Seven months after Northwestern filed charges against three faculty members and one graduate student for “obstructing a police officer” at the pro-Palestine encampment, the three faculty members have been disciplined by the University.
The faculty members and student were charged in July 2024 for their actions on the first day of the pro-Palestine encampment in April. After the charges were quickly dropped by the Cook County State’s Attorney, the University, facing pressure from a tempestuous Congress, began investigating the faculty members.
Over the past few months, the results of the investigations poured in. While some investigations were similar in timeline and outcome, the investigated faculty members said they were confused by the disciplinary process.
In September 2024, Feinberg Prof. Alithia Zamantakis and librarian Josh Honn received “final written warnings,” which warned that they could be terminated for any further misconduct. Medill Prof. Steven Thrasher was cleared of policy violations in his initial investigation and is now being investigated again.
“I think Northwestern is first and foremost responding to Board of Trustees pressure, and congressional pressure, especially from extremely right-wing conservative congresspeople,” Honn said. “I think they’re trying to find any form of punishment.”
Honn is a librarian faculty member, which he described as a “hybrid position” between faculty and staff.
Honn called his months-long investigation “unclear.” During the entire process, he said the administration did not inform him of the next steps.
While NU’s Faculty Handbook details the disciplinary process and appeals process, its Staff Handbook dedicates less than one page to “corrective action.” The University’s Office of Human Resources publishes a document detailing its “Corrective Action Guiding Principles,” which include written warnings and final written warnings. The document does not include a process to appeal disciplinary action.
“Staff have the least protection and are the most vulnerable,” Honn said.
Honn said he could not have a lawyer present at his investigative meeting and was not informed of any appeals process for his final written warning.
Final written warnings are not included as disciplinary measures in the Faculty Handbook, yet Zamantakis said she received one. Like Honn, she said she was not informed of an appeals process.
A University spokesperson declined to comment on whether faculty and staff can appeal written warnings. They referred The Daily to the Faculty and Staff Handbooks, neither of which mentions written warnings.
“The way in which they have sought to curtail any organizing, speech or teaching around Palestine not only goes against those very rights (to free speech and assembly) but also goes against the very mission of Northwestern,” Zamantakis said.
According to the letter Zamantakis received informing her of her final written warning, she acknowledged that she failed to comply with NUPD’s instructions to clear the encampment.
In the letter, Feinberg Vice Dean of Faculty Affairs Farzaneh Sorond said this constituted a violation of the Demonstration Policy in place at the time of the incident — half an hour before the interim addendum to the policy.
The disciplinary status of the graduate student, who was not named in the charges, remains unknown. The Daily was unable to reach the student for comment.
Honn and Zamantakis’ first investigations focused on their alleged obstruction of a police officer at the encampment. Thrasher, meanwhile, said his first investigation focused on his social media use and views on objectivity.
Thrasher’s second investigation, launched in January, focuses on his conduct on the first day of the encampment, he told The Daily in January. Thrasher speculated that the disparity in his first investigation and those into Honn and Zamantakis could be due to him being on the tenure track. He said he is currently being evaluated for tenure.
The Faculty Handbook states that NU’s disciplinary procedures apply equally to all tenured, tenure-track and non-tenure-eligible faculty members.
“I keep winning, but it feels like they keep moving the goalposts,” Thrasher said.
He added that the University is likely attempting to “bring (him) into line with these other investigations.”
Through its investigative hearings, Honn said the University has created an “intentional environment” where faculty and staff are scared to express pro-Palestine views.
“Maybe it makes you uncomfortable, but it doesn’t make you unsafe to listen and to hear and respect perspectives about Palestine,” Honn said.
Email: [email protected]
X: @IsaiahStei27
Related Stories:
— Medill investigates professor who participated in pro-Palestine encampment, cancels his classes
— University will not discipline Prof Steven Thrasher, launches new investigation
— Northwestern will discipline pro-Palestinian students who protested by The Rock on Oct. 7
