Northwestern President Promises Punishment If Students Found To Be Behind Vandalism

EVANSTON, IL — Someone vandalized multiple flags of Israel and the United States that had been placed at the site of last month's pro-Palestinian encampment on Northwestern University's Evanston campus, according to university president Michael Schill.

Schill said a woman also tore down several signs and banners that were hanging at Deering Meadow on Sunday prior to the defacement of the flags during the overnight hours.

"Northwestern’s commitment to freedom of expression does not include vandalism," Schill said in a message to the community. "And let me be clear — spraying red paint over Israeli or American flags is vandalism and is unacceptable."

Schill said the school's private security force is investigating the incidents to identify any students or staff who may have been involved.

"The University will investigate these incidents thoroughly, and if individuals from Northwestern can be identified, we will pursue disciplinary action," he said.

The university president, now in his second year on the job, is due to testify before Congress next week at a hearing titled, "Calling for Accountability: Stopping Antisemitic College Chaos."

Ahead of the meeting, House Education and the Workforce Committee Chairwoman Virginia Foxx (R-North Carolina) sent a letter to Schill and Peter Barris, chair of the university's board, giving them until Friday to turn over documents and other information to the committee.

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Foxx describes Schill's deal with demonstrators as "shameful" and said many Jewish Northwestern students have said they feel "abandoned" by university leadership.

Schill, who is Jewish, has faced calls to resign from pro-Israel organizations and mass resignations and subsequent disbanding of his advisory committee on preventing antisemitism. The university is also facing an Education Department investigation and a class action lawsuit from a trio of anonymous students.

Foxx committee demanded the university turn over records of any discipline associated with antisemitic incidents, all records of meetings of its board of trustees, documents relating to funding from Qatar and all footage of the "Northwestern Liberated Zone and related activities," among other things.

"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," Foxx said in the letter.

"This is an unacceptable dereliction of duty."