President Michael Schill would like you to believe that he peacefully resolved the encampment on Deering Meadow last month at Northwestern University. His op-ed “Here’s why I reached an agreement with Northwestern protesters” (May 10) falls short on critical details and background and is evidence of the real problem at Northwestern — a lack of clear and decisive leadership.
He didn’t acknowledge the antisemitic toxicity that not only overtook the encampment, replete with signage, slogans and chanting, but also was ever present on campus long before Hamas’ Oct. 7 massacre in Israel.
Jewish students are not protected, as he describes. They are vilified.
Readers also didn’t hear about the incidents of harassment and intimidation during the days of his meetings with violators of a student code of conduct that, ironically, was updated and issued by his office when the tents went up.
Rules and policies don’t call for qualification — they demand to be reinforced. Protests are either in compliance or they are not. If they are not, there should be consequences. Guidelines are intended to protect the rights of everyone on campus, as well as a university’s core educational mission.
By giving into bully tactics, Schill puts at risk students’ safety and well-being, not to mention tarnishing the university’s image and reputation.
The encampment was not a representation of a “process of learning,” as he claims, and the bargaining process that took place was far from a teaching moment.
Other than “a handful of exceptional faculty members,” he failed to include stakeholders in resolving the conflict, including students on the receiving end of the harassment, and the interdisciplinary committee that he established back in November to engage in “respectful dialogue.” It’s no wonder members of his committee to prevent antisemitism and hate resigned.
What is happening at Northwestern is much greater than grievances surrounding a week of tents and protest tactics. This is a reflection on poor university leadership that could have and should have prevented this situation in the first place.
Schill gets paid to learn how to navigate being “between a rock and a hard place,” as he claims many university presidents are “when it comes to the wave of protests and tent encampments on our campuses.” It’s a shame that Schill doesn’t seem to be earning his keep.
— Lisa Fields Lewis and Wendy Khabie, national co-chairs, Coalition Against Antisemitism at Northwestern
Protesters should be applauded
Northwestern University President Michael Schill’s op-ed describes his thoughtful and measured response to the pro-Palestinian protests on campus. Like him, I am a proud Jew who embraces the Jewish cultural values of rationality and tolerance.
I also grew up with a love for Israel, but that love changed to a deep feeling of betrayal when I learned about the pre-Israeli Zionist gangs’ campaign of terrorism against the Palestinian people and the Israeli government’s subsequent inhumane treatment of Palestinians since the creation of Israel some 70 years ago. While I by no means excuse the terrorism inflicted on Israeli civilians by Hamas, which precipitated the recent conflict, I understand the origins of Palestinian resistance to the Israeli occupation of their lands, generation after generation.
The creation of Israel was the world’s response to the guilt it felt about the Holocaust. But the Palestinian people played no role in that genocidal campaign, which was instigated and carried out by Germany’s Nazi regime. Yet it is the Palestinian people who are suffering for the sins of the Nazis.
My heart breaks when I read about “collective punishment” imposed on innocent Palestinians by the Israeli government, such as the bulldozing of family homes of Palestinian terrorist suspects. More tragically, Israel’s response to Hamas’ attack has risen to the ungodly level of the near genocide of the people of Gaza.
Schill describes the protesters’ tents as “a source of antisemitic intimidation” to Northwestern’s Jewish students. That is an unfortunate misperception. Being Pro-Palestinian is not being antisemitic. That myth is perpetuated by those who continue to deny the Palestinian people their political and human rights.
The protesting students at college campuses should be applauded and supported, not vilified and arrested. I admire Schill’s decision to allow those students to exercise their First Amendment rights. But I urge him, and other university administrators, to seriously consider the substance of those protests, rather than respond to their demands with what Schill described as a “flat no.”
— Charles Hoffman, Chicago
Schill is not a reliable executive
Two recent op-eds in the Tribune present contrasting views of the encampment and protests at Northwestern University in April and May. The May 10 essay by Northwestern University President Michael Schill attempts to explain why he reached an agreement with Northwestern protesters, while a Jewish student at Northwestern, Lily Cohen, writes about her decision to resign from Schill’s committee for preventing antisemitism (“Why I resigned from Northwestern’s antisemitism committee,” May 9).
The differing views presented by the two op-eds are striking. Cohen notes that “during the protests and encampment at Northwestern, a Star of David was drawn and crossed out on a sign and the university’s Jewish president was depicted with horns. ‘Death 2 Israel’ was graffitied on a campus building and protesters chanted ‘globalize the intifada,’ encouraging violence against Jews.” News sources reported on these images, including the Tribune.
In contrast, Schill does not mention any antisemitic, anti-Israel and anti-Zionist aspects of the protest and does not mention that the protest violated Northwestern’s own long-standing policy of protests. Also, strangely, he indicates that instead of following university policy about unauthorized protests, he “immediately met with senior administrators to establish a set of principles,” as if none already existed.
