Condemning hazing but praising the culture they experienced at NU. Signed by 277 former NU football players.
Letter from More than 1000 former NU Athletes
- Thread starter corbi296
- Start date
It is nice that former athletes have taken it upon themselves to try to reduce the damage done to the university by the new president, the board of trustees and, to a lesser degree, the athletic director.
ESPN calls it an "open letter" but I can't find a copy of it anywhere.
Wonder how long it will take the Daily Northwestern to publish it...
It doesn't seem like the letter gets into any "I didn't see abusive behavior..." statements.
Doing so probably gets you a subpoena.
ESPN calls it an "open letter" but I can't find a copy of it anywhere.
Wonder how long it will take the Daily Northwestern to publish it...
It doesn't seem like the letter gets into any "I didn't see abusive behavior..." statements.
Doing so probably gets you a subpoena.
This is the letter I signed.
Support Northwestern Athletics
- We strongly condemn hazing in any form and firmly believe it has no place in collegiate sports or, for that matter, in university life, period. The allegations being made are troubling and we support the University’s efforts to fully investigate these claims. However, these allegations do not represent or define the overall athletics culture at Northwestern.
We are former Northwestern University student-athletes.
As a group, we feel it is important to respond to the recent allegations about NU’s athletics programs in which we all participated and respectively add our voices to this dialogue.
Our decision to attend NU was driven by the remarkable culture that fosters excellence in sports, academics and community engagement. The emphasis on doing well while upholding the highest standards was ingrained in each of us during our time in Evanston.
The level of competitiveness required in college athletics is formidable and the same is required in the classroom at NU. The opportunity to compete at this level in both the classroom and in our respective sports is unique and deeply valued. These experiences were the building blocks for each of our lives after graduation.
This is the Northwestern we proudly came to know and appreciate, and for which we are immensely grateful.
We strongly affirm the positive experiences we had at Northwestern and, if offered, would do it all over again.
GO ‘CATS!
It was summer break in July when they ran the Richardson allegations in less than 24 hours and they managed to do all the required fact-checking (rolling eyes) so I'm sure they can handle it.
Ummm - what? I agree and signed. But it says nothing to what happened that led to PFs dismissal.
Well, there is Richardson's allegation that Northwestern football's culture was "barbarous" and Schill's allegation that the culture was "broken."
This letter refutes those accusations fairly convincingly (assuming that recent football players signed the letter).
Still hard for me to believe that Schill walks in the door and writes that a month into his tenure. It is disparaging to everyone associated with the football team. You have to be a real tool to do that.
Means nothing other than for each of those individuals the good outweighed any bad in their athletic experience. Maybe all 277 football players or the full 1000 athletes will be subpoenaed to testify in relevant lawsuits. Individual affidavits saying that at no time did they witness or observe any hazing or inappropriate overt abusive behavior would carry a lot more weight that a group letter.
There won’t be any trial, despite what most of us badly want. NU will fold like a tent and this debate will rage on for decades!
"We strongly condemn hazing in any form and firmly believe it has no place in collegiate sports or, for that matter, in university life, period. The allegations being made are troubling and we support the University’s efforts to fully investigate these claims."
I lived in the city of Baltimore for over 7 years. 2600 plus days. I was not a crime victim once. Clearly that city is crime.free.
Sorry, the only people saying that there was no hazing are on this board.
I love this letter. Thanks to those of you that signed it. By noting your support of our alma mater, validating your positive experience, condemning hazing and not minimizing what others may have experienced, the letter sets a great tone.
This made my day.
This made my day.
Agree with many sentiments here so far, even though they are in conflict.
It's wonderful that so many alums wanted to put, in writing, that their NU experience was positive and that they condemn hazing. As bogus media spin and throw-away stories have been coming out, the likes of which implying racism in watermelon eating contests (etc.), this is a really important step to balancing out the narrative for peripheral onlookers.
Here amongst friends, I can't help but wonder how many would have refrained from signing if "I was never hazed, I never hazed, and I never witnessed hazing during my time at NU" had been included in the statement.
I would also like to see more media conversation comparing what's pretty clearly happened at NU with what is likely (definitely?) happening in other locker rooms across the country. Although I tend to be firmly in the "we have a problem here that needs to be addressed," camp, I also think we're the equivalent of the car that got pulled over for doing 70 on Lake Shore Drive while other cars zoom by us going 100.
It's wonderful that so many alums wanted to put, in writing, that their NU experience was positive and that they condemn hazing. As bogus media spin and throw-away stories have been coming out, the likes of which implying racism in watermelon eating contests (etc.), this is a really important step to balancing out the narrative for peripheral onlookers.
Here amongst friends, I can't help but wonder how many would have refrained from signing if "I was never hazed, I never hazed, and I never witnessed hazing during my time at NU" had been included in the statement.
I would also like to see more media conversation comparing what's pretty clearly happened at NU with what is likely (definitely?) happening in other locker rooms across the country. Although I tend to be firmly in the "we have a problem here that needs to be addressed," camp, I also think we're the equivalent of the car that got pulled over for doing 70 on Lake Shore Drive while other cars zoom by us going 100.
Yes, but that's also when you have to decide if you are going to set your own rules and boundaries for your program, or whether you are going to go with what everyone else is doing. I've always liked that Northwestern football isn't a win-at-all-costs program. There are self-imposed constraints, whether they are about admissions or tolerance for bad behavior.
You just described why a lot of people hate NU and are happy with this scandal. The “we do things the right way” attitude needs to be jettisoned. It’s exactly why it is a media feeding frenzy when no one gives a rats ass about the Minnesota’s of the world.
I tend to believe it's all relative, and I do believe there are credible voices here on the board who have generally argued a version of this happens absolutely everywhere, and we are foolish to think it's literally possible to achieve ZERO tolerance of hazing by its legal definition.
To that point, I don't know what to make of the fact that I've seen no spinoff stories of much more salacious hazing at other programs as attested by the many, many players who have surely been run out of SEC towns. Yes of course the media wants to have a field day with St. Fitz and the holier-than-thou NU, but come on...there aren't juicier hazing stories that could come out of Ole Miss or Texas or Florida?
In big programs, every freshman is a four or five star and has a chance to contribute right away. And if they don’t, they have their pick of programs.
Why would you haze someone that’ll help you win?
It’s a good and simple letter. Is the full text, including a list of who signed, anywhere?
Edit: here’s the full list. 30 pages’ worth. Good for the organizers.
I agree with you and I think the problem is people are expecting a level of civility from a sport that is a modern day version of the gladiators. There is a level of barbarism and machismo that is inherent in the sport that is part of the appeal for many who play it and follow it. Sometimes that on field mentality does not immediately shut off and carries over from the game or the practice field into the locker room.
Not cool. That’s just an excuse and we know what they’re like and everyone’s got one. I have friends who are fans of other programs who have criticized NU players as being dirty in the pile. Grabbing and punching places they shouldn’t. I played in HS as a running back and have been on the bottom of a few on field piles, but you don’t bring that into the locker room against your own teammates. That’s a sickness.
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Nothing more macho then rubbing your d*ck on some dude on their way to the shower.
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Certainly not cool but this stuff happens in one shape or form in every college football locker room in the country. NU is not unique. The only thing unique about this is how NU’s clueless leadership chose to address the problem.
The leadership council? The CEO of the team?
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