Northwestern University football players are expected to speak for the first time following practice Wednesday amid fallout from a recent hazing scandal.
Details on exact timing of their address remain unclear. (Live coverage will appear in the vide player above as it happens)
The scheduled address comes as the university grapples with fallout of a recent hazing investigation that saw allegations of abusive behavior and racism within the football program and other teams.
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A decade after Northwestern was at the center of an attempt to establish the first college athletes union, the university is facing more than a dozen lawsuits across multiple sports with allegations including sexual abuse by teammates as well as racist comments by coaches and race-based assaults. The cases span from 2004 to 2022, and attorneys representing some of the athletes who have already sued say more are coming. Football coach Pat Fitzgerald was fired after 17 seasons.
Fitzgerald, whose attorney says he had no knowledge of hazing in his program, was fired July 10 after initially being suspended two weeks by President Michael Schill following an investigation by a law firm. It found hazing within the program and “significant opportunities” for the coaching staff to know about it. He was replaced an interim basis by David Braun, who was hired as defensive coordinator six months earlier.
Baseball coach Jim Foster was fired July 13 amid allegations of a toxic culture that included bullying and abusive behavior. Assistant Brian Anderson, a former major leaguer who won a World Series ring with the Chicago White Sox in 2005, took over on an interim basis.
“Hazing has absolutely no place at Northwestern. Period,” Northwestern President Michael Schill said in a statement. “I am determined that with the help of Attorney General Lynch, we will become a leader in combating the practice of hazing in intercollegiate athletics and a model for other universities. We will provide all of our students with the resources and support they need and do whatever is necessary to protect their safety and ensure that our athletics program remains one we can all be proud of.”
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Attorneys representing athletes suing Northwestern blasted it as a publicity stunt and questioned whether the previous investigation that led to longtime football coach Pat Fitzgerald's firing was thorough enough.
Northwestern said following Hickey's investigation the football team would no longer hold training camp in Kenosha, Wisconsin, as it did for years and would have someone not affiliated with the program monitor the locker room.
The school said at the time it would require annual anti-hazing training for coaches, staff members and athletes with an emphasis on reporting options and the responsibility to report as well as discipline. Other measures include creating an online tool for athletes to report hazing anonymously.