LEADERSHIP NOTES

As we promised in our Sept. 5 message, we are writing to share an update on the implementation of Northwestern’s new policies.

To help keep you safe this year, here are safety reminders and quick links to resources all in one place that you can save or “favorite” in case you ever need them.

Earlier this year, we appointed the President’s Advisory Committee on Free Expression and Institutional Speech to prepare a statement rooted in Northwestern values.

As we embark on the 2024-25 academic year, I want to extend my warmest wishes for a fulfilling and healthy start to a new year here at Northwestern.

With today’s start of the Fall Quarter in Evanston, the academic year has now begun across all of our campuses.

As we once again fill our classrooms, laboratories, study spaces and offices, we remain focused on the core of our mission as a university — to create space for learning, where ideas flow freely, we learn from one another, and we push each other to create and to discover.

With the academic year already underway for some of our programs, and the rest starting soon, I’d like to take this opportunity to share some important work that we undertook over the summer.

Commencement is the culmination of graduates’ time at Northwestern — a time to reflect on the values and knowledge gained here, while looking ahead to new beginnings. We look forward to celebrating the Class of 2024, all they have achieved and all they have yet to achieve as they set out into the world.

Earlier this afternoon, I completed my testimony before the U.S. House Committee on Education and the Workforce.

This morning I became aware that several Israeli and American flags placed on Deering Meadow were defaced overnight. Earlier on Sunday, a woman tore down several signs and banners hanging at the Meadow. Northwestern’s commitment to freedom of expression does not include vandalism.

In the days since the University reached an agreement with students and faculty to peacefully end the encampment on Deering Meadow, I have been asked repeatedly why I felt it was important to resolve the demonstration in this manner.

President Michael Schill has released a video in which he addresses Monday’s agreement to end the encampment at Deering Meadow.

We have reached an agreement with a group of students and faculty who represent the majority of the protestors on Deering Meadow to bring the demonstration into compliance with University rules and policies.

As we enter the final weeks of the academic year, our community — like so many others around the country — continues to grapple with the Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attack on Israel and the resulting war in Gaza.

Advances in data science and artificial intelligence (DS/AI) are challenging us to rethink how we prepare our students for a dramatically different future. With these limitless possibilities in mind, last fall, Northwestern leadership identified the need to advance foundational research and applications of emerging DS/AI tools as one of our institutional priorities.

Last night, beginning just before 11 p.m., the University issued a series of alerts following a report of shots fired near 70 Arts Circle Drive on Northwestern’s Evanston campus.

Today, I am appointing a committee of distinguished senior faculty to propose to me a statement on free expression that reflects Northwestern’s values. I view the work of the President’s Advisory Committee on Free Expression and Institutional Speech as vital for our community.

As we return from winter break, we carry forward the essential work of combatting antisemitism and other hateful behavior that has impacted our campus and others across the country in recent months.

This year’s update is the first since Northwestern unveiled a set of priorities and guiding principles that focus on the University’s commitments to global eminence in research, innovation and education, the strengthening of our academic community across our campuses, and investments in our world-class faculty and staff.

As we approach the annual observance of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s legacy, it is crucial for us to reflect on the profound impact he had on our nation and acknowledge how his teachings endure in the present.