McLean County Times

Illinois state Sen. Sue Rezin (R-Morris) shared a statement in a July 11 Facebook post about the recently discovered incidents of hazing on the Northwestern football team. Student reporters at the Daily Northwestern learned of coach Pat Fitzgerald and began an investigation that had big impacts.

“Protecting young people from hazing, harassment, and bullying is vital in creating a compassionate and productive society." Rezin said in her post. “I commend Ramon Diaz Jr. for his bravery in sharing his story and advocating for change and I will continue to work with victims and advocates to help make our institutions and our state a safer place for all."

The news broke this week that Pat Fitzgerald was out as head coach of the Northwestern University football team after a university investigation into rumors of hazing on the team, according to an NPR report. Fitzgerald was initially suspended without pay, but a letter from University President Michael Schill stated that he thought he made an error regarding the former coach’s original two-week suspension. On July 10, Schill announced that Fitzgerald was relieved of his position.

A former Northwestern football player spoke to staff members of The Daily Northwestern recently, and on July 8 the paper published an account of what the player—who asked to remain anonymous—told them. The individual reported his hazing experience to university officials in November 2022. The hazing was called “running” and included restraint by eight to 10 upperclassmen in masks as well as non-consensual dry humping.

“It’s a shocking experience as a freshman to see your fellow freshman teammates get ran, but then you see everybody bystanding in the locker room,” the former player said. “It’s just a really abrasive and barbaric culture that has permeated throughout that program for years on end now.”

The article was published between Fitzgerald's initial suspension and subsequent firing.

The Northwestern announcement of Fitzgerald’s initial suspension included a link to the Executive Summary of the university’s investigation. That document noted that the university investigated the complaint received on Nov. 30, 2022, and publicly disclosed the investigation in January 2023. More than 50 people were interviewed who were affiliated with the football team or had been in the past, and hundreds of thousands of emails were reviewed dating back to 2014. The team will no longer practice at “Camp Kenosha” in Wisconsin, where the practice may have started. The football locker room will be monitored by someone who does not report to football coaching staff, and the university will create an online reporting tool for student athletes to anonymously report incidents of hazing or potential hazing.

Ramon Diaz Jr. spoke with CBS News about his experiences when he was on the Northwestern football team. Diaz, now a clinical psychologist,  played for the Wildcats from 2004 to 2009. He told CBS that he was hazed in sexually explicit ways and that "other so-called teammates shaved the words 'Cinco de Mayo' into his head."

“I never felt like the option to say 'no' was available to me,” Diaz told CBS.

Rezin’s full statement on the issue is available on her website.

“As a mother of two former D-I athletes, I have seen firsthand the lifelong impact college athletics have on young people,” she said in the statement. “It is the foundation for how they will interact in their professional and personal lives and relationships once they graduate. ... Coaching staffs set the standards for what is safe and acceptable behavior and should be accountable for more than just their wins or losses. ‘I didn’t know’ is not a defense – it is an excuse. It is their job to ensure they know what is going on with their team on and off the field to ensure the safety and well-being of the students.”