Northwestern University has parted ways with head football coach Pat Fitzgerald, just days after it placed him on a two-week unpaid suspension following an investigation into hazing allegations.
According to an executive summary released by the University, a staff member received an email on November 30, 2022 from an anonymized address alleging hazing within the football program. ESPN identified this staff member as Kristina Minor, Senior Associate Athletic Director for Compliance, and alleges the email came from a former player who has since left the school.
The executive summary explains that the university immediately retained Maggie Hickey of ArentFox Schiff LLP to investigate the allegations. Hickey’s investigation included interviewing more than 50 people affiliated or formerly affiliated with the football program, reviewing hundreds of thousands of emails, and reviewing player survey data dating back to 2014.
The team determined that the complaints were “largely supported by the evidence.” However, they did not find evidence pointing to an individual player or coach, concluding instead that knowledge and participation in the hazing was widespread across the football players. Additionally, while the investigation failed to uncover evidence that the coaching staff knew about the problem, it did find that there were “significant opportunities to discover and report the hazing conduct.”
Northwestern responded to the investigation by implementing recommendations set forth by Hickey, including hiring a staff member who does not report to the football coaching staff to oversee the locker room, discontinuing football practices at “Camp Kenosha,” creating an anonymous reporting tool specifically for student-athletes to report incidents of hazing, and placing Pat Fitzgerald on a two-week suspension without pay.
However, on July 8, The Daily Northwestern, the on-campus student newspaper, released an article that included allegations by a player further detailing the hazing behavior and alleging that Fitzgerald may have known that hazing was taking place. The player, whose details were corroborated by a second player, characterized the behavior as “absolutely egregious and vile and inhumane.” He says that the hazing was centered on a practice referred to as “running” which was used to punish players, primarily freshmen, for on-field mistakes. “Running” consisted of 8-10 upperclassmen dressed in “purge-like” masks who would dry-hump the victim in a dark locker room. The player said the tradition was especially common during training camp and around major holidays, including Thanksgiving and Christmas, otherwise referred to by the team as “Runsgiving” and “Runsmas.” Team members identified players to run by clapping their hands above the head of the player, a practice they referred to as “the Shrek Clap.” The player alleges that Fitzgerald also made the signal during practices. The article further outlines additional hazing behavior prevalent within the team including, but not limited to, being forced to strip naked and bear crawl or slingshot themselves across the floor using exercise bands.
That same day, roughly 11 hours after the release of the Daily’s article, University President Michael Schill emailed the Northwestern community stating that he “may have erred in weighing the appropriate sanction for Coach Fitzgerald.”
Despite a letter of support by the “ENTIRE Northwestern Football Team” on behalf of Fitzgerald on July 9, President Schill announced that Fitzgerald was being relieved of his duties effective immediately on July 10. In his statement, Schill released additional details regarding the investigation including that “eleven current or former student-athletes acknowledged that hazing has been ongoing within the football program” and that “the hazing included forced participation, nudity, and sexualized acts of a degrading nature.” President Schill reiterated that the investigator “failed to find any credible evidence that Coach Fitzgerald himself knew about it.”
Fitzgerald has since retained high profile attorney, Dann Webb to explore his legal options. While Northwestern believes that they fired Fitzgerald for cause, Webb alleges that Northwestern has committed two major breaches of contract. Webb believes that the school breached Fitzgerald’s employment contract as well as a verbal agreement between the parties. Under Illinois law, an oral agreement is a contract, according to Webb, and Northwestern made an oral agreement when they handed down the initial punishment of a two-week unpaid suspension. Neither the school nor Webb have addressed the issue of Fitzgerald’s remaining salary on his 10-year deal, which was originally signed in 2021.
Additionally, just days after Fitzgerald’s firing, Northwestern announced that they parted ways with first-year head baseball coach, Jim Foster. Foster was investigated by the school’s human resources department and was found to have harbored a toxic environment and “engaged in bullying and abusive behavior.”
