“Being a college athlete was one of the greatest gifts of my life – it opened doors of opportunity and offered lessons I carry with me to this day. But it also opened my eyes to some deep, systemic injustices in the system – a system that, to this day, continues to put profits over athletes.” – U.S. Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey
Nearly a decade ago, when Northwestern University football players sought to form a union, head coach Pat Fitzgerald made an emotional appeal to dissuade them, asserting that “a third party” could not be trusted to protect the players’ best interests as well as he and his fellow coaches could.
Fitzgerald, who was fired last month, now stands accused of enabling and participating in a department-wide culture of hazing, racism, sexual violence, and psychological abuse.
Under Fitzgerald’s supposedly vigilant care, players allegedly were sexually assaulted by gangs of masked teammates while restrained, with the victims sometimes personally selected by Fitzgerald himself.
Players endured racist abuse, and were segregated by position based on racist stereotypes.
As repugnant as Northwestern’s emerging history of abuse in its athletic programs may be, it is hardly unique or new. In recent years, student and youth athletes have broken their silence about the brutality and humiliation they have endured in service of a multibillion-dollar industry.
Former Ohio State University wrestlers alleged that U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan, an assistant coach from 1987 to 1995, was aware of sexual abuse allegations against a team doctor and failed to intervene. Earlier this year, one of the accusers said Jordan pressured his aging parents to persuade him to retract his claim.
At least 14 Michigan State University employees failed to act after receiving reports of sexual abuse allegations against Dr. Larry Nasser, the U.S. women’s national gymnastics team doctor who raped and assaulted numerous young women and girls over 20 years.
These horrific incidents — and many others — paint a picture of a system in which coaches and university officials cannot be trusted to protect or advocate for the vulnerable young athletes who generate honor, prestige, and a steady gusher of revenue for the institutions they serve.
Legislation — and a union? — to protect student athletes
Though primarily aimed at protecting college athletes’ economic rights, proposed legislation in the U.S. Senate could offer them greater protection from physical and emotional abuse and sexual violence.
Among its other provisions, the College Athletes Protection and Compensation Act would set health, wellness, and safety standards to protect college athletes from serious injury, mistreatment, and abuse. The legislation would establish the College Athletics Corporation, which would have the authority to audit, visit and investigate schools — and unlike the NCAA or the universities themselves, the CAC would have subpoena power.
In the wake of the Northwestern revelations, the idea of a college players’ union is being revived. National Labor Relations Board General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo contends that student athletes are employees under the National Labor Relations Act and entitled to the Act’s protections.
Even children too young to play college sports have been sacrificed to protect the reputation and money-making capabilities of college football. When a janitor at Penn State University witnessed assistant coach Jerry Sandusky sexually assaulting a 12-year-old boy, he was too afraid of retaliation to report the incident to police.
The janitor later told investigators that reporting the incident “would have been like going against the president of the United States in my eyes … football runs this university.” The janitor wasn’t wrong. An investigation found that university President Graham Spanier, Vice President Gary Schultz, Athletic Director Tim Curley, and longtime head coach Joe Paterno had known about allegations of abuse by Sandusky as early as 1998. Three of the officials were convicted of child endangerment; Paterno died before facing any charges.
Yet more than a decade after the Sandusky scandal shocked the nation, colleges and universities continue to place their athletic programs above the welfare of their athletes.
If these institutions do not address the culture of violence on their own campuses, Congress must step in to establish oversight.
Marc H. Morial is president and CEO of the National Urban League and former mayor of New Orleans from 1994 to 2002.
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