CAAN Updates
October 7, 2025 Update:
CAAN Statement on Newly Released Congressional Record Exposing Qatar’s Control of Northwestern University
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Coalition Against Antisemitism at Northwestern (CAAN)
EVANSTON – October 7, 2025 – On the second anniversary of the October 7 Hamas terrorist attacks, the Coalition Against Antisemitism at Northwestern (CAAN) condemns Northwestern University for its continued entanglement with the Government of Qatar, as documented in the newly released U.S. House Education & Workforce Committee Record on Northwestern–Qatar Funding (HHRG-118-ED00-20240523-QFR003-U1), which lays bare the extent of Qatar’s financial and operational control over Northwestern’s Qatar campus (NU-Q) and its affiliated U.S. programs.
Northwestern has received at least $690 million and as much as $737 million from the Government of Qatar and its affiliates to fund its Doha-based NU-Q campus. NU-Q has long partnered with Al Jazeera Media Network, the Qatari state-controlled outlet that U.S. officials have directed to register under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), underscoring the political and propaganda risks embedded in this relationship. A report published today by the Washington Free Beacon indicates that Qatar is now pressuring Al Jazeera to “scale back anti-Israel rhetoric” in response to mounting scrutiny – further evidence that the regime itself recognizes how toxic its media operations have become.
Further, according to the Qatar Foundation’s own statement, Northwestern receives approximately $70 million per year to operate NU-Q – of which about 10 percent (roughly $7 million) is retained by Northwestern’s Evanston campus. Over the life of the partnership, that amounts to roughly $70 million retained domestically, plus likely an additional $15 million in separate annual payments ($1.5 million payments presumably over a decade since first NU-Q graduating class in 2012) from the Qatar Foundation to fund Northwestern’s U.S.-based “Qatar Support Office” — a total exceeding $80 million in Qatari funds flowing directly to Evanston.
“Two years after Hamas’s barbaric assault on Israel, these revelations confirm that Northwestern University is financially entangled with the same Qatari regime that bankrolls Hamas and shelters its leadership,” said a CAAN spokesperson. “This is not academic partnership — it is foreign capture, funded and directed by one of the world’s principal state sponsors of extremism.”
CAAN calls on:
Congress to immediately expand its ongoing Title VI investigation to include foreign-influence compliance under Section 117;
Congressional and executive oversight bodies to consider additional funding freezes or stop-work orders until Northwestern severs its Qatari ties; and
Northwestern’s Board of Trustees to initiate a structured withdrawal from NU-Q and provide a full public accounting of all foreign contracts and payments.
CAAN’s ongoing federal civil-rights complaint warns that Qatar’s financial control has compromised Northwestern’s independence and breaching U.S. civil-rights and foreign-funding safeguards.
Two years after October 7, Northwestern should be standing with the victims of terror – not profiting from its state sponsor.
September 29, 2025 Update:
Official CAAN Statement on Northwestern’s Registration Holds on Students Who Refuse the Required Antisemitism/Anti-Discrimination Training
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CAAN Statement: Northwestern to Holdouts—Complete the Antisemitism Training or Don’t Enroll; Qatar-Linked Networks and JVP Don’t Set Campus Policy
EVANSTON, Ill. — Sept. 29, 2025 — The Coalition Against Antisemitism at Northwestern (CAAN) supports Northwestern’s decision to place registration holds on students who refuse the required antisemitism/anti-discrimination training. This is a civil rights compliance requirement where completion is a condition of enrollment. Northwestern is right to hold firm.
At the same time, as Northwestern enforces this neutral standard, it must insulate civil rights policy from foreign-funded influence—most notably the long-standing support of Northwestern University in Qatar (NU-Q) by the Qatar Foundation—by vesting decisions in neutral, conflict-free administrators.
Reports show more than 300 students refused to complete the required antisemitism training module. Some campus groups, including Jewish Voice for Peace Northwestern (“JVP NU”), urged boycotts and circulated an “open letter” to derail the requirement—an open web form padded with non-NU signers and anonymous/pseudonymous entries, including Evanston residents. We respect debate; we reject attempts to nullify the University’s duty to protect students from harassment. Vigorous discourse about Israel and the Palestinians is protected; targeting Jewish students is not.
