The House Committee on Education and Workforce sent a letter to University President Michael Schill Monday, requesting to conduct a transcribed interview with him as it continues its investigation into antisemitism at universities across the country.
The letter, penned by U.S. Rep. Tim Walberg (R-Mich.), alleged that the University has not done enough to combat antisemitic behavior on campus since Schill testified alongside several other University presidents before the Committee last May during a hearing about antisemitism on college campuses. During the hearing, he defended the University’s response to the pro-Palestinian encampment on Deering Meadow that spring.
“Since your testimony at the Committee’s May 23, 2024 hearing, despite Northwestern’s claims to the contrary, the Committee has not seen your commitments to discipline, enforcement, and security come to satisfactory fruition,” Walberg wrote in the letter in reference to Schill.
NU has suggested the opposite, releasing a progress report at the end of March on its efforts to combat antisemitism. In the report, NU noted an 88% decrease in reports of discrimination or harassment against Jewish students between November 2023 and November 2024.
NU also announced in the report that it has resolved 15 cases related to student activism in the current academic year; 11 students were found in violation of its new demonstration and display policies. Those students faced penalties including warnings and disciplinary probation, the report stated.
Walberg wrote that the Committee has not received any documentation regarding whether students at NU have been “meaningfully disciplined in response to the repeated incidents of antisemitism at Northwestern, including the harassment and violence against Jewish students at Northwestern’s 2024 encampment.”
Walberg’s correspondence cites recent antisemitic vandalism on campus, including “hateful” graffiti and flyers outside University Hall and Kresge Hall on April 14, during the Jewish holiday of Passover.
The letter said the Committee will utilize the interview requested with Schill as a resource to consider whether there “is a need for legislative reforms to protect Jewish students on college campuses, including potential changes to Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.”
“Your testimony regarding antisemitism at Northwestern, and the steps that the university has and has not taken to address antisemitism, will assist the Committee in determining both whether there is a need for legislative reforms to combat antisemitic discrimination and harassment and what shape such potential reforms should take,” Walberg wrote in the letter.
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Related Stories:
– Some NU Jewish faculty criticize Trump administration’s efforts to curtail antisemitism
– NU investigates reported antisemitic graffiti outside University Hall, Kresge Hall
– The Daily Explains: Where Northwestern stands in federal antisemitism investigations
