CHICAGO (CBS) — The president of Northwestern University will testify before Congress about anti-Semitism on college campuses.
President Michael Schill will join the presidents of Rutgers University and UCLA to speak before the House Committee on Education and the Workforce in the wake of pro-Palestinian camps taking up residence on college campuses.
The committee’s chairman, Rep. Virginia Fox, a Republican from North Carolina, chastised all three presidents for the way they handled demonstrations on their campuses against the war in Gaza.
She specifically criticized Northwestern for its negotiations with protesters whose views she called “anti-Semitic.”
Peel became the first university president to make a deal with students calling on their school to cut financial ties with companies profiting from Israel’s military campaign.
Under the agreement, the students took down their tent camp and Northwestern promised to be more transparent about its financial dealings.
It was also agreed to provide scholarships to five Palestinian students affected by the war and to create positions for two Palestinian professors.
This comes as Northwestern and its leaders are facing a lawsuit seeking class-action status and saying the university has failed to protect Jewish students of serious anti-Semitic intimidation.
The lawsuit was filed Monday in U.S. District Court in Chicago. The complaint alleged that some Jewish students faced harassment and hateful rhetoric. It also criticizes the school for allowing tent encampments in protest of the war in Gaza – contrary to campus policy.
Another lawsuit filed in Cook County Circuit Court on behalf of three students earlier this month alleges the university enabled harassment, particularly during the encampment protest.
The hearing called “Call for Accountability: Stop Anti-Semitic Chaos on Universities” will begin at 8:45 a.m. on Thursday.
