Fighting
Antisemitism at
Northwestern

What is CAAN?

The Coalition Against Antisemitism at Northwestern (CAAN) is a dedicated alliance of thousands of Jewish and non-Jewish stakeholders, including Northwestern students, parents, alumni, faculty, trustees, interfaith partners, government officials, and legal experts. Together we work tirelessly to combat antisemitism, hate and prejudice, championing education and advocacy to promote a safer, more inclusive community.

Share our mission and join us in making a difference.

What is antisemitism?

The International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) defines antisemitism as, “a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews. Rhetorical and physical manifestations of antisemitism are directed toward Jewish or non-Jewish individuals and/or their property, toward Jewish community institutions and religious facilities.” The IHRA Definition, along with its 11 clarifying examples, is a definitional tool to identify both classic and contemporary manifestations of antisemitism.

December 3, 2025 Update: CAAN’s First Press Conference

CAAN Organizes Its First Press Conference on the Federal Resolution Agreement with Northwestern, Joined by StandWithUs, the Simon Wiesenthal Center, GWU’s Program on Extremism, and Northwestern Student Representatives

Interview with CAAN President Michael Teplitsky:

Panel discussion with CAAN Chair Lisa Fields Lewis:

Interview with CAAN Student Liasons Max Schlanger and Christina Sher (jump to 3:10):

Visit our Instagram page to watch more clips from the press conference.

November 30, 2025 Update:

CAAN Statement on the Federal Resolution Agreement with Northwestern University
CAAN Thanks Federal Agencies, Oversight Partners, Students, Faculty, and Its Leadership Team – and Calls on Northwestern’s Incoming Leaders to Deliver Major Reforms

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Evanston, Illinois – November 30, 2025 — The Coalition Against Antisemitism at Northwestern (“CAAN”) issues the following statement in response to the November 28, 2025 Resolution Agreement entered into by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (“OCR”) and the U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division with Northwestern University (“Resolution Agreement”). Federal investigators froze more than $1 billion in Northwestern research funding – one of the largest freezes in U.S. higher-education history – and the University will now pay a $75 million federal penalty as part of the Resolution Agreement. While the Resolution Agreement makes a necessary first step in accountability for Northwestern, it is only just the beginning.

The Deering Meadow Agreement Was a Discriminatory Capitulation – and the Resolution Agreement Finally Nullifies It. CAAN welcomes the fact that the Resolution Agreement nullifies the discriminatory Deering Meadow Agreement, a document that represented one of the lowest points in Northwestern’s history. That agreement granted preferential treatment based on national origin, empowered groups involved in harassment, bypassed required governance safeguards, and signaled an institutional surrender rather than leadership. Its elimination is an essential step toward reinstating civil rights compliance and restoring the University’s credibility.

CAAN is honored to represent the Jewish, Israeli, and Zionist students, faculty, staff, and families who endured discrimination, harassment, and fear of retaliation across nearly every facet of campus life during the 2023-2024, 2024-2025, and 2025-2026 academic years, including: classrooms and academic departments, cafeterias and dining halls, courtyards, quads, and student centers, dormitories and residential life, religious and cultural spaces, student organizations and advising environments, athletic programs, Northwestern Pritzker School of Law, Feinberg School of Medicine, and more. Incidents have continued as recently as November 17, 2025, where Jewish students reported being demeaned, isolated, and subjected to one-sided political instruction under the guise of classroom “discussion.” Their courage in coming forward – often at significant personal and academic risk – made federal action possible.

Northwestern Failed to Protect its Students – and Immediate Reforms Are Required. For years, Northwestern’s leadership displayed deliberate indifference as antisemitism spread across classrooms, student life, and professional programs, and failed to take the necessary action to protect Jewish, Israeli, and Zionist students and faculty across its campuses and programs.

Northwestern must confront the governance failure exposed by recent classroom incidents: if neither federal authorities nor the administration oversee what is taught, then who does? Academic freedom protects inquiry – not political advocacy posing as instruction. As shown in the Biomedicine and World History lecture and the National Cinema syllabus, faculty injected ideologically extreme content echoing narratives of U.S.-designated terrorist organizations, delivered outside their expertise and presented as fact. This violates Northwestern’s own standards on academic neutrality, professional conduct, and conflicts of interest. CAAN calls for clear academic-neutrality rules, limits ensuring faculty teach within course scope and discipline, and safeguards preventing required courses from becoming political platforms. Without these protections, Title VI reforms cannot succeed.

