A photo of a Northwestern football coach wearing a shirt with “Cats Against The World” across the front sparked disapproval from the school and attorneys representing former football players in the hazing scandal.
Cats is a reference to the school’s mascot, the Wildcats.
“After everything that’s happened, it’s outrageous that Northwestern University and its football program are still not taking this seriously,” said attorney Steve Levin, who along with civil rights attorney Ben Crump has filed lawsuits on behalf of eight former Northwestern football players.
The hazing scandal led to the firing of Pat Fitzgerald as the school’s longtime head football coach on July 10.
Bradley Locker, a student at Northwestern’s Medill School of Journalism, on Wednesday posted the photo on X. The student shared the post at 11:48 a.m. ET, and it has been viewed more than 1.8 million times.
In an accompanying comment, Locker wrote, “Several Northwestern coaches/staffers, including OC Mike Bajakian, are donning ‘Cats Against the World’ shirts with No. 51 – Pat Fitzgerald’s old jersey number – on them.”
WHAT WE KNOW:Northwestern athletics hazing scandal
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Fitzgerald was a star linebacker for Northwestern in the 1990s.
“I am extremely disappointed that a few members of our football program staff decided to wear ‘Cats Against the World’ T-shirts,” Derrick Gregg, Northwestern’s vice president for athletics and recreation, said in a statement the school provided to USA TODAY Sports. “Neither I nor the University was aware that they owned or would wear these shirts today. The shirts are inappropriate, offensive and tone deaf. Let me be crystal clear: hazing has no place at Northwestern, and we are committed to do whatever is necessary to address hazing-related issues, including thoroughly investigating any incidents or allegations of hazing or any other misconduct.”
Jon Yates, Northwestern’s vice president for global marketing and communications, did not respond when asked by email if the school has ordered the coaches to stop wearing the shirts.
More than 10 former football players have filed suits saying they were subjected to sexualized hazing. The school retained a law firm to conduct an investigation after a former player reported allegations of hazing.
But the extent of the hazing did not come before a July 8 report by the Daily Northwestern, the school’s newspaper. Locker, who posted information about the “Cats Against the World” shirts is co-editor-in-chief of “Inside NU” and a member of the Class of 2025 at Northwestern.
Attorney Parker Stinar, who said he is representing more than 30 former players with the law firm Salvi, Schostok & Pritchard P.C., reacted to the shirts.
“Many of our clients have tremendous pride in playing football at Northwestern with love and respect for their former teammates,” Stinar said in a statement. “However, that pride does not discount nor neglect the harms they suffered due to the institutional failures by Northwestern which tolerated and enabled a culture of racism, bigotry, sexualized and other forms of hazing. The shirts should read “Survivors vs the World”, standing with those harmed rather than those responsible.
