From settings that promote sexual harassment to a lack of athletic trainers during stunting practice, Northwestern University cheerleaders allege the school doesn't do enough to mitigate the unsafe conditions in which they are expected to perform.
Four current and former cheerleaders spoke to The Daily Northwestern student newspaper about their issues with the program.
One said she was performing in the stands at a winter 2023 Northwestern basketball game when a fan made a sexually explicit comment toward her. She immediately told Valerie Ruiz, head cheerleading coach and spirit squad director, who asked what the fan looked like and promised to get security involved. The cheerleader said she never received any further information on the incident.
From settings that promote sexual harassment to a lack of athletic trainers during stunting practice, Northwestern University cheerleaders allege the school doesn't do enough to mitigate the unsafe conditions in which they are expected to perform.
Four current and former cheerleaders spoke to The Daily Northwestern student newspaper about their issues with the program.
One said she was performing in the stands at a winter 2023 Northwestern basketball game when a fan made a sexually explicit comment toward her. She immediately told Valerie Ruiz, head cheerleading coach and spirit squad director, who asked what the fan looked like and promised to get security involved. The cheerleader said she never received any further information on the incident.
“At the next game, I was still expected to go into the stands and perform in the place where I was harassed,” she said. “There was never a consideration of my mental well-being. There also was never a broader conversation of if performing in the stands was safe or even necessary.”
Another cheerleader, who was on the Spirit Squad from 2020-23, said cheerleaders made it a point they wouldn’t stunt without a trainer present.
However, that rule wasn’t followed, according to several cheerleaders who spoke with The Daily. Associate athletic trainer Gia Dougherty, the Spirit Squad’s trainer, also works with cross country. When she travels with the cross country team, cheerleaders said, there isn’t consistently a substitute trainer for the Spirit Squad. A third squad member said Ruiz will sometimes insist on hitting stunts or skills before practice ends, regardless of whether a trainer is nearby.
Two cheerleaders also alleged there is pressure to not miss practice due to illness or injury. A handbook linked in the 2022-23 cheer handbook states that coaches and staff members cannot place pressure on the medical staff in regard to returning to participation after injury or illness, but says nothing about advising individual team members, The Daily reported.
The same cheerleader who claimed she was harassed at a basketball game last season also said that many of the team’s uniforms are hand-me-downs and not size inclusive, but said Ruiz has never addressed that.
“She’ll make comments like, ‘Well, we can’t wear this uniform because not everyone fits,’” Smith said. “That makes people who can’t fit into the uniform feel sh—y. I feel the adult, mature thing to say is (is), ‘We don’t (have) enough sizes and it’s unfortunate they don’t make a larger amount of sizes,’ instead of blaming it on the people who can’t fit.”
These allegations come just two years after former cheerleader Hayden Richardson filed a federal lawsuit against the University in 2021, alleging repeated instances of sexual harassment as a cheerleader. The Daily also reported on cheerleaders’ allegations of racism and sexual harassment in the wake of the lawsuit. The suit is ongoing.
Related: Cheerleader Sues Northwestern Over Fan Harassment
According to Charlotte Varnes of The Daily, cheerleaders sign an annual contract stating they will comply with team guidelines for game day, practices and other events. The 2021-22 contract states that an athletic trainer will be present at any practice where team members stunt. The 2022-23 contract does not have the same stipulation, but multiple cheerleaders said Spirit Squad members still enforce the requirement.
At a meeting held in September 2022, a concussion specialist told cheerleaders they had the highest number of concussions of any Northwestern athletic program in the 2021-22 school year, two cheerleaders told The Daily.
According to Varnes, the University did not respond to multiple requests from The Daily asking for comment from Ruiz. When reached by text message, Ruiz did not comment on any of the allegations detailed by The Daily.
