Illinois Valley Times

Illinois State Sen. Sue Rezin (R-Morris) recently released a statement regarding the recently discovered incidents of hazing on the Northwestern football team. Reporters at the Daily Northwestern interviewed three former Northwestern football players and uncovered evidence into hazing practices at the university. 

Two of the former players who spoke to the Daily Northwestern asked to remain anonymous, while former offensive lineman Ramon Diaz Jr. went on the record. 

“Protecting young people from hazing, harassment, and bullying is vital in creating a compassionate and productive society. 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," Sen. Rezin wrote in a July 11 Facebook post.

The news went out this week that Northwestern football coach Pat Fitzgerald was out as head football coach of the Northwestern University football team following a university investigation into rumors of hazing on the football team. According to NPR, Fitzgerald was initially suspended without pay, but a letter from University President Michael Schill explained that after further consideration he decided to relieve Fitzgerald of his position.

A former Northwestern football player, asking to remain anonymous, spoke to staff members of the Daily Northwestern last weekend, and on July 8, the paper published an account of what the former player told them. The individual reported his hazing experience to university officials in November 2022, according to the Daily Northwestern. The hazing ritual was called “running” and included restraint by 8-10 upperclassmen in masks, as well as non-consensual dry humping. The former player said: “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 player said. “It’s just a really abrasive and barbaric culture that has permeated throughout that program for years on end now,” according to the Daily Northwestern. The article was published between Fitzgerald's initial suspension and subsequent firing.

The Northwestern announcement from July 8 announced Fitzgerald’s initial suspension included a link to the executive summary of the university’s investigation. That document notes 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, 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.

Sen. Rezin’s full statement on the issue is available on her website, and reads in part: “As a mother of two former D-I athletes, I have seen firsthand the lifelong impact college athletics have on young people. 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.”