Northwestern Faculty Protest Polisky Hiring As Athletic Director

EVANSTON, IL — Northwestern University President Morty Schapiro is facing protests from students and faculty critical of his choice to promote Mike Polisky to athletic director.

More than a hundred students and faculty members marched from campus to the university president's home Friday to demonstrate against Schapiro's decision to hire Polisky to lead the athletic department.

Schapiro announced Polisky as his pick Monday, citing his "integrity and wisdom" and more than 11 years as top deputy to former Athletic Director Jim Phillips.

On Wednesday, a group of women faculty members signed an open letter to Northwestern Provost Kathleen Hagerty demanding that university officials commission and release an independent investigation showing whether Polisky followed the law and "acted with integrity" in response to allegations of sexual harassment, assault and racism.

"We are alarmed by this decision and, indeed, embarrassed on behalf of the university," the six faculty members said. "We see the decision as antithetical to pledges you made in your emails to us in February and March in response to the letter of concern signed by more than 8O women faculty."

Polisky is one of five defendants in a federal lawsuit filed in January by Northwestern senior Hayden Richardson. Attorneys for the university have filed a motion to dismiss six counts of the eight-count complaint and denied wrongdoing.

Schapiro said Thursday he had interviewed seven candidates for the job and said he was certain Polisky was the best person for the job.

"Mike’s appointment comes at a moment when a lawsuit filed by a student at the University who is a member of the Cheer Team has been pending for several months. Having reviewed the complaint, Northwestern denies that it or any of its current employees violated any laws, including Title IX," Schapiro said, addressing those who questioned his decision.

"While we respect the right of individuals to seek redress through the legal system, it is important to keep in mind that a lawsuit contains allegations, not necessarily statements of fact," he said.

Schapiro said the university hired an independent investigator after Richardson's complaint was filed to "examine any new concerns of discrimination, harassment or retaliation, or any concerns of discrimination, harassment or retaliation that the Cheer Team feels were not previously addressed."

The initial inquiry has turned up no information that Polisky violated any university policy, the university president said. Schapiro also said the outside search firm also carried out a detailed background check and interviews.

Related:
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Also on Thursday, former cheerleading team member Erika Carter, who said in February she planned to sue the university over racial discrimination she experienced on the team, started an online petition echoing the faculty members' call.

"Polisky in his current role as Deputy Director of Athletics for External Affairs, which he has served in since 2010, failed to protect and support Black Northwestern student athletes and female cheerleaders by allowing racist policies and by ignoring cheerleader complaints of sexual exploitation by fans, donors, and alumni at tailgates and other events," the petition said.

By Friday evening, Carter's petition had received more than 1,000 signatures.

Phillips, who reportedly made more than $2 million as athletic director during the 2019-20 school year, departed the job in February to become commissioner of the Atlantic Coast Conference. The lawsuit does not allege any wrongdoing by Phillips or name him as a defendant.

According to the suit, Polisky prevented the cheerleader from meeting with Phillips and, when she met with him and an associate athletic director, allegedly "accused her of fabricating the evidence."

The faculty members' open letter said Polisky's hiring indicates a "troubling continuity" in the leadership of the athletic department.

"Regardless of Polisky's legal culpability," they said, "it is clear that student cheerleaders were subjected to significant abuses, as the University has acknowledged."