What the boycott letter gets wrong
It recasts compliance as censorship. A mandatory civil rights module is not a speech code. It sets baseline conduct standards so every student can learn free from harassment.
It substitutes politics for policy. You can oppose Israeli policy all day. You don’t get to exclude or harass Jews on campus or demand a pass from the same compliance obligations that protect every other community.
On faculty leadership, conflicts, and Qatar-linked influence
CAAN is deeply concerned that Qatar-funded Professor Jessica Winegar—identified in congressional materials as a key architect of the Deering Meadow agreement and listed among the signatories to the boycott letter—is being lionized by the very networks now working to hollow out basic antisemitism compliance. Northwestern’s long-running financial entanglements with Qatar, including the Qatar Foundation’s support of NU-Q and related programmatic funding streams, raise serious conflict-of-interest questions when faculty connected to those ecosystems help shape campus civil rights policy. The Deering Meadow agreement rewarded encampment tactics and embedded ideological demands into governance—a textbook failure of risk management and compliance.
Professor Elizabeth Shakman Hurd: Public Encouragement of Non-Compliance
As reported, Professor Elizabeth Shakman Hurd—Qatar-linked through program affiliations—described the faculty version of the training as “more balanced” and publicly praised students for “staying the course.” She is also listed among the signatories to the boycott letter. That messaging encourages non-compliance with a civil rights requirement and undermines the University’s duty to protect Jewish students.
Given widely reported Qatar-linked funding of Northwestern University in Qatar (NU-Q) and analyses such as the Middle East Forum’s report on Qatar’s campus influence, these ties warrant a formal conflict-of-interest review for any faculty shaping Title VI policy. Faculty may debate policy; they must not coach students to defy University-wide compliance standards.
CAAN’s firm demands regarding Prof. Winegar, Prof. Hurd, and policy governance:
Immediate recusal from any role—formal or informal—touching antisemitism policy, bias training content, complaint intake, investigations, or disciplinary oversight.
Independent, outside-counsel review authorized by the Board to examine (i) the Deering Meadow process, (ii) the role of faculty negotiators, and (iii) Qatar-linked financial or institutional ties relevant to policy setting; publish findings on a fixed timeline.
Mandatory conflict-of-interest disclosures (publicly posted) for any administrator or faculty member involved in Title VI/antisemitism policy who has received foreign-linked funding, travel, or honoraria, or has programmatic ties to NU-Q/Qatar Foundation.
Northwestern must demonstrate that foreign-funded ecosystems and campus activism do not steer civil rights policy. Title VI compliance requires neutral, conflict-free decision-makers—and the Board must enforce that standard now. Federal stakes: a $790 million funding pause makes swift Title VI enforcement a financial imperative, not just a policy preference.
Policy must be paired with enforcement
Training without follow-through leaves Jewish students exposed to the same intimidation that triggered federal scrutiny. Northwestern must back the module with timely investigations, proportionate sanctions, and transparent (de-identified) reporting of outcomes. The standard is Title VI: when discrimination occurs, the institution acts—consistently, promptly, and even-handedly.
Apply rules neutrally to every student organization
If any club’s governing documents—including NU’s JVP chapter—exclude “Zionists” or condition membership on protected aspects of Jewish identity (religion, ethnicity, or perceived national origin), that is facial discrimination under University policy and must be immediately corrected or the organization disciplined. According to the Washington Free Beacon, Northwestern has already told JVP NU to change its constitution or risk discipline under the new anti-discrimination policy. No carve-outs. No double standards.
CAAN’s immediate recommendations to Northwestern
Maintain the enrollment holds until the module is completed across all schools and programs.
Enforce conduct, not just click-throughs: publish quarterly, de-identified metrics on antisemitism complaints, findings, and sanctions.
Audit RSO constitutions, such as that of Jewish Voice for Peace Northwestern (JVP NU), for compliance and require prompt corrective action where bylaws violate anti-discrimination rules.
Document a Title VI compliance plan that protects Jewish students’ civil rights while safeguarding lawful academic debate.
Install neutral oversight (outside the Deering Meadow cohort) for all antisemitism-related training and enforcement.
