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More B1G shenanigans? Northwestern University, you're up!

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Beau Vine

Beau Vine 53,965

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16 hours ago, The Ace of Aces said:

All credit to the Northwestern student journalists. NU tried o sweep this under the rug, they lit it on fire. Major kudos. 

While they're in fucking summer school!  

NU basically tried the Baylor plan of "We're a private school not subject to FOIA, so we can sweep this under the rug and hide the report."

And then the Northwestern student journalists fucked up that plan like they were Freddy, Velma, Daphne, and Shaggy.

 

And PF is the newest member of the I Thought My Shit Doesn't Stink But I Was Wrong Club.  Sooooo many coaches in that club...

 

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Beau Vine

Beau Vine 53,965

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3 hours ago, Pig Bellmont said:

I’m curious to know what lies about Art Briles that Clay Travis thinks the media needs to acknowledge they were wrong about 

I can't think of a single thing that I'd give less of a shit about.

Just now, gatormarc said:

 

Absolutely.   Faculty need to raise hell for the release of the report.

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Beau Vine

Beau Vine 53,965

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28 minutes ago, Beau Vine said:

Their baseball team started the 2023 season in San Marcos.  They got swept and gave up something like 60 runs in 3 games.   They were honestly the worst college baseball team I've ever seen.  I think they ended up something like 10-40.  They would have been at the bottom of the HBCU conferences.

lol, from the article Dog posted:

Quote

“We would have practices sometimes [when] we’d be bunting in four of our five cages for 30, 40 minutes,” the source said. “Nothing against bunting, but we’re going to go face Texas State Week One, and we’re facing Levi Wells throwing 95 [miles per hour]. We have our Spinball machine, which can throw 95-mile-per-hour fastballs, curveballs, sliders, any pitch you want. We have it for 85-mile-per-hour fastballs, and we’re bunting off of it. That is not the way to win baseball games.”

Northwestern ended up losing all three games in the opening weekend to Texas State by a combined score of 56-18. The Wildcats allowed 24 runs in the final game of the series.

In practice, the players were also instructed to bunt fastballs and hit curveballs. Meanwhile, in games, they were taking curveballs and hitting fastballs, so the time they spent practicing did not help the team in games all that much.

 

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Sgt Hulk

Sgt Hulk 13,637

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22 hours ago, gatormarc said:
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In a once-a-year tradition dubbed “the carwash,” the first player said that some players would stand naked at the entrance to the showers and spin around, forcing those entering the showers to “basically (rub) up against a bare-naked man.” Upon entering the showers, the player alleged that players set up a hose they connected to the shower to spray people. 

“It’s extremely painful,” the player said. 

 

Sounds like the entrance to the cloak room 

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15 hours ago, Pig Bellmont said:

Bullshit. The hazing described was institutional and there’s no way he didn’t know what was happening in his own locker room 

 

15 hours ago, Pig Bellmont said:

Bullshit. The hazing described was institutional and there’s no way he didn’t know what was happening in his own locker room 

You're full of shit.  What I said was entirely factual.

And it isn't clear if it happened in the locker room.  There are references to some offsite practice facility.  One of the NW recommendations was that all practices occur in their facilities.

And yes, sometimes people don't know what is going on, even if they should have.  In one prominent example, look at how blind Ken Lay was about Enron until UT alum Sherron Watkins told him what was going on (not that he did anything once she told him).

 

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DukDukGru

DukDukGru 48

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According to news reports, the D Coordinator is taking over and the rest of the staff is being retained. The D Coordinator was hired after the investigation was under way.  But doesn't it seem like a bad look to keep the entire staff?  Shouldn't somebody have known something and reported it to Fitzgerald? Shouldn't some of those people be shown the door for reasons similar to why Fitzgerald was canned?

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DukDukGru

DukDukGru 48

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13 hours ago, Grade of D as in David said:

AD should definitely be gone at this point, maybe even the school president.

Even if the AD were put on "double secret probation," the baseball situation should take this well beyond a point of no return.  School President is relatively new.  Schill will probably have to take some actions just to overcome the management of the aftermath of this situation.

