Northwestern Threatened With Subpoena Over 'Obstruction' Of Congressional Committee

EVANSTON, IL — The chair of a congressional committee gave the president and trustees of Northwestern University a one-week deadline to voluntarily comply with its request for records related to antisemitic incidents, pro-Palestinian protests and the university's relationship with Qatar.

U.S. Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-North Carolina), who chairs the House Education and the Workforce Committee, accused university officials of obstructing its investigation into on-campus antisemitism.

Foxx warned Northwestern President Michael Schill and Board Chair Peter Barris in a letterdated Friday that the committee was prepared to issue a subpoena to compel the university to turn over documents and testimony.

During testimony at a May 23 hearing, Schill refused to answer certain questions and made statements that were "misleading at best and raised questions about the candor and veracity of his testimony," according to the chairwoman.

Some of the university president's remarks cited in the letter include his refusal to discuss individual faculty members, statements by students or hypothetical scenarios involving the Ku Klux Klan.

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"In addition to President Schill refusing to provide responsive information in much of his hearing testimony, Northwestern has obstructed the Committee’s oversight by failing to comply with its document requests," Foxx said.

During the hearing, Schill defended his decision to make an agreement with organizers of an on-campus tent encampment — describing it as an framework reached with students at 4 a.m. — that led to its voluntary dismantling after five days.

"We found, and we were fortunate to have, students who were willing to negotiate and were willing to give up their demands that they came into us for," Schill testified.

"Their number one demand was divestment. We said, 'No.' We said, 'Absolutely not.' We said, 'Nothing that singles out Israel.' And then we said, 'Let's think about what will make the university stronger, what will be important for your community,'" he said. "Then we came to this agreement over time, hearing what their needs are."

The committee first requested documents from Northwestern officials on May 10. Since then, the university provided its staff only 13 pages of documents that were not already public. All of them were records of boards meetings devoid of real details of what was discussed, according to Foxx's letter.

"In response to the Committee’s request for communications between Northwestern officials and the encampment, Northwestern not only failed to produce a single page of nonpublic communications but it also rejected a proposed interim accommodation by the Committee for relevant Northwestern officials to provide an hour-long briefing in advance of the hearing regarding the negotiations with the encampment and Northwestern’s decision to reach the Agreement," Foxx said in the 9-page letter.

Congressional staff met with Northwestern's attorneys ahead of Schill's testimony and offered to reach a reasonable agreement that would involve turning over some of the documents and information relevant to its requests, according to the chairwoman.

"Chairwoman Foxx personally emphasized the importance of this directly to President Schill in a May 21 pre-hearing meeting, but Northwestern failed to act to satisfy the Committee’s requests," Foxx said. "Northwestern’s record suggests that it does not take complying with the Committee’s oversight efforts or upholding its Title VI obligations to protect Jewish students seriously. Both are unacceptable."

In a May 22 letter to the committee cited by Foxx, university attorneys disclosed there had been 106 cases involving allegations "broadly related to antisemitism, anti-Israeli bias, or conduct relating to Israeli-Palestinian conflict (excluding allegations of Islamophobia or anti-Arab sentiment)" since Oct. 7, 2023, with the majority of them reported between April 13 and May 13.

In the 66 cases in which the person accused has been identified as someone affiliated with the university, Northwestern's lawyers said 23 have resulted in discipline or were in the disciplinary process at the time of the letter, and another 17 cases remained under investigation and could lead to disciplinary action in the future.

Northwestern University officials have not publicly responded to Foxx's latest letter, which sets a deadline of noon on June 17 for the production of a list of specified records.

Read more:

• Schill On The Hill: Northwestern President Faces Questioning From Congress
• Northwestern President Faces Resignation Calls, Class Action Lawsuit From Jewish Students
• Pro-Palestinian Protesters Claim 'Historic' Victory In Deal To End Encampment
• Protesters Reach Deal With Northwestern Administration Over Pro-Palestinian Tent Encampment
• Tent Tension: Northwestern's Private Security Force Fails To Clear Gaza Solidary Camp