Northwestern will launch two reviews into athletic department after hazing and bullying scandals

Northwestern will launch two external reviews into its athletic department following its football and baseball teams’ hazing scandals. 

Football coach Pat Fitzgerald and baseball coach Jim Foster were fired following investigations into hazing and bullying. 

University president Michael Schill, in a letter to Northwestern faculty and staff, via ESPN, said the reviews are needed to ensure ‘appropriate accountability for the athletic department.’ 

One review will reportedly examine how the school detects threats to its athletes and how accountability is implemented in the athletic department.  

The second will look to assess ‘the culture of Northwestern Athletics and its relationship to the academic mission.’

Northwestern University president Michael Schill announced the school will conduct two reviews into its athletic department following its football and baseball teams’ hazing scandals

Football coach Pat Fitzgerald (L) and baseball coach Jim Foster (R) were fired following probes 

‘I will continue to do whatever is necessary to address this situation and ensure that our athletic program remains one you can be proud of and one that is fully aligned with and reflects our values,’ Schills said in his letter. 

‘Equally important, I give you my commitment that we will redouble our efforts to safeguard the welfare of each and every student-athlete at Northwestern.’ 

Both reviews reportedly will be made public, unlike the results of the probe into a toxic environment under Foster in the baseball program and the investigation into the allegations of hazing made about the football team. 

Earlier on Monday, it was revealed that the first of what could prove to be multiple lawsuits against fired Northwestern football coach Pat Fitzgerald and school leadership has been filed in Illinois amid fallout from the school’s ongoing hazing scandal.

The player, identified in the lawsuit as John Doe, alleged Tuesday in the Cook County Court in Chicago that Fitzgerald, Northwestern University President Michael Schill, the board of trustees and athletic director Derrick Gragg enabled and concealed sexual misconduct and racial discrimination. Fitzgerald is also accused of personally being involved with some of the hazing incidents. 

That lawsuit has been provided to DailyMail.com by the plaintiff’s legal team, which includes one attorney who previously represented the sexual abuse victims of former Michigan State University and USA Gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar.

According to the complaint, the plaintiff ‘suffered in the past, and will continue to suffer in the future, permanent and severe injuries of a personal and pecuniary nature’ as a result of the incidents, some of which involved nudity and sexual misconduct. 

A lawsuit against Fitzgerald and school leadership has been filed in Illinois 

The unidentified player, who was on the football team from 2018 to 2022, also accused Fitzgerald of enabling ‘a culture of racism and/or other microaggressions.’ 

More lawsuits, filed by multiple law firms, are expected to follow from former football and baseball players as well as from student-athletes who played other sports for the Wildcats.

At least eight former Northwestern football players have retained attorneys following recent revelations that led to Fitzgerald’s firing and sharp criticism of university leadership for its initial response to the allegations.

Civil rights attorney Ben Crump and the Chicago-based Levin & Perconti law firm announced Monday they have ‘uncovered a vast array of incidents of abuse in the Northwestern football program.’ They also said more athletes are expected to join the legal action and it will expand beyond Northwestern football to other college athletic programs.