Beset by federal funding cuts tied to his handling of campus antisemitism, Michael Schill, president of Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill., announced his resignation on Thursday.
Schill served as president for three years and will remain in the role until an interim replacement is named. He has stated that he will continue to challenge the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump, which froze some $790 million in funds in April, citing civil-rights violations and campus antisemitism.
The freeze has led to significant layoffs and a halt to new hiring.
“President Schill will leave behind a legacy of not only failing to deter antisemitism on campus but worsening it,” Rep. Tim Walberg (R-Mich.), chair of the House Education and Workforce Committee, wrote in a statement. “These students not only deserve better, but the law requires it.”
In May, the administration opened an investigation into the academic institution for discriminating against Jewish students.
“As I reflect on the progress we have made and what lies ahead, I believe now is the right time for new leadership to guide Northwestern into its next chapter,” Schill said in a statement. “Therefore, I have decided, in consultation with the leadership of the Board of Trustees, that I will step down as president.”
Schill, who is Jewish, came under heavy criticism for negotiating with anti-Israel demonstrators to end their disruptive encampment in 2024. He noted that he didn’t cave to demands that the school divest from Israel and end an academic program that focused on Israeli innovation.
Still, Northwestern did agree to answer questions about its investments, re-establish its Advisory Committee on Investment Responsibility, and include Gazan students and faculty in its existing Scholars at Risk admissions and hiring program, among other concessions to protesters.
Schill insisted that the outcome was better for the university than police involvement to break up the encampment.
“Mr. Schill, you cut a disgraceful deal with the encampment that prompted seven Jewish members of your own antisemitism advisory committee to resign in protest,” Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.) said at a congressional hearing last year on campus antisemitism, when he testified.
In May 2024, Jewish students at Northwestern filed lawsuits against the school, alleging civil-rights violations by permitting a hostile environment toward them.
