US Federal Investigates Northwestern Over Jewish Discrimination Claims

Northwestern University is under investigation by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for alleged civil rights violations against Jewish students, specifically related to the university's response to protests following the Hamas attacks on Israel in October 2023. The investigation, part of a broader Trump administration effort to combat antisemitism on campuses, examines whether Northwestern violated Title VI of the Civil Rights Act by failing to protect Jewish students from discrimination. The university has implemented mandatory antisemitism training and reported a decrease in related harassment, but federal funding has been frozen and stop-work orders issued to numerous research labs amid these probes. Concurrently, Northwestern faces a federal lawsuit from Yasmeen Elagha, a Palestinian law graduate who alleges the university failed to protect her from harassment linked to her pro-Palestinian activism, with a judge allowing her claim of intentional discrimination to proceed. The case highlights ongoing campus tensions over the Gaza conflict, with similar lawsuits emerging at other universities. Northwestern has not publicly commented on the lawsuit, but the legal and federal scrutiny reflects heightened national attention on how universities manage campus conflicts tied to Middle East politics.