Why are student visas being taken away? What is going on with the Trump administration and the $790 million funding freeze? When will Deering Library reopen? The Daily answers these questions and recaps other top stories from the last week.
DOV WEINSTEIN ELUL: On today’s episode:
The federal government terminates several Northwestern student visas.
The HHS cites incidents of antisemitism while confirming the Northwestern federal funding freeze.
FINIAN HAZEN: And Deering Library is set to reopen in Fall 2025.
DOV WEINSTEIN ELUL: From The Daily Northwestern, I’m Dov Weinstein Elul.
FINIAN HAZEN: And I’m Finian Hazen. This is The Weekly, a breakdown of the top headlines from the past week.
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FINIAN HAZEN: First, I spoke with Campus Editor Isaiah Steinberg about the recent terminations of Northwestern student visas. Thank you for being here, Isaiah.
First, can you tell us a bit about who terminated these visas and how NU discovered the terminations?
ISAIAH STEINBERG: Yeah, so the U.S. State Department, led by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, has the authority to revoke student visas, and that’s precisely what the department has done. Rubio has referred to international students who participate in certain types of activism as “lunatics.” However, even students who have not participated in activism have been targeted. Minor visa infractions have caused some of the terminations, which now number several hundred students at dozens of universities.
Northwestern first learned of its student visa terminations from the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System — or SEVIS — which is the government’s database for tracking foreign students holding visas. The University did not disclose exactly when it identified these terminations, though The Daily first reported it Wednesday night.
In a statement to The Daily, a University spokesperson said these terminations affected “a limited number of current students and former students.” Spokespeople from Northwestern, as well as the Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement have not responded to requests for comment from The Daily regarding the number of terminations as of Friday morning.
A spokesperson for the State Department told The Daily in a statement that it does not provide statistics on visa revocations and it will continue to terminate visas of foreign students who violate U.S. laws or threaten public safety. The Daily also reached out to several international students, and is unable to confirm whether they are still in the U.S., as of Friday morning.
FINIAN HAZEN: What are the consequences for students that have had their visa terminated?
ISAIAH STEINBERG: The short answer is that we don’t yet know. It’s important to note that, to The Daily’s knowledge, as of Friday morning, the State Department and immigration officials have not communicated much information to the University.
The current situation is of course unprecedented and involves lots of uncertainty. According to current news reports, students whose visas have recently been revoked across the country currently face several scenarios. Some have already fled the U.S. to avoid being arrested by ICE. Others, such as former Columbia University student Mahmoud Khalil, have been arrested and are being held in detention centers as they face deportation proceedings. Meanwhile, several students have sued the federal government arguing they have been deprived of due process.
FINIAN HAZEN: How many NU students possess student visas? And did NU give a statement to those with or worried about visa terminations?
ISAIAH STEINBERG: According to the Office of International Student and Scholar Services, or OISS, statistics from 2023-2024, Northwestern currently sponsors more than 9,300 international students from more than 140 countries. That’s about 10% of full-time undergraduate students and 37% of full-time graduate students.
On April 1, University Provost Kathleen Hagerty advised international students to ensure their documentation is in order and to direct questions about their NU-affiliated immigration status to the OISS. Crucially, the University did not offer any direct legal assistance to international students in that email. As of Friday morning, Northwestern has not issued any further guidance following the visa terminations. It’s important to reiterate that we currently know few details about the scale of the terminations.
FINIAN HAZEN: Isaiah, thank you so much.
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DOV WEINSTEIN ELUL: Next, I spoke to Social Media Editor Nineth Kanieski Koso about some updates to the federal funding cuts for Northwestern.
So you’ve been following the federal funding freeze and some of the updates that have recently come out from the Trump administration about its relation to antisemitism. What has communication between the White House and the University looked like for why funding has been frozen and how clear have they been?
NINETH KANIESKI KOSO: The funding freeze was first reported by The New York Times, and since then, the University has confirmed that the Trump administration has not been in contact with them.
So everything we know has come from all of (their) reporting. The Daily has confirmed through the Department of Health and Human Services that the freeze for Northwestern is underway, and this has been cited due to federal antisemitism investigations at the University.
However, the University has yet to receive a list of demands, but is expected to get one in the future at some point.
DOV WEINSTEIN ELUL: So the Department of Health and Human Services says it’s because of antisemitism. What do experts say? How much does this funding freeze actually have to do with antisemitism?
NINETH KANIESKI KOSO: So, some of the experts that we have talked to about this freeze say that the Trump administration and President Donald Trump actually do not care much about antisemitism, and instead are using this to just have more oversight and control over higher education, which in the past (has) produced many major critics of conservatives. And so many of these experts think that this is just a move from the Trump administration to try to break down many universities and just higher education altogether.
DOV WEINSTEIN ELUL: Is any of this actually legal?
