The Faculty Assembly achieved a quorum — 10% of the faculty body, or 455 individuals in attendance — for the first time ever Monday.
More than one hundred faculty members attended the meeting in Scott Hall, with hundreds more joining via Zoom.
The hour-and-a-half-long meeting began with a welcome by Faculty Senate President and McCormick Prof. Jill Wilson and short speeches by Provost Kathleen Hagerty and CFO Amanda Distel. The remainder of the meeting was devoted to discussion of ten proposed resolutions.
The resolutions, drafted by Northwestern’s chapter of the American Association of University Professors, called on the University to protect free speech, refuse to provide student information to the government without a court order and add eight “faculty visitor” positions to the Board of Trustees, among other things. They passed 338 to 83, with 35 abstentions, marking a historic first for the assembly.
The Faculty Assembly, which consists of all full-time faculty members, requires a quorum to pass resolutions and meets only twice a year. It is distinct from the Faculty Senate, a representative body consisting of elected faculty members which meets monthly. Resolutions passed in either chamber are considered non-binding.
Although Article V of the Faculty Assembly’s bylaws call on the University president to preside over meetings, President Michael Schill was not in attendance.
Early in the meeting, Hagerty and Distel provided an update on the University financial circumstances following the $790 million federal funding freeze.
“One of the remarkable things about the current situation is how little we know,” Hagerty said.
NU has not received any formal notification of the freeze nor a formal list of demands from the Trump administration.
Distel also expressed concerns about potential changes to the federal endowment tax, which is currently set at 1.4%. Rumors have been swirling about potential increases in the tax rate.
Hagerty and Distel faced some heat as faculty members questioned why the University has not done more to resist federal pressure.
“I’m wondering why the University’s leadership is not taking a public stand in support of higher education,” Medill Prof. Jon Marshall said. “There could be so much strength if universities banded together and organized together to speak out against this assault on higher education.”
Other faculty members also warned against yielding to federal pressure.
English Prof. Barbara Newman acknowledged the challenges administrators have faced navigating the new federal administration, but emphasized the risks of complying with the Trump administration.
“Appeasement does not work,” Newman said. “I don’t think that trying to change our principles in order to bow to what the regime wants is going to help either us or the nation at large. So I want to encourage you to stand firm.”
In response to the concerns, Hagerty assured faculty members of the University administration’s efforts to address the situation and emphasized the complexity of the circumstances.
The remainder of the meeting was spent discussing the 10 resolutions, which were met with some resistance as several faculty members expressed misgivings.
McCormick Prof. Seth Lichter criticized several of the resolutions, arguing that they weakened academic freedom and that AAUP was using the resolutions to advance other items on its agenda.
“We would all like our personal political views broadcast with the loudest megaphone and some of these resolutions are, I feel, disingenuously designed to do just that,” Lichter said.
Several faculty members questioned the need for such a broad range of resolutions, calling for a narrower set to address the upheaval brought on by the Trump administration.
Feinberg and psychology Prof. Dan Mroczek called the AAUP’s proposed resolutions “cluttered” and called for a more “simple and clean” set of resolutions. He also argued the resolutions erroneously pitted faculty against the University administration.
“Administrators and faculty are on the same side in this,” Mroczek said. “They are not our enemies. The enemy is in the central government at this point.”
After a chance for commentary and discussion, the assembly passed the AAUP’s resolutions. The final vote count was announced in a Tuesday evening email to faculty members.
“I … do not agree with all or every single resolution as part of this proposal,” Communication Prof. Kyle Henry said at the meeting. “But I do think that we have to now put aside any of our singular reservations when we are seeing a concerted effort to attack the institution of higher education.”
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