In the days after the hazing scandal in Northwestern University’s athletics program broke this summer, school leaders homed in on this message: ‘‘Make no mistake, our student-athletes are students first,’’ President Michael Schill wrote in an open letter to the school community.
Former Wildcats football player Ramon Diaz says that wasn’t his experience. Diaz, 37, is suing the university. He’s accusing the school of enabling the alleged racial and sexual abuse he endured on the team in the 2000s. He is one of many former students who have filed suit against Northwestern since widespread hazing in its athletic department became public July 7.
