The head coach of Northwestern University’s football team has been fired following an investigation into allegations of hazing among team members, the school’s president announced Monday.
Northwestern’s head football coach, Pat Fitzgerald, was suspended last week for two weeks without pay, but school president Michael Schill said in a note to the Northwestern community that he was reevaluating that decision.
The disciplinary action was taken to address Fitzgerald’s “lack of awareness and prevention of significant hazing in the football program,” Schill said.
The results of the school’s investigation, launched about six months ago, were kept confidential, the president said.
“Over the past 72 hours, I’ve spent a lot of time thinking and discussing with people who love our University,” Schill said. “Ultimately, the decision to originally suspend Coach Fitzgerald was mine and mine alone, as was the decision to part with him.”
The investigation, led by attorney Maggie Hickey, concluded that there was there is not enough evidence to say that the coaches knew about the ongoing hazing, but also said that the coaches had a chance to find out.
Subsequently, a report in the Daily Northwestern detailed allegations by a former player who vividly described hazing and sexual abuse.
Schill said Monday that Fitzgerald, as part of his job as a leader that shaped the team’s culture, should have known about the alleged hazing.
“The hazing we investigated was widespread and clearly not a secret within the program, which gave Coach Fitzgerald an opportunity to learn what was going on,” the president said.
matthew kills and T.J. Swigart contributed.