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gatormarc

gatormarc 904

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40 minutes ago, DukDukGru said:

According to news reports, the D Coordinator is taking over and the rest of the staff is being retained. The D Coordinator was hired after the investigation was under way.  But doesn't it seem like a bad look to keep the entire staff?  Shouldn't somebody have known something and reported it to Fitzgerald? Shouldn't some of those people be shown the door for reasons similar to why Fitzgerald was canned?

Logistically, do they have time to fully clean house before summer practice?

 

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Had Enough

Had Enough 2,054

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According to news reports, the D Coordinator is taking over and the rest of the staff is being retained. The D Coordinator was hired after the investigation was under way.  But doesn't it seem like a bad look to keep the entire staff?  Shouldn't somebody have known something and reported it to Fitzgerald? Shouldn't some of those people be shown the door for reasons similar to why Fitzgerald was canned?

Any players kicked off? I’ve heard no mention of that.
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gatormarc

gatormarc 904

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Northwestern AD Derrick Gragg, under scrutiny for hazing scandal, offers questionable advice about women — ‘man’s greatest distraction’ — in book

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Northwestern AD Derrick Gragg, under scrutiny for hazing scandal, offers questionable advice about women — ‘man’s greatest distraction’ — in book
By Angie Leventis Lourgos
Chicago Tribune

Last Updated: Jul 25, 2023 at 3:09 pm

Northwestern University Athletic Director Derrick Gragg, whose leadership has been under scrutiny in the wake of the school’s recent hazing scandal, published a book in 2015 offering advice to male college athletes that includes several questionable passages concerning interaction with and the treatment of women.

Gragg’s book, “40 Days of Direction: Life Lessons from the Talented Ten,” is billed as a blueprint “not only for young men who seek to become college athletes, but for all young men who aspire to become successful,” according to the cover. While most of the writing covers guidance like prioritizing academics and avoiding trouble, two chapters that focus on relationships with women stand out as markedly different in tone and language.

In his book, Gragg — who oversees both women’s and men’s sports in his role as Northwestern’s athletic director — calls women “man’s greatest distraction,” criticizes the portrayal of women in music videos as “booty-shaking sex-kittens,” and provides his take on serious crimes like rape and sexual assault.

Gragg said in an email to the Tribune that he wrote the book as a reflection of his own experiences as a young Black man “fulfilling my dream” of playing Division I football.

“The audience I was speaking to was primarily young men in similar circumstances who are looking for role models as they pursue their own dreams both as college athletes and in life,” he said. “One of the most important lessons that I sought to convey to my young, male readers is that all women should be treated with respect at all times. This is a belief I have sought to champion in both my personal life and throughout my entire career — including in my most recent position overseeing inclusion across the entire NCAA.”

Northwestern media officials did not immediately respond to Tribune questions about the book and whether these passages and rhetoric reflect the views and perspectives of the university.

In a chapter titled “Remember, She is Someone’s Daughter,” Gragg discusses serious crimes like sexual assault and rape.

“I know it can be difficult to be a gentleman at all times,” he writes. “We usually have only seconds to make some of the most important decisions that can ultimately change the way our lives turn out. I know it’s tough. The alcohol is flowing, she is feeling you and you are definitely feeling her. This is why it is critical for you to think with your brain and not your physical emotions or feelings during these times.”

He goes on to examine how these “situations” affect the lives of male college athletes.

“There have been many situations where athletes, fraternity members and other male students have found themselves caught up in very serious situations involving women, including sexual assault, violence and rape,” Gragg writes. “Recently, several football and basketball student athletes at big-time programs have been accused of violent crimes against women such as rape and assault. They have been thrown off their teams and out of college and ultimately may end up in prison for many years. Just imagine how much these athletes’ lives have changed in a few months, from running out of the locker room to the sound of thousands of fans, to the unthinkable life that prison may bring. I’m sure that they would do anything to change the circumstances and would not be anywhere close to the young ladies involved. But, unfortunately, life doesn’t happen like that.”

Earlier in that chapter, Gragg decries the portrayal of women — particularly women of color — on reality television and music videos, yet the language seems to evoke sexist tropes and problematic stereotypes.

