Former Northwestern Athletes Allege 'Toxic Culture' of Hazing and Sexual Assault, Attorneys Say

"This behavior at colleges across the country has been excused for far too long," attorney Ben Crump wrote on Twitter

At least 15 former student athletes from Northwestern University are alleging a “toxic culture” of hazing and sexual abuse, attorneys say.

On Wednesday, civil rights attorney Ben Crump announced plans to eventually sue the university, alongside Chicago attorney Steven Levin, as they're representing 15 people and in touch with several more athletes.

"For years, former Northwestern Univ. athletes were put in a vulnerable position of enduring hazing for fear of retaliation," Crump wrote on Twitter. "Now they are sharing their TRUTH. Our path forward toward accountability must be paved with the understanding that this culture of abuse cannot continue!"

"The Northwestern scandal is only the latest incidence of sexual abuse of college athletes to come forward," he added. "This behavior at colleges across the country has been excused for far too long — it's time for a CHANGE!"

At a Chicago news conference on Wednesday, Crump revealed that the former student athletes spoke with him about "a pattern and practice of a culture that was predicated on physical intimidation, harassment, discrimination, abuse – both mentally and sexually – and it was normalized."

The news of the forthcoming lawsuit comes 10 days after school president Michael Schill announced that head football coach Pat Fitzgerald was fired due to "his failure to know and prevent significant hazing in the football program." The firing comes as a result of a former player alleging widespread hazing and sexual abuse at the school in January.

Two players then spoke with The Daily Northwestern earlier this month, detailing the alleged hazing and abuse younger players faced on the team, and claimed that Fitzgerald knew about — and encouraged — the hazing.

Fitzgerald told ESPN he had “had no knowledge whatsoever” about the hazing and that he was “surprised” when he learned he was getting fired Monday.

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An independent investigation commissioned by the school found that the hazing included “forced participation, nudity and sexualized acts of a degrading nature,” per a letter shared by Schill announcing Fitzgerald's firing. Schill added that the investigation found no “credible evidence” that the coach was aware of the alleged hazing.

"Since Friday, I have kept going back to what we should reasonably expect from our head coaches, our faculty and our campus leaders," Schill wrote. "And that is what led me to make this decision. The head coach is ultimately responsible for the culture of his team. The hazing we investigated was widespread and clearly not a secret within the program, providing Coach Fitzgerald with the opportunity to learn what was happening. Either way, the culture in Northwestern Football, while incredible in some ways, was broken in others."

A Northwestern spokesperson revealed in a statement to PEOPLE on Thursday that the university "does not comment on pending litigation."

"Shortly after learning the results of the independent investigation into hazing on the football team, the University announced a series of steps including the monitoring of the football locker room, anti-hazing training and the establishment of an online reporting tool for complaints," spokesperson Jon Yates wrote. "These steps, while necessary and appropriate, are just the start, and we will be augmenting them in the coming weeks."

Reiterating what Schill wrote in a later statement, Yates added that the school "will engage an outside firm to evaluate the sufficiency of our accountability mechanism, and to detect threats to the welfare of our student-athletes," and "will examine the culture of Northwestern Athletics and its relationship to the academic mission."

Related: Northwestern Fires Football Coach Pat Fitzgerald After Former Players Raise Concern Over Hazing, 'Vile' Abuse

As Crump shared during his press conference, allegations include students being "dry humped," made to "simulate football activities in the nude," and given alcohol despite being underage.

Former quarterback Lloyd Yates, who played for the team from 2015 to 2017, said at the press conference that students were "thrown into a culture where physical, emotional and sexual abuse was normalized."

"No teammate I knew liked hazing," he said Wednesday. "We were all victims, no matter what our role was at the time. But the culture was so strong that we felt we had to go with it to survive, to be respected, and to earn the trust within the football program."

According to ESPN, Yates added that "a lot of coaches took part in it in many different manners," and that "the explicit behavior was so explicit."

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He added: "It was loud. It took place in close proximity to where a lot of the staff, trainers were located. It's kind of hard to take a blind eye."

Dan Webb, Fitzgerald's attorney, shared in a statement to PEOPLE that the latest allegations were "broad-based" and "imprecise," with no evidence showing his client had "any knowledge whatsoever" of the alleged hazing. "No arguments were made [Wednesday] that would present any substantive, detailed, factual allegations, let alone evidence, about Coach Fitzgerald's conduct," Webb wrote. "The statements made by the lawyers and former student athletes, and those contained in the complaint filed by the one unnamed plaintiff, still fail to cite any specific facts or evidence beyond the broad-based statements published in the July 8 article."

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"As far as we can determine, neither the filed complaint nor the press conference presentations set forth any facts or evidence to support any legal claims against Coach Fitzgerald," he continued. "As we have stated previously, we will aggressively defend against these and any other allegations with facts and evidence. Further, we intend to move to dismiss the civil suits filed against Coach Fitzgerald and, as appropriate, for sanctions for frivolous filings."

On Tuesday, Schill released another statement reminding the school community that Northwestern had relieved both Fitzgerald and baseball coach Jim Foster of their duties.

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As previously reported, Foster was the subject of an internal investigation by the university’s human resources department ahead of this past season, which found that Foster “engaged in bullying and abusive behavior,” according to an internal HR document obtained by The Chicago Tribune.

"I write to you today to give you my commitment that I will continue to do whatever is necessary to address this situation and ensure that our athletic program remains one you can be proud of and one that is fully aligned with and reflects our values," he wrote. "Equally important, I give you my commitment that we will redouble our efforts to safeguard the welfare of each and every student-athlete at Northwestern."

If you or someone you know has been a victim of sexual abuse, text "STRENGTH" to the Crisis Text Line at 741-741 to be connected to a certified crisis counselor.

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