Northwestern president doesn’t plan on firing AD, not worried about his own job security after scandals
Despite what has been a chaotic summer within the Northwestern athletic department, university president Michael Schill said Monday that he doesn’t have any plans to fire athletic director Derrick Gragg.
Schill said he doesn’t fear his own job is in jeopardy, either.
Schill spoke to The Daily Northwestern on Monday in the wake of a massive hazing scandal within the football program that led to the firing of longtime coach Pat Fitzgerald. The Wildcats also fired baseball coach Jim Foster after he reportedly engaged in “bullying and abusive behavior.” Multiple football players have since filed lawsuits against the school, and a former volleyball player filed a lawsuit Monday alleging hazing within that program, too.
Though these scandals are happening under Gragg’s watch, he didn’t join the university until 2021. That, Schill noted, was long after many of the hazing allegations related to the football program took place.
“Most of the activity that has been churned up happened before he came here,” Schill said. “The decision will be my decision in the end, informed by conversations with our trustees and our attorneys.
“There’s no conversation ongoing about his employment. 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. He is the athletic director. If there should be allegations, just like anybody else involved, we will investigate that.”
Fitzgerald was fired earlier this month after 17 seasons leading the football program when allegations of hazing within the program surfaced — many of which were first detailed by The Daily Northwestern. Several players have since filed lawsuits against the school and others, including one player who claimed to have been subjected to “sexualized hazing and physical abuse.”
Former Northwestern athletic director Jim Phillips, who is now the commissioner of the ACC, was named in lawsuits related to the hazing scandal. Phillips served as the Wildcats’ athletic director from 2008-2021. Phillips denied having any knowledge of the hazing within the football program, and he vowed to “vigorously defend” himself.
Schill has received significant criticism for his handling of the scandal. Initially, Schill opted to suspend Fitzgerald for two weeks following an investigation into the allegations. Three days later he fired Fitzgerald.
Despite that, Schill — who took over as Northwestern’s president last year after holding the same post at the University of Oregon — insisted he wasn’t worried about losing his job. He said a “vast majority” of Northwestern’s board members backed his decision to fire Fitzgerald.
“Not in the slightest,” Schill said when asked whether he felt his job was in jeopardy. “I have been in communication with tons of members of the board, and the vast majority are supportive of my decision to terminate the coach. They know that it was the right thing, they know that it was the only moral decision that could be made at that time, and they’re fully supportive of me.”
