Northwestern Investigated by US for Discrimination Against Jews

Northwestern University is facing a probe by the US Department of Health and Human Services for alleged civil rights violations against Jewish students, an investigation that could lead to further restrictions on federal funding to the school.

The agency said in a statement on Tuesday that it was investigating a “prestigious Midwest university” to determine whether it complied with Title VI following a complaint from an an advocacy organization. The statement withheld the name of the school and the group but a Northwestern spokesman confirmed that the university is reviewing an HHS request.

“There is no place for antisemitism at Northwestern and the steps we have taken since last summer have dramatically improved the safety of our Jewish students,” the spokesman said in a statement. He added that the school has instituted mandatory antisemitism training for faculty, staff and students and added that there “has been a significant decrease in reports of discrimination or harassment based on antisemitism or shared Jewish ancestry in the current academic year.”

HHS and the Trump administration have accused elite schools, including Harvard, Princeton, Columbia and Northwestern, of failing to protect Jewish students after the institutions were rocked by protest movements following the Oct. 7, 2023, attack by Hamas on Israel and the Jewish state’s retaliatory response in Gaza.

Northwestern faced particular scrutiny from lawmakers after reaching a deal with Pro-Palestinian protesters to remove an encampment that included concessions in exchange for de-escalating the situation. The university said last month that researchers with federal grants had received 100 stop-work orders affecting programs in medicine, engineering and other fields after the Trump administration paused $790 million of funds to the Evanston, Illinois-based school because of potential civil rights violations.

“Institutions of higher education receiving HHS Federal financial assistance are responsible for complying with Title VI’s nondiscrimination mandates,” Anthony Archeval, Acting Director of the Office for Civil Rights at HHS, said in Tuesday’s statement. “OCR is committed to ensuring students’ education, safety, and well-being are not disrupted due to discrimination at institutions funded by taxpayer dollars.”

To contact the reporter on this story:
Janet Lorin in New York at jlorin@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Pierre Paulden at ppaulden@bloomberg.net

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