Northwestern taps ex-AG Loretta Lynch to conduct review amid hazing scandal

Northwestern University announced Tuesday that it has hired former Attorney General Loretta Lynch to conduct a review of the school’s athletic department amid allegations of hazing and toxic culture within several of the school’s athletic programs. 

In a news release, the school said Lynch, who ran the Department of Justice for two years under the Obama administration, will “lead an independent review of the processes and accountability mechanisms in place at the University to detect, report and respond to potential misconduct in its athletics programs, including hazing, bullying, and discrimination of any kind.” 

Lynch will also examine the culture of the school’s athletic department to ensure it is consistent with the school’s mission and values as a leading academic institution. 

The school said its faculty, student body and alumni will be able to give their feedback during Lynch’s probe, and that the results of the investigation will be made public. 

Lynch, a former U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York, now works for law firm Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison. She was previously tapped by the NFL last year to serve as a counsel for its racial discrimination lawsuit against former Miami Dolphins head coach Brian Flores. 

“Hazing has absolutely no place at Northwestern. Period,” Northwestern President Michael Schill said in a statement. “I am determined that with the help of Attorney General Lynch, we will become a leader in combating the practice of hazing in intercollegiate athletics and a model for other universities. We will provide all of our students with the resources and support they need and do whatever is necessary to protect their safety and ensure that our athletics program remains one we can all be proud of.”

The university is currently facing several lawsuits from former football players and a volleyball player who allege hazing and a toxic environment in their respective athletic programs, according to ESPN. 

Northwestern fired longtime head football coach Pat Fitzgerald last month after allegations of racism, hazing and sexual abuse within the program.

The allegations first came into light in the school’s student newspaper, the Daily Northwestern. 

The school also fired head baseball coach Jim Foster this month after it conducted an investigation of bullying and mistreatment within his program, ESPN reported. 

“The Athletics Department welcomes this review as a critical tool in identifying the additional steps Northwestern can take to eradicate hazing,” the school’s athletic director, Derrick Gragg, said in a statement. “By making the results of her review public, we hope our entire community will be better informed and guided as we all work to address this critical issue in college athletics.”

In a statement to The Hill, Civil Rights attorney Ben Crump and Chicago-based law firm Levin & Perconti, who are representing former Northwestern players in lawsuits, questioned the need for the new investigation.

“Can we assume this means the University believes the first investigation which led to the firing of former Wildcats head football coach Pat Fitzgerald was flawed, or not thorough enough? And if the University is dedicated to transparency as they say, then why are the findings of the first investigation yet to be made public?” the statement reads.

“We have to wonder if this is nothing more than an effort to counteract negative press, and more importantly, the growing number of former Northwestern football players filing lawsuits against the University,” it adds.  

Updated: 4:20 p.m.