CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) — Danny Parkins was at the park with his kid when a call came from someone who had a source for a potential story. It was about a toxic culture at Northwestern, one that was specifically driven by head baseball coach Jim Foster.
“It was just like pulling out a thread,” Parkins said on WBBM’s Looped In: Chicago podcast. “Then the whole house came down. I ended up talking to nine people — not including Jim Foster — before I went on the air [on July 10], and I’ve talked to more since”
Parkins’ reporting broke the story on Foster and highlighted allegations of racism and sexism. He was fired by the university four days later. It all came days after Northwestern fired its longtime head football coach Pat Fitzgerald after student journalists at the Daily Northwestern published detailed allegations of hazing within the program.
On the latest episode of Looped In: Chicago, Parkins and Sophia Vlahakis, a student journalist who serves as the editor Inside NU, spoke with WBBM’s Jim Hanke about their experience covering this scandal.
“It was a wild ride,” Parkins said. “I asked [Foster] about the allegations of racism and an African American player not feeling comfortable on the team … basically, [he gave] the ‘I have a Black friend’ defense, as I took it.”
Vlahakis said her and her fellow student journalists feel a responsibility to cover the scandal, they also have a “direct investment” in the story as students who want to make sure they’re able to hold their own school accountable.
“I do love Northwestern, and there isn't anywhere else I want to be,” Vlahakis said. “I think for all of us, we just want to do whatever we can … even if what we're uncovering isn't the greatest thing in the world. We know in the long run it's very important.”
The full Looped In: Chicago episode can be found here. For more Looped In: Chicago episodes, be sure to subscribe on the Audacy app or wherever you get your podcasts.
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