(The Center Square) – After allegations of hazing at Northwestern University, one Illinois legislator is looking to enhance the rights of student-athletes.
Over the weekend, a report highlighted hazing issues at Northwestern involving the football team leading the head coach to be fired. The allegations have led to a response from lawmakers.
“This is not something that should be taken lightly, and I know that Northwestern is not taking this lightly,” Gov. J.B. Pritzker said during an unrelated news conference Monday. “In the end, we have got to hold people accountable.”
State Rep. Kam Buckner, D-Chicago, a former collegiate football player at the University of Illinois, said he is seeking to introduce a “Bill of Rights” for college athletics.
“These are very disturbing allegations. There are still, I think, more questions than answers for folks,” Buckner said. “Even before these allegations came to fore, there has been some work to try and create a student athletes bill of rights in Illinois.”
Buckner said the idea is to outlaw activities like what’s being reported out of Northwestern and other situations like it. The existing proposal supports gender equity and other education-related efforts, but Buckner said he would look to change the measure to include more protections.
“The legislation that we’re working on now does a lot for gender equity and education benefits, but after what we heard this weekend regarding these allegations, I wanted to pause what we were doing and come back and see if there is anything we can add to protect these student athletes,” Buckner said.
The Chicago Democrat said he looks to further discuss the issue ahead of fall legislative session.