This collapse of leadership was visible in: a botched series of university statements after the October 7, 2023 Hamas massacre; years of complaints to the Board of Trustees–from students, parents, faculty, and alumni–that consistently fell on deaf ears; major incidents inside the law school and medical school, where Jewish students reported marginalization, isolation, and intimidation; faculty politicization inside required courses, where activism replaced academic neutrality; and the University’s inability–or unwillingness–to apply its own nondiscrimination rules when antisemitism was involved.

These failures were not isolated – they were systemic, cultural, and widespread across the institution. Northwestern must now rebuild the trust it lost with its Jewish community, and while the Resolution Agreement is a positive first step, there are still additional steps that must be taken to effectuate complete reform.

CAAN Releases Its Compliance Gaps Memorandum

Alongside today’s announcement, CAAN is releasing a memorandum titled “Five-Point Compliance Gaps Memo on the Resolution Agreement,” which documents the unresolved Title VI, governance, academic-neutrality, and foreign-influence failures that fall outside the scope of the Resolution Agreement. This memorandum is being provided to federal agencies, congressional investigators, key stakeholders, and the public. Key takeaways from the memorandum are as follows:

Northwestern must also act immediately to disaffiliate from its NU-Q campus. Extensive congressional documentation and multiple independent investigations have shown that NU-Q operates within a Qatari state-directed ecosystem shaped by the Qatar Foundation, Al Jazeera Media Network, and institutions tied to Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood. Such forces are fundamentally incompatible with Northwestern’s Title VI obligations, institutional neutrality commitments, and academic standards.
Major reforms are now required from Northwestern’s New President and Provost. The Resolution Agreement addresses several technical Title VI obligations: training, tracking, reporting, and response protocols. But Northwestern’s deeper failures are adaptive and cultural – and must be addressed by incoming leadership.

CAAN Will Continue to Support Federal Oversight and Student Protection. Northwestern may try to portray the Resolution Agreement as closure. It is not. It is the beginning of a years-long accountability process, and Northwestern’s claim that it was “not found in violation” misrepresents how federal civil rights agreements work. Federal agencies routinely resolve violations through agreements without formal findings when corrective plans are secured.

CAAN will continue to support federal agencies, congressional oversight committees, whistleblowers, students, faculty, and community partners as Northwestern undertakes the structural and moral reforms now required.

CAAN Thanks Federal Agencies, Investigators, and Leadership Partners. CAAN extends its sincere appreciation to the federal and congressional partners whose persistent oversight brought Northwestern to this point of federal correction:

Federal Agencies:

U.S. Department of Education – Office for Civil Rights (ED OCR)
U.S. Department of Justice – Civil Rights Division (DOJ CRT)
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services – Civil Rights Division (HHS OCR)
U.S. General Services Administration (GSA)
White House Faith Office
White House Executive Office of the President

Congressional Oversight Partners:

House Committee on Education & the Workforce investigators
Chairwoman Virginia Foxx (R-NC) – CAAN offers special gratitude for her leadership, moral clarity, and fearless pursuit of the facts.
Chairman Rep. Tim Walberg (R-MI) – CAAN acknowledges his commitment to ensuring that Northwestern was ultimately answerable for its civil rights obligations.
Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY)
Rep. Burgess Owens (R-UT)
Senator Jim Banks (R-IN)

CAAN also thanks Northwestern’s Interim President Henry Bienen for openly confronting Northwestern’s governance failures and for supporting the need for structural reform.

We further thank the CAAN leadership team, advisors, legal partners, volunteers, and allied organizations, whose sustained work supported federal investigators and strengthened the public record.

The Coalition Against Antisemitism at Northwestern (CAAN)

October 21, 2025 Update:

Court Shuts Down Attempt to Rewrite Civil Rights Law
Federal judge rejects effort to undermine antisemitism training at Northwestern

CHICAGO (Oct. 21, 2025) — The Coalition Against Antisemitism at Northwestern (CAAN) applauds the federal court for rejecting the flawed legal theory behind a lawsuit that sought a temporary restraining order against Northwestern University’s antisemitism training.

In Tahboub et al. v. Northwestern University (Case No. 1:25-cv-12614), heard before Judge Georgia N. Alexakis in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, plaintiffs represented by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) claimed that a required antisemitism education module violated civil rights law.

