217 Today: Northwestern faculty and students say efforts to appease Trump chill free speech

Tiktok Instagram Facebook-f
Supporters gather around for their own ceremony after a walkout of the Northwestern graduation ceremony last year. Northwestern students and faculty say a new anti-bias training video characterizes criticism of Israel as antisemitic.
  • Photo: Anthony Vazquez / Sun-Times

Wednesday, March 19, 2025

Audio Player

Today’s headlines:

  • Around 200 people marched through the streets of Champaign yesterday evening to say they’ve had enough with Israel’s military campaign in Gaza. 
  • It’s becoming increasingly clear that Illinois Governor JB Pritzker wants to run for a higher office.
  • As Southern Illinois University Edwardsville administrators face a $10 million budget deficit, one of the first proposals is to eliminate the physics program. 
  • The Fighting Illini baseball team defeated Indiana State at Illinois Field last night.

In today’s deep dive, we’ll learn why some Northwestern University faculty and students say a new required antisemitism training will chill free speech.

217 Today is produced by Stephanie Mosqueda. Reporting today contributed by Mae Antar, Alex Degman, Will Bauer, Colin Hislope and Lisa Kurian Philip.

WILL and the Illinois Newsroom are committed to bringing you in-depth, relevant coverage that keeps you informed and engages you with our community and state. Join with thousands of others to keep this important public media-based resource available to all. Donate today >>

Stephanie Mosqueda

Stephanie Mosqueda is a senior majoring in journalism at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign with minors in Spanish and public relations. She is the 217 Today producer and a reporter for the Illinois Student Newsroom.