ACC commissioner Phillips: 'Absolutely false' that he tolerated hazing at Northwestern
Posted July 20, 2023 6:22 p.m. EDT
Updated July 20, 2023 8:04 p.m. EDT
ACC commissioner Jim Phillips defended himself against allegations from former Northwestern football players that he was aware of hazing and other inappropriate conduct during his tenure as the school's athletic director.
Phillips served as Northwestern athletic director from 2008 to 2021, when he became the ACC commissioner.
At least three lawsuits have been filed by former football players at the Big Ten school after an investigation into hazing allegations led to the firing of longtime coach Pat Fitzgerald, who coached the team since 2006.
Phillips has been named as a defendant in two of the lawsuits from unnamed former players, according to The Associated Press. The players were on the team from 2018-22, the AP reported.
“This has been a difficult time for the Northwestern University community, a place that my entire family called home," Phillips said in a statement issued Thursday.
"Over my 30-year career in intercollegiate athletics, my highest priority has always been the health and safety of all student-athletes. Hazing is completely unacceptable anywhere, and my heart goes out to anyone who carries the burden of having been mistreated. Any allegation that I ever condoned or tolerated inappropriate conduct against student-athletes is absolutely false. I will vigorously defend myself against any suggestion to the contrary.”
Phillips, whose contract runs through 2029, is scheduled to speak at the ACC's annual football kickoff event in Charlotte on Tuesday morning.
Former players have described widespread hazing incidents that were sexual in nature, including forcing others to strip naked. The complaints allege “longstanding issues involving hazing and bullying that takes on a sexual and/or racist tone” and accuses Fitzgerald of enabling “a culture of racism and/or other microaggressions” on the football team, the AP reported.
“This is an institution that failed their students and failed their student-athletes,” attorney Parker Stinar said at a press conference earlier this week. “These are students, these are young individuals, these are athletes who were subjected to abuse by an athletic program and a university.”
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
