Breaking his silence about the burgeoning hazing scandal, Northwestern University President Michael Schill says he fired head football coach Pat Fitzgerald — days after ordering a two-week suspension — after concluding Fitzgerald “didn’t try to find out what was happening” and “had to bear responsibility for that.”
Schill has been under fire for slapping Fitzgerald on the wrist and reconsidering only after the student newspaper, The Daily Northwestern, disclosed sordid details of the sexualized hazing.
Earlier this week, Schill rewarded The Daily Northwestern with his first public interview on the scandal.
He said he initially believed a two-week suspension was appropriate because “individual culpability and knowledge matters in these things” and attorney Maggie Hickey’s internal report on the hazing scandal “concluded there was insufficient evidence to indicate” that Fitzgerald “knew about what was going on, even though there were some opportunities to find out.”
Why, then, did Schill change his mind after reading about the ugly details from player accounts?
“I was affected by reading your coverage, I was affected by additional allegations we received, I was affected by the impact it was having on our community. I came to the realization that I had over-weighted the individual knowledge. The coach ... was charged with responsibility for our student athletes and the culture,” Schill told the Daily.
“I came to the conclusion that he had failed, and he didn’t try to find out what was happening and he had to bear responsibility for that. ... If a leader messes up, they should own up to it, they should take responsibility.”
The hazing allegations have damaged Northwestern’s reputation, triggered multiple lawsuits against the university and prompted several members of the NU football team to enter the transfer portal.
A Northwestern University spokesman did not respond to a request for comment.
Schill acknowledged under questioning that allegations of racism in NU’s football culture — also disclosed by the student newspaper — factored into his decision to fire Fitzgerald.
The NU president insisted he has “not issued a gag order on anybody” and it’s up to Athletic Director Derrick Gragg to decide if, when and how to break his silence. Gragg is “relatively new” to NU and “most of the activity that has been churned up happened before he came here,” Schill said.
Schill’s initial suspension of Fitzgerald has prompted some to question his judgment and whether he should be allowed to stay on as university president.
Asked if he feels his own job is “in jeopardy” or whether he has any plans to reconsider his position, Schill told the student newspaper, “Not in the slightest.”
As for the stadium renovation project now in jeopardy, Schill acknowledged getting a petition from 250 faculty members urging him to hit the pause button, but called the scandal and the stadium controversy “two different issues” that should not be “linked” together.