“I often feel sorry for those women, despite the fact that they are making a profit from selling out in front of thousands, even millions, of people who watch the shows each week,” he writes. “There is nothing worse than seeing a beautiful, intelligent woman disrespect herself and those around her. All you have to do is turn on a hip-hop music video or one of the several awful reality television shows to see women degrading themselves shaking it for cameras and audiences. Music videos portray women as booty-shaking sex-kittens or materialistic gold-diggers. Many of those women simply do not seem to have a sense of self and who they really are or where they come from at all. However, regardless of what you see or hear, there are very good, upwardly mobile, smart women out there. You probably encounter them every day at school or in the community.”

Gragg goes on to tell readers to always be respectful “even when you encounter a female who seems to disrespect herself,” because “no matter how a woman may look on the outside, she is someone’s daughter.”

Another chapter is titled “Women: Our Greatest Distraction.”

While Gragg praises the positive women in his life, from his mother to his wife to his daughter, he goes on to write, “I love all the women in my life, but I have found that maintaining my relationships with them can be more than challenging.”

“Therefore, I do not think that I am overstating things or exaggerating when I say that a female is often a man’s greatest distraction,” that passage concludes.

Gragg continues to caution student athletes against being “players” and “collecting women,” in part due to dissonance between the sexes.

“The first rule for guys to remember is that even though we may pretend to be all-knowing about the opposite sex, we really don’t know much about women at all,” he writes. “Even Steve Harvey, famed comedian, television star and author who has written two popular books about male-female relationships, says he is no expert on women. Quite honestly, I don’t think that any man is an actual expert on women. So give it up, men, you are NOT going to EVER figure out what makes a woman tick completely. You may come close at some point after several experiences and relationships, but you won’t figure them out while you’re 20 years old and probably not when you’re 30 or 40 either.”

He adds that “too many distractions can definitely affect your performance on the field or court, and not in a good way.”

“Again, I am definitely not being negative toward women,” he writes. “I’m just trying to give the guys reading this the guidance and at least a chance to choose to limit their distractions.”

Gragg — the first Black athletic director at the university — has been in the spotlight recently as he leads during a particularly turbulent period in the athletic department’s history.

Earlier this month, university President Michael Schill fired head football coach Pat Fitzgerald in response to a hazing scandal that Schill described in a statement as “systemic dating back many years.”

“The hazing included forced participation, nudity and sexualized acts of a degrading nature, in clear violation of Northwestern policies and values,” Schill’s statement said.

A few days later, Northwestern head baseball coach Jim Foster — who had been hired by Gragg — was fired amid allegations of abusive behavior and creating a toxic culture.

“This has been an ongoing situation and many factors were considered before reaching this resolution,” Gragg had said, in a statement. “As the Director of Athletics, I take ownership of our head coaching hires and we will share our next steps as they unfold.”

Current and former baseball players, alumni and those close to the baseball program had told the Tribune that they alerted university administration, including Schill and Gragg, about concerning behavior from Foster going back to last fall, before the start of the 2023 season; some of those complaints ignited a human resources investigation, which found sufficient evidence that Foster “engaged in bullying and abusive behavior.”

In an interview with The Daily Northwestern, Schill on Monday affirmed his support for Gragg as the athletic director.

In a question-and-answer session, the student newspaper said it received feedback from readers “who say that Gragg should no longer be at the University for his handling of this situation,” referencing the football hazing scandal and its fallout.

“I am supporting him, I am meeting with him about the prospective steps, but there is no process, conversation or discussion of his employment status,” Schill responded. “He is the athletic director.”

In the email to the Tribune, Gragg added that as Northwestern’s athletic director, “I am proud to work alongside my fantastic colleagues to support and celebrate the roughly 500 men and women from diverse backgrounds who wear a Wildcat jersey.”

Former players have recently filed several lawsuits against the university, claiming that rampant hazing and a toxic environment pervaded multiple sports. Lawyers say a former Northwestern volleyball player is accusing the university of long-standing problems on the volleyball team, including hazing, bullying, humiliation and retaliation; the woman, identified anonymously as Jane Doe 1, is the first female athlete to make such allegations against the prestigious Big Ten school amid the hazing scandal, according to a lawsuit that’s pending.

