ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips Responds to Being Named in Northwestern Hazing Lawsuits

Phillips, Northwestern’s athletic director from 2008 to ’21, was named as a defendant in two lawsuits regarding allegations of hazing.

ACC commissioner and former Northwestern athletic director Jim Phillips released a statement Thursday in the wake of being named as a defendant in two lawsuits regarding hazing allegations within the athletic department.

Phillips, Northwestern’s AD from 2008 to ’21, was listed among a group of defendants, including recently-dismissed football coach Pat Fitzgerald, in two of the lawsuits filed by ex-Wildcats football players in connection to the allegations.

In his statement, Phillips, who was selected to serve as ACC commissioner in December 2020, vehemently denied having knowledge of the hazing before vowing to “vigorously defend” himself as the proceedings move forward.

“This has been a difficult time for the Northwestern University community, a place that my entire family called home,” Phillips began. “Over my thirty-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’s statement comes at a time where more information continues to emerge concerning the Northwestern hazing scandal, which allegedly impacted the football, baseball, softball, volleyball and cheerleading programs.

In addition to Phillips, the two suits, as well as a previously filed complaint, list Fitzgerald, who was fired on July 10, university president Michael Schill, former president Morton Schapiro, current athletic director Derrick Gragg and the board of trustees as defendants.

From ACC commissioner Jim Phillips, formerly the AD at Northwestern: pic.twitter.com/txgfX5aDmh

— Pat Forde (@ByPatForde) July 20, 2023

All three complaints reportedly lean heavily on a scathing July 8 article released by the university’s student newspaper, the Daily Northwestern, detailing the allegations from an unnamed ex-football player. Per the whistleblower’s testimony, players participated in hazing rituals such as a naked center-quarterback exchange, force-feeding players Gatorade milkshakes and a practice called “running,” where older players wore masks and dry humped another, typically younger, player in a dark locker room.

Since that article was published, a number of former players have come forward about the nature of the alleged hazing that took place within program.