civil rights lawyers in the nation. It was following the horrific murder of George Floyd, when Crump represented the family and sued the Minneapolis Police Department, when Crump’s passion and effectiveness became truly known.
What Crump did wasn’t just sue the cops; he helped bring nationwide attention to police abuse in Black and brown neighborhoods. He continues to do that work. He continues to fight people and institutions that abuse power.
Which brings us to the ugly hazing and racism scandal at Northwestern.
Crump and attorney Steve Levin were hired by a group of 15 former Northwestern football players to take potential legal action against the university for hazing incidents that took place within the program. Crump said in an interview with USA TODAY Sports that one of his goals isn’t to just hold the school accountable but put the entire sports hazing culture in college sports on notice.
“I want to try and set a precedent that will prevent this type of physical and psychological trauma,” Crump said, “from happening to any other player ever again. I want to end hazing in college sports.”
Crump has fought far more problematic and powerful entities than university sports. Northwestern, and the entire college sports industrial complex, underestimates him at their own peril.
Northwestern’s football scandal was also about hardcore racism
Crump says what drew him to represent the players were their descriptions not just of the alleged abuse, but something even more devastating.
“The biggest thing is they suffered in silence,” he said. “They felt they needed to endure it in order to stay on the team. Or even to not lose their scholarship.”
“What also really struck me were their ages,” Crump said. “Some of the athletes were so young. You’re talking 18 or 19. It was appalling.”
Northwestern President Michael Schill, in a July 10 letter, said a months-long investigation showed some of the hazing incidents included “forced participation, nudity and sexualized acts of a degrading nature, in clear violation of Northwestern policies and values.”
“Today I am proud to come forward among my brave teammates here today to let the truth be known, the truth that has perpetuated for decades,” Lloyd Yates, a quarterback and wide receiver from 2015 to 2017, said at a press conference on Wednesday. “We hope that with our public efforts that we will empower those affected by physical emotional and sexual abuse to share their stories and we’re letting you know that we are in those together and that we support you.”
Crump pointed to one particular accusation from the former player who initially informed the school of the alleged hazing to something called “running.” Older players would put younger ones in a dark locker room and engage in sexualized acts while wearing masks. Crump said allegations like that make this a civil rights issue.
“We have to protect the civil rights of the players,” he said. “You should be able to participate in your sport without being assaulted.”
Crump is comfortable operating in the spotlight because, in many ways, that’s all he’s done. Longtime civil rights activist and MSNBC analyst Al Sharpton calls Crump “Black America’s attorney general.”
Crump has become the voice for Black families who have lost loved ones to police violence. In addition to Floyd, he’s represented the families of Breonna Taylor, Trayvon Martin and Michael Brown, among others.
Crump has also been remarkably effective in representing his clients, winning multimillion-dollar settlements in police brutality cases. But his impact goes beyond the settlements. Crump has pushed for various police reforms and he’s also been extremely blunt in talking about the impact of race on policing. As the Associated Press notes, he once told a congressional committee that reform was needed because “it’s become painfully obvious we have two systems of justice; one for white Americans and one for Black Americans.”
“We have an opportunity here, America, to really speak to this institutionalized police culture and show that it is not just about white officers or Black officers or Hispanic officers,” Crump said in February. “It’s about police officers having this biased belief that you can get away with doing certain things to Black citizens and brown citizens in America that you cannot get away with white citizens.”
All of this is why if you’re Northwestern, or really all of college sports, Crump’s involvement should terrify you. He’s proved to be incredibly effective at not just getting attention, but addressing a problematic culture. He’ll do that with this situation, too.
It’s what he does.
