Following the termination of head coach Pat Fitzgerald for a hazing scandal, the football program at Northwestern has been accused of fostering an environment of racism by several former players

According to The Daily Northwestern, three former Wildcats broke their silence about the school's “culture of enabling racism.” The ex-players recalled several racist incidents involving players and staff throughout their tenure.

Ramon Diaz Jr., a Latino offensive lineman for Northwestern from 2005 to 2008, shared his tumultuous experience at the school.

“I didn’t feel like I could be anything other than White,” Diaz said.“We never felt like we could be ourselves. We had to fit in by being white or acting white or laughing at our own people.”

One anonymous player who played through the 2009 season, alleged that racism on the team was overt and that Fitzgerald requested that Black players and coaches shorten their hairstyles, especially dreadlocks, so that they would conform to “Wildcat Way.” According to the anonymous player, his white teammates with long hair were not asked to cut their hair.

Another former player, a Black offensive lineman said that Fitzgerald asked one of the coaches on his staff to cut off his dreadlocks.

The first anonymous player said that the coaching staff promoted  “good, clean American fun,” a descriptor of how they expected players to behave.

“Those are two phrases you would hear a lot around the program that referred to the sentiment of ‘fall in line,’” the first player explained. “If you were not in line with the ‘Wildcat Way,’ Coach Fitz or any one of the coaches will be quick to say like, ‘yeah, check your scholarship.”

“The racist stuff… the stuff that refers to how Black players are treated, in my mind, that was a form of hazing,” he continued.

He also said he heard a player say to his Black teammate to show him “how monkeys act.”

“Your Blackness was not allowed to shine through, whether it was how you carried yourself all your way down to your hair,” he went on.

During his time at Northwestern, the second anonymous player said that he felt like the team was segregated by race. There were more Black players on the defensive side and it was difficult to be a person of color on the offensive side.

“There was a certain culture of enabling racism and other microaggressions that I had to experience and that other offensive linemen that were people of color had to experience,” the second player added.

“A lot of people ended up transferring, particularly off the offensive side of the ball, because it was a very racially segregated team,” he continued.

Diaz, who is now a clinical therapist, said that the culture of the football team led to his post-traumatic stress disorder diagnosis following his graduation from Northwestern. He even recalled a time when he was forced to shave “Cinco de Mayo” into his hair during a school tradition where freshmen shaved different messages on their heads.

“The fact that I’m still going to a therapist and talking about these things after more than 10 years is indicative of the mental health state I was left in,” Diaz said. “I didn’t even watch a football game again for almost five years after I left Northwestern. It was that negative of an experience for me that I didn’t want anything to do with the sport.”

Jon Yates, a University spokesperson, claimed that he was not aware of the allegations.

“The alleged ‘racist commentary and behavior toward non-white players’ by Coach Fitzgerald and members of his staff would be entirely unacceptable and inconsistent with our culture and values, if true,” Yates’ email read. “As we do with any allegation, we will immediately address the accusations and any findings will be considered.