DISTURBING

Northwestern University Sued Over Claims of ‘Sexual’ Hazing on Football Team

In the first lawsuit filed in wake of the hazing scandal, a player identified as John Doe says the school “enabled” abuse of its student athletes.

Accusations of hazing continue to rock Northwestern University’s football program—with one former player filing a lawsuit against recently terminated coach Pat Fitzgerald and other officials at the Chicago-area school. The player, identified in the suit as John Doe, was on the team from 2018 to 2022 and argues that the athletic department enabled a culture of sexual abuse and racial discrimination and “concealed the exploitation of” students. Fitzgerald “harassed, hazed, bullied, assaulted and/or abused athletes, including but not limited to” Doe, the complaint alleges. Filed Tuesday in Cook County Circuit Court, Doe’s suit is the first in wake of the scandal and more players are expected to file their own. “I’ve seen it with my own eyes, and it’s just absolutely egregious and vile and inhumane behavior,” one ex-player told the student paper, The Daily Northwestern, this month, adding: “It’s done under this smoke and mirror of ‘oh, this is team bonding,’ but no, this is sexual abuse.”