No university president is facing more pressure to resign over campus antisemitism than Northwestern’s Michael Schill, and that was before last weekend’s anti-Israel graduation walkout.
About 50 graduates marched out in the middle of the commencement ceremony last weekend at United Center in Chicago, some holding Palestinian flags and chanting “Free, free Palestine,” despite the university’s warning that students who disrupt graduation could have their degrees withheld.
Northwestern has not commented on whether the students will face sanctions, fueling the narrative that pro-Gaza protesters are running roughshod over Mr. Schill and his administration at the expense of Jewish students.
“The precedent at Northwestern is that, if you violate the rules, they give you free tuition and possibly a job,” said Adam Guillette, president of Accuracy in Media, which has run a mobile billboard truck at Northwestern urging Mr. Schill to resign. “So it’s no surprise that they were happy to violate the rules.”
The Chicago Republican Party also blasted Mr. Schill after the walkout, saying on X: “What a joke, as well as another embarrassment for Northwestern University. To begin, President Schill should resign.”
Mr. Schill survived the 2023-24 academic year, but at a cost. His decision to strike a protester-friendly agreement with student encampment leaders touched off a drumbeat for his resignation among lawmakers and major Jewish groups that shows no signs of abating.
The Anti-Defamation League reiterated its call for Mr. Schill to step down in a Tuesday alert, citing the graduation walkout.
“As tempers remained high at Northwestern University, school officials warned against any commencement disruptions and said that protesters would ‘face discipline, and anyone who disrupts the ceremony could be asked to leave,’” said the ADL. “Despite this, many pro-Palestinian protesters walked out of the United Center, where thousands of Northwestern students were graduating.”
Others urging Mr. Schill to resign include Republican Reps. Elise Stefanik, Burgess Owens and Kevin Kiley, as well as 16 major Jewish and pro-Israel groups, which have called for the “immediate removal” of Mr. Schill as well as Board of Trustees Chair Peter Barris.
The groups led by StandWithUs cited the university’s deal with encampment leaders that includes full scholarships for five Palestinian students and jobs for two Palestinian faculty. The deal also provides a renovated house for Middle East, North African and Muslim students, and offer a path for divestment discussions by reestablishing its Advisory Committee on Investment Responsibility.
Mr. Schill defended the agreement at the May 23 hearing before the House Education and the Workforce Committee, saying the encampment’s removal was achieved “without violence,” meaning that police were not called in, as with Columbia and other universities.
“I believe leaders need to make hard decisions. I believe we got a good result,” Mr. Schill told the committee. “We were able to get rid of the major antisemitic event on our campus with no major problems.”
Northwestern has other problems. The university is under investigation for its handling of campus antisemitism by the House committee and the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights. At least two lawsuits have been filed by students.
Education Committee Chair Virginia Foxx threatened to subpoena Mr. Schill in a June 7 letter, accusing him of obstructing the panel’s investigation with his “misleading” testimony.
All seven Jewish members of Northwestern’s antisemitism committee resigned after the agreement with protesters was announced, leaving the panel in disarray.
Go to https://t.co/DzD7PpQzlc now to let the trustees at Northwestern University know that their president is a shill for Hamas. Michael Schill must resign! pic.twitter.com/dKfk0fwuMe
— Adam Guillette (@adamguillette) May 8, 2024
After Northwestern announced its agreement with the Deering Meadow protesters, Rutgers University struck a deal with its student encampment leaders.
“We made a choice — that choice was to engage our students through dialogue as a first option instead of police action,” Rutgers President Jonathan Holloway told the committee. “We had seen what transpired at other universities and sought a different way.”
Mr. Guillette said that Mr. Schill’s example provided a roadmap for other universities seeking to avoid the negative publicity associated with calling in police.
“He cut a deal and placated the radicals on his campus,” said Mr. Guillette. “Shortly after he cut a deal with the radical protesters, Rutgers and other universities followed suit. More than anything, it’s just an incredibly dangerous precedent.”
Mr. Schill, who has been president for less than two years, addressed the challenges in his Sunday graduation remarks, saying it has been a “difficult year, but I want to focus on this moment.”
“You endured. You are here,” he told graduates. “You, the class of 2024, have a unique and powerful perspective on the world. What you have learned, what you have experienced will give you the tools to make change.”
• Valerie Richardson can be reached at vrichardson@washingtontimes.com.
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