After a Saturday report by The Daily Northwestern detailed alleged hazing and sexual misconduct on the Northwestern football team, three former players are making allegations about a racist culture within the program, including multiple racist attacks and remarks from the coaching staff and players, The Daily reported on Monday.
The reports emerged after the university suspended head coach Pat Fitzgerald for two weeks last Friday after an independent investigation found evidence of hazing. University President Michael Schill released a statement on Saturday night saying he may have “erred” in his decision to suspend Fitzgerald.
Two of the former players who spoke with the Daily asked to remain anonymous. One told the Daily there was blatant racism on the team, with Fitzgerald implementing the “Wildcat Way,” which meant asking Black players and coaches to cut their dreadlocks. The former player alleged that the coaches used the phrase “good, clean American fun” to indicate how they wanted players to look and act, adding that white players with longer hair were not asked to change it.
Ramon Diaz Jr., a Latino player who was an offensive lineman from 2005-2008, described a hostile experience as a non-white player.
“I didn’t feel like I could be anything other than white,” Diaz told The Daily. “We never felt like we could be ourselves. We had to fit in by being white or acting white or laughing at our own people.”
Diaz alleged multiple instances of racism directed toward him. He said he had to shave “Cinco De Mayo” in his hair for a freshman tradition where players put messages in their hair. He said a coach asked if he had experience cleaning dirty rooms, joking that his family must know how to clean houses.
Diaz said he had flashbacks and nightmares about things that happened in the locker room. He was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder after graduating from Northwestern, saying his experience in the football program was a major factor in the diagnosis.
“The fact that I’m still going to a therapist and talking about these things after more than 10 years is indicative of the mental health state I was left in,” Diaz told The Daily. “I didn’t even watch a football game again for almost five years after I left Northwestern. It was that negative of an experience for me that I didn’t want anything to do with the sport.”
A second anonymous player claimed that the team felt segregated — the defense had more Black players, while the offense had more white players, making it difficult for Black players on offense. Diaz agreed, saying that by the end of his time at Northwestern, he felt alienated and had to act white to fit in.
All three ex-players confirmed some of the hazing allegations that were reported by the Daily on Saturday.
A Northwestern University spokesperson told the Daily that the school was not aware of the allegations of racism.
“The alleged ‘racist commentary and behavior toward non-white players’ by Coach Fitzgerald and members of his staff would be entirely unacceptable and inconsistent with our culture and values, if true,” spokesperson Jon Yates wrote in an email to The Daily. “As we do with any allegation, we will immediately address the accusations and any findings will be considered.”
