Northwestern welcomes freshmen to campus after spending summer dealing with athletics program hazing scandal

For Northwestern University alum Christopher Holliday, watching his alma mater’s high-profile athletics department hazing scandal unfold has been challenging — but the recent turmoil didn’t detract from his pride as his daughter began her freshman year at the Big Ten school.

On Tuesday, the west suburban Oak Park resident was among a sea of hundreds of parents and loved ones cheering on incoming students at the university’s March Through the Arch annual rite of passage. A procession of freshmen, transfer and international students passed through the Weber Arch, the university’s iconic entryway at Sheridan Road and Chicago Avenue in Evanston, signifying the start of their university experience.

Most Northwestern freshmen and transfer students began moving into residence halls on Monday. Returning students are expected to join them Saturday, before classes start next week. The mood on campus was jubilant Tuesday as incoming students waved purple and white pompoms while their family members — some teary-eyed — looked on and shot photos.

Yet the Northwestern University Class of 2027 has arrived in the wake of great turmoil within the university’s athletics department, starting with allegations of rampant hazing of players on the football team and then spiraling into numerous claims of abusive behavior and toxic cultures pervading multiple sports teams.

The prestigious university now faces a litany of lawsuits stemming from the complaints of former college athletes as well as a lawsuit filed by several former baseball team staffers. In response, Northwestern is having former U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch conduct a review of the university and its athletics department. In a Tribune opinion piece, University President Michael Schill last month apologized “on behalf of the university to those athletes and all others affected” and has pledged that hazing will not be tolerated at Northwestern.

“Obviously the scandals are what they are,” Holliday said, as the last few incoming students filed through the Arch. “That is absolutely something we want to make sure is solved and no other kid has to endure any of the alleged circumstances.”

Yet he hopes the spotlight on hazing and its consequences might prove to be a turning point, spurring Northwestern — and perhaps other colleges and universities as well — to become better communities and safer havens for students in the long run.

“We trust them. We’re giving our kids to them,” said Holliday, who like so many family members wore a purple Northwestern shirt for the start-of-the-academic-year festivities. “So we hope that not only Northwestern, after this is all settled, will be a better place and safer place for our kids, but that all institutions across the country will do the same.”

After March Through the Arch concluded, the incoming students and their loved ones gathered at Deering Meadow, a 2-acre green space outside the university library that was once the site of the first Northwestern football field.

President Schill addressed the crowd, noting that the day marked one year since he took office.

“Welcome to your new home,” he said, as the crowd cheered. “You are all Wildcats now. You now belong fully to a global family of Northwestern people who care for one another and bring out the very, very best in each other.”

The message was in stark contrast to the claims of many former Northwestern athletes — representing an array of sports including volleyball, lacrosse, softball, baseball and football — who have recently filed lawsuits against the university.

“I was conditioned to think this stuff is normal, and this was what goes on in college football, this is what goes on in these locker rooms,” one former Northwestern football player told the Tribune in July. “And I think Northwestern has a bit of work to do to make things right, and make sure that this culture doesn’t exist.”

Elizabeth Shakman Hurd, professor of political science and religious studies, urged the university to “redouble its efforts to bring the athletic department to account.”

“We owe it to the students and their families,” she said.

Hurd noted that a Daily Northwestern story on Monday reported new allegations of unsafe conditions and “a culture of body shaming” made by Northwestern cheerleaders; the story comes about two years after a Northwestern cheerleader filed a lawsuit against the university claiming sexual exploitation and a hostile environment. That lawsuit is still pending.

“To the new students: I want to assure them that there are many Northwestern employees who are looking out for their safety and security,” Hurd added. “They are always welcome to contact faculty members such as myself, in confidence, should they need support. We have their backs.”

When freshman Clayton Zipperian learned of the hazing allegations, he said it was “disappointing to learn that that sort of thing was so prominent in the athletic department.”

But he did appreciate that the university addressed the accusations.

“Because it would have been doable, relatively, for them to sort of sweep it under the rug,” he said.

In July, Schill fired head football coach Pat Fitzgerald in response to hazing on the football team, which the university president 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, the university dismissed head baseball coach Jim Foster amid allegations of abusive behavior and creating a toxic culture.

“I’m not sure it makes me feel more confident in my university but if they didn’t address it, I would have felt less confidant in my university,” Zipperian said, though he also noted that the scandal didn’t mitigate his desire to come to Northwestern. “I visited here last spring. It was kind of just the vibes for me, to be entirely honest. I just wanted to go to a place where I was going to be happy. And this was the place.”

His father, Nathan Zipperian, believes that in a year or two Northwestern’s recent athletics department problems will likely be forgotten.

“It was something that was in the news and we were like, ‘Oh, that’s not great press for Northwestern,’” he said. “But beyond that, there was no real concern about him coming here.”

University leadership has also pledged to require “intensive anti-hazing training” for all athletic teams and coaches.

All freshmen and transfer students must also complete mandatory hazing prevention training, according to the university.

Several female freshmen were looking at Northwestern apparel and other university souvenirs at the store Campus Gear in Evanston on Monday. Outside of the shop, they discussed the university’s online anti-hazing training, noting that the program never mentioned any of the specific allegations recently made against Northwestern.

“It just felt ironic,” said one of the students, who didn’t want her name used.

Some of the freshmen said the program seemed to put the onus on students to stop hazing or report inappropriate behavior.

“The online course was telling us to take action if we feel like someone might be in trouble. … But there’s only so much I can do,” she said. “Hazing is a part of the broader culture; it’s not really about an individual person’s actions.”

Another freshman student, who is from a Southern state, said Northwestern used to never be in the news back home and some folks there had never heard of the school before.

That changed after the summer, when news of the hazing scandal made headlines nationwide.

“All of a sudden our local stations were talking about it,” said the student, who also wanted to remain anonymous. “Whenever I would say where I was going to college, they would say, ‘Oh, the school with the hazing.’ It was just weird. At first, no one had heard of it. But now they’ve heard of it, but not for a very good reason.”

As for Holliday, he said he wasn’t worried about dropping off his daughter at Northwestern.

“We’ve worn the Northwestern banner for years and always been proud of it,” he said. “We’re still very proud of it.”

The father added that he believes his social justice-minded daughter will “be part of the solution.”

“Joining clubs. Speaking on behalf of others,” he said. “Making sure all of the kids here are safe and anyone who comes here in the future is just as safe and happy to be here.”

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