By Alysa Guffey and Angie Leventis Lourgos
WASHINGTON, DC — The U.S. Department of Education has launched an investigation into accusations of antisemitism at Northwestern University, as similar allegations continue to rock colleges and universities across the country in the wake of the Israel-Hamas war.
A complaint against Northwestern was filed last week by Zachary Marschall of Campus Reform, a Virginia-based organization that describes itself as a “conservative watchdog” that “exposes liberal bias and abuse on the nation’s college campuses.”
The education department’s Office for Civil Rights opened an investigation into Northwestern on Tuesday, according to the agency’s website. The complaint alleges that Northwestern “discriminated against students on the basis of national origin (shared Jewish ancestry) by failing to respond appropriately to incidents of harassment in October, November and December,” according to a letter from the agency posted on Campus Reform’s website.
The website also quotes the complaint as saying that Jewish students “have felt increasingly unwelcome” since the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel, which killed roughly 1,200 and plunged the Middle East into a bloody ongoing war.
Northwestern officials confirmed the education department’s investigation, adding that the university intends to cooperate.
“The complaint against Northwestern was not filed by a member of our community but instead by an outside organization,” said Northwestern spokesman Jon Yates. “The Department of Education is investigating dozens of universities. Northwestern is committed to providing a safe, welcoming environment for everyone in our community.”
He added that Northwestern “does not tolerate antisemitism or discriminatory acts directed at any individual based upon their race, religion, national origin or other protected categories.”
Marschall and Campus Reform did not immediately return requests for comment. Campus Reform has filed other complaints alleging antisemitism at various other colleges and universities nationwide, including Arizona State University and Temple University.
Education department officials would not comment on the Northwestern investigation because it’s a pending complaint. In order for the Office of Civil Rights to proceed on a complaint, there must be “sufficient information to support the factual basis for the complainant’s belief that discrimination has occurred and when it occurred,” according to the office’s case resolution and investigation manual.
Northwestern President Michael Schill in November announced a new advisory committee would work to prevent antisemitism and hate on campus, adding that he’s “heard from students and parents who feel unsafe” since the Israel-Hamas war’s inception, according to a university statement.
Michael Simon, executive director at Northwestern Hillel and a member of the committee, said he was aware of the investigation at Northwestern.
“There’s certainly been a rising concern among students and the broader Jewish community at Northwestern about antisemitism, both in terms of the climate on campus here as well as many other campuses and communities,” he said.
Simon said at the “baseline level,” Northwestern has a “thriving, welcomed and welcoming” Jewish community.
“But it feels that because of challenges in the climate, we are not at that baseline at this moment,” he said.
The investigation at Northwestern comes as colleges and universities across the country grapple with accusations of antisemitism, a climate that has spurred several prominent higher education leaders to recently resign under fire.
Harvard President Claudine Gay quit earlier this month amid fallout from her testimony during a heated congressional hearing on antisemitism at college campuses in December, as well as recent plagiarism accusations.
The University of Pennsylvania’s president also quit last month after being grilled at the congressional hearing, and the chairman of the school’s board of trustees stepped down as well.
The Biden administration in November addressed an “alarming” rise of antisemitism and Islamophobia at schools and colleges since the war began.
Antisemitism has surged nationwide recently, with the Anti-Defamation League counting about 300 antisemitic incidents in roughly two weeks following the Hamas attack, a 388% increase over the same period in 2022. An ADL report in November found that nearly three-quarters of Jewish college students reported seeing or experiencing some form of antisemitism since the start of the school year.
During the December congressional hearing, a professor of Jewish studies acknowledged that “voicing antisemitism is not illegal.”
“We cannot censor antisemitic speech, nor can we command everyone in our university community to support human rights,” said Pamela Nadell, director of the Jewish Studies Program at American University.
“What we must do is make certain that everyone on the campus — students, faculty and staff, no matter their religious, racial, ethnic or national background — feels safe and does not encounter discrimination in any form, whether in the classroom from faculty members who single out Jewish students or from student organizations that use litmus tests requiring Jewish students to distance themselves from Israel if they wish to be members.”
