Higher Education Is Failing Student-Athletes

Photo by Jerry Lai-USA Today Sports

If you look closely, or at all, athletics have become one of the most vital supplements to the education system in the United States. The insertion of sport into education is designed to help students’ learn skills in a different medium other than the traditional classroom or workplace but instead as athletes. Sports are an opportunity to enhance teamwork, hard work, and competition among other skills in a way a group project/presentation might not be able to. 

Education is not just memorizing math formulas, the capital of Kentucky, or that the mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell. It is also how people learn to interact with and respect other people.

I recently spoke with a high school athletic director about the structure of high school athletics and their role in students’ learning. In our conversation, I learned that the high school had more coaches than teachers. Let that sink in. Just like teachers, coaches are educators too. 

Programs ranging from little league to college carry a large responsibility in developing their athletes as people FIRST and athletes second. This is non-negotiable. 

Friday Night Lights. Remember the Titans. Glory Road. When the Game Stands Tall. King Richard. We Are Marshall. Miracle. All your favorite sports movies follow the story of a successful team and/or individual in which the coach teaches the athlete(s) how to be a quality person(s) and athlete(s).

Recently, an ex-football player who attended Northwestern University has anonymously come forward with hazing allegations against the football program and that its head coach, Pat Fitzgerald, may have known. According to The Daily Northwestern in an article published on July 8, the school newspaper revealed that the former player reported the hazing allegations to the school in November 2022 and detailed their experience in the program. 

It was reported the majority of the team’s hazing was centered on “running,” which was a measure used by team members to punish players, primarily freshmen, for mistakes. According to the former player and as reported by The Daily, the player selected “would be restrained by a group of 8-10 upperclassmen dressed in various “Purge-like” masks, who would then begin “dry-humping” the victim in a dark locker room.” A second anonymous player who spoke with The Daily confirmed these actions.

After receiving these reports, Northwestern took the appropriate actions and hired an independent law firm to investigate. According to the release, those interviewed varied in perspective of the activities but the findings indicated the claims were “largely supported by evidence.” In response, the University placed Fitzgerald on unpaid suspension for two weeks… in the middle of the summer. 

In response to Fitzgerald’s suspension, the Northwestern football team sent a statement to ESPN in which they denounced hazing and declared their support for Fitzgerald. In the statement, they said:

“It is disheartening to see that the allegations brought forth against our team have been exaggerated and twisted into lies. These fabrications have been made with the intention of harming our program and tarnish the reputation of our dedicated players and coaching staff," the statement read. "We firmly deny the validity of these accusations and stand united in our assertion that they do not reflect the true character of our team.”

Two key words can be extracted from above: “exaggerated” and “twisted.” These words explicitly indicate that the alleged instances did happen, but were “exaggerated” and “twisted.” 

After a two-week suspension received widespread pushback, the University appeared to be having second thoughts when President Michael Schill said that he “may have erred in weighing the appropriate sanction.”

On July 10, The Daily reported that three former football players came forward and described “a culture of enabling racism” that included racist actions and comments from members of the coaching staff and players. All three of the players, who played for the team in the 2000s, also confirmed some of the hazing allegations that the school newspaper had reported. 

A player, who chose to remain anonymous, alleges that “Fitzgerald would ask Black players and coaches to cut off longer hairstyles—including dreadlocks—so that they were more in line with what Fitzgerald called the “Wildcat Way,” according to The Daily. White players with long hair were not asked to do the same. The three players detailed numerous other forms of racism. If a player did not conform with the “Wildcat Way,” the coaching staff would reportedly threaten to revoke the player’s scholarship.

In an open letter to the school community on July 10, Schill announced the firing of Fitzgerald effective immediately. In the letter, he denounced what he described as the “systemic” hazing that took place.

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

It is unclear how Northwestern will choose to move forward after Fitzgerald’s firing, but two things are clear: 1). whether or not he knew of the hazing and was involved in the racism on the team, Fitzgerald needed to go and 2). The University should levy harsh sanctions against the program. 

Cutting ties with Fitzgerald may be difficult, but necessary. Fitzgerald, 48, was an All-American linebacker for the Wildcats in the 1990s and joined the coaching staff as a position coach in 2001. He was promoted to head coach in 2006, and was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2008 as a player. Fitzgerald is the winningest coach in Wildcats history. 

Whether or not Fitzgerald knew about the alleged hazing and racism in the program, he is undoubtedly at fault. Even if he did not know, he had cultivated a culture where these actions were tolerated in his 17 years at the helm of the football program. For those who speak solely of wins and losses, Fitzgerald’s past two seasons have not been particularly successful on the field with a 4-20 record and 2-16 in conference play. 

The Northwestern football program failed to educate their student-athletes on how to be decent people and kind to one another. Basic respect. In this incident, it allegedly started with the head coach. Fitzgerald has quickly become the punching bag for the hazing allegations against the entire program, but it would be irresponsible to assume he was the only one at fault. On July 11, the University told ESPN that they intend to retain its assistant coaches and staff members for the 2023 season. That makes sense because… nope, it does not make sense. 

Northwestern is gaining attention for all the wrong reasons right now, but don’t think for a second this is the only institution unacceptable behavior is taking place at. 

On January 14, 23-year-old mother Jamea Jonae Harris was fatally shot and killed in Tuscaloosa, Alabama by a Crimson Tide basketball player and his childhood friend. The player was quickly dismissed from the school.

Roughly a month later, a police investigator revealed during a hearing on February 21 that star freshman forward Brandon Miller had brought the handgun to the former player on the night of the shooting. Freshman guard Jaden Bradley was also on the scene that night. Both fully cooperated in the investigation and neither were charged. Miller was drafted by the Charlotte Hornets with the second overall pick in the 2023 NBA Draft and Bradley transferred to the University of Arizona.

On January 15, Georgia offensive lineman Devon Willock and team staff member Chandler LeCroy were killed hours after a celebration of the team’s second national championship due to reckless driving. According to a police toxicology report, LeCroy had a blood alcohol concentration 0f .197 percent at the time of the crash. The legal limit in Georgia is .08.

Also allegedly involved in the January 15 incident was Philadelphia Eagles defensive lineman and former Georgia player, Jalen Carter. Carter, who was projected by some to be the first overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, fell to the Eagles at ninth overall with analysts citing character concerns as a factor. 

On May 23, Georgia wide receiver Marcus Rosemy-Jacksaint drove 90 miles per hour in a 45 mph zone on Atlanta Highway. On July 5, a University of Georgia freshman linebacker Samuel M’Pemba was ticketed for going 88 mph in a 55 mph zone, according to records from the Oconee County Sheriff's Office. 

In June, ESPN reported “that Georgia football players and their cars have been involved in at least 10 reports of traffic-related moving violations in Athens-Clarke County” since January 15.

It should be noted that Georgia head coach Kirby Smart has repeatedly addressed the concerns within his program, but a solution has yet to be found to silence the issue. Smart should be given props for trying.

In sum, higher education is failing to educate student-athletes. Institutions need to be more concerned with their students’ wellbeing and their development as decent human beings. Yes, winning games and recruiting talented players is important too, but developing athletes as people FIRST and athletes second needs to be the priority.