Ex-NU players: Lack of due process for Fitzgerald

A group of former Northwestern athletes has sent an open letter criticizing university administrators for a lack of due process before the firing of football coach Pat Fitzgerald, saying it “left a welcome mat out for the weaponization of sexual harassment, hazing, and racism allegations” at the school.

The letter, obtained by ESPN, is signed by 86 ex-Northwestern athletes, including several of Fitzgerald’s former football teammates. The group focuses on university president Michael Schill and athletic director Derrick Gragg, saying both displayed “a clear failure of unbiased and principled leadership.” Schill and Gragg should be fired, the former athletes contend, if they don’t “positively support our athletic programs with due process” and release the findings of an investigation Northwestern commissioned into hazing allegations from a former player under Fitzgerald.

Schill fired Fitzgerald on July 10. But, three days earlier, he had issued a two-week suspension for the head football coach after the university-commissioned investigation found evidence that largely supported the player’s allegations but insufficient evidence that Fitzgerald or other coaches were aware of any hazing incidents. Schill, on July 8, said he would reconsider penalties for Fitzgerald hours after The Daily Northwestern reported details of the player’s hazing allegations against Fitzgerald and the program.

Monday’s letter contends Schill was influenced by social media reaction and “abandoned foundational legal ethics” in firing Fitzgerald.

“By willfully ignoring due process, Northwestern University’s administration has left a welcome mat out for the weaponization of sexual harassment, hazing, and racism accusations to run rampant at Northwestern University,” the letter reads. “Any allegation, true or not, will be allowed to cancel anyone’s career and destroy their reputation depending upon popular opinion, while simultaneously allowing the censorship of free speech. The collective gains of Northwestern’s Athletic Department over the last three decades, along with Pat Fitzgerald’s legacy and character, have almost been wiped out without any proof of guilt or, much less, even a thorough and proper investigation.”

The former athletes wrote that Gragg “fosters an environment of uncertainty, distrust, and censorship” in the athletic department. They cited Gragg’s quick repudiation of a T-shirt Northwestern players made following Fitzgerald’s firing, which reads “Cats Against The World” followed by “51,” the number Fitzgerald wore as a two-time national defensive player of the year at Northwestern. Several staff members wore the shirt at an Aug. 9 practice that was open to the media, leading Gragg, who said he didn’t know about the shirt previously, to call it “inappropriate, offensive and tone deaf.”

Sources told ESPN that players and coaches started wearing the shirt around Northwestern’s football building in mid-July.

“His comments worked to incite public opinion against his own program,” the letter reads. “Gragg made no effort to explain the team’s true intent before renouncing and shaming the players’ speech.”

Northwestern’s administration declined to comment about Monday’s letter.

The university has released only an executive summary of the original hazing investigation, led by attorney Maggie Hickey from the Chicago-based ArentFox Schiff law firm. Attorneys for former Northwestern football players, who have sued the university over hazing and mistreatment, also have called for the release of the complete report, as has Dan Webb, Fitzgerald’s attorney.

“We share Northwestern University administration’s deep concern over the possibility that any student-athlete has been harmed by sexual harassment, hazing, or racism while at Northwestern University,” the letter reads. “We trust that these allegations will be fully investigated. However, until these allegations are properly investigated, and the lawsuits filed resolved, no judgment of guilt should be assumed, accepted, or touted by Northwestern University’s administration.”

Last week, a different group of around 1,000 former Northwestern athletes issued an open letter that defended the athletic culture, saying it isn’t defined by allegations of hazing or mistreatment. That letter did not criticize Schill nor Gragg and supported the school’s efforts to investigate hazing claims.

In announcing Fitzgerald’s firing, Schill described a partially “broken” team culture, and he and Gragg have vowed to eliminate hazing within the school’s athletic programs. Schill on Aug. 1 announced that former U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch would lead a wider investigation into Northwestern’s athletic culture.

Monday’s letter from the former athletes opposes Lynch leading the probe, noting “political controversies surrounding her history and reputation.”

Former athletes who signed the letter include several players from the 1995 Northwestern football team, which won the Big Ten championship and reached the Rose Bowl, including captain Rob Johnson, Keith Lozowski, Ryan Padgett, Tucker Morrison and Graham Gnos.