An ex-Northwestern cheerleader is suing the school — claiming she was pressured to present herself as a “sex kitten” to please the fan base … and subjected to sexual harassment and assault in the process. The woman behind the suit is Hayden Richardson — who cheered for the Wildcats from 2018 to 2020. But, Hayden claims her run with the squad wasn’t all pom-poms and backflips — instead she describes a living nightmare in which she was “subjected to a hostile environment including groping, harassments, and sexual touching by older alumni and intoxicated football fans” … and the school did nothing to stop it. Richardson — who says she’s a Truman Scholar — claims in her suit she was “encouraged by her coach and the University to suppress her intellect and instead flaunt her body as if she were just a commodity.” She continues, “the University forced its cheerleaders to behave in a degrading and demeaning manner intended to entice and captivate wealthy donors.” In her suit, Richardson says she complained about specific acts of sexual assault, sexual harassment and exploitation to the cheer team’s head coach … but the accusations were not taken seriously. Richardson says she felt she was made to feel like a “sex object for fans and alumni donors” — and if she didn’t comply, she was afraid she would be cut from the team and lose her cheerleading scholarships.