Northwestern University President Michael Schill has fallen short at the most important part of his job: keeping all students safe.

While testifying before Congress on May 23, President Schill declared, “My number one objective and mandate when parents give me their children, or lend me their children, I need to keep them safe….”  Yet his actions do not back up that statement.

President Schill ignored concerns from Jewish students in the months leading up to Oct. 7 that antisemitism on the Evanston, Illinois, campus was rising, and they did not feel safe. He ignored Jewish students who pleaded with him after Oct. 7 to address the unsafe environment that was growing on campus. When an anti-Israel encampment went up — in clear violation of the university’s updated student codes of conduct — his refusal to act essentially allowed Jewish students to be subjected to antisemitic harassment and intimidation on a daily basis without protection.

In what profession is an employee allowed to fail repeatedly at their self-identified “number one objective and mandate,” and still keep their job?

Why should we tolerate a university leader ignoring the pleas of one group of students who say they do not feel safe amid the evidence of rising hate, intolerance, and antisemitism on campus? Simply put, there is no scenario where this should be accepted, and we should not accept President Schill’s behavior.

Jewish students need to feel safe on campus, and to live in an environment free of harassment, intimidation, and threats, and President Schill has missed the mark at every turn. For that reason, it is clear that new leadership at Northwestern is needed.

This is not a position ADL takes lightly. We have a long history — going back decades — of positive engagement with the university. The president himself said in his testimony that he respects ADL’s work, even after we graded his administration’s performance with an “F” for the failure to address antisemitism and to protect Jewish students.

ADL’s CEO, Jonathan Greenblatt, is a graduate of Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Business, and always speaks highly of his experiences there as a student. We hoped President Schill’s May 23 testimony would help us and others understand why he did little to address antisemitism on campus before and after Oct. 7, and instead engaged in a policy of appeasement with anti-Israel and antisemitic demonstrators. Sadly, the testimony did the exact opposite. It became clear that time and again, President Schill knowingly prioritized antisemitic rule-breaking over the safety of Jewish students.

President Schill’s testimony revealed hypocrisy, negligence, and platitudes. He testified that he had personally witnessed antisemitism on campus before and after Oct. 7, yet he admitted that no student has been disciplined for violating the university’s codes of conduct. Even more, when pressed by Congress, he refused to say if or when any students or faculty will be held accountable.

He asserted that the codes of conduct were inadequate to address the anti-Israel encampment, while also admitting, “[T]he encampment was breaking our rules.” But even after amending Northwestern’s codes of conduct specifically to prohibit the encampment, he and his administration then failed to enforce the new rules.

President Schill admitted he only appointed one expert on antisemitism to his Advisory Committee on Preventing Antisemitism, and he acted surprised that the Committee could not reach consensus on the definition of antisemitism. Seven Jewish members of the committee, including the executive director of Northwestern’s Hillel, resigned from the Committee in response to the Deering Agreement. During his testimony, President Schill asked for the opportunity to form a new task force to address antisemitism after failing so spectacularly the first time.

President Schill testified that the Deering Agreement was reached at 4 am without consultation with Jewish students or leaders on campus, because such consultation was “impractical.” Yet President Schill somehow had time to consult with Jessica Winegar, a leading international proponent of the BDS movement whom he had appointed to his antisemitism advisory committee. In other words, he only asked those he knew would not push back against his capitulation while ignoring the months of input from Jewish students.

President Schill took credit for a “peaceful” end to the encampment. Yet he allowed the encampment to remain, and he rewarded protestors who had fanned the flames of antisemitism on campus, including with signage celebrating violence against Jews.

Finally, President Schill testified he still does not know who was behind the encampment, yet he somehow reached an agreement with encampment “leaders.”

Do you trust him to do his job and keep Northwestern students safe? We don’t.

New leadership at Northwestern is the first necessary step to restoring trust and confidence with Jewish students on campus, and ensuring they not only feel safe but are safe.

David Goldenberg is Midwest Regional Director of ADL (the Anti-Defamation League).

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