Northwestern athletic director Derrick Gragg has broken his silence on the hazing allegations sweeping through the school’s football program.
In his first interview since head coach Pat Fitzgerald was fired on July 10, Gragg said the school is committed to making sure “nothing like this ever happens again.”
All Northwestern athletic teams, beginging with football, will begin participating in mandatory, in-person anti-hazing seminars conducted by outside groups.
“This entire situation, it’s distressing,” Gragg told ESPN. “My heart goes out to everyone who’s involved — victims, of course — but I also want to stress that we have many student-athletes who do the right thing and have always done the right thing, and coaches and staff as well. As the situation evolves, we’re very serious about eradicating anything that’s wrong, the president and the university.
“Not only eradicating it, but also trying to ensure, to the highest levels, that nothing like this ever happens again.”
Four former football players have come forward with lawsuits against the university. Each lawsuit alleges disturbing accusations of hazing and mistreatment of players within the program.
“Sometimes people try to maybe scale things, but we have to ensure that student-athletes are properly bonding and that no one feels compelled or pressured to do anything that they don’t want to do,” Gragg added. “There’s no place for that. There’s no place for hazing. There’s no place for misconduct. If you’re going to continue to build a positive culture, you have to eradicate it.”