High Country Times

Education and the Workforce Committee Chairwoman Virginia Foxx (R-NC) has formally requested documents from Northwestern University President Michael Schill and Board of Trustees Chair Peter Barris. The request pertains to the university's response to multiple antisemitic incidents on its campus and an alleged failure to safeguard Jewish students, faculty, and staff. Northwestern University has been given until May 17, 2024, to produce the requested documents.

In her letter, Foxx stated: “The unlawful pro-terror encampment, dubbed the ‘Northwestern Liberated Zone,’ disrupted campus life and became a hotspot for pervasive antisemitic harassment and hostility. Rather than enforcing University rules and disciplining those who violated them, Northwestern’s leaders surrendered to the violators in a shameful agreement. … President Schill failed to consult his own President’s Advisory Committee on Preventing Antisemitism and Hate on his decision to enter the agreement.”

Foxx further noted that: “The ‘Northwestern Liberated Zone,’ which continues to operate, has disrupted Northwestern’s learning environment and has been the site of numerous crimes and antisemitic incidents, including assault, obstruction of justice, harassment, and theft. … While the recent advent of the ‘Northwestern Liberated Zone’ has been a flashpoint for antisemitic incidents, pervasive antisemitism has long been an issue at the University. A 2016 study by Brandeis University researchers found Northwestern was a ‘hotspot’ for antisemitism, ‘where the majority of Jewish students perceive a hostile environment toward Israel, and over one quarter perceive a general environment of hostility toward Jews on their campus.’”

Concluding her letter, Foxx asserted: “Many Jewish Northwestern students have expressed that they feel abandoned by University leadership. … The record makes clear that President Schill and other Northwestern leaders have not only failed to address the pervasive antisemitic harassment and disruptions of a safe learning environment that have plagued the University in a serious manner, but have also surrendered to the malefactors responsible for this hatred and chaos. This is an unacceptable dereliction of duty.”

The Committee on Education and the Workforce, chaired by Virginia Foxx, has scheduled a full committee hearing with the presidents of Northwestern, UCLA, and Rutgers on May 23. The hearing is titled “Calling for Accountability: Stopping Antisemitic College Chaos.”