Progress Report On Northwestern University Efforts to Combat Antisemitism
In his May 23, 2024, testimony before the House of Representatives Committee on Education and the Workforce, President Michael Schill pledged on behalf of the University to take decisive actions to combat antisemitism and ensure that Jewish students, faculty and staff would experience a safe learning environment:
“Doing all I can to protect our Jewish students from antisemitism is among the most basic of my responsibilities as Northwestern’s President. Where there is conduct that threatens the health, safety and well-being of individual members of the Northwestern community, we must act to protect them and use our disciplinary process to do so.”
As the third quarter of the 2024-25 academic year begins, this report documents what Northwestern University has done to achieve this goal. The University has pledged to be transparent and accountable, and this report is designed to further that objective.
Statement of values
The fight against antisemitism is situated in the values of Northwestern University. On March 6, 2025, President Schill and Provost Kathleen Hagerty sent a message to our community about the values that guide us as we chart a path to maintain and grow Northwestern’s vibrant academic community. These values include a dedication to academic freedom, free expression and rigorous debate; a commitment to attracting and supporting students, faculty and staff from a wide variety of backgrounds, viewpoints and experiences; and the ability to teach, learn and explore new boundaries without fear of discrimination, intimidation or harassment.
Rule and policy changes
Like many universities across the nation, Northwestern was not prepared for the antisemitism that occurred last year. The University administration took this criticism to heart and spent much of last summer revising our rules and policies to make our university safe for all of our students, regardless of their religion, race, national origin, sexual orientation or political viewpoint.
On Sept. 5, 2024, the University communicated about new policies and procedures designed to protect against discrimination, intimidation and harassment. These new rules also create clear and tangible sanctions for those who do not abide by our policies. The goal of the policy changes is to ensure we have effective tools to promote a safe learning environment for all members of our community.
Among the updated policies is our Demonstration Policy, which includes new requirements and guidance on how, when and where members of the community may protest or otherwise engage in expressive activity. The Demonstration Policy prohibits overnight demonstrations and includes a provision that requires people to identify themselves when asked by a University official. The Student Code of Conduct also requires students to comply with the requests, directives and instructions of University officials acting in performance of their duties. Prohibited student conduct includes “refusing to remove or adjust a mask or face covering if requested to do so by an authorized University official for identification purposes.”
Northwestern also announced a new Display and Solicitation Policy, which sets clear rules and requirements for on-campus displays, including flyers, banners and chalking. All unauthorized 3D installations including tents and structures are expressly prohibited. Although, as a private institution, Northwestern is not legally bound by the First Amendment, our new policies are fully consistent with Constitutional values as reasonable time, place and manner rules.
In addition, in September 2024, the University published a revised Student Handbook and Student Code of Conduct (Pages 14-34) along with a revised Policy on Discrimination, Harassment, and Sexual Misconduct, our Reasonable Accommodation Policy and our Reporting by University Employees of Disclosures Related to Discrimination and Harassment.
Among the changes in the Student Code of Conduct was a new intimidation standard that prohibits behavior that “[s]ubject[s] another person or group to abusive, demeaning, harassing, humiliating, intimidating, threatening or violent behavior that substantially affects the ability of the person or group to learn, work or live in the University environment.”
The Code also provides examples of behaviors and actions that violate the Code including acts of physical violence; the use of words, symbols or graphics to threaten violence against any person or group; and verbal and/or written abuse directed toward another person or group.
To coincide with the February launch of our mandatory antisemitism trainings (see below), the University adopted the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism, which was included in the student training module. The IHRA definition has been adopted or endorsed by 43 countries, and it was included in a 2019 executive order signed by President Donald Trump and re-affirmed by a new executive order Jan. 29, 2025, requiring that federal agencies consider the definition when enforcing Title VI. Northwestern’s Office of Civil Rights and Title IX Compliance published a Frequently Asked Questions document that addressed the adoption of the IHRA definition.
Mandatory antisemitism training
Northwestern instituted a requirement that all students, faculty and staff receive antisemitism training. This included a live training for all new students in September and a 17-minute training module for all enrolled students, produced in collaboration with the Jewish United Fund. Antisemitism trainings will continue as a permanent part of our broader training in civil rights and Title IX.
To further our commitment to provide an inclusive and respectful environment for all members of our community, the University engaged external experts to provide specialized training on Title VI shared ancestry and the IHRA definition of antisemitism to staff from the Office of Community Standards, Office of Civil Rights and Title IX Compliance and the Office of Human Resources.
Enforcement
Northwestern is committed to enforcing our rules transparently. Importantly, enforcement fits the nature and severity of the violation. We have made a number of changes to enable us to effectively promote the safety of our students and the following of our rules and policies. We have hired additional police who, together with our existing officers, are empowered by the state to arrest people who trespass or otherwise violate the law. We also have enhanced our private security force and our relationships with outside law enforcement agencies.
