A hostile, antisemitic Northwestern University needs more federal oversight

The Hill

21-05-2025

In the middle of the night on April 14 — the second day of Passover — anti-Israel activists vandalized the sign marking Northwestern's Kresge Centennial Hall, writing 'Death to Israel' in red and calling for an 'Intifada.' They were referring to the campaign of suicide bombings conducted against Israeli civilians between 2000 and 2005.
Kresge is significant because it houses Northwestern's Holocaust Educational Foundation. Earlier in April, extremists had circulated flyers glorifying the designated terrorist group Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and depicting a monstrous hand marked with Stars of David engulfing buildings in flames.
This is not an isolated failure. A Daily Northwestern poll found that 58 percent of Jewish students at that school have experienced or witnessed antisemitism on campus. As a result, Congress has called for scrutiny of the university's nearly $790 million in annual federal funding.
In April and May 2024, anti-Israel agitators set up a tent encampment on Northwestern's Evanston campus and called for economic warfare against the State of Israel. Over the course of five days, they harassed, intimidated, and in some cases physically assaulted other students who were simply trying to go about their day.
Rather than demand that the protestors disband or offer to meet with both the demonstrators and the students harmed by their actions, the administration chose appeasement. After just five days, Northwestern capitulated to the encampment's demands in a now-infamous agreement. The demands bordered on the absurd. Internal communications revealed that administrators even discussed removing Sabra hummus — a product with partial Israeli ownership — from campus dining.
This sent a dangerous message: Break rules, disrupt campus, harass Jews and you'll be rewarded. Victims, meanwhile, were ignored. Jewish members of the university's Advisory Committee on Preventing Antisemitism resigned in protest, having been excluded from negotiations.
Northwestern must rescind the agreement and take public steps to restore campus safety and equal rights.
We also urged federal scrutiny of Northwestern University in Qatar, which receives opaque funding from the authoritarian and terror-aligned Qatari regime. This raises serious compliance concerns under Section 117 of the Higher Education Act, which requires disclosure of significant foreign gifts and contracts. The Qatar campus's journalism program feeds into Al Jazeera, a state-run outlet known for running antisemitic content and providing a platform for Hamas leaders.
A 2022 analysis of NU-Qatar faculty and alumni found that 81 percent had demonized Israel or Zionists, 73 percent expressed support for terrorism, and 27 percent promoted overt antisemitism or even praised Hitler. Texas A&M wisely exited Qatar in 2024, citing foreign influence and national security risks. Northwestern should follow suit.
We also called for a federal audit of Northwestern's Pritzker School of Law, which provided legal support to protesters arrested for blocking access to O'Hare Airport. A March 27 letter from the House Education and Workforce Committee expressed concern over the use of taxpayer resources to support anti-Israel and potentially anti-American activism. These actions demand accountability.
Another area of concern is Northwestern's Middle East and North African Studies Program, whose Qatar-based professor Khaled Al-Hroub publicly questioned whether Hamas killed had any civilians in its massacre of Oct. 7, 2023 — the deadliest day for Jews since the Holocaust. The program's Director, Jessica Winegar, who holds a Qatar-endowed chair, used her position to support the encampment's demands.
These are not isolated voices. They represent a structural problem at Northwestern that calls for federal oversight and meaningful Title VI enforcement, including the creation of a Title VI office on campus.
Beyond compliance, Northwestern needs academic reform. Departments have become echo chambers hostile to dissenting views, particularly regarding Israel. The university should adopt principles like those in the University of Chicago's Kalven Report, discouraging political activism by academic units and reaffirming the classroom as a space for rigorous and respectful dialogue. Hiring practices should also reflect true intellectual diversity, especially on complex global issues.
Northwestern is at a crossroads. It can either continue down a path of appeasement and ideological conformity, or it can reclaim its role as a leading academic institution rooted in American values. We believe the reforms we presented in Washington offer a path forward — one that protects all students, upholds free expression, and restores Northwestern's academic integrity. Federal oversight is not optional. It is the only path to restoring campus safety, accountability, and pluralism.
Lisa Fields Lewis is a Northwestern parent and a member of the leadership team at the Coalition Against Antisemitism at Northwestern.