Northwestern interim President Henry Bienen aims to step down from his role by late spring, he told The Daily in an Oct. 17 interview. 

“I did this once before, as you all know,” Bienen said. “The life tables tell me I won’t do it another 15 years like I did last time.”

On Sept. 4, after only three years in the role, former President Michael Schill suddenly announced his resignation, following a term full of federal pressure and turmoil. Five days later, Bienen was announced as Schill’s replacement until a new president is selected. 

The search for a new University president, which is led by the Board of Trustees, has yet to begin and has no updates, according to Bienen. 

Bienen said he is not getting paid during his time as interim president, adding that he would not accept any money. 

“I feel a great commitment to this University,” Bienen said. “I think it’s one of the greatest universities in the world, so I want to help it as much as I can. I don’t have any special abilities to help it, but I’ve been asked to do the job. I’ll do the best I can with the job.”

From NU’s federal funding freeze to controversial bias training, The Daily sat down with Bienen to talk about pertinent issues affecting the University. 

Federal funding freeze

More than six months after the Trump administration froze $790 million in federal funding for NU, Bienen said the University is still met with silence from the federal government. 

“A negotiation really requires two parties, at least, and at the present time, there’s not been anybody on the other end of the line,” Bienen said. 

As of the time of the interview, Bienen said the University has not received any set of demands or requests from the Trump administration, including the Justice Department, the Education Department and the White House.

Bienen said the University sent the Trump administration “some ideas,” but has yet to hear back. He declined to clarify what was sent to the Trump administration.

At a Oct. 15 Faculty Assembly meeting, he said he would not sign an agreement that would “hinder” the autonomy of the University. He reiterated that position in the interview.   

“If I’m asked to do something which runs against my values, I’m gone, so it’s as simple as that,” Bienen said. “I’m in a privileged position. I don’t want anything personal. I don’t need anything, personally.”

While the University is continuing to support research affected by the funding cuts, Bienen noted that it is very expensive, costing the University between $30 million and $40 million per month. 

On Sept. 30, NU extended its commitment to financially supporting research through the end of 2025. Bienen said it is up to the Board of Trustees to decide if any support will be extended past the end of the year.

“I would certainly hope, personally, that if we don’t reach an agreement, the money for some reason isn’t flowing, that we would try very hard to keep a great deal of research going,” Bienen said. 

At the Faculty Assembly meeting, Bienen told faculty members that he wanted to make a deal with the federal government without signing away the autonomy or First Amendment rights of the University. 

He said at the assembly he did not want to sue the Trump administration, a point Bienen reiterated in the interview. 

“Fighting the federal government is an incredibly difficult thing to do,” Bienen said. “In law, any other way — it’s very expensive.”

Bias training controversy

In February, the University launched a mandatory bias training, which drew a mix of scrutiny and praise from the NU community and beyond. 

The training, titled “Building a Community of Respect and Breaking Down Bias” features modules on antisemitism, University policies, Student Code of Conduct changes from 2024 and bias against Palestinian, Arab and Muslim communities.

Over the summer, the University put registration holds on the accounts of students who had yet to complete the training. In a Sept. 16 email, NU notified those students that they would soon face escalating consequences, including potential loss of student status, financial aid and on-campus housing, as noted in the Student Code of Conduct. 

Bienen told The Daily he disliked the bias training, as well as compulsory training in general. He expressed doubt that a training program would “change anybody’s minds.”

The University continues to mandate the training because Schill told the House Committee on Education and Workforce on Aug. 5 that NU would require students to complete the modules, Bienen said. 

He noted that when he assumed the interim presidency, it was already “in full swing,” with only a “limited number of people” who had yet to do it. 

“It seemed to me not fair or appropriate to say, ‘Now we’re going to stop,’” Bienen said. “One, I would have violated President Schill’s commitment to a House of Representatives committee, which I’m not eager to do. And two, everybody else had done it, so those were the rules.” 

Still, he reiterated he is “not a big fan of it.”

Northwestern University in Qatar

NU’s campus in Doha, Qatar was established in 2008, during Bienen’s presidency.

Bienen described NU-Q’s founding as “circumstantial” and stemming from his personal connections. 

“I thought at the time, and I still do think, that we could make an impact,” Bienen said. “I didn’t have grandiose views about it.”

He recounted pressing NU-Q’s partners on censorship, warning them they would “waste a lot of (his) time” if they sought control of educational content.  

Bienen emphasized that NU-Q was not founded for financial gain, noting that NU does not own the building in Qatar where the school is hosted.

Another factor in Bienen’s decision to start NU-Q was a desire to “internationalize” NU’s reputation. He thought NU-Q could be the start, and he intended to found another campus in India, he said. The India campus did not materialize for “a lot of reasons,” he explained.

“I would say that the internationalizing part of my motive turned out to be a little bit fulfilled, but I can’t say it was the first step along a lot of steps, just a lot more didn’t happen,” Bienen said. 

Bienen also noted that the University has been put under intense federal scrutiny due to its Qatar campus. 

Specifically, he said Schill was “raked over the coals” before the House Committee on Education and Workforce in May 2024 and in a closed session interview on Aug. 5.

“It tells you something about the schizophrenia in the American government because, at the same time that people in the House of Representatives were badgering President Schill, the U.S. government has the biggest air base in the Middle East outside of Doha,” Bienen said. 

In a statement after the interview, a University spokesperson wrote that NU-Q had been supported by State Departments under both Republican and Democratic presidents.

The University’s contract with the Qatar Foundation, a state-led organization that funds NU-Q, is set to expire at the end of the 2027-28 academic year.The University is currently reviewing whether NU will continue to operate in the region after the current contract expires, a spokesperson stated.

Student activism and demonstrations

In Fall 2024, the University announced that it would implement a demonstration policy that limits how students are permitted to protest on campus. 

When asked if he supports the demonstration policy, Bienen said he does, noting that he helped write part of the policy. 

“I believe that there have to be rules for time (and) place,” Bienen said. “I see that as part of my commitment to free access and free speech.”

Looking back to his first term, Bienen deemed some protests surrounding the University’s failure to launch an Asian American studies program — such as students turning their backs at his inauguration — “acceptable.” He cited their non-violent nature within what he called “reasonable decorum.”

“I don’t object to it or people walking out in a civil way. That’s okay,” Bienen said. “Shouting, screaming, not allowing things to go on, is not okay.”

Alleged rise in antisemitism on campus

Since the encampment on Deering Meadow in April 2024, various politicians and members of NU’s community have alleged a rise in antisemitism on NU’s campus.

A day after the announcement of the federal funding freeze, a Department of Health and Human Services spokesperson confirmed to The Daily that the freeze at NU was due to federal antisemitism investigations into the University.

“The argument that people have made in Congress and some other people have made (is) that Northwestern is an antisemitic place. I completely reject that argument. I just don’t think it’s true,” Bienen said. 

Emily Lichty, Hannah Webster, Alexander Hernandez Gonzalez and Sasha Draeger-Mazer contributed reporting.

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