Repercussions from Northwestern University’s football hazing scandal have thrown the Big Ten school’s athletic department into upheaval in just a matter of days, spurring leadership shake-ups, football recruits decommitting from the team and concerns over possible legal action.
Yet the long-term ramifications of the public relations crisis remain to be seen — from potentially marring the reputation of the prestigious research university to galvanizing opposition against a planned $800 million football stadium rebuild in the wake of so much athletic program controversy.
“I’d like to think this will not hurt our academics reputation. But it’s concerning,” said Ceci Rodgers, Northwestern’s faculty senate president. “The question it could raise in prospective students’ parents’ minds is, does this university respond adequately to concerns or allegations that impact the safety of my child, not just the athletic students, but all students?”
University President Michael Schill fired head football coach Pat Fitzgerald on Monday, a turnabout from a previous two-week unpaid suspension initially levied against Fitzgerald following an investigation into hazing allegations.
Eleven former or current football players have admitted that hazing — which included “nudity and sexualized acts of a degrading nature” — has been ongoing and systemic in the football program; however, an investigator “failed to find any credible evidence that Coach Fitzgerald knew about it,” the university said in a statement.
In the aftermath of his firing, Fitzgerald has been exploring legal options, including possible breach-of-contract claims against Northwestern, according to his attorney.
Athletic department recruitment has already taken a hit: Several football recruits from the initial 14 members of the 2024 class have decommitted from Northwestern in the past few days.
“After talking with my parents and coaches about the news that has broke I have reconsidered my decision and decided to decommit from Northwestern,” one of the recruits, defensive lineman Payton Stewart, posted on Twitter on Tuesday. “My recruitment is now back open.”
The athletic department’s cultural and leadership troubles extend beyond the football program: Three days after Fitzgerald’s ouster, the university also dismissed its head baseball coach, who faced accusations of bullying and other problematic behaviors that had ignited a human resources investigation, according to documents obtained by the Tribune.
In a groundswell of pressure, more than 250 faculty members signed a letter to university administrators on Thursday demanding greater athletic department transparency and accountability. The letter also urged Northwestern leadership to halt the planning and marketing of Ryan Field, the pricey football stadium project, until “this crisis is satisfactorily resolved.”
“We share an interest in ensuring the future success of (Northwestern University) athletics, and in stellar facilities where our students can compete on the highest level,” the letter stated. “But disturbing evidence of harassment and abuse — and high-level efforts to minimize those problems — suggest that we need to get the existing house in order before expanding it.”
Part of the scandal’s fallout will be the incalculable cost to the Northwestern brand, experts say.
Beyond the disruption to its athletic programs, the hazing allegations and the administration’s fumbled response to the Fitzgerald firing have created a public-relations nightmare for an elite academic institution, whose reputation has been earned mostly in fields other than football.
Repairing the school’s brand will take both decisive actions and time, according to Michael Sitrick, who leads one of the top crisis PR firms in the country.
“It’s a very, very difficult situation for anyone to deal with — any university, any corporation, any entity,” Sitrick said. “The allegations are very serious.”
Damage control
Schill, who succeeded Morton Schapiro as Northwestern’s president in September, has faced criticism for his apparent indecisiveness following an independent six-month investigation into the hazing allegations, the results of which have been released only in summary form.
In a matter of days, Schill went from announcing a two-week suspension for Fitzgerald, to admitting he “may have erred” in meting out sanctions, to ultimately relieving the coach of his duties. Sitrick said Schill and Northwestern did the right thing in conducting an independent investigation, and the university may have been justified in ultimately firing Fitzgerald.
But the waffling has raised questions about the new president’s decision-making process, he said.
“In this kind of situation, no matter what decision he made, he would be criticized from one side or the other, and you have to have the strength of your convictions,” Sitrick said. “He’s paid to make these kinds of decisions. And he made the decision, but then he changed his mind.”
Sitrick said the hazing scandal’s damage to the school’s reputation won’t necessarily be long term, if the school takes action to ensure problems won’t recur.
Just a few days after Fitzgerald’s firing, the university announced its head baseball coach, Jim Foster, was dismissed amid allegations of bullying and abusive behavior.
The athletic department also continues to face scrutiny stemming from a lawsuit filed two years ago by a Northwestern cheerleader, who described being groped and harassed by drunken fans and alumni during university events, where older men would touch her breasts and buttocks over her uniform. The suit, which is still pending, claimed cheerleaders were made to mingle with wealthy donors to help the school’s finances.
