Content warning: This article contains mentions of violence regarding the Israel-Hamas War and police violence.
On Oct. 25th, 2023, newspapers parodying The Daily Northwestern were found across campus, calling out the University and press for their complicity in the genocide of Palestinians in Gaza. Following outcry from parties not affiliated with the University to press charges against the students behind the parody, the Northwestern University Police Department (NUPD) launched an investigation to identify those responsible. Now, Student Publishing Company (SPC), the parent company of The Daily Northwestern, is pressing Class A misdemeanor charges – a crime classification that includes battery and aggravated assault – against two Black Northwestern students. If convicted, the students could face jail time and/or a substantial fine as well as a permanent mark on their criminal record.
This situation is yet another instance of a widespread effort to silence pro-Palestinian voices, disproportionately impacting people of color. Across the country, students at universities that pride themselves in protecting First Amendment rights are being punished for exercising their rights while hundreds are killed daily in occupied Palestine by our tax dollars.
Along with the gross overcharge, the approach NUPD took in contacting these students was nothing short of a spectacle, causing them undue emotional distress. On Nov. 10th. NUPD officers traveled well out of their usual jurisdiction to one student’s Chicago apartment, leaving a note under their door after only attempting to call them once that same day. On Nov. 15th, multiple officers stopped the second student at their classroom door, fully uniformed in bulletproof vests and sporting body cameras.
We are watching the targeting of Black students at this University continue without accountability. This is a symptom of the very over-policing Black students organized against last year after the University announced it would use private security to remove them from campus buildings at night; like from 2020 to 2022, when Northwestern University Community Not Cops’s (NUCNC) protests to invest in Black students were met with riot police, pepper spray and arrests. In 1968, the B100 took over the Bursar’s office to protest discriminatory practices by the University. We reiterate their unmet demands for the University to divest from policing and invest in community instead.
We will not fall for the University’s efforts to fearmonger. As members of the Northwestern community – an environment that has proven time and time again its hostility to its students – we have a duty to protect each other and refuse to be silenced.
We call on staffers of The Daily to side with its fellow students, rather than outside interests, and urge SPC to drop the charges.
We ask all members of the community to contact Northwestern administration, telling them to urge SPC to drop the charges and demanding they do more to protect Palestinian and pro-Palestinian voices.
Michael Schill, President, [email protected], (847) 491-7456
Kathleen Hagerty, Provost, [email protected], (847) 491-5117
Emily Babb, Associate VP for Civil Rights & Title IX Compliance, [email protected], (847) 491-3355
Susan Davis, Vice President of Student Affairs, [email protected], (847) 491-5360
We ask community members to show support by adding their name to our petition, demanding the charges are dropped.
We stand with our fellow students in spite of efforts to silence them. And we will continue the fight to ensure all voices are heard on our campus.
Until liberation,
Northwestern University Student Liberation Union
Students for Justice in Palestine Northwestern University
Jewish Wildcats for Ceasefire
Middle Eastern North African Medical Student Association
Strive
Muslim-cultural Students Association
Middle Eastern North African Student Association
Asian Pacific American Coalition
Korean American Student Association
Students for Justice in Palestine Urbana-Champaign
NU Educators for Justice in Palestine
ColorStack at Northwestern
Harakat Dabke Team
Alianza – the Latinx Student Alliance
Northwestern College Feminists
nuAZN
Let This Radicalize You Student Reading Group
Dale Duro Latin Dance Co.
Ballet Folklórico Northwestern
Out in STEM (oSTEM) NU
Northwestern Muslim Mental Health Initiative (MMHI)
For Members Only (FMO)
Northwestern Chapter of National Society of Black Engineers
Pakistani Students Association
African Student Association
Northwestern’s Physicians For Human Rights, Undergraduate Chapter
National Alzheimer’s Buddies Northwestern Chapter
SNMA at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine
Health Equity Group at Feinberg School of Medicine
Students Organizing for Labor Rights (SOLR)
Black Mentorship Program
Soul4Real A Cappella
The Impact Movement at Northwestern University
The Jasmine Collective
Northwestern University Community for Human Rights
Northwestern Community Ensemble
Fossil Free Northwestern
Minority Association of Premedical Students (MAPS)
Black Health and Wellness Collaborative
The Subcontinent Project
Ambedkar Du Bois Society
Rainbow Alliance
B.Burlesque
Northwestern Thrift Store
Elevating Deaf Voices (EDV)
Students for Justice in Palestine Columbia College Chicago
Alithia Zamantakis, Research Faculty, Feinberg School of Medicine
Zach Wood-Doughty, Faculty, Computer Science
Feinberg Muslim Student Association
Shirin Vossoughi, Faculty, School of Education & Social Policy
Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE)
William R. Leonard, Faculty, Global Health Studies & Anthropology
Charlayne Mitchell, Faculty, Global Health Studies
Shalini Shankar, Faculty, Asian American Studies & Anthropology
Michael Rakowitz, Faculty, Department of Art Theory and Practice
Thomas Gaubatz, Faculty, Department of Asian Languages and Cultures
Mary Pattillo, Sociology and Black Studies
Kihana Miraya Ross, Black Studies
Kennetta Hammond Perry, Black Studies
Jalin Jackson, Black Studies
Marquis Bey, Black Studies
Justin L. Mann, English and Black Studies
Logan Phillips, Black Studies
Moya Bailey, Communication Studies
Lauren M. Jackson, English and Black Studies
Brannon Ingram, Religious Studies
Miguel Giron, History
Wendy Pearlman, Political Science
Brown Sugar A Cappella
Northwestern University Muslim Alumni (NUMA)
Northwestern University Society for the Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science (NU-SACNAS) Graduate Student Chapter
Ruslana Lichtzier, Art History & MENA & Critical Theory
Chinese Students Association
National Student Speech Language Hearing Association (NSSLHA)
Matriculate @ NU
MENA Graduate Students
Miriam J. Petty, RTVF and Black Studies
NU Kaibigan (Philippine Students Association)
Mounica Sreesai, Anthropology
Josh Honn, Librarian Faculty, University Libraries
Elham Hoominfar, Faculty, Global Health Studies Program
Beatriz O. Reyes, Faculty, Global Health Studies Program
George Abraham, MENA Studies and Creative Writing
Allison Gibeily, English & MENA Studies
Youssef Boucetta, Comparative Literary Studies
Jackson Krause, Anthropology
Megha Summer Pappachen, Political Science
Chaplain Tahera Ahmad, CIC Northwestern University
Salma Mostafa, Sociology
Editor’s note: This letter's content may not align with the views of every registered member in each of the mentioned organizations. Furthermore, the opinions expressed in this article do not necessarily represent the views of North by Northwestern staffers.
If you wish to publicly respond to this opinion piece, you can send a Letter to the Editor to [email protected]