Northwestern football staffers confirm knowledge of hazing practices, per report
Northwestern football has been in all the wrong kinds of headlines over the weekend due to hazing allegations within the program. Things now look even worse for the Wildcats based on the latest report from Louie Vaccher.
Vaccher, an insider and the managing editor of the Wildcat Report, did some digging on his own regarding the allegations. From what he dug up, several staffers confirmed to him that there is validity behind some of what was said to take place up in Evanston.
The school launched in an investigation on these claims in January at the end of their latest 1-11 season. The end of that investigation this month led them to justifying the claims as credible.
In turn, Northwestern immediately suspended Pat Fitzgerald for two weeks without pay. With new information coming out, Northwestern is now also in the midst of reconsidering Fitzgerald’s penalty.
For what it’s worth, the school and program are saying and doing all that they can to show that they support their student-athletes and that hazing of any kind is a zero-tolerance issue. Meanwhile, some players themselves have come out in support of their coach by saying that these are “fabrications” that are both “exaggerated and twisted”.
Again, nothing positive has come out of Northwestern in regards to this matter over the past few days. This may just be the tip of the iceberg, though, depending on his this story continues to unfold for the Wildcats.
Northwestern issues statement in light of report on football hazing allegations
Northwestern has issued a new statement on the hazing allegations around its football program. It came in light of a report from The Daily Northwestern that included new details. The report came one day after the university announced Pat Fitzgerald would be suspended as a result of the investigation.
The Daily spoke with an anonymous former player who shared details of the alleged hazing that occurred within the program. Although the investigation “did not discover sufficient evidence to believe that coaching staff knew about the ongoing hazing conduct,” Fitzgerald still received a two-week suspension without pay as a result.
The executive summary of the investigation didn’t provide many details. However, the allegations in the report from The Daily were disturbing. In its statement Saturday, the university didn’t comment on specifics and opted to let the executive summary speak for itself.
“Our first priority is to support and protect our students, including the young man who brought these matters to our attention and all student-athletes who had the courage to come forward in this independent investigation,” the statement read, via ESPN’s Adam Rittenberg. “That is why the University immediately opened this investigation upon learning of the allegations. And why we took decisive action once we ascertained the facts.
“Out of respect for the privacy of our student-athletes, we will not comment about the findings beyond what we stated in the release and executive summary of the investigation.”
“Hazing in any form is unacceptable and goes against our core values at Northwester. We strive to make the University a safe and welcoming environment for all of our students,” president Michael Schill said. “Our athletics programs are held to the highest standards, and in this case, we failed to meet them. I expect that today’s actions will prevent this from ever happening again.”