Northwestern has responded with a statement acknowledging that a student had made an allegation of hazing on the volleyball team in March 2021, prior to the tenure of Gragg and Schill.

“The University responded by conducting an investigation, during which it suspended the team’s coach and coaching staff,” the statement said. “The investigation confirmed that hazing had taken place. Appropriate disciplinary action was taken. Among other actions, the University canceled two games and implemented mandatory anti-hazing training.”

Much of Gragg’s advice and guidance in the book “40 Days of Direction” stems from his experience playing football for Vanderbilt University, where he went on to serve as director of student life in the athletic department in the 1990s. The book is included in his bio

He has also worked as director of athletics at the University of Tulsa and Eastern Michigan University, and had led compliance departments at the University of Michigan and University of Missouri.

Before his hire as Northwestern’s athletic director in summer 2021, Gragg served at the NCAA as senior vice president for inclusion, education and community engagement.

Northwestern had asked Gragg to interview for the athletic director position earlier, but he initially turned down the opportunity. Instead, the university had hired former deputy athletic director Mike Polisky — one of four defendants named in a sexual harassment lawsuit filed by a Northwestern cheerleader.

Polisky, whose hire drew protests from faculty and community members, resigned just days later.

That lawsuit, which is still pending, claimed the cheerleader was routinely groped and harassed by drunk fans, and older men would grab her breasts and buttocks over her uniform. The cheerleader lawsuit also alleged the head coach required cheerleaders to mingle with wealthy donors to help the school’s finances.

“(The) cheerleaders were being presented as sex objects to titillate the men that funded the majority of Northwestern’s athletics programs,” the lawsuit said. “After all, the happier these men were, the more money the university would receive from them.”

 

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Beau Vine

Beau Vine 53,965

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NW President speaks to the student paper:

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The Daily: Less than 12 hours after The Daily’s initial report, you sent out an email saying “you may have erred” in your decision making process. What changed?

Schill: I don’t just make decisions and just sort of move on to the next thing, I think about what I’ve done, and I decided after further reflection that I might’ve made a mistake in coming up with the two weeks. 

I was affected by reading your coverage, I was affected by additional allegations we received, I was affected by the impact it was having on our community. I came to the realization that I had over-weighted the individual knowledge. The coach had been the leader of a small entity for over 15 years, and he was charged with responsibility for our student athletes and the culture. He owns that culture, and when you own a culture, that means you should take whatever steps are prudent to make sure the culture is a good culture. I came to the conclusion that he had failed, and he didn’t try to find out what was happening and he had to bear responsibility for that. 

I think a lot about leadership. Not to make this too self-referential, but I think that if a leader messes up, they should own up to it, they should take responsibility. The worst thing you can do is just pretend it didn’t happen. You realize you made a mistake and you fix it and you make the right decision, because that’s what a standup leader does. And that’s what I hope I did. 

The Daily: In The Daily’s report, there were mentions that Fitzgerald may have known about specific things that were occurring, including things like the Shrek clap. Were those things that you were aware of in the initial report?

Schill: Yes, the investigative report did mention the Shrek clap, but then said that they did not find that that was reflective of (Fitzgerald’s) knowledge. 

The Daily: At what point over the weekend did you decide to fire Fitzgerald? Were there specific things that changed over the course of the weekend?

Schill: I recognized that I wanted to rethink it. I wanted to signal to the community that there was going to be something more in all likelihood. I spent Sunday reading and rereading the report. I also met with the executive committee of the Board of Trustees, and we discussed this. 

In addition, on Monday morning, I met with the investigator and her associate, and what I did there was I asked them to provide me with details from the raw testimony of each person they spoke with. So we went person by person. I wanted to make the right decision with as much information as I could, and the report was a summary of the raw material. 

But when you hear it, one by one, one instance of bad behavior after another, the magnitude of it hit me even more. I decided that the only choice, the only moral choice, was to terminate our relationship.

