Following an inquiry into claims of hazing among team members, the head coach of Northwestern University’s football team has been fired, the school’s president stated on Monday.
Michael Schill, the president of the school in Evanston, Illinois, stated to the institution’s community that he had reevaluated the decision to suspend Coach Pat Fitzgerald for two weeks without pay last week.
Fitzgerald’s “failure to know and prevent significant hazing in the football programme,” according to Schill, was the reason for the disciplinary actions.
The findings of the school’s probe, which was started some six months ago, were kept under wraps, he added.
“I have spent a lot of time in thought and in conversations with people who love our University over the last 72 hours,” Schill stated. In the end, I made the choice to fire Coach Fitzgerald, as well as the decision to first suspend him.
The review, which was overseen by attorney Maggie Hickey, found there was not enough evidence to prove that coaches were aware of ongoing hazing, but it also found that they had the opportunity to learn more.
The Daily Northwestern student newspaper published a piece detailing the claims made by a former athlete who vividly depicted hazing and sexual abuse.
Schill claimed on Monday that Fitzgerald had a responsibility to be aware of the alleged hazing because he was a team culture-shaping leader.
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Coach Fitzgerald had the chance to find out what was going on because “the hazing we investigated was widespread and clearly not a secret within the programme,” according to the investigator.