Had the plaintiffs prevailed, the case could have set a harmful precedent – redefining civil rights training itself as discriminatory and weakening the very protections Title VI was designed to uphold.

Judge Alexakis questioned how a neutral, campus-wide program could constitute discrimination.

CAAN calls on universities, legislators, and federal agencies to reaffirm the IHRA definition, strengthen Title VI enforcement, and ensure that antisemitism education remains a core compliance standard across U.S. campuses. Protecting Jewish students is not a political act – it is a constitutional and moral duty.

Immediate Institutional Demands to Northwestern University

CAAN further calls on Northwestern University to take immediate corrective action following the court’s ruling:

Delete CAIR and other Extremist Groups from Northwestern’s “Anti-Hate Resources” (see link):
Northwestern must remove the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) from its official “Anti-Hate Resources” webpage. It is indefensible for the university to endorse or platform an organization that is actively suing Northwestern and whose data sources have been widely discredited by bipartisan congressional and law-enforcement findings.
Remove CAIR from Northwestern’s Faculty Training Materials (see link):
Northwestern must immediately drop all CAIR-sourced data and citations from its faculty and staff anti-discrimination training video. The use of unverified CAIR statistics – in contrast to verified FBI data for antisemitism – presents a biased and unreliable portrayal of campus discrimination trends.

CAAN emphasizes that civil rights compliance requires factual integrity, transparency, and neutrality – not political appeasement. A university cannot claim to combat hate while relying on organizations that politicize civil rights law and undermine the fight against antisemitism.

Next Steps
CAAN will continue coordinating with Congress, the U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Department of Justice, and partner organizations to uphold antisemitism education nationwide and ensure that American civil rights law remains a shield — never a sword — in protecting all students from hate.

The Coalition Against Antisemitism at Northwestern (CAAN)

Video Highlights

Read how CAAN has been influencing policy and documenting antisemitic activity at Northwestern.

Read Here
CAAN partners with lawmakers, lobbyists, and lawyers to keep Northwestern a safe, discrimination-free campus.

CAAN Legal Work
Make sure to document all examples of antisemitic incidents that you see on and off campus.

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At Wednesday’s press conference in Evanston, the Coalition Against Antisemitism at Northwestern (CAAN) called the recently announced Resolution Agreement a crucial first step — but emphasized that real accountability and reform are only beginning. CAAN President Michael Teplitsky was joined by Barry Jonas (GW Program on Extremism), Yossi Held (StandWithUs Midwest), Alison Pure-Slovin (Simon Wiesenthal Center), and @NorthwesternU students Max Schlanger and Christina Sher to outline next steps for oversight, Title VI compliance, and protection of Jewish students’ civil rights. #CAAN #Northwestern #PressConference #StopAntisemitism #TitleVI

CAAN’s coordinated advocacy, federal engagement, and unrelenting pressure on @NorthwesternU leadership were central to forcing meaningful change — from demanding the termination of the Deering Meadow Agreement to insisting on real Title VI enforcement and restored protections for Jewish students. By organizing Jewish students and alumni, documenting antisemitism, and partnering with allies in the U.S. government, CAAN helped create the conditions that made this agreement both possible and urgent. CAAN is grateful to Interim @NorthwesternPresident Bienen and the Northwestern Board of Trustees for ultimately choosing to work constructively with federal agencies to restore frozen research funding and prioritize the safety of Jewish students, faculty, women, and the entire campus community. This is not about politics; it is about safety, civil rights, and accountability. This win is a major step, but it is not the end. CAAN will continue to monitor implementation, push for genuine (not symbolic) Title VI compliance, and demand deep internal reforms to confront antisemitism and problematic foreign influence, including from Qatar. Share to stand with Jewish students at Northwestern and beyond.

