Content warning: This story contains mentions of gun violence, hazing and sexual assault.
During the Class of 2026’s time at Northwestern, the University drew national attention for student demonstrations, federal investigations, shifts in leadership and much more. Here, we’ve compiled some of The Daily’s biggest headlines from the last four years.
Sept. 12, 2022: Michael Schill starts Northwestern president role
University President Michael Schill stepped into his role as Northwestern’s 17th president, coming off a stint leading the University of Oregon.
Rebecca Blank, who the presidential search committee initially selected to succeed former University President Morton Schapiro, stepped down from her role as president-elect due to a cancer diagnosis. Schill was announced as her replacement in August — just weeks before Wildcat Welcome.
Jan. 12, 2023: NUGW union with United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America authorized following two-day election
After years of grassroots organizing, a two-day election among Northwestern’s graduate students yielded more than 1,600 “yes” votes for unionization. With election assistance from the National Labor Relations Board, the union was officially certified in January 2023 with the goal of ensuring competitive pay, a safe and professional work environment and comprehensive support for graduate workers.
April 12, 2023: One dead and two injured in Clark Street Beach shooting, questions raised about NU and Evanston emergency communication
Three Skokie residents, including two children, were shot at Clark Street Beach in April 2023. One 18-year-old, Jacquis Irby, died from his injuries. He is remembered for his commitment to his family and love of basketball, family and friends said.
The shooting raised questions about NU’s emergency response systems. It took University officials more than 30 minutes to issue a shelter-in-place order — the first communication related to the shooting of that night.
July 10, 2023: Northwestern parts ways with football coach Pat Fitzgerald
Northwestern parted ways with head football coach Pat Fitzgerald. Fitzgerald was previously suspended for two weeks without pay after the University announced on July 7, 2023 that an independent investigation into the team indicated hazing reports were “largely supported by evidence.”
Oct. 10, 2023: Northwestern Jewish community hosts vigil to honor lives lost in Israel-Hamas war
Close to 200 Northwestern community members prayed, cried and hugged one another in front of Deering Library on Oct. 9, 2023, honoring the lives lost and hostages taken during the October 7 attacks.
Oct. 26, 2023: NU Students for Justice in Palestine leads walkout, calls for University divestment and support for Palestinians
More than 150 students participated in a walkout Oct. 25, 2023 to demand Northwestern divest from organizations supporting Israel and protect members of the NU community advocating for Palestinian rights. The walkout — organized by NU’s chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine — was one of dozens that took place that day on college campuses across North America.
Nov. 16, 2023: Northwestern Prison Education Program celebrates inaugural commencement
Northwestern Prison Education Program’s 2023 graduating class was the first cohort to be conferred a bachelor’s degree from a top 10 university. The program, founded in 2018, provides incarcerated adults the opportunity to receive a college education while serving their prison sentence.
Nov. 20, 2023: City Council approves NU Ryan Field rebuild plan after months of debate
After months of debate, City Council approved Northwestern’s plans to rebuild Ryan Field and host concerts at the new stadium.
The council voted 6-2 to approve the rebuild of the stadium, but it split on two ordinances: one that would rezone the area and allow NU to hold concerts at the stadium, and another authorizing City Manager Luke Stowe to sign a community benefits agreement between NU and Evanston. With councilmembers divided 4-4 on the ordinances, Mayor Daniel Biss voted in favor to break the tie and advance the University’s plans.
Feb. 7, 2024: State’s attorney drops charges against students in fake newspaper case
Two NU students were charged in late 2023 with misdemeanors for allegedly wrapping imitation newspaper covers on print copies of The Daily Northwestern. The spoofed papers featured a photo of doctors surrounded by deceased civilians at the Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital in Gaza and a headline that read “Northwestern complicit in genocide of Palestinians.”
Dozens of student organizations and faculty called on Students Publishing Company, The Daily’s parent company, to get the charges dropped. Editorial board members and alumni of The Daily also requested SPC ask the State’s Attorney’s Office to drop charges, which it did in February 2024.
Feb. 23, 2024: NUGW reaches tentative contract agreement with the University, awaits full-group vote on ratification
Negotiators for the Northwestern University Graduate Workers union reached a tentative contract agreement with the University in February 2024 after a 14-hour bargaining session. The agreement followed about nine months of negotiations, which came to a point in January 2024 when more than 2,000 union members threatened to strike.