“Training is a floor, not a ceiling. Civil rights compliance begins with a module—and ends with enforcement.” — CAAN
Bottom line: Northwestern took a necessary first step by holding registrations. Now it must finish the job: enforce Title VI neutrally, cure discriminatory bylaws, separate activism from governance, and report outcomes—so Jewish students can learn free from discrimination and intimidation.
- Coalition Against Antisemitism at Northwestern (CAAN)
September 4, 2025 Update:
Schill Resigns.
Jump to media coverage of his congressional testimony and resignation.
Official CAAN Statement on Schill’s resignation announcement.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CAAN Statement on Northwestern University’s Announcement of Leadership Change
September 4, 2025
Following today’s announcement that President Michael Schill has resigned, the Coalition Against Antisemitism at Northwestern (CAAN) encourages the Board of Trustees to take new, concrete steps that return Northwestern to its original mission of academic excellence, integrity, and student safety. CAAN stands ready to partner with the Board to implement a clear plan for reform.
For nearly two years, CAAN has pressed for moral clarity and respect for federal civil rights. President Schill’s resignation comes as Northwestern negotiates with the White House to release $790 million in frozen research funds. Major reforms are critical, and they will not occur without federal oversight. The University’s failures span years and include tolerance of antisemitic activism, foreign influence, and discriminatory practices.
Immediate Board Action Required. To credibly lead reform, the Board must act now:
Sign the Federal Settlement; Restore Research Funding: Execute an enforceable settlement with the U.S. government to close outstanding investigations and unlock frozen federal research funds.
Restructure the Board: Chair Peter Barris should resign immediately. He led the search that installed President Schill and presided over the governance breakdowns that followed. Reduce Board size, adopt term limits, strengthen independence and conflict-of-interest rules.
Exit Qatar Campus and Rescind Deering Meadow Agreement: Formally vote to disaffiliate from Northwestern’s Qatar campus (NU-Q) and execute an exit plan; rescind the Deering Meadow Agreement in full, nullify any concessions that violate Title VI or institutional neutrality, and prohibit future policy changes negotiated outside formal governance channels.
Northwestern’s crisis is multi-dimensional:
The Deering Meadow Agreement legitimized antisemitic demands, as confirmed in congressional materials, and codified them into policy. Faculty and administrators approved discriminatory concessions and failed to protect Jewish students.
Official student clubs, such as JVPNU, co-promoted actions with groups under state investigation and federal suits alleging material support for terrorism.
Northwestern downplayed the U.S. Department of Education’s Title VI investigation and congressional oversight while dramatically increasing lobbying spending instead of correcting course.
The steps are clear, and CAAN can be your partner. Any resolution by the Department of Justice and Department of Education should mandate a full overhaul of leadership (President, Provost, General Counsel, Office of Civil Rights & Title IX Compliance, and Student Affairs), independent federal monitoring with enforceable Title VI oversight, a civil rights compliance program that guarantees Jewish student safety and lasting reform, and Board restructuring as outlined above.
What the Next President Must Demonstrate: Northwestern now needs a principled, persuasive leader grounded in Western democratic values and with the moral clarity to confront antisemitism and acknowledge past failures. The next president must be a proven operator with real crisis-management expertise who can stabilize research funding, restore trust with regulators, and communicate transparently with students, parents, and alumni. Above all, they must enforce federal civil rights laws and University policies consistently for everyone, so civil rights, accountability, and student safety come first.
CAAN will be both a constructive partner and a relentless watchdog until Jewish students are safe, Northwestern is independently verified in full Title VI compliance, and the University once again embodies the accountability and integrity its community and the nation expect and deserve.
Coalition Against Antisemitism at Northwestern (CAAN)
June 30, 2025 Update
Schill to return August 5, 2025 to testify before Congress in a “transcribed interview.”
May 6, 2025 Update
CAAN takes 18 Northwestern students to Washington, D.C.
CAAN sends Northwestern students to Washington, D.C. to speak to lawmakers about ongoing antisemitism at Northwestern. Northwestern students Or Yahalom and Max Schlanger speak to CBS, NBC and WGN reporters.