Evanston, Illinois – Congressional investigators are accusing Northwestern University’s president of obstructing an investigation into the university’s response to anti-Israel riots on its campus.
Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-S.C., chairwoman of the House Education and Labor Committee, sent a letter to Northwestern leaders on Friday, blasting them for not responding to lawmakers’ questions sent to them about a month ago.
“Unfortunately, rather than being cooperative and transparent, Northwestern obstructed the committee’s investigation,” Fox wrote.
Fox told Fox News that Northwestern’s failure to respond shows the university is not taking anti-Semitic threats on campus seriously and that Jewish students at the university are no safer now than they were a month ago.
Maryland elementary school faces backlash over Pledge of Allegiance, ‘mandatory patriotism’
“I don’t want to see students return to a campus where they don’t feel safe. We must get to the bottom of this issue,” the congressman said.
The House committee began its investigation after a group of students and faculty held a week of campus demonstrations in late April, including a campout at Daring Meadow, which ended when university officials reached a settlement with the protesters.
United States – December: Rep. Virginia Foxx, R.N.C., attends a press conference featuring college students’ comments about anti-Semitism on college campuses, Tuesday, Dec. 5, 2023, at the U.S. Capitol. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
Northwestern University President Michael Schill defended the negotiations at a congressional hearing on May 23, 2024, saying the university had not given in to any of the protesters’ demands, but did not answer many of lawmakers’ questions.
Two weeks later, Fox said school officials still refused to cooperate.
“Northwestern responded to the Committee’s priority request by producing just 13 pages of previously unpublicized documents,” Fox wrote. “The Committee specifically requested memos, summaries, recordings and other records that would provide real insight into the Board’s deliberations, but Northwestern did not produce any such documents or certify that such documents did not exist.”
Fox News has reached out to Northwestern University for comment.
Mayor says replacing Jewish club yearbook photo with Muslim student’s photo was “blatant anti-Semitic” act
Congressional investigators have given Northwestern University one week, until June 13, to respond to the request.
Fox said that if the university fails to meet the deadline, Northwestern would become only the second institution of higher education to be subpoenaed by the House Education and Labor Committee since 1867. Earlier this year, Harvard University became the first university to be subpoenaed for refusing to cooperate with investigators looking into anti-Semitism on its campus.
Get the FOX News App
Also at stake for Northwestern is the hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funding it receives each year: In 2023 alone, the university is set to receive more than $682 million in federal research grants. Fox said that funding could ultimately be cut off if university officials continue to ignore congressional requests.
“Northwestern’s caving to the anti-Semitic camp and stymieing the Commission’s oversight is unbecoming of a leading university. Federal funding to Northwestern is contingent on compliance with its legal obligations under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964,” Fox wrote. “It is inappropriate for taxpayers to expect continued federal funding from Northwestern while it appears to be violating its Title VI obligations to its Jewish students, faculty and staff and ignoring the Commission’s oversight.”
Fox News’ Patrick McGovern contributed to this report.
