The Daily Northwestern: After Monday ruling, Northwestern bias training lawsuit plaintiffs left feeling disappointed, but not disheartened
by Cayla Labgold-Carroll and Nineth Kanieski Koso
October 21st, 2025
Following Judge Georgia Alexakis’ (Pritzker ’06) ruling against a temporary restraining order Monday afternoon in a lawsuit over Northwestern’s bias training, the plaintiffs’ lawyers and supporters gathered outside of the courthouse for a news conference.
“We are here. We are going to press forward in this case. We are very confident we are going to conduct an investigation that will reveal that Northwestern is contributing to discriminating against students and working with a fascist government in order to repress speech,” said Christina Abraham, a plaintiff lawyer from the Council on American-Islamic Relations’ Chicago office.
In the class-action lawsuit filed Wednesday, NU Graduate Workers for Palestine and two graduate students allege NU’s bias training discriminates against “Palestinian students, supporters and associates” who are required to complete it.
“Rather than stand up for the core mission of higher education, Northwestern has bent its knee to the Trump administration”
An emergency hearing was set for Monday afternoon to decide whether to grant a temporary restraining order to the plaintiffs to stall University action against the class members. Alexakis did not grant the TRO.
“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 said in the ruling. “For that reason, I have to deny the motion.”
Maria de las Nieves Bolanos, a lawyer representing the plaintiffs from Hawkes Quindel, S.C. said they were disappointed in the results of Monday’s case.
Ben Shapiro/The Daily Northwestern
Around 15 supporters of the plaintiffs stood in front of the court house for a press conference after the hearing Monday.
Art and art history Prof. Rebecca Zorach, Faculty Senate president-elect, spoke in support of the plaintiffs.
“Northwestern is defending the indefensible here,” Zorach said. “Northwestern’s insistence on the training module and particularly its insistence on punishing students for non compliance stems from obeisance to the Trump administration and the Republican controlled congressional committee that sought to force the University to impose punishment.”
Zorach also noted that because the punishment for not doing the training potentially bars students from completing degrees, it violates the norm of faculty having the power to determine degree requirements.
She said she felt it was important to be at the hearing as a faculty member to support the NU students as they continue to pursue “remedy for the situation at Northwestern.”
In her role as Director of Art History Graduate studies, Zorach said she knows a number of students who have completed the training “under duress.”
No students spoke at the press conference.
“As a faculty member, I know that education is supposed to be about questioning, debating, pursuing deeper understanding and speaking up for what one believes and what one knows to be true, and this training violates those values,” Zorach said.
Jonah Rubin, the senior manager of campus organizing at Jewish Voice for Peace said the training does not represent the views of the vast majority of Jews.
“Rather than stand up for the core mission of higher education, Northwestern has bent its knee to the Trump administration,” said Rubin. “It is trying to force its students, including its Jewish anti-Zionist students, to sign loyalty oaths.”
He said students at the NU chapter of JVP organized two antisemitism training sessions on campus in the past year, most recently on Sep. 30.
Rubin said the JVP trainings show how to effectively fulfill the administration’s stated goal of providing anti discrimination training, while also distinguishing between antisemitism, discrimination against Jews based on Judaism and anti-Zionism criticism of political ideology.
“We are confident that discovery will show there’s rampant discrimination and systemic discrimination at Northwestern,” said Rima Kapitan, one of the attorneys for the plaintiffs.
Both parties will next appear in court on Dec. 2 for the case’s next hearing.
[Correction:] CAIR-Chicago is issuing a correction, the next court hearing is scheduled for November 24, 2025.