Northwestern has fired coach Pat Fitzgerald amid a hazing scandal that known as into query his management of this system and broken the college’s repute after it mishandled its response to the allegations.
Fitzgerald’s dismissal on Monday accomplished a fast fall from grace for the previous Northwestern linebacker. The 48-year-old Fitzgerald had been firmly entrenched at his alma mater, an annual fixture on any record of faculty coaches with essentially the most job safety.
“The head coach is ultimately responsible for the culture of his team,” Northwestern president Michael Schill stated in an open letter. “The hazing we investigated was widespread and clearly not a secret within the program, providing Coach Fitzgerald with the opportunity to learn what was happening. Either way, the culture in Northwestern Football, while incredible in some ways, was broken in others.”
Fitzgerald started a two-week suspension on Friday after the varsity stated an investigation by a regulation agency didn’t discover “sufficient” proof that the teaching employees knew about ongoing hazing – although there have been “significant opportunities” to search out out about it.
The Daily Northwestern then revealed a narrative on Saturday detailing allegations from a former participant who described particular cases of hazing and sexual abuse. The report additionally indicated that Fitzgerald “may have known that hazing took place”.
That led Schill to write down an open letter to the college neighborhood during which he acknowledged focusing “too much on what the report concluded (Fitzgerald) didn’t know and not enough on what he should have known.” Schill went on to say that he deliberate to talk with college management, members of the board of trustees and leaders of the college senate to find out his subsequent steps.
Schill was the president of the University of Oregon earlier than taking up Northwestern in September. He additionally teaches at Northwestern’s regulation college.
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