Northwestern University is one of five schools nationwide being investigated by the Department of Education under the Trump Administration for “widespread antisemitic harassment,” the department announced.
In a release from the Department of Education, the agency said it was opening the inquiry to look for Title VI violations — a provision that protects people from race, color and national origin bias in the wake of the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel.
It comes less than a week after President Donald Trump signed an executive order that lays out a path to revoke the visas of and deport international students if they take part in pro-Palestinian protests.
“Today, the department is putting universities, colleges and K-12 schools on notice,” said Craig Trainor, acting assistant secretary for civil rights. “The Biden administration’s toothless resolution agreements did shamefully little to hold those institutions accountable.”
A spokesperson for Northwestern said it was “confident” in the measures it had taken to update the student code of conduct, among other actions, and would fully cooperate with the investigation.
In November 2023, the school established an Advisory Committee Against Antisemitism and Hate made up of faculty, staff, students, alumni and trustees to make recommendations for policies at the school. An addendum to the student code of conduct last April created tighter restrictions around protest on campus.
“There is no place for antisemitism or any form of identity-based discrimination or hate at Northwestern University,” a spokesperson for the school wrote in a Monday evening statement. “Free expression and academic freedom are among our core values, but we have made clear that these values provide no excuse for behavior that threatens the well-being of others. … We continue to work tirelessly to make our university a safe and non-discriminatory educational institution.”
The school was also investigated for Title VI violations under the Biden Administration over students’ on-campus protests and faced a lawsuit and calls for leadership to resign after the school reached an agreement with organizers of the demonstration.
The previous investigation stemmed from a complaint by Zachary Marshall — the editor in chief of Campus Reform, a conservative website — citing events held on campus in fall 2023, including a vigil where the colors of the Palestinian flag were projected onto Deering Library, and a student walkout demanding the university end relationships with organizations supporting Israel, according to the Daily Northwestern, the university’s student newspaper.
The university’s president, Michael Schill — who is Jewish — was also grilled by Congress over the deal in May. He was one of three university leaders called to testify on the matter.
The agreement Schill made in exchange for student organizers dismantling their five-day encampment included a dedicated space for Middle Eastern and North African and Muslim students because they “had no place to pray,” something Schill said was given to Jewish, Catholic and Lutheran students.
“We were fortunate to have students who were willing to negotiate, and were willing to give up their demands” for divestment, Schill said in response to questioning during the hearing last spring. “We said, ‘Absolutely not.’ We said, ‘Nothing that singles out Israel.’ And then we said, ‘Let’s think about what will make the university stronger, what will be important for your community.’”