Northwestern University President Michael Schill announced Thursday that he will resign after a turbulent three-year tenure marked by federal funding cuts, Republican criticism and campus controversies.
“Over the past three years, it has been my profound honor to serve as president of Northwestern University,” Schill said in a message to the community Thursday. “In that time, our community has made significant progress while simultaneously facing extraordinary challenges. Together, we have made decisions that strengthened the institution and helped safeguard its future.”
Schill’s resignation follows months of scrutiny from Republican lawmakers and Trump administration officials, who have targeted elite universities over their handling of antisemitism and campus protests tied to the war in Gaza, reports The New York Times.
Northwestern, a private research institution near Chicago, became a flashpoint in those debates.
Last year, Schill faced pointed questioning during a congressional hearing in which Republicans accused the university of failing to adequately protect Jewish students.
Lawmakers argued that campus protests against the war in Gaza created an unsafe environment, and advocacy groups, including the Anti-Defamation League and the Brandeis Center, called for Schill to resign after he engaged in negotiations with demonstrators.
In his statement, Schill acknowledged several challenges behind his decision, including an ongoing federal research funding freeze and other issues.
In April, the Trump administration froze roughly $790 million in federal research funding for Northwestern, one of the largest funding suspensions of its kind. The university, which relies heavily on such grants, warned that essential research was “in jeopardy.”
Administrators later announced job cuts totaling about 425 positions, saying that the layoffs represented “a drastic step” and “the most painful measure we have had to take.”
“As I reflect on the progress we have made and what lies ahead, I believe now is the right time for new leadership to guide Northwestern into its next chapter,” Schill said.
The Board of Trustees will name an interim president soon, and Schill will continue in his role until the interim president takes office. He also plans to continue collaborating with the board on efforts to restore the university’s frozen federal funding.
He is planning to take a sabbatical before returning to Northwestern as a faculty member at the Pritzker School of Law, where he will teach and conduct research.
Schill’s tenure was also overshadowed by controversy in Northwestern’s athletic department. In 2023, the university suspended longtime football coach Pat Fitzgerald after an investigation found credible reports of hazing.
He initially suspended Fitzgerald for two weeks, but later reversed course and dismissed him after further allegations surfaced in the student newspaper, The Daily Northwestern.
Fitzgerald denied knowledge of hazing and sued the university for wrongful termination, seeking $130 million. The parties settled last month, though the terms were not disclosed. Northwestern later acknowledged that discovery evidence did not show players had reported hazing to Fitzgerald or that he had condoned it.
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