Northwestern President Michael Schill Testifies Before Congress

Hat tip Campus Reform

 On Thursday, once again, a group of university presidents and chancellors were called to testify before the House Committee on Education and the Workforce chaired by Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-NC). One of those was the president of Northwestern University, Michael Schill. Both he and his university have come under sharp criticism in recent days due to the school’s apparent capitulation to the demands of pro-Palestinian protesters, who had set up an encampment. In exchange for ending the encampment, Northwestern made a series of concessions to the students, agreeing to bring in Palestinian students and faculty to Northwestern. In addition, Northwestern seemingly made their agreement with the protesters without any consultation with Jewish students. Nor was the (Northwestern) President’s Advisory Committee on Preventing Anti-Semitism and Hare consulted. Of all the university officials present at this hearing (4- Northwestern, Rutgers, UCLA, and the former president of Brandeis University), it was Schill who came under the most intense criticism from Republicans on the committee. At one point, Schill vehemently denied having asked the campus chapter of Hillel to appoint a new leader who would be anti-Zionist, as had been claimed by several who complained to the committee.

Here is how the campus newspaper, Daily Northwestern, described the hearing and Schill’s testimony.

I have watched several clips of Schill’s testimony, and I thought his performance was pathetic. He was defensive, almost cringing under harsh questioning from Republicans. It was eerily similar to the performance of the former presidents of Harvard and the University of Pennsylvania, both of whom have subsequently resigned. Schill should follow their example.