NINETH KANIESKI KOSO: So, we talked to a couple lawyers about this and both of them said no, this is not legal for a couple of reasons. One, many of these antisemitism investigations are under Title VI, the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination based on race, color, or national origin. And under Title VI and the Constitution, our legal experts said that you cannot actually declare someone guilty without a hearing with a neutral party. So, the fact that the University is receiving a punishment, (also known as) the funding freeze, is unconstitutional and illegal before we have gone to a hearing.
The other part of this is that you can’t just punish a whole institution for alleged antisemitism in parts of the program, rather you would really need to take away the grants from what you would declare to be antisemitic. Like if you thought a particular study was antisemitic, then that grant could be taken away for that study rather than the whole institution as a whole. That’s also not legal, according to our legal experts.
DOV WEINSTEIN ELUL: So what do experts actually say the University should do to get themselves out of this situation?
NINETH KANIESKI KOSO: So experts say what the University should do and what all the universities should do is they should really come together and create solidarity with everyone who is affected, including all of the law firms that have been affected, and just fight the Trump administration. And when they say fight, they mean like take him to court, because, as we have seen in a recent lawsuit from Pritzker professors who sued the House Committee on Education and Workforce for an investigation into their law clinics, the Trump administration backed down from Pritzker, and so as we’ve seen there, it has been effective to fight the administration in court. And so instead of, like many schools in the past, instead of giving into Trump’s demand, which has not really done much to getting funding back, our experts say that, really, the University should be fighting Trump in court.
DOV WEINSTEIN ELUL: Nineth Kanieski Koso, thank you so much.
NINETH KANIESKI KOSO: Thank you.
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FINIAN HAZEN: Next, I spoke with Assistant Campus Editor Laura Horne about developments on the renovation of Deering Library. Laura, thank you for being here.
First, how long have these renovations been underway, and when can students expect their completion?
LAURA HORNE: So Deering renovations have been underway since June 2024, meaning the library has been closed for the entire 2024-25 school year. According to Claire Roccaforte, director of marketing and communications for Northwestern University Libraries, Deering is on track to be completed by September 2025 — just in time for Fall Quarter.
FINIAN HAZEN: What does the University hope to accomplish with these renovations?
LAURA HORNE: Deputy librarian D.J. Hoek said the library hopes to renew Deering as a “center of campus activity.” They hope to make it more functional, in addition to updating the historic finishes and fixtures of the building. He added that a goal throughout the renovation process was to complete the needed updates without disrupting access to materials needed for research, teaching and learning. So because of this, books and collection materials usually held in Deering have been made available by requests to pick up at Main Library circulation desk. Materials in the McCormick Library Special Collections and University archives can be accessed to a temporary Reading Room at the lower level of Main as well.
FINIAN HAZEN: What are some of the changes students can expect to see in the Fall?
LAURA HORNE: Students can expect to see an increased capacity throughout Deering’s rooms. Not only will these rooms be able to accommodate more attendees at lectures, but they will also offer more seating options for students to study at. The Martin Reading Room, which is the main study room on the second floor with the stained glass windows specifically, we’ll have more tables and new comfortable seating. Students will also be able to engage more materials from the Charles Deering McCormick Library Special Collections and University Archives, which holds more than 260,000 rare books and more than 7.5 miles of archival collections. The installation of a laylight in the Riggs Gallery on the third floor will allow for rare archival materials to be displayed in rotating exhibits. A laylight helps to diffuse sunlight to protect these archival materials against UV damage. Additionally, a January article by The Daily announced the successful installation of an elevator for increased accessibility.
FINIAN HAZEN: Laura, thank you so much.
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DOV WEINSTEIN ELUL: Here are the other top headlines from the week:
More than 100 NU graduate projects receive stop-work orders from Department of Defense.
Mee-Ow comedy splits from Arts Alliance and collects petitions for new producers.
Former Holy Cross standout freshman guard Max Green transfers to Northwestern.
And, Land and Lake Cafe is set to open this spring on Hilton and Orrington.
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DOV WEINSTEIN ELUL: From The Daily Northwestern, I’m Dov Weinstein Elul.
FINIAN HAZEN: And I’m Finian Hazen.
Thank you for listening to another episode of The Weekly. This episode was reported by Dov Weinstein Elul, Finian Hazen, Nineth Kanieski Koso, Isaiah Steinberg, Laura Horne and produced by Isabella Jacob, Dov Weinstein Elul and Finian Hazen.
The Audio Editor is Isabella Jacob. The Multimedia Managing Editors are Anavi Prakash, Misha Manjuran Oberoi, and Danny O’Grady. The Editor in Chief is Lily Ogburn.
Our theme music is “Night Owl” by Broke For Free, used under a Creative Commons Attribution License and provided by the Free Music Archive.
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Email: d.elul@dailynorthwestern.com
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Email: laura.horne2027@u.northwestern.edu
Related Stories:
— HHS cites incidents of antisemitism in confirmation of Northwestern funding freeze while experts question legality
— Federal government terminates ‘limited number’ of Northwestern student visas
—Deering renovations continue throughout Spring Quarter, on track for September 2025 completion
