Northwestern University President Michael Schill announced Thursday that he will step down after a rocky three-year tenure marked by anti-Israel protests, a federal funding freeze, and recent austerity measures that include faculty layoffs.
Mr. Schill said the university is on “stronger footing” in many respects since he took the top job in September 2022, despite “serious and often painful challenges.”
“I also recognize that difficult problems remain, particularly at the federal level,” said Mr. Schill in a Thursday statement. “It is critical that we continue to protect the University’s research mission and excellence while preserving academic freedom, integrity, and independence.”
He said that he will remain president until a replacement is selected, then embark on a sabbatical and return to the Northwestern Pritzker School of Law to teach and conduct research.
“To me, the highest honor a person could have is being a member of our faculty and I look forward to nurturing our students and continuing to champion higher education, a cornerstone of American society that, despite its imperfections, is more important than ever to our nation’s future,” Mr. Schill said.
Mr. Schill cited achievements such as the construction of a new social sciences building and the Litowitz Center for Enlightened Disagreement, but he may be best remembered for striking a deal last year with pro-Palestinian protesters to dismantle the Deering Meadow encampment.
The university agreed to fund two positions for visiting Palestinian faculty and five scholarships for Palestinian students; disclose information about its investments, and reestablish its Advisory Committee on Investment Responsibility.
The agreement allowed Northwestern to avoid the bad optics of bringing in police to tear down the encampment, but Mr. Schill paid the price at a May 2024 hearing before the House Education and Workforce Committee, where Republicans accused him of capitulating to radical anti-Israel activists.
“Michael Schill will forever be a failure,” said Rep. Virginia Foxx, who headed the committee at the time, in a Thursday post on X.
The North Carolina Republican said he impeded the committee’s investigation into campus antisemitism when she was chairwoman, and “failed Jewish students, faculty, and staff.”
“The facts confirm this. Good riddance,” said Ms. Foxx on X.
Michael Schill will forever be a failure.
He impeded @EdWorkforceCmte’s antisemitism investigation when I was Chair, and he failed Jewish students, faculty, and staff at @NorthwesternU.
The facts confirm this. Good riddance. pic.twitter.com/WqJ7swhGGK
— Virginia Foxx (@virginiafoxx) September 4, 2025
Mr. Schill underwent questioning in a closed-door interview Aug. 5 after the committee threatened to subpoena him for failing to give a “sufficient response” to its questions about Northwestern’s “inaction on antisemitism.”
“President Schill will leave behind a legacy of not only failing to deter antisemitism on campus but worsening it,” said Rep. Tim Walberg, Michigan Republican and current Education committee chairman, in a Thursday statement.
“These students not only deserve better, but the law requires it. Northwestern’s next president must take prompt and effective action to protect Jewish students from the scourge of antisemitism,” he said.
In April, the Trump administration froze $790 million in federal research funding amid an investigation into rising campus antisemitism.
Three months later, the university leadership announced budget cuts that included forgoing annual raises and eliminating 425 faculty jobs, or 5% of its staff budget. About half of those positions were already vacant.
Even if the administration were to restore the research grants, however, the university said it would still have to make the staffing cuts, citing the rising costs of health care, litigation, labor contracts, and employee benefits, as well as “potential constraints on our ability to enroll international students.”
Mr. Schill becomes the latest university president to leave office amid criticism over their handling of campus antisemitism in the wake of the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel, which spurred anti-Israel protests nationwide.
Those previously stepping down include Harvard President Claudine Gay, University of Pennsylvania President Liz Magill, and Columbia President Minouche Shafik.
Rep. Elise Stefanik, New York Republican, called Mr. Schill’s resignation “long overdue.”
“President Michael Schill finally resigned today after he failed protect Jewish students, caved to the demands of the antisemitic, pro-Hamas mob on Northwestern’s campus, and failed to hold students who perpetuate antisemitic attacks accountable at an Education and the Workforce Committee hearing,” she said on X.
Before arriving at Northwestern, Mr. Schill served as president of the University of Oregon from 2015 to 2022.
