House committee requests interview with Northwestern president over campus anti-Semitism
A U.S. House committee has sent a letter to Northwestern President Michael Schill requesting that he interview regarding recent instances of anti-Semitism at the school.
The April 28 letter from the Committee on Education and the Workforce, led by Chairman Tim Walberg, demands a transcribed interview and further accountability from Schill.
A U.S. House committee has sent a letter to Northwestern University President Michael Schill requesting that he interview regarding recent instances of anti-Semitism at the school.
The April 28 letter from the Committee on Education and the Workforce, led by Chairman Tim Walberg, demands a transcribed interview and further accountability from Schill over escalating anti-Semitism on campus.
The committee initiated its investigation in 2024 following a wave of assaults and harassment against Jewish students. Despite Schill’s prior testimony and promised reforms—including increased security, revising student conduct codes, and creating a task force—the committee stated that it finds the university’s follow-through inadequate.
Key allegations include a Jewish student being spat on and told to “go back to Germany and get gassed,” widespread harassment during a 2024 anti-Israel encampment and anti-Semitic graffiti during Passover.
“Since your testimony at the Committee’s May 23, 2024 hearing, despite Northwestern’s claims to the contrary, the Committee has not seen your commitments to discipline, enforcement, and security come to satisfactory fruition,” the letter states.
In a statement provided to Campus Reform, a Northwestern spokesperson acknowledged that the school is reviewing the committee’s request.
“There is no place for antisemitism at Northwestern and the steps we have taken since last summer have dramatically improved the safety of our Jewish students,” the spokesperson said.
“As detailed in a recent progress report on Northwestern’s efforts to combat antisemitism, the University strengthened its Student Code of Conduct and other University-wide policies over the summer and has enforced these policies during this academic year,” the spokesperson continued. “We have also instituted and begun mandatory yearly antisemitism trainings for faculty, staff and students and have adapted the [International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s] definition of antisemitism into our conduct process.”
Campus Reform has reported about Northwestern Assistant Professor Steven Thrasher, who has supported the anti-Israel protest movement and compared Israel to Nazi Germany.
“I still stand with our brave student protesters, Mahmoud Khalil, and the more than 200 Palestinian journalists who have been murdered in Gaza,” Thrasher has stated. “If people like Mahmoud and me cannot express dissent on campus about matters of life and death without fear of reprisal, then university campuses are less than useless; they are the front lines of fascism.”
Last month, the Trump administration suspended $790 million in funding to Northwestern University amid its anti-Semitism investigation into the university.
Campus Reform has contacted Northwestern University for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.