One of the defendants in that lawsuit, deputy athletic director for external affairs Mike Polisky, was promoted to become the university’s athletic director in May 2021 but resigned only nine days later amid protests over his appointment due to the cheerleading scandal.
Schill, who previously served as president of the University of Oregon and dean of the University of Chicago Law School, was Northwestern’s second choice to succeed Schapiro after president-elect Rebecca Blank was forced to step aside due to illness.
While his 10-month tenure is off to a shaky start, a fuller explanation as to why he changed his mind about Fitzgerald’s fate might go a long way toward allaying concerns, Sitrick said,
“If he can answer that, I think it would help,” Sitrick said.
Potential legal fallout
Immediately after Fitzgerald was fired, he hired lawyer Dan Webb, a former U.S. attorney.
Although neither has filed a lawsuit, Webb has told the Tribune that Northwestern has “breached two contracts and damaged (Fitzgerald’s) reputation severely in the way this has occurred.” The basis for any potential wrongful termination suit would hinge on the language of Fitzgerald’s contract, said Barbara Osborne, professor of sports law and administration at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
In the event of a lawsuit, if the firing of Fitzgerald is determined to be for cause, the university would not be required to pay out his contract, which extends through 2030 for a net total $57 million.
But if the coach failed to prevent or report hazing within his own program, Osborne believes there’s minimal gray area when it comes to the coach’s termination. Fitzgerald could argue that his termination breached the contract due to its timing within his original two-week unpaid suspension, which was revoked three days later when the university announced his termination. Legal ramifications for both Fitzgerald and Northwestern could go much further than just a wrongful termination suit.
The NCAA and Big Ten will likely launch their own investigations. Federal and state officials could pursue further regulatory investigations. And victims might bring lawsuits of their own against both the school and their former coach.
Fitzgerald could determine that a lawsuit would not be worth the risk of entering a discovery period, where further details of the program’s hazing culture could emerge; similarly, the university could determine it’s more beneficial to reach a settlement rather than defending a lengthy, costly lawsuit, Osborne said.
But Osborne believes the liability — and ensuing basis for termination — remained firmly upon Fitzgerald’s shoulders. “NCAA rules do require head coaches to bear responsibility for their programs,” Osborne said.
“Just under basic risk management or basic tort law, a coach is a direct supervisor and his job responsibilities would include knowing what’s happening in the locker room. Head coaches really are supposed to have a pulse of everything going on in their team. So as the direct supervisor, the coach would definitely have liability.”
Current or former Northwestern football players who were victims of hazing might also pursue action. Osborne outlined two options: bring a civil lawsuit against the university or file a complaint with the Office for Civil Rights in the Department of Education.
A lawsuit would likely be a very public process. But filing a complaint with the Office for Civil Rights is more discreet: Victims would not have to publicly attach their names to the complaint or stand trial. The investigation would occur independently and — dependent on findings –— result in changes or sanctions within Northwestern athletics and the football program.
“You have all kinds of considerations about whether these kids want their names to be published,” said Rex Elliott, a trial attorney with Cooper Elliott in Columbus, Ohio, who specializes in collegiate hazing cases. “There’s a whole lot of retaliation against kids who speak up against hazing, so you’ve got to be very careful in this area.”
College football’s true economics
While Northwestern has excelled in a number of intercollegiate sports over its history, for many years, football was not one of them.
The school still holds the record for longest major-college losing streak at 34 games from 1979 to 1982. When Northwestern broke the streak with a 31-6 home win against Northern Illinois, fans were so elated they stormed the field, tore down the goal posts and deposited them in Lake Michigan.
The Wildcats have been much more competitive since Fitzgerald came to Evanston, first as a linebacker on the 1995 Rose Bowl team, then as an assistant and for the last 17 years as head coach, where he won 110 games — by far the most in school history.
But Fitzgerald departs with Northwestern on an 11-game skid, the longest current losing streak in major college football.
If Northwestern slides back to previous levels of football futility, it may ding alumni bragging rights on fall Saturdays, but the impact to the school’s finances and academic standing are likely minimal.
Northwestern is one of the wealthiest universities in the country, with an endowment of $14.1 billion as of fiscal year 2022, ranking 12th nationally, according to the annual report from the National Association of College and University Business Officers published in February.
In fiscal year 2022, Northwestern generated $2.89 billion in revenue and had $2.75 billion in expenses, creating an operating revenue excess of nearly $139 million, according to the school’s annual financial report.
On the revenue side, grants and contracts accounted for about $829 million, while tuition brought in nearly $741 million. Salaries ate up the lion’s share of expenses at $1.56 billion.
