Days after Northwestern announced a deal with the federal government to restore frozen federal funding, some activists have expressed hope that the agreement will lead to further change within the University.
In a Wednesday news conference at the Hilton Orrington/Evanston, speakers hosted by the Coalition Against Antisemitism at Northwestern — including two NU undergraduate students — stressed that the deal will hold the University accountable and marks only the start of more changes they deem necessary.
In the agreement, the University agreed to pay $75 million to the United States and commit to policies related to allegations of antisemitism on campus, health care for transgender students, and protocols for admissions, international students and hiring.
Additionally, NU terminated the Deering Meadow Agreement as part of its deal with the federal government. The Deering Meadow Agreement was made between student demonstrators and the University in April 2024 after five days of a pro-Palestinian encampment and demonstrations on Deering Meadow. The deal has been met with mixed reactions and criticism from some students.
CAAN, an activism and lobbying group consisting of Jewish students, faculty, parents and other community members, has organized around exposing and addressing alleged antisemitism on campus. In May, the group brought students to Washington to meet with lawmakers and attend a news conference related to antisemitism at institutions of higher education.
At the Wednesday news conference, CAAN founder and President Michael Teplitsky (Weinberg ’02, Kellogg ’08) said the deal only reflected the start of a more robust movement to address discrimination and harassment against Jewish students on campus.
According to a Department of Justice news release, NU’s president and the chair of the Board of Trustees will verify compliance with the deal on a quarterly basis. This differs from Columbia University’s deal, which has them reporting to a “resolution monitor.” CAAN is informally taking on some of the monitor responsibilities, according to Teplitsky.
“While the federal government did not appoint a federal monitor, CAAN will act in that capacity, informally, using the structure and mandatory reporting guidelines laid out in the resolution agreement,” Teplitsky said. “We will track every filing, deadline and Title VI obligation, and report any deficiencies to federal and congressional partners to ensure that Northwestern follows the agreement.”
The deal requires NU to establish procedures for members of the community to report allegations of noncompliance with the agreement within 30 days of the announcement. The University is required to provide the federal government with information about any complaints filed and steps taken to investigate them.
Barry Jonas, a senior research fellow at The George Washington University’s Program on Extremism, agreed with Teplitsky’s assessment of the deal.
Jonas, who also worked as a prosecutor at the Justice Department for 34 years, said he believes that hate speech can move beyond words.
“What the resolution agreement represents is more than institutional discipline,” Jonas said. “It is a recognition that hate, including antisemitism, is not a protected academic viewpoint. It is a civil rights violation, a moral failure and often a security threat.”
Speakers at the conference expressed concern about safety for Jewish students on campus, especially since the Oct. 7, 2023 attack on Israel by the militant group Hamas.
Weinberg sophomore Max Schlanger, a member of CAAN and a StandWithUs Emerson Fellow, was one of two NU students who gave a speech during the event. Schlanger also went on the May trip to Washington.
He spoke about feeling unsafe on campus, specifically last year, when he was disciplined for counterprotesting against demonstrators whose messaging he claimed directly targeted Jewish students.
Schlanger doubted whether the University was protecting students to its fullest capabilities. Although he called the deal “a huge win” for NU, he also said “there is more work to be done.”
“Rebuilding trust will take time,” Schlanger said. “Ensuring that every student is treated with dignity and fairness will require follow-through. But today shows what accountability looks like. It shows how when students speak up, when facts are documented, and when partners at the federal level take concerns seriously, real change is possible.”
In an interview with The Daily, Teplitsky shared his belief that “Northwestern has a responsibility to keep all its students safe and to follow the law.”
CAAN released a Nov. 30 memo detailing what the group determined were “compliance gaps” in the funding deal: NU’s affiliation with its Qatar campus, which the group claims allows the Qatari government to influence the University; conflicts of interest in the Middle East and North African Studies Program program; concerns about the lack of oversight of the Board of Trustees; the hiring of professors associated with the Deering Meadow Agreement and frustrations with the handling of student groups involved in the encampment.
Others who delivered remarks included: Yossi Held, Midwest executive director of StandWithUs; Alison Pure-Slovin, Midwest director of the Simon Wiesenthal Center and McCormick sophomore Christina Sher.
The speakers touched on their shared belief that the deal was the result of advocacy for Jewish students at NU that would continue into the future.
“Today is not closure,” Teplitsky said. “It is the beginning of long-term accountability. And we will be watching. We will ensure that the commitments Northwestern has made may translate into real protections for Jewish students in classrooms, in residential life, in student organizations, and across every school and every program.”
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