Northwestern students say they face registration holds after refusing anti-Semitism training
A letter signed by more than 200 students and faculty targets Northwestern University's newly-implemented anti-Semitism training modules.
Students say they have been blocked from enrolling for refusing to take the training courses.
Northwestern University is under fire from students who said they were barred from enrolling in fall courses because they refused to complete a mandatory anti-Semitism training they describe as biased and politically slanted.
The modules, produced in partnership with the Jewish United Fund, are part of Northwestern’s sweeping compliance reforms following criticism of its handling of anti-Semitism on campus. But students who refused to take the training said they were placed on registration holds, effectively blocking them from continuing their education.
More than 200 students, faculty, alumni, and staff signed a public letter blasting the program. In it, they argued that the training erases Palestinian history, portrays Israel in exclusively positive terms, and equates criticism of Zionism with neo-Nazi propaganda.
Many of those who signed did so anonymously, citing what they described as a “climate of censorship and vulnerability” at the university.
The signatories demanded that Northwestern immediately suspend the training requirement and lift enrollment bans on dissenting students.
Among their objections: the anti-Semitism module features a map of Israel that omits Palestine entirely, uses language associated with “Greater Israel,” and ignores ongoing conflicts in Gaza and the West Bank.
The letter argued it amounts to political indoctrination under the guise of anti-bias education.
University officials pushed back, telling Evanston Now that students are not required to agree with the content but must complete the training and attest to following school policies on discrimination and harassment.
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The dispute comes as Northwestern adopts new policies restricting protests, tightening its code of conduct, and formally embracing the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of anti-Semitism.
While administrators argue these measures protect Jewish students and align with federal civil rights standards, those behind the letter say the training undermines academic freedom and silences dissent. The standoff highlights growing national tension over how universities are implementing and enforcing anti-discrimination efforts.