Not broken out in the report is the school’s athletic budget, but for Northwestern, and most major colleges, athletics are a relatively small piece of the financial pie, and far from a profit center.
Ohio State tops the Big Ten and all colleges in athletic revenue, generating $252 million in 2022, according to the Knight-Newhouse College Athletics Database. Athletic expenses at OSU totaled $226 million for the year.
Overall, Big Ten schools generated more than $2 billion in athletic revenue in 2022, and spent $1.93 billion, according to the data. As the only fully private school in the Big Ten, Northwestern’s data is not included in the survey.
But an annual report filed by Northwestern to the Department of Education shows the school’s athletic department generated more than $105 million in revenue and spent an equal amount last year.
The football team accounted for 56% of the athletic department’s revenue at nearly $59 million, and created a $26 million surplus, which was funneled into other sports, according to the report.
While college athletics are a big business, they are not a direct profit center for most schools. That means money generated by athletics generally stays in athletics, providing no direct benefit to academics.
Of about 130 schools in the Football Bowl Subdivision — the highest level of NCAA football — in any given year, somewhere between 20 and 24 of those schools report a surplus in their athletics department, said Andrew Zimbalist, professor emeritus of economics at Smith College, whose research focuses on sports economics.
Indirectly, successful athletic programs can attract students, donations and broader interest in a college, which can prove beneficial to the brand and the institution. But those connections are fuzzy at best, Zimbalist said.
Football is the biggest revenue generator within the athletic department, representing about 70% of the revenue. That produces an operating surplus at about half of the Football Bowl Subdivision schools, which is used to fund nonrevenue generating sports, he said.
Zimbalist said big-time college football programs often generate big-time donations. A case in point might be the proposed $800 million rebuild of Ryan Field, which is funded in large part by a $480 million donation from Patrick Ryan, founder and retired CEO of Aon Corp. and a Northwestern alumnus.
But as the call to halt the stadium rebuild grows louder, Zimbalist said there may be something lost by not allocating capital resources to other needed projects, even if the new athletic facility is built at no cost to the university.
While big-time football is not the cash cow some believe it to be, most college presidents avoid tackling the issue, Zimbalist said.
“There have been a few college presidents over the years who have criticized college sports and said that this culture is inconsistent with the academic culture, and that we have to cut back, we have to not be playing this high stakes college athletics game,” Zimbalist said. “And every time a president has said that, the president has had his wings clipped by the trustees, because it goes against the grain.”
With the average tenure of a college president at six years, and many more issues on their plate, “the vast majority” leave the issue alone, Zimbalist said. Schill, less than a year into his tenure at Northwestern, didn’t have that option.
If Northwestern football reverts to its losing ways, the financial picture is unlikely to change much. All Big Ten schools get about $70 million a year in annual TV revenue, Zimbalist said.
The loss of ticket sales and fewer hot dogs consumed at the stadium — new or old — won’t make much of a relative dent.
Moment for change
The Northwestern faculty has called for greater oversight of the athletic department, including a dedicated ombudsperson, a tip line for whistle blowers and other structural changes, according to the faculty letter.
“As faculty, we want Northwestern to be a place where all students will grow and thrive,” the letter said. “We are dismayed to learn that our students have been victims and also perpetrators of hazing, sexual assault, and racism, and that such behaviors have in some cases gone unchecked by authorities entrusted with students’ well-being.”
Ramon Diaz, who recounted facing hazing and racism when he played football for Northwestern from 2005 to 2009, said reform needs to happen “on multiple levels,” not simply the removal of one coach.
“This is not a one-incident thing,” he said.
Rodgers, the faculty senate president, said the body’s executive committee planned to meet soon to discuss next steps, including drafting possible resolutions aimed at “righting the ship” at the athletic department.
“We need to work on getting the athletics department closer in alignment, and not just at the highest level,” she said.
While some faculty members have questioned whether athletic director Derrick Gragg should continue to lead the department, Rodgers said the senate has not discussed any formal action calling for his resignation.
Elizabeth Shakman Hurd, professor of political science and religious studies, said she hopes Northwestern seizes the opportunity to make meaningful change in its athletic programs to ensure hazing and harassment cease — and that the university emerges from the scandal better and stronger.
“This is a reputational issue,” she said. “I think this is the moment for Northwestern to step up and make the change that needs to happen.”
Tribune reporters Robert McCoppin and Shakeia Taylor and Pioneer Press reporter Alex Hulvalchick contributed.
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