🚨 Is it education? Or is it indoctrination? 🎓🚫 If you take a class on “Biomedicine and World History,” you expect to learn about health. You don’t expect a syllabus filled with Hamas-sympathetic essays and guest lectures from SJP organizers. Yet, that is exactly what is happening at @NorthwesternU. Faculty are ignoring Title VI and creating a hostile learning environment for Jewish and Israeli students by embedding political agendas into unrelated coursework. The worst part? Students are too afraid of academic retaliation to speak up, and the Administration is too passive to stop it. 👉 Swipe to see the evidence the University is ignoring. #CAAN #TitleVI #CivilRights #JewishOnCampus #StopAntisemitism

Who are we? We are CAAN – the Coalition Against Antisemitism at Northwestern. For two years, we have fought antisemitism at @NorthwesternU in Evanston and in Washington, D.C., working to hold the University accountable and protect its students and faculty. Northwestern is currently evaluating whether to renew its campus in Qatar. The contract for NU-Q is set to expire at the end of the 2027–2028 academic year. Qatar’s restrictive regime, its record on academic freedom and human rights, and its direct ideological influence have contributed to the antisemitism and pervasive harassment of Jewish students that form the basis of Northwestern’s ongoing Title VI violations. Given this, we demand that the Northwestern Board of Trustees not renew this partnership. When classrooms reflect the pressures of an authoritarian host, true scholarship is lost. CAAN stands for open inquiry, academic integrity, and a campus free from hate and misinformation. Join us at YesWeCAAN.org as we continue working to restore honesty, transparency, and accountability to Northwestern. #CAAN #Northwestern #StopAntisemitism #AcademicIntegrity #EndHatredOnCampus

We are overjoyed that the remaining living hostages are finally home in Israel. We pray all the remaining deceased hostages are brought back to their families, and we hold hope that lasting peace in the region will come — a peace strong enough to quiet the wave of antisemitism that has plagued our world these past two years. Yet much more work remains here at home. We must ensure that education in America rejects the indoctrination of our children to believe that Jews, Israelis, or Zionists are wrong for wanting to live and worship freely — in peace, safety, and mutual respect. CAAN will continue its mission to combat antisemitism, hate and prejudice, championing education and advocacy to promote a safer, more inclusive community at @NorthwesternU.

2 years — 730 days — have passed since the hostages were taken on October 7, 2023. As the holiday of Sukkot begins tonight — the “Festival of Booths,” but also called Z’man Simchateinu, the “Season of Our Rejoicing” — CAAN remains steadfast in our hope that EVERY remaining hostage will be returned home in the coming days. Only then can this truly be a season of rejoicing — for their families, and for all who stand with Israel and the Jewish people. #CAAN #2Years #BringThemHome #Sukkot #ZmanSimchateinu #NeverForget

@NorthwesternU is enforcing enrollment holds on students who refuse the required antisemitism/anti-discrimination training—a necessary step to protect all students’ civil rights. CAAN supports this move while urging the University to ensure neutral enforcement, prevent foreign-funded influence, and apply rules evenly across all groups. Read the full statement on our website for sources, details, and recommendations.

CAAN member @scott_shay’s latest article exposes why @NorthwesternU’s crisis isn’t just a local issue—it’s a warning for universities nationwide. His five-point action plan makes clear: when academic freedom and integrity are at stake, every campus community must demand real reform. CAAN stands with Shay and calls on everyone who values pluralism, open debate, and student safety to read his piece and join our push for genuine change at Northwestern and beyond. Read at YesWeCAAN.org/in-the-news or the Jewish Journal website.

CAAN calls on @NorthwesternU and @NorthwesternPresident Bienen to confront the truth: professors with ties to terror financing have no place in classrooms, and Jewish students deserve safety—not fear. Abusharif’s record, and his continued role at NU-Q, along with visiting Professor Mkhaimar Abusada’s connection with organizations linked to Hamas and the PFLP, highlight Northwestern’s deeper crisis of foreign influence, unchecked antisemitism, and failed accountability. Integrity starts by ending these compromises. We look forward to working with you to return Northwestern to an institution which promotes civil discourse and safety for all. #CAAN #StopAntisemitism #NoHateAtNorthwestern

📢 Leadership Update at Northwestern We warmly welcome back Henry S. Bienen as interim president of @NorthwesternU. With over three decades of dedicated service to this community, @NorthwesternPresident Bienen brings principled leadership, deep experience, and a profound understanding of Northwestern’s values and its people. At this critical and challenging time, his steady hand and insight are exactly what Northwestern needs to help guide the university forward and combat antisemitism and all forms of hate on campus. CAAN is encouraged by this appointment and looks forward to working constructively with President Bienen to ensure Northwestern becomes a campus defined by integrity, accountability, safety, and respect for all members of its community. #CAAN #Northwestern #Bienen #StopAntisemitism #Leadership #StudentSafety #Accountability #Experience #Principles #Commitment