April 10, 2024: Northwestern to play ‘majority’ of 2024, 2025 home football games at enhanced Martin Stadium
Northwestern football announced the team would play a “majority” of its 2024 and 2025 home games at a temporarily modified Martin Stadium. NU made the announcement nearly two weeks after requesting a city analysis to expand the lakefront stadium — which hosts the University’s lacrosse and soccer teams — to accommodate up to 15,000 spectators while construction continues on a new Ryan Field.
April 25, 2024: Northwestern student activists set up encampment on Deering Meadow
About two dozen student activists began setting up an encampment on Deering Meadow on April 25, 2024 to demand Northwestern divest from institutions connected to Israel and protect civil liberties for pro-Palestinian voices.
April 29, 2024: Administrators, student demonstrators reach agreement to end encampment on Deering Meadow
The University agreed to engage in a number of steps to support Palestinian students and protest on campus in exchange for an end to the Deering Meadow encampment, the University announced. Student demonstrators wrapped up negotiations with the University on April 29, 2024.
May 23, 2024: University President Michael Schill testifies before House Committee on Education
University President Michael Schill doubled down on his commitment to combating antisemitism and engaging with pro-Palestinian student activists during his testimony in front of the House Committee on Education and Workforce.
Oct. 23, 2024: Highlights from The Daily’s Fall 2024 Campus Poll: Schill approval, voting and student sex habits
The Daily released results from its inaugural student poll in October 2024. The survey asked students about topics ranging from their views on University issues to drug habits. Notably, then University President Michael Schill held a -10% net approval rating among returning undergraduate students.
Nov. 6, 2024: Donald Trump wins presidential election
The Associated Press declared President Donald Trump the winner of the 2024 presidential election. Data from election night showed Trump significantly outpaced his 2020 performance, while former Vice President Kamala Harris underperformed with key voter demographics.
Nov. 13, 2024: Evanston ranked choice voting referendum struck down by county circuit court
The Cook County Circuit Court ruled to invalidate Evanston’s pilot ranked choice voting referendum, dismissing the action to implement RCV in the Evanston 2025 Consolidated Elections with prejudice.
Evanston voters initially approved the referendum in the 2022 midterm election, making it the first city in Illinois to adopt RCV.
Feb. 5, 2025: Students, faculty express concern surrounding inconsistent enforcement of university demonstration policies
Amid “vague” enforcement of University demonstration policies — which limited when, where and how protests could be held on campus — some students and faculty expressed concern over “exhausting” disciplinary hearings and infringements on academic freedom.
March 2, 2025: Northwestern’s lobbying spending balloons to more than $1 million in 2024
Northwestern’s lobbying spending swelled to more than $1 million in 2024, the most it spent in nearly three decades and a roughly 150% increase from the previous year. At the time, NU was embroiled in federal antisemitism investigations and making preparations for additional guardrails with President Donald Trump returning to the White House.
March 20, 2025: Medill denies tenure, intends to terminate Prof. Steven Thrasher next year
Northwestern denied tenure to Medill Prof. Steven Thrasher and planned to not renew his position in August 2026, Medill Dean Charles Whitaker informed Thrasher on March 12.
In a March 20 news release, Thrasher accused Medill of targeting him for his participation in the April 2024 pro-Palestinian encampment, at which Thrasher formed a line between police and protesters.
April 1, 2025: Three newcomers join Evanston City Council
With eight contested seats in last year’s City Council elections, Evanston’s main legislative body saw a shakeup in membership. With former alderpeople Melissa Wynne (3rd) and Eleanor Revelle (7th) retiring, Interfaith Action Overnight Shelter Director Ald. Shawn Iles (3rd) and software engineer Ald. Parielle Davis (7th) took office. Ald. Matt Rodgers (8th), former Land Use Commission Chair, beat out the incumbent, former Ald. Devon Reid (8th).
April 8, 2025: Federal government freezes $790 million in funding for Northwestern
The Trump administration froze $790 million in federal funding for Northwestern, alleging violations of anti-discrimination laws. The freeze came amid similar attacks on some of the nation’s elite universities including Columbia University, Harvard University, University of Pennsylvania, Princeton University and Brown University.
April 26, 2025: Heated dispute at Table to Stix sparks community uproar
Downtown Evanston restaurant Table to Stix Ramen faced backlash after a video of a dispute over providing an additional tip between the owner and a patron went viral on social media April 19, 2025.
A week later, about 50 community members held a protest outside the restaurant, alleging the incident was racially motivated.
May 16, 2025: Northwestern dining workers sign four-year contract with Compass Group, ending strike
Compass Group, Northwestern’s food service provider, agreed to a new contract with UNITE HERE Local 1, a union that represents roughly 500 contracted workers across dining, retail and hospitality locations on campus. The agreement is nine months in the making. Over that period, hundreds of workers picketed across campus, elicited support from students and local leaders and filed charges of alleged labor law violations with the National Labor Relations Board.
