Overview
- U.S. District Judge Georgia N. Alexakis denied a temporary restraining order sought by graduate students, finding the plaintiffs had not shown Northwestern’s mandate was discriminatory.
- CAIR’s Chicago chapter filed the Title VI lawsuit on behalf of Northwestern Graduate Workers for Palestine and two doctoral students, alleging the training brands anti‑Zionist advocacy as antisemitic and chills Palestinian identity.
- Northwestern says students need only attest to following the Student Code of Conduct and policies, not agree with the training’s viewpoints, and that only conduct rising to discrimination or harassment would face discipline.
- The required course, introduced in February, includes a Jewish United Fund–produced video on antisemitism as well as segments on anti‑Muslim, anti‑Arab and anti‑Palestinian bias; university lawyers said 16 students had not completed it.
- The case comes after a turbulent year of campus protests and federal scrutiny that included a $790 million freeze on Northwestern’s funding, and disputed reports over how many students were blocked from registering for refusing the training.