Northwestern U shows that it IS possible for universities to fight antisemitism ~ Elder Of Ziyon

Tuesday, April 01, 2025

Northwestern U shows that it IS possible for universities to fight antisemitism

Nearly a year after Northwestern University President Michael Schill appeared on Capitol Hill for a hearing on antisemitism, the university released a report Monday touting an 88% drop in documented incidents of antisemitic discrimination from November 2023 to November 2024.

NU, facing an active Trump administration investigation over alleged antisemitism on campus, said in the update that “like many universities across the nation, Northwestern was not prepared for the antisemitism that occurred last year.”

Among other things, since last summer, the university has revised its handbook and code of conduct, created a new Display and Solicitation Policy banning “unauthorized 3D installations including tents and structures” and updated the Demonstration Policy to limit how, when and where protests may be conducted.

In February, Northwestern also launched an antisemitism training module that is mandatory for all students and adopted the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s working definition of antisemitism.

According to the progress report, the number of reports of antisemitism went down from 26 in November 2023 to 4 in November 2024.

The report indicates that, unlike the bare minimum that has been done on other campuses, Northwestern has taken the problem seriously. It expanded its police force, disciplined 11 students for breaking protest policies and fired a staff member “for violations of the staff policies.”

The Student Code of Conduct policies have been strengthened significantly:

The new Intimidation Standard explicitly prohibits subjecting another person or group to abusive, demeaning, harassing, humiliating, intimidating, threatening or violent behavior that substantially affects the ability of the person or group to learn, work or live in the University environment. Examples of violations to this new policy include physical threats, verbal or written communication to threaten violence, the use of symbols, words or graphics to threaten violence, acts of doxing, and abusive behavior toward a University official or agent acting in performance of their duties, among others. It also prohibits engaging in abusive, demeaning, harassing, humiliating, intimidating or threatening behavior that excludes a student from joining or participating in a student organization.
The Failure to Comply Standard has been updated with specific examples and to make clear that students are required to comply with the requests, directives and instructions of University officials acting in performance of their duties. Under this policy, students must identify themselves, including removing face masks or coverings for purposes of identification when asked by an authorized University official who is addressing law or policy violations and health or safety concerns.
The updated and renamed Misuse of University Properties policy more clearly defines misuse, including unauthorized access to athletics fields and construction sites and attending or participating in an event in University spaces that violates the policies governing that space.
The Destruction of Property Standard has been updated to broaden the definition of what applies under this policy to include tampering with University property.

All of these are common sense. None of them violate freedom of speech. It appears that Northwestern has not buckled under to threats by the haters.

Notice also that adopting the IHRA definition of antisemitism is a major part of their successful program. The people who claim that somehow the IHRA definition endangers Jewish students have no data to back them up - Northwestern has data showing that it works.