🚨 10 Shocking Revelations from Schill’s Testimony 🚨 Link to full testimony in bio. On Aug. 5, 2025, resigning @NorthwesternU President Michael Schill faced Congress for the 2nd time in 14 months. What emerged was a damning record of failures: no discipline for encampment leaders, contracts with Qatar that gag criticism, professors tied to terror groups, and a provost caught coaching BDS activists. Swipe through for the most disturbing takeaways ➡️ #Northwestern #SchillTestimony #CAAN #EndAntisemitism

🚨BREAKING: President Schill resigns🚨 CAAN is proud to have played a role in holding failed leadership accountable. But let’s be clear: antisemitism at Northwestern does not end with his departure. It remains—and so does our fight. From last spring’s unchecked hate to incidents just two weeks ago, Jewish students and community members continue to be let down. With classes starting soon, the Board of Trustees must act now—not only to name an interim, but to commit to permanent leadership changes that ensure safety, accountability, and a truly hate‑free campus for ALL. We won’t stop until every Wildcat can thrive without fear. #Northwestern #CAAN #EndAntisemitism

Antisemitic Threats Near Former Pro-Terror Encampment at @NorthwesternU. On August 15, 2025, a student, his family and companions faced antisemitic abuse on Sheridan Rd.—steps from Deering Meadow, the site of Spring 2024’s pro-terror encampments. Over a year later, bias and harassment persist at Northwestern and in Evanston, with no meaningful changes or public updates from the University. If you witness or experience hateful acts, report them to the authorities and CAAN. We must take action—silence allows hate to continue. #CAAN #Northwestern #Evanston #Chicago #StopTheHate #EndJewHatred #CombatAntisemtism

CAAN will be watching closely as @NorthwesternPresident Schill returns to Congress on August 5th. After a year of egregious antisemitism, a lack of accountability and consequences, and little progress for Jewish students, we’re eager to see how he’ll defend his actions and the Deering Meadow Agreement. #NoHateAtNorthwestern #StopAntisemitism #Accountability #ProtectJewishStudents

This @DailyNU poll, taken April 20–26, 2025, directly undermines @NorthwesternU‘s recent public claim that antisemitism on campus is “under control“ (University Statement, March 31, 2025). The numbers speak for themselves. Silence and spin are no longer credible responses.

@NorthwesternU students @maxschlanger and @oryahalom_ spoke with Chicago reporters from Washington, D.C., where they joined 16 other Jewish Northwestern students on a CAAN-organized trip to advocate for greater campus safety and ensuring consequences for discrimination, hate and harassment by students and outside agitators. #StopAntisemitism #SafeCampus #CAAN

The U.S. government now requires ALL universities—including Northwestern—to fully disclose every dollar received from foreign sources, or risk losing vital federal funding. Northwestern’s Qatar campus, NU-Q, established through a $602 million partnership with the Qatar Foundation, has long raised concerns about foreign influence, academic freedom, and ties to Al Jazeera—a state-owned media network repeatedly flagged for antisemitism, state propaganda, and ties to terrorist organizations. Some investigations have uncovered rampant extremism and support for terror among NU-Q faculty and students. Northwestern only ended its formal partnership with Al Jazeera in July 2024, after direct Congressional pressure, and quietly did so. This Executive Order is about protecting our campuses from foreign exploitation, propaganda, and national security risks. The Board of Trustees has the power to act now—by ending risky partnerships and ensuring full transparency. It’s time for accountability. CAAN calls on @NorthwesternU and @NorthwesternPresident Schill to immediately disclose all foreign funding and sever ties that threaten academic integrity and campus safety. #YesWeCAAN #TransparencyNow #Northwestern #ForeignInfluence #ProtectOurCampuses #StopAntisemitism

On #YomHaShoah, we remember the 6 million Jewish lives lost in the Holocaust—a tragedy that must never be forgotten. Holocaust denial, distortion, or revisionism has NO place in our classrooms or our world. Our duty is to teach the next generation the truth, so that antisemitism is never normalized and history is never twisted. Only by facing the facts can we honor those lost and ensure a future built on remembrance, justice, and peaceful coexistence. #NeverForget #NeverAgain #YomHaShoah #CAAN

We should not have to wait over a week for an update on the search for these antisemitic vandals, @NorthwesternU and @NorthwesternPresident Schill. Protect and inform your community…it’s not a difficult ask.