The president of Northwestern University, Michael Schill, announced that he would resign on Thursday.
Schill’s resignation comes after months of upheaval precipitated by attacks from the G.O. P. after Northwestern found itself in the Trump administration’s crosshairs and was heavily scrutinized by congressional Republicans.
Similar to probes on Harvard and other elite colleges, Schill was called into a congressional hearing last year to discuss the accusation that the university did not do enough to address antisemitism during campus protests over the war Israel has waged against Gaza. The Anti-Defamation League and other Jewish groups had called for Schill’s resignation claiming he had negotiated with protesters.
In April, the government froze almost $800 million in federal research funding that had been allocated for Northwestern, a move that could have been a part of a larger effort for Republicans to punish certain elite American universities for alleged mistreatment of Jewish students.
In his resignation letter, Schill passively mentioned the political attacks.
“Our community has made significant progress while simultaneously facing extraordinary challenges,” he said. “Together, we have made decisions that strengthened the institution and helped safeguard its future.”
The Trump administration has stalled billions of dollars in federal research grants to cajole these schools into adopting the administration’s political positions. It has changed the scope of its reasons for going after ivy league institutions as well as certain public colleges.
In July, Northwestern announced that it was eliminating over 400 jobs after Trump froze research funding, placing essential work in danger. Since then, the college has spent months trying to make up for the financial shortage.
Schill, an expert in housing law and policy, will continue on as a law professor after a sabbatical.