June 23, 2025: Family of late Feinberg professor sues NU for alleged discrimination, role in suicide
Prof. Jane Wu’s family alleged that NU took away research opportunities and resources from the accomplished neurology researcher on the basis of her national origin, as she was born in China.
Wu was investigated by the National Institutes of Health starting in 2019 based on her Chinese affiliations, according to the complaint. The agency ended the probe with no finding of wrongdoing on Wu’s part, though NU shut down her lab and rescinded her grant funding nonetheless, according to the complaint.
Aug. 21, 2025: Pat Fitzgerald reaches settlement in NU wrongful termination lawsuit
Former Northwestern football coach Pat Fitzgerald reached a settlement with the University in a wrongful termination lawsuit for an unspecified sum after suing the University for $130 million in October 2023.
Sept. 4, 2025: University President Michael Schill resigns amid ‘painful’ challenges
University President Michael Schill announced his resignation in a Sept. 4 email to the Northwestern community following only three years in the role.
His tenure as president was marked by a series of events that drew national attention to the University, including the 2023 football hazing scandal, the 2024 pro-Palestinian encampment on Deering Meadow and the 2025 federal funding freeze.
Sept. 9, 2025: Henry Bienen announced as interim president of Northwestern following Schill resignation
Northwestern announced former University President Henry Bienen would return to the role as the University’s interim president beginning Sept. 16, 2025, taking over for departing University President Michael Schill. Bienen served as NU’s president from 1995 until 2009. He also worked as a professor in the Kellogg School of Management, and in 2008, the Board of Trustees named the University’s School of Music after Bienen and his wife, Leigh.
Sept. 19, 2025: Biss, Abughazaleh, Amiwala confronted by agents at Broadview ICE protest
Congressional candidates Mayor Daniel Biss, Kat Abughazaleh and Bushra Amiwala were teargassed while protesting at the Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Broadview, Illinois, in September 2025.
Nov. 28, 2025: Northwestern strikes deal with Trump administration to restore federal funding
Northwestern reached a deal with the Trump administration to restore at least $790 million in frozen funding Nov. 28.
The agreement obligates the University to pay the federal government $75 million and “adhere to federal anti-discrimination laws,” which the Trump administration has previously accused NU of violating. In exchange, the government closed all pending investigations into the University, in addition to restoring funding.
Feb. 3, 2026: Northwestern to start season at Martin Stadium, play Big Ten home opener at Ryan Field
Northwestern announced it will start the 2026 football season at Martin Stadium for its first two nonconference games against South Dakota State and Colorado. It won’t play at the new Ryan Field until Oct. 2 to host Penn State in its Big Ten home opener.
Feb. 10, 2026: Late Northwestern professor maintained long-term relationship with Epstein, released government files show
Late McCormick Prof. Roger Schank maintained close contact with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and was offered access to “a girl,” according to files released by the Department of Justice.
March 9, 2026: Northwestern announces new AI major beginning fall 2026
Northwestern announced it will offer an artificial intelligence major for undergraduate students beginning in the 2026-27 academic year.
Administered through the computer science department in the McCormick School of Engineering, the AI major will teach students “how intelligent systems are built, deployed, and used responsibly,” per the release.
March 17, 2026: Biss wins Democratic primary for congressional seat
Mayor Daniel Biss secured the Democratic nomination to represent Illinois’ 9th Congressional District and appears poised to succeed retiring U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Evanston), marking the district’s first leadership change since 1999.
Throughout the campaign, Biss leaned on his record as Evanston’s mayor, highlighting his opposition to federal immigration enforcement and support of affordable housing.
May 18, 2026: Mung Chiang named 18th NU president
After a monthslong search, Purdue University President Mung Chiang was named the 18th president of Northwestern. He officially starts in the role July 1 and will succeed University President Michael Schill. Interim President Henry Bienen will remain in his role until June.
A first-generation immigrant from China, Chiang will be NU’s first Asian American president. During his time at Purdue, the school allegedly rescinded more than 100 acceptance offers made to Chinese international graduate students, Inside Higher Ed reported. Purdue denied having a ban on international graduate students from several countries, including China, according to The Purdue Exponent.
Email: [email protected]
Email: [email protected]
Email: [email protected]
Email: [email protected]
Email: [email protected]
Related stories:
— Revisiting Northwestern’s top sports headlines over the past four years
— Letter from the Editors: Adapting amid challenges
— Gallery: The best of four years: from Northwestern’s campus to the city by its side
