Northwestern Graduate Workers for Palestine and two graduate students filed a lawsuit Wednesday against NU, alleging its bias training discriminates against “Palestinian students, supporters and associates” who are required to complete it. It also alleges NU violated the Illinois Worker Freedom of Speech Act, Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Civil Rights Act of 1866.
The complaint alleges an “unequal application” of student conduct policies, “prohibition of Palestine solidarity speech” and use of an “unscholarly and discriminatory definition of antisemitism.”
The lawsuit, filed in federal court for the Northern District of Illinois, specifically finds fault with NU’s antisemitism portion of the mandatory bias training, which was made in collaboration with the Jewish United Fund.
The bias training, which was first sent out to students in February, is titled “Building a Community of Respect and Breaking Down Bias.” It includes videos on antisemitism, University policies, Student Code of Conduct changes from 2024 and bias against Palestinian, Arab and Muslim communities.
As part of the module titled “University Discrimination, Harassment, and Religious Accommodations Policies,” the University cites a definition of antisemitism endorsed by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, which is consistent with the definition the federal government uses.
Critics of the IHRA’s definition state that it has been used to label any criticism of Israel as antisemitic, though the IHRA explicitly states that “criticism of Israel similar to that leveled against any other country cannot be regarded as antisemitic.”
With registration holds on their accounts, some students who have not completed the training will soon face escalating consequences, which include potential loss of student status, financial aid and on-campus housing, according to a Sept. 16 email to students who had not completed the training.
Students who failed to register for Fall 2025 classes before June 23, the date by which NU required the bias training to be completed, will have their student status “discontinued” on Oct. 20, the beginning of the sixth week of the quarter.
Those who registered for Fall 2025 classes before the deadline — including both named plaintiffs, second-year history Ph.D. student Ifeayin Eziamaka Ogbuli and fifth-year media, technology and society Ph.D. candidate Marwa Tahboub — will not face consequences until Feb. 2, during the Winter Quarter, according to University court filings.
The lawsuit does not list the names of any other members of the class, due to the alleged possibility of retaliation by the University, federal government and “Zionist organizations.”
Due to the imminent Oct. 20 deadline, the plaintiffs filed a petition for a temporary restraining order Thursday, which would halt any consequences some members of the class could face from not completing the bias training by Monday night. NU asked the Court to deny the plaintiff’s request and said the “alleged ‘emergency’ is one of their own making.”
In a status update call Friday, Judge Georgia Alexakis declined to make an immediate decision given the nuance of the case and set a hearing for Monday afternoon to address the request.
The lawsuit cites the Illinois Worker Freedom of Speech Act, a 2025 law that bars punishment against employees if they decline to attend employer-sponsored meetings or listen to communications from employers intended to convey the employer’s opinion on religious or political matters.
Plaintiffs claim that, as graduate workers, they are employees of the University, and the training therefore violates state law.
The law notably includes exceptions, including when the communication is “intended to foster a civil and collaborative workplace or reduce or prevent workplace harassment or discrimination.”
The lawsuit argues that the commentary in the training restricts students’ ability to advocate for “Palestinian liberation, equal rights, an end to apartheid in Palestine, and for the rights of Palestine’s indigenous people (Jewish and non-Jewish).”
The suit also claims that NU has not “issued any comparable threats nor registration holds” to students who did not complete the mandatory sexual misconduct training. Before the time of publication, the University did not respond to a question about whether the plaintiff’s claim is true and whether there are students who have not completed the sexual misconduct training.
The lawsuit alleges that NU intentionally discriminated against the plaintiffs due to their race, ethnicity or association with Jewish and Arab students who oppose or criticize Zionism.
Students’ opposition to the bias training, JUF video and associated attestations, which the lawsuit describes as “discriminatory requirements,” led to retaliation from NU, the suit claims. It states that students continue to suffer “adverse actions,” including the possible revocation of their student status.
The University declined to comment on the lawsuit.
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— Northwestern Graduate Workers for Palestine hold news conference, sit-in to protest bias training
