Northwestern University president testifies before Congress about antisemitism on college campuses
CHICAGO (CBS) — Northwestern University President Michael Schill spent hours testifying before Congress on Thursday, at a hearing about anti-Semitism on college campuses, and defended the school's negotiated end to a student protest encampment last month.
Schill has noted that in reaching an agreement to take down the encampment, Northwestern flatly denied protesters' demands that the university divest from companies with ties to Israel, and end an academic program that focused on Israeli innovation.
"We did not give in to any of the protesters' demands, and the commitments we made are consistent with our values," Schill said.
Schill joined the presidents of Rutgers University and UCLA in testifying before the House Committee on Education and the Workforce in the wake of pro-Palestinian encampments taking hold on college campuses amid the war in Gaza.
The committee's chairwoman, Rep. Virginia Foxx, a Republican from North Carolina, chastised all three presidents for how they handled demonstrations on their campuses against the war in Gaza.
She specifically criticized Northwestern for negotiating with demonstrators whose views she called "antisemitic."
"Mr. Schill, you cut a disgraceful deal with the encampment that prompted seven Jewish members of your own antisemitism advisory committee to resign in protest," Foxx said.
Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-New York) asked if it was true that a Jewish student at Northwestern was assaulted during the protests.
"There are allegations that a Jewish student was assaulted," Schill replied. "We are investigating those allegations."
Schill, who said he is a Jewish descendant of Holocaust survivors, defended his decision to negotiate an end to the pro-Palestinian encampment on campus last month, rather than have police forcibly remove the protesters.
"The police solution was not going to be available to us to keep people safe, and also may not be the wisest solution as we've seen at other campuses across the country," Schill said.
Negotiating with the protesters, Schill said, allowed Northwestern to defuse the situation peacefully without conceding to their demands to sever the university's business ties with Israel.
"We had students who were willing to negotiate and gave up their demands," Schill said. "Their number one demand was divestment. We said no. We said absolutely not. We said, nothing that singles out Israel. Let's think about what will make the university stronger."
Reaction on campus
Northwestern University students who were part of the protest encampment watched the hearing from campus. Isabel, a student member of Jewish Voices for Peace at Northwestern, disputed claims from some members of Congress that Jewish students were not included in the discussions on the university's agreement with protesters.
"That is completely untrue. One of our JVP members was in the room with administrators making these decisions, and JVP has been involved in every single step of the way," she said.
However, students at Northwestern also criticized Schill's handling of pro-Palestinian protests, claiming that protesters were harassed and physically assaulted by counter-protesters, some of whom called members of Jewish Voices for Peace "fake Jews."
"We were told that we should go kill ourselves. We were told that Hamas would rape us," Isabel said. "If President Schill claims to care about the safety of Jewish students, we ask why Northwestern police officers were patting these counter-protesters on the back?"
Avi Gordon runs Alums for Campus Fairness – a nonprofit with a chapter at Northwestern, dedicated to countering antisemitic rhetoric at universities. Gordon took issue with Schill's choice to negotiate with the protesters.
"He completely conceded and capitulated to those agitators," Gordon said. "You're effectively incentivizing and rewarding those who break the rules and the law."
Some students also said Schill needs to do more to protect students of all religious identities, including both Jewish and Muslim students.
"We must improve our processes"
Schill became the first university president to strike a deal with students who had called on their school to cut financial ties with companies profiting from Israel's military campaign.
Under the agreement, students took down their tent encampment, and Northwestern promised to be more transparent about its financial dealings.
The university agreed to answer questions about specific investments within 30 days of any request, and to reestablish Northwestern's Advisory Committee on Investment Responsibility in the fall, including representation for students, faculty, and staff.
Further, the university agreed to include Gaza in its existing Scholars at Risk program to provide funding to bring in two Palestinian faculty members for two years, and the full cost of attendance for five Palestinian undergrads. The Scholars at Risk program already had been used to bring in students and faculty from Ukraine amid the war with Russia, and from Tulane University after Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
The university will also provide a new temporary space for Muslim students and students of Middle Eastern and North African descent, while renovating a house for that purpose within two years. Schill has said the university already provided similar spaces for Jewish, Catholic, Lutheran, Black, and female students.
Schill has said, by taking down the tent encampment, Northwestern was able to remove outside influence from peaceful protests on campus, and that the university is prepared to take disciplinary action against anyone who breaks Northwestern's rules or engages in anti-Semitic or anti-Muslim behavior.
"Where there is conduct that threatens the Northwestern community, we must impose discipline and we have done so. Yet I'll be the first to admit that our existing rules and policies are falling short. We must improve our processes to meet the current challenge," Schill said.
Over the summer Northwestern administrators will work to update the university's student conduct code before students return to campus in the fall, in order to ensure students' right to free speech and academic freedom, while disciplining students for any acts of harassment or intimidation.
In an op-ed published in the Chicago Tribune, Schill also took issue with any suggestions that he was "capitulating to the 'mob,'" by reaching an agreement with protesters, noting that he is a "proud Jew who practices many of our rituals."
"My family has experienced antisemitism, and so claims by some that I have collaborated with antisemitic people feel like personal affronts," he wrote.
Schill's appearance before Congress comes as Northwestern and its leaders face a lawsuit seeking class-action status, saying the university has failed to protect Jewish students from severe antisemitic harassment.
The lawsuit was filed Monday in U.S. District Court in Chicago. The complaint alleged some Jewish students faced harassment and hateful rhetoric. It also criticizes the school for allowing tent encampments in protest of the war in Gaza – in violation of its campus policies.
Another lawsuit filed earlier this month in Cook County Circuit Court on behalf of three students alleges that the university enabled harassment, specifically at the encampment protest.