Schill On The Hill: Northwestern President Faces Questioning From Congress

EVANSTON, IL — Northwestern University President Michael Schill defended his response to last month's pro-Palestinian on-campus tent encampment and his commitment to fighting antisemitism during testimony Thursday before Congress.

"We did not give in to any of the protesters' demands, and the commitments we made are consistent with our values," Schill said in his prepared remarks to the House Education and the Workforce Committee.

"Importantly, I rejected the main student demand for divestment and will not ever recommend that Northwestern use its resources for political purposes," Schill said. "By engaging students with dialogue instead of force, we modeled the behavior we want to apply going forward."

Schill said the portion of the agreement with the "Northwestern University Divestment Coalition" that got the demonstrators to take down their tents from Deering Meadow after five days involving the reestablishment of advisory committee for investment responsibility was something he was going to do anyway. That committee will include two students, who will not necessarily be associated with the encampment, he said.

The university president also asserted the portion of the agreement with last month's Deering Meadow protesters under "inclusivity" that addresses support for funding Palestinian faculty and students at risk and "commits to fundraise to sustain this program beyond this current commitment" was an existing program, funded by the Buffett Foundation, to assist academics in war-torn places.

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Schill faced sharp criticism from Republicans and praise from Democrats for ending last month's encampment via negotiations with its organizers during the approximately three-hour hearing.

U.S. Rep. Virginia Foxx, the North Carolina Republican who chaired the hearing — dubbed "Calling for Accountability: Stopping Antisemitic College Chaos" — said Schill should be "doubly ashamed for capitulating to the antisemitic rule breakers," describing his administration's agreement with encampment organizers as a "disgraceful deal."

Foxx asked Schill how many students had been suspended or expelled as a result of the demonstrations. He said staff members have been terminated, though he was not sure how many, and no students had been suspended or expelled, though there were ongoing investigations and "many of those students" have been disciplined in some other way up to probation.

"I'm appalled by the condescension and contempt you've shown for the committee and towards your own Jewish students," Foxx told Schill following his testimony.

"Today, you've refused to answer basic questions on topics. This includes your decision to appoint antisemites, including one who supported the October 7 attack, back to your antisemitism advisory committee, and whether you will terminate faculty and staff who fought with police in the encampment," she said. "You've given misleading answers that contradict the words of the agreement that you signed."

Schill said the encampment created a huge increase in complaints of antisemitic activity and was making Jewish students feel unsafe. His administration made the decision it had to come down, but the option of bringing in police "turned out to be not possible to ensure safety," according to the university president.

"My number one objective and mandate, when parents give me their children — or lend me their children — is to keep them safe. I'm going to do everything I can to keep them safe," Schill said.

"Bringing in police, because of the size of our police force and the resources, would have endangered our police. They would have endangered our students and our Student Affairs staff," he continued. "So, we made the decision to talk to our students, to model the behavior that we want to be engaged in, that dialogue rather than force. We had a de-escalation. The tent came down right after the agreement was struck."

Schill said Jewish students could not walk through Deering Meadow and, along with administrators, worried about outsiders on campus.

"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," he said. "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.' Then we came to this agreement over time, hearing what their needs are."

The agreement with protesters — hailed as a "historic" victory by the encampment organizers — was a framework of a deal "reached with students at 4 a.m. in the morning," Schill said in response to questioning by New York Republican Congresswoman Elise Stefanik.

"In the agreement that we reached, there wasn't Israeli students there or Jewish students there," he said.

"Because they weren't consulted, isn't that the fact?" Stefanik asked. "Jewish and Israeli students were not consulted."

"Jewish and Israeli students were not consulted with respect to the agreement," Schill said.

"Exactly! Yield back," Stefanik said. "Exactly! Yield back."

"And it would have been impractical to do so, Rep. Stefanik, with all respect," he continued.

Schill was also asked about the dissolution of his advisory committee on combating antisemitism, which was triggered by the deal with the Deering Meadow demonstrators. He said its members resigned because they were unable to reach a consensus about what constitutes antisemitism or were dismayed that they were not consulted with respect to the negotiations with encampment organizers.

"Now, going forward, I want to make every one of you know I am personally committed to fighting antisemitism," he said. "We are going to reconstitute a task force that will benefit from the information from other task forces."

The Northwestern president also addressed the university's ties to the government of Qatar, which has been making monthly payments to the Hamas-led Gaza Strip since 2018 under a deal approved by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and has been mediating talks over the release of hostages taken captive in the Oct. 7 attacks.

Congressman Clarence Burgess Owens (R-Utah) asked if Schill was aware "the Iranian officials travel in and out of [Doha] to meet with Hamas."

"This is not my area of expertise," Schill said.

"If this is true, do you think that it's a good idea for the university, Northwestern, to partner with a government that harbors terrorist Hamas and Iranian operatives who fund terrorism," Owens asked. "Yes or no."

"I'm not going to engage in yes-or-no answers," Schill said.

"So obviously you don't have a problem with that," Owens said, looking to move on to his next question.

"I really, I'm offended by you telling me what my views are," Schill said.

"My time, my time," Owens said.

Earlier:

• NU President Michael Schill To Testify Before Congress On Campus Protests
• 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