Northwestern Needs to Be Brave and Fight Back

(Thanks to Natalie Roth for helping to compile this information)

Send a Message to NU: BE BRAVE AND FIGHT FASCISM!

Tell the NU administration that they have the community’s support to stand up to fascism and to choose their values when it counts.NU currently faces mounting pressure from the Trump administration to give in to their authoritarian demands instead of maintaining its academic freedom, protecting the rights of students, and putting its values into practice.

As employees, alumni or Evanston residents, we need to contact the administration and ask them to stand up for academic freedom, their autonomy as a civil institution, the future of higher education research, and freedom of speech. Reach out to:

Board Secretary & Advisor to the PresidentJulie Allen  nuboardsecretary@northwestern.eduContact NU Board of Trustees  Trustees: Northwestern UniversityProvost Kathleen Hagerty, (847) 491-5117, officeoftheprovost@northwestern.edu 

Resources: 

• A recent op-ed from concerned faculty

• WBEZ Chicago Article - Northwestern University Professors urge Campus Leaders Not to Make Deal with Trump 

• A collective letter from 922 alumni, published in March

$790 million in Federal research funds are being withheld from Northwestern. We want to encourage them to fight back and not make a deal with the Trump Administration as some other schools have done. Trump has recently demanded $1 Billion from UCLA. Trump Wants U.C.L.A. to Pay $1 Billion to Restore Its Research Funding - The New York Times

Let's let them know that Northwestern’s community supports democracy over fascism, and courage over fear.

Who To Reach Out To

How about a message to Governor Pritzker:

Please call Gov. Pritzker - 217-782-6830 - and say something like the following:“I am calling from ______. I want to thank the Governor for all he is doing to defend and protect democracy. As someone who understands the urgency of the moment we are in, I’m asking him to use his position to ask Northwestern to stop negotiating with fascists. It’s now or never to push back on them and Northwestern needs to hold the line.”

Reach out to Northwestern Directly:

The Northwestern leadership team includes the president, provost, board of trustees, 15 vice presidents, and staff. The Board of Trustees has 7 officers and over 50 other people who are elected for four-year terms and who “play a key role in shaping institutional strategy, providing oversight, and supporting the University’s mission.” Their work is split into 10 committees [finance, investment, research, etc.]). There are also 12 deans (for the different colleges within Northwestern as well as for the library). Altogether that’s almost 100 people who have a louder say in the direction of the university.

If you’d like to reach out to some of the university leaders, here is contact information to get you started:

President Michael Schill, (847) 491-7456, nupresident@northwestern.edu

Provost Kathleen Hagerty, (847) 491-5117, officeoftheprovost@northwestern.edu or nuprovost@northwestern.edu. Assistant: Samantha Haevers, samantha.haevers@northwestern.edu.

Board Secretary and Advisor to the President: Julie Allen, (847) 491-4335, nuboardsecretary@northwestern.edu. Assistant: Katherine Carey, katherine.carey@northwestern.edu.

Northwestern has a large and prestigious Board of Trustees. More information can be found at: https://www.northwestern.edu/about/board-of-trustees/

 They can be contacted at:

Email: boardoftrustees@northwestern.edu

The vice presidents may be another group to reach out to, as they are the senior staff to the president. For instance:

David A. Lively, Vice President for Alumni Relations and Development, 847-491-4591, david.lively@northwestern.edu; Assistant: Adriana Montoya, adriana.montoya@northwestern.edu, (847) 467-2469

From his bio: “David Lively has directed successful development strategies across five comprehensive fundraising campaigns, including We Will. The Campaign for Northwestern, which raised $6.1 billion from 174,380 donors.” …proof that it is not only the federal government as a source of funding.

Amanda Distel, Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, amanda.distel@northwestern.edu; Assistant: Veronica Hudgins, v-hudgins@northwestern.edu, (847) 491-4727

Jon Yates, Vice President for Global Marketing and Communications, jon.yates@northwestern.edu; Assistant: Geneva Danko, g-danko@northwestern.edu, (847) 467-2133

Dévora Grynspan, Vice President for International Relations, 847-467-6952, devora@northwestern.edu; Assistant: Louie Lainez, louie.lainez@northwestern.edu, (847) 491-4022

Jennifer L. Kunde, Interim Special Assistant to the President for Government Relations, (847) 491-5680, j-kunde@northwestern.edu / gov@northwestern.edu; Assistant: Joseph Fitzgibbon, joseph@northwestern.edu, (847) 491-7490

For her bio: “Jennifer is Northwestern’s liaison to the City of Chicago, managing all aspects of the university’s interactions with elected officials and local community groups. Her work also includes managing governmental issues of concern to Northwestern at both the state and federal levels, including liaison activities with legislative and executive agencies, encouraging funding for the University's research endeavors, and advocating higher education policy that benefits Northwestern students and faculty.”

All the leaders are listed here: https://www.northwestern.edu/about/university-leadership/ as well as here: https://www.northwestern.edu/president/about-the-office/senior-staff/

Another tact for alumni is to reach out to the dean of their college. For instance, for those in the humanities, that would be the dean of Weinberg, Adrian Randolph: weinberg-dean@northwestern.edu, 847-491-3276

More information about the Weinberg staff can be found at https://weinberg.northwestern.edu/about/contacts.html

The full list of deans can be found here: https://www.northwestern.edu/provost/about/committees/council-of-deans.html

The final chunk is the Board of Trustees. Their 10 committees are summarized here: https://www.northwestern.edu/about/board-of-trustees/. The full list of trustees is here: https://www.northwestern.edu/about/board-of-trustees/trustee/. Their officers are:

Chair

Peter J. Barris

Vice Chairs

Adam R. KarrVirginia M. RomettyMichael S. Shannon

Secretary

Christine E. Brennan

Treasurer of General Funds

Jane DiRenzo Pigott

Treasurer of Endowment and Trust Funds

Timothy P. Sullivan

Let them know that Northwestern’s community supports democracy over fascism, and courage over fear.