Northwestern AD Derrick Gragg, under scrutiny for hazing scandal, offers questionable advice about women — ‘man’s greatest distraction’ — in book
CHICAGO — Northwestern University Athletic Director Derrick Gragg, whose leadership has been under scrutiny in the wake of the school’s recent hazing scandal, published a book in 2015 offering advice to male college athletes that includes several questionable passages concerning interaction with and the treatment of women.
Gragg’s book, “40 Days of Direction: Life Lessons from the Talented Ten,” is billed as a blueprint “not only for young men who seek to become college athletes, but for all young men who aspire to become successful,” according to the cover. While most of the writing covers guidance like prioritizing academics and avoiding trouble, two chapters that focus on relationships with women stand out as markedly different in tone and language.
In his book, Gragg — who overseas both women’s and men’s sports in his role as Northwestern’s athletic director — calls women “man’s greatest distraction,” criticizes the portrayal of women in music videos as “booty-shaking sex-kittens,” and provides his take on serious crimes like rape and sexual assault.
Gragg said in an email to the Chicago Tribune that he wrote the book as a
