A former Northwestern football player has come forward with details of hazing that included alleged sexual violations, The Daily Northwestern reported Saturday. The news comes a day after the school suspended head coach Pat Fitzgerald two weeks without pay when an independent investigation concluded the program participated in hazing.
The student newspaper reported the allegations were corroborated by a second unnamed player.
One of the hazing rituals reported was called “running,” when freshmen players were hazed after making a mistake. A player would be taken to the locker room, held down by upperclassmen in masks and then dry-humped.
“It’s done under this smoke and mirror of, ‘Oh, this is team bonding,’ but no, this is sexual abuse,” the former player told The Daily Northwestern.
Opinion:Pat Fitzgerald failed to protect players. New hazing allegations 100% his responsibility
The former player said football coach Pat Fitzgerald would clap over his head when a player didn’t perform well in practice and others took that as a signal he supported the hazing because that gesture, known as “the Shrek clap,” was used by upperclassmen to signal a player deserved a “running.” The Daily Northwestern said it obtained photos of whiteboards with the labels “Runsgiving” and “Shrek’s List.”
Other reported rituals included being forced to strip naked for various acts.
Last winter, the school hired an independent investigative team, led by Maggie Hickey, the former inspector general of Illinois, to look into reports of hazing. The investigation did not find conclusive evidence to point out specific players or coaches, but said “participation in or knowledge of the hazing activities was widespread across football players.”
It also said even though program leadership was not found to have knowledge about the misconduct, “there had been significant opportunities to discover and report the hazing.”
A statement sent to multiple outlets Saturday night and signed “The ENTIRE Northwestern Football Team” said the hazing allegations were “exaggerated and twisted.” The statement said the football players do not tolerate hazing of any kind and that Fitzgerald “was not involved in any of the alleged incidents in any way, shape, or form.”
“Hazing goes against our values of respect, integrity, and personal growth. We are committed to fostering a supportive and inclusive environment that promotes the well-being and development of every individual on our team,” the statement read.
Fitzgerald said after his suspension that he didn’t know about the hazing.
“I was very disappointed when I heard about the allegations of hazing on our football team,” he said after being notified of his suspension. “… Northwestern football prides itself on producing not just athletes, but fine young men with character befitting the program and our University. We hold our student-athletes and our program to the highest standards; we will continue to work to exceed those standards moving forward.”
The 2022 season was Fitzgerald’s 17th with the program. The 2020 campaign was especially successful, when he captured his 100th win with the team and they won the Citrus Bowl 35-19 over Auburn.
The former player who spoke to the Daily Northwestern called the school’s handling of the hazing allegations and the sanctions levied against the program “a slap on the wrist.”
Northwestern president Michael Schill said in a statement Saturday that 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. 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,” Schill wrote.
“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.”
