Northwestern President Michael Schill said he “may have erred in weighing the appropriate sanction” for football coach Pat Fitzgerald, who began a two-week unpaid suspension Friday after an outside investigation on hazing incidents on the team.
Upon receiving an anonymous complaint from a student-athlete in November 2022, the University acted prudently to immediately engage an independent investigator to perform a comprehensive review of the complaint, including outreach to current and former student-athletes. After reviewing the report, I assessed a two-week suspension for Head Coach Pat Fitzgerald, which went into effect immediately.
The confidential report concluded that while there was corroborating evidence that hazing had occurred, there was no direct evidence that Coach Fitzgerald was aware of the hazing. In determining an appropriate penalty for the head coach, I focused too much on what the report concluded he didn’t know and not enough on what he should have known.
As a leader entrusted with the welfare of our students, I have always — and will always — act in their best interest.
Due to the confidential nature of the investigation, I just learned the name of the young man who first reported the allegations. I spoke with his family and offered my sincere apologies for what their son had to endure, and I also attempted to reach out to the young man himself to offer my apologies. I was moved by what I heard from his family and by the impact the hazing had on their son.
Northwestern University is an extraordinary university with an exceptional athletics program. I am committed to ensuring that the misconduct that occurred in our football program never happens again anywhere in our university community.
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