In addition, Northwestern has changed some of our enforcement practices. For example, the process to investigate and administer the rules has been streamlined, without sacrificing due process. In addition, the University now has the ability to bring its own complaints when it receives sufficient information of violations, even when there is no one willing or able to file an official complaint. Finally, Northwestern’s Office of Civil Rights and Title IX Compliance will provide data on complaints that allege antisemitism in its annual report.
2024-2025 academic year update
As of March, there has been a significant decrease in reports of discrimination or harassment based on antisemitism or shared Jewish ancestry at Northwestern compared with the same period last academic year. The decrease has been even more dramatic this calendar year, with five reports of discrimination or harassment based on antisemitism or shared Jewish ancestry through the first three months. The graph below provides the pattern of complaints month-by-month.
In addition to investigations of reports of antisemitism, this academic year, the Office of Community Standards resolved 15 cases related to student activism. Eleven students were found responsible for violating portions of our Demonstration and/or Display Policies with sanctions ranging from warnings up to and including three academic quarters of disciplinary probation. In addition, one staff member was terminated for violations of the staff policies.
Accountability
Northwestern’s Board of Trustees has established a subcommittee of its Student Life Committee to review the resolution of complaints alleging antisemitism or violations of our new policies and rules. The subcommittee meets periodically and is staffed by the Vice President of Student Affairs and the Associate Vice President for Civil Rights and Title IX Compliance.
Furthermore, starting this summer, the Office of Civil Rights and Title IX Compliance will include in its annual report data on complaints alleging antisemitism as well as other categories of prohibited discrimination.
Education
The University continues to offer education and programming about antisemitism. For example, Professor David Shyovitz recently taught a course titled “What is ‘Antisemitism’?” and other courses on Jewish history and law. In late February, EndJewHatred partnered with Hillel to host a screening of the movie “October H8TE” on our Evanston campus. The movie and panel discussion explored antisemitism on college campuses.
On May 8, historian and Northwestern adjunct professor Daniel Greene will lead a discussion titled “American Jews, the Melting Pot, and Cultural Pluralism: Then and Now” at the Jewish Reconstructionist Congregation in Evanston. And on May 19, Ethan Katz, associate professor of history and Jewish Studies at the University of California, Berkeley, will give the Manfred H. Vogel Lecture in Judaic Studies.
In October, the Holocaust Educational Foundation and the Chabraja Center for Historical Studies brought lecturer Wolf Gruner from the University of Southern California to campus to discuss “Jewish Resistance in Hitler’s Germany.” Later that month, the Crown Center for Jewish and Israel Studies brought together panelists from Tel Aviv University, Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Michigan State University to discuss “October 7 One Year Later: Currents in Israeli Society.” A similar lecture sponsored by the Israel Innovation Project hosted David Horovitz, founding editor of The Times of Israel, to look back on the year since the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack.
An additional related educational and research initiative of the University is the bridging of differences across our community. In February 2024, the University launched a new University-wide center housed in the Kellogg School of Management. The Center for Enlightened Disagreement will attract top academics and thought leaders across sectors to develop better ways to engage across diverse perspectives and will develop curriculum for our students to harness the power of diverse perspectives.
Support for Jewish students
The University provides support for all of our students regardless of their religion, race, national origin, gender, sexual orientation or political viewpoint. In light of the growth of antisemitism in our community, we also recognize that additional attention needs to be paid to our Jewish community to ensure their safety and well-being. In collaboration with Hillel, we contributed to and participated in the MegaShabbat at Ryan Fieldhouse that attracted 500 students in February. Members of the administration host dinners for Jewish students to assess how they are experiencing the University and participate in Jewish cultural and religious activities.
Surveys to assess the climate for Jewish students on campus
Each year the University conducts a survey of enrolled students. We will add to this year’s survey questions that allow us to assess the experiences of Jewish students on campus and those of students of other religions.
Advisory Council to the President on Jewish Life
Northwestern has established a new advisory council to the president to assess Jewish life on campus and progress in the fight against antisemitism. The council, whose members are in the process of being named, will include student leaders in Hillel and Chabad, faculty and administrators. The council will meet with the president periodically to report on the quality of the mandatory trainings, the effectiveness of our rules and policies, and the general campus climate experienced by Jews.
Ultimately, the outcome of our new rules, trainings and enforcement practices will be measured in the feeling of safety of our students. Virtually every indication is that the vast majority of our Jewish students, staff and faculty feel that the campus is much safer this year than it was last year. More detailed information will await the results of surveys of students this spring and summer. Those results will be made public.
Looking ahead
In closing, although Northwestern has made significant progress in the fight against antisemitism on campus, the University remains vigilant and will continue to do what is necessary to make our campus safe. Importantly, the fight against antisemitism is NOT a zero-sum game. All members of our communities on campus — all religions, races, national origins, genders, sexual orientations and political viewpoints — deserve to feel safe and know that our rules will be enforced to protect them against hate, discrimination, harassment and intimidation. Northwestern is committed to this principle.