Northwestern football coach Pat Fitzgerald was issued an unpaid two-week suspension, effective Friday, following an investigation into hazing allegations within the program. The investigation, led by former Illinois inspector general Maggie Hickey, found “evidence to corroborate claims made by an anonymous whistleblower regarding hazing activities and events.”
The investigation began in December following allegations that football players participated in locker room hazing as part of rituals that may have started at the team’s preseason training camp referred to as “Camp Kenosha” in Wisconsin. On Saturday, a day after the investigation findings were revealed, The Daily Northwestern spoke with two former players who claimed the hazing often involved coerced sexual acts.
A common form of hazing, known as “running,” was often used as a punishment for team members — mostly freshmen — that made a mistake in practice or another football setting. A player who spoke with the Daily said that an athlete selected for “running” would be restrained by a group of upperclassmen and “dry-humped” in a dark locker room.
“It’s done under this smoke and mirror of ‘oh, this is team bonding,’ but no, this is sexual abuse,” the player said.
According to the Daily, teammates commonly identified players for “running” by clapping their hands above their heads around that player, a motion Fitzgerald allegedly made repeatedly during practices. One player who spoke with the Daily believes that other players interpreted that as Fitzgerald “encouraging” the hazing.
“The investigation team did not discover sufficient evidence to believe that coaching staff knew about the ongoing hazing conduct,” read an executive summary of the investigation. “They determined, however, that there had been…
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