Northwestern University paid $121.03 million in legal settlements in fiscal year 2025, a period that included resolutions to lawsuits brought by former Wildcats football players alleging hazing abuse as well as former head coach Pat Fitzgerald’s wrongful termination claims stemming from that scandal.
The settlement figure, which did not identify its recipients, was disclosed as a line item on Northwestern’s latest tax return, a copy of which was obtained by Sportico.
In response to questions, a university spokesperson said in an email that the figure contained a portion of the $75 million the university had agreed to pay the federal government over a three-year period in order to resolve a civil rights investigation by the Trump Department of Justice as well as “multiple other legal settlements recorded in fiscal year.”
The spokesperson declined to specify whether those settlements included Fitzgerald’s or the former players’ lawsuits. A source familiar with the matter confirmed that they did, though it is unclear how much each of the plaintiffs received. The figure suggests Fitzgerald settled for substantially less than the $130 million in damages he sought when he sued NU in October 2023. (Fitzgerald’s agent declined to comment.)
