Reports: Northwestern University Coach Pat Fitzgerald fired amid hazing allegations

Updated: 6:02 p.m. on July 10, 2023

KENOSHA, Wis. (CBS 58) -- Multiple reports now say Northwestern University Coach Pat Fitzgerald has been fired.

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Published: 3:14 p.m. on July 10, 2023

KENOSHA, Wis. (CBS 58) -- Every year since 1992, Northwestern University's football team has come from suburban Chicago to Kenosha, for a week of preseason practices. But that tradition has been abruptly ended, because of allegations of hazing by Wildcat players. 

Former players have claimed that locker room hazing often involved coerced sexual acts. They may have started at what's become known as "Camp Kenosha," the week of Northwestern practices at UW-Parkside.

These allegations have led to two-week unpaid suspension for longtime Wildcats head coach Pat Fitzgerald, who says he was not aware of any incidents. 

Northwestern has now permanently ended the "Camp Kenosha" workouts. It will require monitoring of the team's locker room by someone who doesn't answer to the coaching staff and there will be mandatory anti-hazing training for all players, coaches, and staff. Northwestern players have released a statement calling the hazing allegations "exaggerated and twisted."