Schill claims that he was responding to students’ “isolation and alienation and wanted to work with them to improve life at Northwestern for Muslim students and students from the Middle East and North Africa,” none of which was the apparent motivation for the protest, based on the chants and signage overtly about opposition to Israel and its very existence.
I am aware that Northwestern’s Muslim students have reported isolation, alienation and Islamophobic acts, but it should be obvious that this is not what this protest was about.
Cohen’s straightforward description of the antisemitism and the reporting about the anti-Israel and anti-Zionist content of the protests belie that claim by Schill.
Schill has shown in his bizarre explanation that he is not a reliable executive and leader at Northwestern. Rather than follow established university policies, he caved, and he cannot even take accountability for that.
In contrast, Cohen’s decision to resign from Schill’s committee on antisemitism makes perfect sense.
— Dr. Philip Greenland, Northwestern University faculty member, Skokie
Bravo to peaceful resolution
As a proud alum of Northwestern University, I write to express my deep appreciation for the principled approach adopted by President Michael Schill and the Northwestern University faculty in navigating a negotiation with student protesters. The university’s steadfast commitment to its core principles, coupled with a sincere dedication to enhancing the learning environment, exemplifies integrity.
In a time marked by division, it is heartening to witness Northwestern’s commitment to engage in respectful dialogue — the cornerstone of progress. Embracing respectful discourse remains the surest path toward reconciliation and a deeper understanding of one another. It is through such exchanges that we pave the way for lasting peace, sustained engagement and the prospect of genuine reconciliation.
— Faiz Ahmed, Lisle
Empathy and mutual curiosity
What contributed to the peaceful resolution on Northwestern University’s Deering Meadow? While I was not in the middle of the discussion between the university’s administration and students, I suggest that mutual curiosity and empathy were central.
As with great literature, empathy and curiosity are at the heart of fruitful dialogue.
— Rajesh C. Oza, Northwestern University graduate, Palo Alto, California
Schill abandoned Jewish students
In his op-ed, Northwestern University President Michael Schill proudly explains how he led Northwestern through the recent campus protest to a resolution he feels is just and fair. He elaborates on how he met with student protesters, listened to their demands, acquiesced to many of them, felt their pain and worked to find ways to make them feel heard, seen and appreciated. Schill points to many actions he will be taking to address the wrongs that have been perpetuated.
I support many of these initiatives. They hold the promise of inviting more diverse experiences to Northwestern.
However, of Schill, I ask: What did he do to make Jewish students feel safe, heard and seen? After all, Jewish students have been attacked, demonized, threatened and isolated. Nowhere does he explain how he addressed their concerns and showed them empathy and responsiveness. Schill made no mention of holding those who spew such hate accountable.
Schill stopped the situation from escalating by abandoning his Jewish students and caving in to most of the protesters’ demands. Is that what a leader does? Is that really the best he can do for his Jewish students?
— Carol Reich Scheffler, Northwestern Class of 1979, Rye Brook, New York
Proud of Schill and Northwestern
I am a Northwestern University graduate (1978) and annual donor, and I am so, so proud of President Michael Schill and the Northwestern community. The student body, chosen to be admitted and attend, is a very special, diverse community — no different today than in 1978.
Northwestern has always been a school that teaches people to think and communicate. As an economics major, I took a class in labor economics taught by an admitted socialist. He was an excellent professor, and he taught me to think and open my mind. And this is what we must do today.
Kenyon E. Poole was my economics mentor, and he would invite me to his home for tea and sandwiches without crust (a first for me!) with his wife, Catherine. The three of us would have open discussions about all current events before I returned to campus. Again, opening my mind!
Schill continues with the same concept, which makes a Northwestern experience invaluable.
God bless Northwestern and its faculty and student body. The diversity of the student body makes them all “chosen people.”
— Howard Giller, Santa Monica, California
We must learn how to listen
As a graduate of Northwestern University (1975) and a woman who has marched and protested many times, I want to commend President Michael Schill for his handling of the recent protests on the NU campus. He was able to deflate a volatile situation on the Evanston campus without calling in police and risking injury to many students, staff and neighbors.
Schill was able to go beyond the personal and talk to the students! We must talk about our differences and our personal and public experiences. But we must also learn how to listen to others, to truly understand another’s experiences.
Appreciating every being on this planet is the only way any of us will survive.
— Corinne Kawecki, Evanston
Decision sets a bad precedent
Northwestern University President Michael Schill’s defense of the university’s response to the pro-Palestinian encampment protest sidesteps a serious longer-term problem with the school’s accommodating approach. If mass rule breaking, disruptive disorder and coercive demands are rewarded, a precedent is set that encourages the same tactics to be repeated.
This concern applies to whoever is protesting or whatever they are protesting about.
— Rachelle Gold, Chicago
Teaching moment for top staff
Kudos to President Michael Schill for the outstanding way he and the senior administers of Northwestern University handled the recent student protests over the dire situation in Gaza.
When everyone is shouting, no one is listening.
It should be a teaching moment for top staff in other institutes of higher learning elsewhere. No need to call in the riot squads or the National Guard.
— Linda Burke, Indian Head Park
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