Oct. 9, 2001
Northwestern University President Henry S. Bienen today issued a statement on the University's review of the death of Northwestern student-athlete Rashidi Wheeler. The text of that statement follows. There will be no additional comment by the University beyond this statement.
Northwestern University has been reviewing the circumstances surrounding the death of one of our student-athletes, Rashidi Wheeler, during a conditioning workout on Aug. 3. As I have said many times before, Northwestern University is truly saddened by this tragic event. One of our students died, and we at Northwestern feel the loss of Rashidi Wheeler. We extend our sympathy to his family, his friends, and his teammates.
The purpose of our review was to determine what occurred Aug. 3, and our goal at the University was and is to help ensure that everything possible be done to prevent a similar occurrence in the future. During the last two months, we conducted nearly 100 interviews, including players, coaches, and others who had first-hand knowledge of the events. Leading medical experts from around the nation have provided peer review of pertinent data. An evaluation of our programs and procedures compared to those of similar university athletic programs was conducted.
Rashidi Wheeler's family has filed a lawsuit against the University and several of its employees. While we cannot share all the details of our review at this time because of the lawsuit, we hope to be able to make a full report once that litigation is concluded.
I want to note that our review leads me to fully support Athletic Director Rick Taylor, Head Football Coach Randy Walker, Head Athletic Trainer Tory Aggeler, Intern Athletic Trainer Mike Rose, Director of Strength and Conditioning Larry Lilja, Assistant Strength and Conditioning Coach Tom Christian, Coordinator of Football Operations Justin Chabot, and the rest of the coaching and athletic training staff. The athletic department, including coaches, strength and conditioning coaches, and athletic training staff of Northwestern University behaved appropriately, indeed valiantly, that day. I agree with the Evanston paramedics who responded that afternoon and stated in their report that the University trainer and other personnel "should be commended for their actions."
There were six members of the athletic training staff present at the Aug. 3 workout, all of whom were trained in CPR and first aid. NCAA guidelines do not require any athletic trainers at conditioning workouts such as the one held on Aug. 3. We are confident that the staff present at the workout was qualified and appropriate. As we do with all areas involving safety of our students, we will continue to evaluate staffing at athletic workouts, practices, and games.
It appears that on the day of the Aug. 3 conditioning workout, some members of the football team, including Rashidi Wheeler, took over-the-counter dietary supplements that contained ma huang, a Chinese herb that contains the NCAA-banned substance, ephedrine. Indeed, it appears that Rashidi Wheeler took two supplements, Ultimate Punch and Xenadrine, both of which contain this banned substance. Our review indicates that our athletic training staff, strength and conditioning staff and coaches had no knowledge of the use of these supplements containing NCAA-banned substances prior to this incident.
Northwestern has consulted with numerous nationally recognized experts in a wide variety of medical fields, including toxicology, pulmonology, allergy, cardiology, pathology, pharmacology, emergency medicine and sports medicine. These experts have raised significant issues about the precise cause of Rashidi Wheeler's death, including whether dietary supplements containing ephedra played a role. This medical and scientific inquiry is not yet complete.
It has been widely reported that the use of ephedra-containing dietary supplements, which are available over-the-counter, has been increasing nationally. Scientific articles, including a recent publication in the New England Journal of Medicine, report that ephedra-containing dietary supplements have been linked to deaths, strokes, cardiac arrests, seizures and other problems. Additionally, these dangers may be enhanced for individuals who are being medicated for asthma or who have high blood pressure or other medical conditions.
Northwestern supports recent activities taken relative to these supplements, including the ban of ephedrine by the National Football League and the NFL Players Association. The University also supports the petition filed recently asking the Food and Drug Administration to remove dietary supplements containing ephedra from the market because of their potentially lethal consequences. The FDA is investigating these supplements, and Northwestern has been cooperating in that investigation.
Northwestern regularly provides student-athletes information on the dangers of using supplements. Additionally, all of our student-athletes are subject to Northwestern's drug-testing regulations, which are more stringent than the NCAA requires. Our student-athlete handbook details the athletic department's regulations on supplements and on drug testing. In addition to this handbook, the University warns its student-athletes in other ways, including e-mail, handouts, postings, videos and personal and team meetings. Through these channels, we educate our students so they can make responsible choices regarding the use of supplements. We will continue our efforts to educate our student-athletes on the use of supplements.
Like many athletes, Rashidi Wheeler had asthma. We will continue our educational efforts in support of student-athletes who have asthma, and our medical and athletic training staff will continue their educational efforts in the areas of recognition and treatment of asthma. Northwestern's goal is that student-athletes with asthma should participate in varsity sports to the best of their abilities without interference from their asthma or its medication's side effects. Our sports medicine staff assists student-athletes in working toward this goal.
As part of this review, we have compared the summer conditioning workout program used by the Northwestern football program with that of other Division I schools. In particular, we looked at the running workout used on Aug. 3. Our conditioning regimen, including the workout performed on Aug. 3, while strenuous, is not significantly different from what many peer institutions do. The workout, or one similar to it, has been used for many years at several schools. Thousands of players have participated in this workout, and we are aware of no such similar incident as occurred here. We will continue to review the training and conditioning methods utilized by our athletic department.
As to whether the workout violated NCAA regulations, NCAA rules permit strength and conditioning coaches to design and conduct specific workout programs for student-athletes, provided the workouts are voluntary and conducted at the request of the student-athletes. Numerous players were interviewed in regard to this issue, as was the coaching staff and strength and conditioning staff. The interviews included players who did participate in the summer workout program and players who did not participate in the program.
The summer workout program and the drill conducted on Aug. 3 were not mandatory. Players were not required to participate. We have, however, determined that the results of the Aug. 3 drill were subsequently reported to the football coaching staff, as were the results of a sprint drill and weightlifting drill conducted earlier in the summer. We have concluded that the reporting of these three drills to the football coaching staff are secondary violations of the NCAA guidelines for summer workout programs.
We already have reported these apparent violations to the NCAA and we have self-imposed penalties, including forfeiting six football practices. We are hopeful that the NCAA will accept these penalties.
I want to reiterate my strong support for Athletic Director Rick Taylor, Head Athletic Trainer Tory Aggeler, Intern Athletic Trainer Mike Rose, Director of Strength and Conditioning Larry Lilja, Assistant Strength and Conditioning Coach Tom Christian, Coordinator of Football Operations Justin Chabot, and the rest of the members of the athletic department's administrative, coaching, and athletic training staffs. I especially want to note our support for Head Football Coach Randy Walker. I appreciate Coach Walker's leadership of our football team and expect him to be coaching the Wildcats for a very long time to come.
The University cares deeply about the academic and educational quality of our program, and we know that our coaching and training staffs are dedicated to the safety and welfare of our student-athletes. A few years ago Northwestern would not permit a student to play on our basketball team because the team physician believed that playing could endanger the student's health. The student sued the University, and we went to court to defend that decision, which ultimately was upheld by the courts. This illustrates strongly our commitment to our students' safety and well-being. And I assure you that we will continue to make decisions based on what is best for our students.
The legal questions regarding this terrible tragedy will be resolved in another forum at another time. But I want to reassure the families of our student-athletes and the entire Northwestern community that this University remains committed to the health and well-being of our student-athletes and to the academic priorities of the institution.