Before concluding their weeklong orientation process on Sept. 22, Northwestern’s latest class of admitted students had one more item on their agenda.

All new students were required to attend an hourlong speaker session on the history of antisemitism and Islamophobia. 

The event featured Maha Elgenaidi, the executive director of Islamic Networks Group, and Nancy Koppelman, a faculty member at Evergreen State College and director of the Evergreen Jewish Studies Project — both of whom have been invited to speak on these subjects at other universities and functions.

The programming was one of several new initiatives announced by University President Michael Schill last month to combat acts of Islamophobia and antisemitism on campus.

While some students said there was value in learning about these topics, the mandatory event left others scratching their heads and questioning its purpose.

A week earlier, when returning students arrived on campus for Peer Adviser training, many said they were caught off guard when Vice President of Student Affairs Susan Davis and Assistant Vice President and Chief of Staff for Student Affairs Lesley-Ann Brown-Henderson, briefed them on the new session.

University leaders later clarified that the speakers’ presentation would focus solely on historical events, barring discussions of last year’s encampment on Deering Meadow — an event that many said should have been addressed.

“It came as a complete surprise to everyone who was a PA,” said a Palestinian student, who asked to remain anonymous for fear of retribution from the University and doxxing. “If anything is the most relevant knowledge for the new students to have, it’s a good understanding of what’s currently going on in Gaza and also an understanding of the events that happened on campus last spring.”

On Sunday, Koppelman focused on antisemitism from its origins to the 20th century, the roots of many damaging Jewish stereotypes and the foundation of Zionism and its current use. She also stressed the importance of rejecting antisemitic stereotypes by separating all Jews from Zionism and Israel.

Meanwhile, Elgenaidi said that Islamophobia is as old as antisemitism and has become systemic worldwide, referencing harmful Muslim stereotypes and recent instances of Islamophobia, including the killing of a 6-year old Palestinian boy in Plainfield Township, Illinois.

Elgenaidi also emphasized that her presentation focused on Islamophobia because anti-Arab and anti-Palestinian racism is rooted in it, but she added that she hoped students would also have the opportunity to undergo training specifically focused on anti-Palestinian racism.

Some new students said they already knew about Schill’s plans to enforce the training from the email he sent last month concerning changes to the Student Code of Conduct and Demonstration Policy.

“It sort of put me on guard immediately,” said Communication freshman Elia Silbey, who is Jewish. “It didn’t seem to be coming from a place of genuine concern to me, was my personal reaction.”

The event’s lack of focus on addressing anti-Arab and anti-Palestinian discrimination was another point of concern for some students.

One Arab PA, who asked to remain anonymous for fear of retribution from the University, said one of his students was one of the five Palestinian undergraduate students for whom the University had agreed to cover full tuition as part of its agreement with encampment demonstrators.

“I was extremely worried for my students about the language they would be using in these conversations,” he said.

In a statement to The Daily, Davis said the “speakers were selected based on their expertise and ability to effectively deliver the material together in an in-person format.”

She added that returning students will be asked to participate in similar training throughout Fall Quarter. 

One of the other discussion points during the event was fostering more dialogue and discussions over these topics, Weinberg freshman Jainik Shroff said.

“The overall message that I took away is to have discussions in a productive manner,” he said. “It’s important that we do so not attacking somebody else and that we try to really understand every single point of view that is brought up.”

In the middle of the talks, some first-year students and transfers staged a walkout. A statement later released from NU’s chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine, Jewish Voice for Peace, and the Middle Eastern North African Student Association indicated that the students walked out because they “reject the premise that Northwestern ‘truly cares’ and we do not stand by Northwestern’s treatment of its pro-Palestinian students.” 

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