A federal judge ruled Northwestern University can sanction students who refused antisemitism training, rejecting claims it “suppressed anti-Zionist speech” and affirming the school’s duty to protect Jewish students.
In a landmark decision reinforcing accountability against campus antisemitism, a federal judge in Chicago has ruled that Northwestern University may discipline students who refused to complete a mandatory antisemitism awareness training.
The case was brought by Northwestern Graduate Workers for Palestine and two graduate students who alleged that the university’s “Antisemitism Here/Now” program — created by the Jewish United Fund of Chicago — was biased against Palestinian and Arab students and restricted “anti-Zionist speech.”
Judge Georgia Alexakis, however, rejected their claims on Monday, declining to issue a restraining order to halt university sanctions. Her ruling noted that while the plaintiffs faced “irreparable harm” from enrollment holds, they failed to prove any discriminatory intent by Northwestern in mandating the training.
“Because the plaintiffs have failed to meet their burden in this threshold inquiry, we do not move on to conduct a balancing of the harms,” Alexakis wrote, according to The Daily Northwestern.
The decision means that 16 students who refused to watch the training video now face enrollment holds, potentially barring them from registering for classes or receiving financial aid.
The plaintiffs’ lawsuit argued that Northwestern’s training and its adoption of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism “limits Arab and Palestinian students in expressing nationalist aspirations.” But the court found no evidence that the program violated civil rights or free expression.
The “Antisemitism Here/Now” video does not require students to agree with its content — only to view it. It was introduced in March following President Donald Trump’s Jan. 29 executive order, “Additional Measures to Combat Anti-Semitism”, which directed federal institutions to take stronger action against antisemitic incidents.
University officials defended the training as a necessary safeguard amid a surge in hate incidents targeting Jewish students nationwide. Fewer than three dozen students refused to watch the video — a minuscule fraction of Northwestern’s student body.
At a press conference, Jewish Voice for Peace organizer Jonah Rubin accused the university of “cozying up to an authoritarian administration,” but critics noted the irony: groups claiming to oppose discrimination are fighting efforts to educate against antisemitism, even as Jewish students face unprecedented harassment on U.S. campuses.
Northwestern emphasized that the initiative was designed to foster understanding and prevent hate speech, not to silence political debate. The court’s ruling effectively upholds the university’s right — and obligation — to combat antisemitism under federal law.
At a time when anti-Israel rhetoric frequently crosses into open antisemitic intimidation, Judge Alexakis’s decision sends a powerful message: universities have both the authority and the responsibility to stand with Jewish students and ensure that hate is never mistaken for free expression.