 

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Incredulity

Incredulity 11,532

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 Ramon Diaz says he was just 17 years old when Northwestern University upperclassmen shaved “Cinco de Mayo” onto the back of his head as the entire football team watched.

 

I gotta see this.  Seems very Smollett.

 

He may well have been hazed.  Hazing is disgusting.  

 

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Jkwellborn

Jkwellborn 6,649

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 Ramon Diaz says he was just 17 years old when Northwestern University upperclassmen shaved “Cinco de Mayo” onto the back of his head as the entire football team watched.
 
I gotta see this.  Seems very Smollett.
 
He may well have been hazed.  Hazing is disgusting.  
 

He sounds like a cry baby bitch though. I don’t get the point of hazing. I don’t feel like it really does anything, but some people bond over it I guess.

Getting a hair cut isn’t the end of the world, it will grow back. Just ask Samson.

How big was his head to have that phrase shaved into it and be able to read it?
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Beau Vine

Beau Vine 53,965

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Three former Northwestern baseball staff members filed a lawsuit against the university, former baseball coach Jim Foster and members of the university’s administration alleging retaliatory discharge and negligence, according to a copy of the suit which was obtained by The Athletic.

The complaint, filed in Cook County Circuit Court in Illinois, alleged Foster bullied and abused former Northwestern assistant baseball coaches Dustin (Dusty) Napoleon and Jonathan (Jon) Strauss and former director of baseball operations Matthew (Chris) Beacom. Additionally, the suit alleged Northwestern hired Foster, who had “an established and well-known reputation as a bully,” in 2022 without properly investigating and vetting him first.

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“We reported coach Foster’s conduct to Northwestern believing that they would do the right thing,” Beacom, who held a news conference with attorney Chris Esbrook on Monday, said. “Instead, they swept our reports under the rug, putting their staff, student-athletes and reputation at risk. Northwestern stood by coach Foster and got rid of the coaches that blew the whistle on him, and only when the media found out about coach Foster’s abuse, did Northwestern choose to do something.”

According to the lawsuit, the trio first reported their concerns about Foster, including violations of NCAA recruiting rules, to university officials in October 2022 and filed a written complaint to human resources on Nov. 30, 2022. Their initial complaints included Foster’s “unpredictable behavior with frequent blow-ups,” a racially insensitive remark he made about a high school prospect and a disparaging remark he made about why he didn’t want a female team manager.

According to Esbrook, Beacom, Strauss and Napolean emailed university officials at least eight times, in addition to filing the formal complaint, asking for help and for Northwestern to protect baseball players and staff members from Foster’s misconduct. The attorney said their emails went unanswered.

Esbrook said the university responded by ignoring the trio’s complaint, demoting them and not renewing their contracts.

Northwestern fired Foster last month after the school’s baseball program underwent a human resources investigation, which found that Foster engaged in bullying and abusive behavior, leading to an exodus of assistant coaches and players, per multiple reports. Former players and alumni said they reported Foster to Northwestern officials, including university president Michael Schill and athletic director Dr. Derrick Gragg, and an HR investigation was later launched. The human resources document found sufficient evidence of abusive behavior.

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“When the investigation had completed the day before the first game of the (2023) season, Northwestern told these gentlemen that what they said was true,” Esbrook said. “Northwestern found that coach Foster engaged in bullying, abusive, racist and sexist behavior. But they didn’t suspend coach Foster. They didn’t place him on leave and they didn’t terminate him.”

Northwestern released a statement on Monday’s lawsuit, calling it “without merit” and saying the university will contest it.

“The assistant coaches and director of operations received full support from the University, they were paid for their full contracts, and at their request, were allowed to support other areas of our athletic department as needed. Coach Foster has been relieved of his duties,” the statement said. “In this instance and others, the athletic director and department acted promptly and handled the complaints in accordance with established University policy and protocols.”

The decision to part with Foster came just three days after Northwestern fired football coach Pat Fitzgerald amid fallout from the university’s investigation into hazing allegations within the football program. Multiple former players have filed lawsuits against the school in the wake of Fitzgerald’s firing. Attorneys for a former Northwestern volleyball player also said last month she was suing the university over hazing-related allegations.

 

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