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The Daily Northwestern Wednesday, September 17, 2025
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TENURE OF TURMOIL
Illustration by Siri Reddy
A look back at the three-year presidency leading up to the sudden resignation of Michael Schill By NINETH KANIESKI KOSO
daily senior staffer @ninethkk
Less than two months before the start of the 2022-2023 school year, the Board of Trustees announced Michael Schill as Northwestern’s 17th president. In an introductory interview with The Daily, Schill highlighted three areas of focus for his tenure: research, diversity and innovation. Yet at the end of his abruptly cut-short term, the University’s research is facing a $790 million federal funding freeze. NU websites have been scrubbed of terms relating to diversity, and novel cost containment strategies have taken
a toll on the University’s budgets, including eliminating more than 400 existing staff positions and reducing the permanent administrative and academic budgets. “There’s no one way, but I want to be accessible,” Schill said in an August 2022 interview with The Daily. “I want students to know that what I want, and what I aspire to, is that students don’t think I am an isolated leader. What I want to do is make them know that I’m there, and I’m there for them.” Schill’s presidency began under the Biden administration’s comparatively hands-off approach to higher education. More recently, however, the second Trump administration has aimed to directly influence university policies.
And as federal scrutiny of higher education grew, Schill himself faced increasing attention on a national stage. A President’s March to the Arch Before Schill came to NU, he served as president of the University of Oregon from 2015 to 2022. Previously, he also served as the dean of the University of Chicago Law School and of the University of California, Los Angeles’ School of Law. In July 2022, former Presidentelect Rebecca Blank stepped down from her role due to a cancer diagnosis. Exactly one month later, Schill was announced as her replacement, giving him mere
weeks to complete a rigorous, often months-long transition process and assume the role Sept. 12, 2022. In the 2022 interview with The Daily, Schill said he remained grounded in his friendship with Blank as he looked to NU’s future. “I think that the best way I can honor Becky is to be a great president,” Schill said. Schill was officially inaugurated in June 2023, following Blank’s death months prior. Revamping Ryan Field Early in Schill’s presidency, NU announced plans to renovate Ryan Field following a $480 million donation from Patrick Ryan (Kellogg ’59) and Shirley Ryan
(Weinberg ’61) to the University in September 2021, which included funds for the renovation. While Schill did not facilitate the investment, he supported it, describing the old stadium as “worse than” others he had visited during his time as Oregon’s president. Yet, the stadium renovations sparked heated pushback from both the NU community and Evanston. University faculty worried that the project would run over its $800 million budget, incurring debt. At the time, Schill assured that there were other options to help complete the renovation in the event of budget concerns. Beyond NU’s campus, residents
of Evanston’s 7th Ward, where Ryan Field is located, raised concerns about potential increases in noise, light pollution and parking congestion in the area. In response, University officials hired a traffic engineering firm to look at potential congestion issues and noted that the project would generate around 2,900 new jobs during the rebuild and more than $10 million in direct fees to Evanston. “We’re working deeply with the community,” Schill said at the time. “We’ve already started talking about that, trying to make Ryan feel like a win-win.” After months of debate dominating town-gown relations, City
» See SCHILL, page 8
Pink Poster Club protests After Schill resignation, NU faculty express sympathy for ICE out of Evanston The week prior, the city reported an arrest by DHS By ASHLEY DONG and FEMI HORRALL
daily senior staffers @ashleydong01
Members of the Pink Poster Club, a local civic engagement group, have no trouble with a quick turnaround.
Recycle Me
In response to the city’s Sept. 8 statement stating federal immigration agents would soon be present in Evanston, co-founders Savanna Essig-Fox and Emily Miller (Weinberg ’11) and member Lisa Leicht swiftly organized a demonstration. The event became even
more relevant after Department of Homeland Security agents arrested an individual near the intersection of Church Street and Brown Avenue last week. “To have them in Evanston makes it less safe to be here
» See ICE, page 11
Many hold high expectations for future leadership By ASHLEY WEI
the daily northwestern
After former Northwestern President Michael Schill announced his sudden resignation, some NU faculty commended his performance
navigating unprecedented pressures. Restoring federal funding remains a primary concern among many faculty as the search for the next University President begins. Faculty Senate President and political science Prof. Ian Hurd expressed sympathy for
the extreme pressures facing university presidents in the current political environment. “The ‘crisis’ was really manufactured by the government in order to make life difficult at the University, and I think
» See FACULTY, page 11
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