Mike Polisky stepped down Wednesday from his newly appointed role as Northwestern athletic director as criticism continued to mount against his hiring.
Polisky was promoted from his deputy athletic director role May 3 after more than a decade in the department. But some members of the board of trustees and the search committee were displeased by university President Morton Schapiro’s decision because Polisky is one of four defendants along with the university in an ongoing sexual harassment lawsuit filed in January by a Northwestern cheerleader, who said in the complaint Polisky dismissed her concerns and accused her of fabricating evidence.
“Over the last 10 days, it has become clear to me that the current challenges will not allow me to effectively lead our department, especially during these unsettling times in college athletics,” Polisky said in a statement. “My love and respect for Northwestern and for our student-athletes, coaches and staff is greater than my own desire to lead the department.
“I do not want to be a distraction to our incredible men and women as they pursue a collective goal — to help our student-athletes become the best they can be. While my family and I are disappointed, I move forward knowing this is the right decision.”
Schapiro said in a statement that Northwestern’s faculty athletic representative, Robert Gundlach, will run the department on an interim basis. Schapiro said in the statement that in “the coming months” he will share information about choosing the next athletic director.
After Polisky’s hiring, six female faculty members wrote a letter to the university provost asking for an independent investigation into the hiring, and nearly 400 — including Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss — participated in a march from campus to Schapiro’s home.
The university filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit, and Schapiro released a letter to the Northwestern community saying an investigation by a university-hired law firm had completed an initial review and Polisky was found not to have violated any policies. More than 140 Polisky supporters addressed a letter to Northwestern board of trustees members earlier Wednesday.
Cheerleader Hayden Richardson said in the lawsuit and in a Tribune report that cheerleaders were sexually exploited and put in positions to mingle with donors and fans who groped them. She said Polisky did not take her concerns seriously.
Andrew Miltenberg, an attorney representing Richardson in the lawsuit, issued a statement Wednesday night calling Polisky “grossly unfit” to serve as Northwestern’s athletic director.
“It is no surprise that public pressure and outrage from the campus community forced him to step down from this absurd appointment,” Miltenberg wrote. “We’re gratified that the community, faculty and students take seriously the issues of sexual abuse and harassment — which Mike Polisky and Northwestern turned a blind eye to for far too long.”
Black cheerleaders said in reports they told Polisky of the team’s racially discriminatory policies, including a contract that included a ban on braids, and he did not respond to their satisfaction.
Former cheerleader Erika Carter began a petition asking for a more transparent investigation. She spoke at the campus protest and called for Polisky to be fired. She told the Tribune on Wednesday she is “ecstatic” about Polisky’s resignation but she still wants a thorough investigation into his handling of the cheerleaders’ complaints.
“There are still a lot questions left,” Carter said. “There were allegations of racism, sexism, his failure at his job. I still want those questions answered. Moving on from that and Northwestern doing a deep dive into their culture around racism and sexism, I’d say the search (for a new athletic director) should include a diverse group and they should make the process as transparent as possible.”
She said she and other cheerleaders are “talking to” lawyers but have not decided whether to file a separate suit or “continue to use our voices” to seek “justice and accountability.”
A group of professors called “Women Faculty for a Better NU” released a statement hours after Polisky’s resignation calling for an independent, third-party investigation into the university’s Office of Equity and the athletic department, specifically an investigation into the complaints of racism by Black cheerleaders.
“Together we have learned that students have power and can steer the university to deliver on the values it professes,” the statement read. “But this action took far too long. The women of the cheerleading team spoke up repeatedly, and the university repeatedly let them down. Northwestern must do better. We believe the decision to make Polisky Athletic Director was made possible by an insular culture that protects its own leadership, often at the expense of students.”
Cheer coach Pam Bonnevier, also a defendant in Richardson’s lawsuit, was furloughed by the university and her contract was not renewed, Northwestern has said.
Polisky was promoted to succeed longtime athletic director Jim Phillips, who left after more than a decade in February to become commissioner of the Atlantic Coast Conference.
He was one of four final candidates identified among several others by university-hired search firm DHR International.
Polisky joined the athletic department in 2010 after previously serving as president of the Chicago Wolves hockey team and president and general manager of the Chicago Rush arena football team. As Northwestern’s deputy athletic director for external affairs, he spent a decade working in branding and strategy with close ties to Phillips.
He was involved in ticket sales and service, marketing, corporate sponsorship, media and public relations, creative services, community relations, fan experience and merchandising.
Northwestern missed out on some of its early targets, according to sources, including NU administrator Travis Goff, who was hired as the athletic director at Kansas, his alma mater. Current athletic directors Pat Chun of Washington State and Jim Knowlton of California were among the candidates Northwestern interviewed earlier in the process.
Northwestern’s search committee recommended Polisky, former Northwestern basketball star and sports executive Anucha Browne, Duke deputy athletic director Nina King and Janna Blais, a decadelong deputy athletic director at Northwestern who had been serving as interim AD before Polisky’s hiring.
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