Outside of allegations that could involve the university’s Office of Civil Rights and Title IX Compliance, Lynch’s team said athletics department staff lacked “clear, standardized guidance” on how to respond when athletes came to them with concerns.

“This risks inconsistent handling of complaints, including allegations of hazing and similar misconduct, and fosters a perception that concerns raised within the athletics department may not be properly escalated or addressed,” the report stated.

Hazing reports made directly to staff are required to be reported to the Dean of Students Office, the Office of Community Standards and online via NUHelp’s reporting portal. The study stated it is unclear if the athletics department staff is familiar with these requirements.

Once a misconduct report is made, the process of investigating and resolving allegations can be unclear for student-athletes and athletics department staff, Lynch’s team found.

“This lack of visibility has left some members of the community with the perception that even if they report misconduct, those reports will go unaddressed, which could ultimately discourage student-athletes and staff from reporting in the first place,” the team wrote in its executive summary.

“There are certain unavoidable limitations to full transparency about investigative or remedial steps being taken to address validated reports of misconduct; however, it is clear that members of the Northwestern athletics community are searching for opportunities to engage with individuals who report misconduct without compromising confidentiality or privacy obligations.”

The report also noted that within the culture of the athletics department, academic advisers hold an important role in assisting student-athletes in balancing their sporting endeavors and studies. However, five advisers are tasked with managing this for nearly 500 student-athletes. It further stated these advisers have all come on board within the last three academic years due to high turnover in their positions.

Lynch’s team recommended that the university supplement its existing misconduct reporting infrastructure with technology that “allows for anonymous, real-time submission, follow-up, and documentation of student-athlete reports.” The team also recommended the creation of a new position within the athletics department to help staff with their obligations once misconduct allegations are made, as well as the publication of a resource guide for reporting misconduct within athletics.

Northwestern officials said they’ve already taken several steps to address hazing and misconduct in athletics. This summer, the athletics department will launch a technology tool “to survey and track issues raised by student-athletes.” Student-athletes are required to take additional training on hazing prevention, and misconduct reporting options are available in one online portal. Also, QR codes are placed in all university athletics facilities to link users to safety resources. In addition, a new staff position, the associate athletics director for sports administration, was created to give “strategic oversight and leadership” to the university’s 19 varsity programs.

Going forward, university officials said they’ve created four different working groups of faculty and athletics staff to focus on recommendations made in the Lynch report.

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