Northwestern University is facing yet another lawsuit accusing school officials of allowing hazing rituals to run rampant throughout the university’s athletic program. The most recent lawsuit was filed by a former football player, Lloyd Yates, who was a freshman quarterback in 2015. Yates is represented by civil rights attorney Ben Crump and accuses the sports program of creating a culture that normalized the sexual, physical, and mental abuse endured by student-athletes.
Yates described graphic and violent events in which coaches and upperclassmen physically, mentally, and sexually harassed him and other lower-classmen players. In one instance, Yates says an associate head football coach questioned him in front of his teammates about his previous relationships and “what kind of sexual experiences the two had been engaged in.”
Yates details that the abuse took place both on university grounds and in training camps on other university grounds. The lawsuit describes an incident that took place at a summer training in Camp Kenosha located at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside. During their time at Camp Kenosha, players were allegedly subject to "naked rope swings, naked pull ups, naked center and quarterback exchange, naked one on one drills, and naked pass rush drill."
Yates' allegations against the school, the athletic program, and officials associated with the football team are not unique. His lawsuit comes on the heels of three other lawsuits filed by current football players who allege similar behavior from their coaches and their teammates. The three football players who have chosen to remain anonymous also accuse former head coach Pat Fitzgerald of not doing enough to prevent the hazing, or protecting students from being subjected to acts that were violent and sexual. The three football players all detail similar accounts of sexually charged hazing.
Just as concerning as the hazing allegations running rampant in the football team are the allegations that the hazing extended to other sports teams as well. Allegations of similar sexually charged and violent hazing rituals have been reported by student players on the volleyball team, softball team, and cheerleading team.
On Monday, a volleyball player became the first female plaintiff to file a lawsuit claiming similar allegations against coaches, athletic directors, and other school officials. The volleyball player, who has also chosen to remain anonymous, shares her experience with the culture of violence that resulted in her suffering an injury in 2021. She explains that she was forced to run “suicides,” a sprint from one starting line to another, usually across a gym floor, as a form of punishment for violating COVID-19 guidelines. Her lawsuit describes that trainers, her coaches, and others stood by without intervening. When the volleyball player met with Athletic Director Derrick Gragg to talk about the overall culture of the volleyball team, she reported that “he did nothing in response” to the concerns she brought forward.
The allegations of a culture of mistreatment and sexual and physical abuse of student-athletes are not without merit. Days after the first allegations of hazing surfaced, the university fired its football team's head coach, Pat Fitzgerald. The termination came after a university-wide investigation found that there had been at least 11 instances of alleged hazing against current or former players. Included in the hazing was “forced participation, nudity and sexualized acts of a degrading nature," according to school president Michael Schill.
Fitzgerald and others, including President Michael Schill, the board of trustees, and Athletic Director Derrick Gragg, are all named as defendants in several of the lawsuits against the University.
