Early Monday morning, Northwestern University Police responded to reported antisemitic vandalism — including “hateful” graffiti and flyers — outside University Hall and Kresge Hall.
The area south of University Hall, including The Rock, was cordoned off Monday morning as NU Facilities Management removed red spray paint from the steps of the building. University Police Chief of Police Bruce Lewis said in a news release that University Police began responding to the incident around 4 a.m.
“A group of individuals vandalized several buildings on our Evanston campus, spray-painting antisemitic slogans and hate-filled language,” University President Michael Schill wrote in an email to the NU community early Monday afternoon.
The vandalism occurred on the second day of Passover, a Jewish holiday celebrating the Jews’ exodus from slavery in Egypt. Schill wrote in his email that the timing of the incident made the vandalism “all the more despicable.”
According to the Evanston campus blotter from University Police, the department is investigating “criminal damage to property,” first reported at 4:17 a.m.
“We are working systematically and utilizing camera footage, forensics and other methods to identify the individuals responsible for this vandalism,” Schill wrote in the email. “If these individuals are current Northwestern students, they will be immediately suspended and face full disciplinary proceedings under University policies, as well as criminal charges under the law.”
In March, NU published a report on its efforts to combat antisemitism, which claimed an 88% decrease in reports of antisemitism between November 2023 and November 2024. Schill wrote in the email that NU takes pride in its progress but that violations will be met with consequences.
NU’s chapter of Jewish Voice for Peace declined to comment on the vandalism.
Students Supporting Israel at Northwestern, an unregistered chapter at NU of the international pro-Israel organization, posted photos of the graffiti on Instagram Monday evening.
The photos show part of the sign reading “Kresge Centennial Hall” on the front of the building crossed out with red paint, and “Death to Israel” written in red paint below it. A message calling for an Intifada was spray-painted on the ground in front of the hall’s main entrance.
Painted red hands — which can be modern symbols of calls for ceasefire — covered the south entrance of University Hall.
SSI at NU posted a statement condemning the graffiti as “a direct threat to Jewish students’ safety and security at Northwestern” in the post.
Unity of Fields, a national pro-Palestinian advocacy group, posted additional photos of the vandalism on X. One photo shows the front entrance of Kresge more clearly, which had red hand prints and flyers posted containing people’s faces, which were unidentifiable from the photos.
Spray-painted red across the bottom of Kresge’s doors, the word “River” appeared with a right arrow pointing to the word “Sea,” followed by an inverted red triangle. Another inverted red triangle was spray painted on the ground in front of the doors.
In recent history, the inverted red triangle has been used at various times as a way to identify Israeli targets for Hamas fighters or a symbol of Palestinian resistance. During World War II, the symbol was used to identify political prisoners in Nazi concentration camps.
“For me, to see an upside down red triangle on University Hall on the Northwestern campus, it feels like that’s where the terms like ‘egregious’ and ‘vile’ immediately come to mind for me,” NU Hillel Executive Director Michael Simon told The Daily in an interview.
Red paint appeared to have been poured down the steps in front of University Hall in another photo posted on X by Unity of Fields.
In a photo posted by Unity of Fields, a non-inverted red triangle was also painted by the bottom of the Kresge steps to the right of the message calling for an Intifada.
Simon said he was “deeply disturbed and upset” that the message appeared on NU’s campus, calling it “jarring.”
“Whether we fully disagree with Israel’s actions in Gaza, or we agree with them, or we’re in between, this kind of language is just beyond the pale,” Simon told The Daily.
Weinberg senior and NU Hillel President Sari Eisen said the vandalism has made many students feel uncomfortable and unsafe.
“It was really disheartening and troubling to see those words and symbols, especially spray painted on the building,” Eisen said. “I’m glad that it was able to be erased quickly, but it’s really troubling to see that (it) was on our campus.”
In an email sent to the Hillel community, Simon said Hillel will continue to be in close contact with the University and Evanston Police Departments to ensure a safe environment for Jewish students.
Simon expressed gratitude to the University for taking the vandalism seriously and acting quickly to address the issue.
“(The message of the vandalism) just has no place in a university that’s trying to foster an environment free of threat, intimidation and harassment,” Simon told The Daily.
Email: i.steinberg@dailynorthwestern.com
X: @IsaiahStei27
Bluesky: @isaiahsteinberg
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Email: l.ogburn@dailynorthwestern.com
X: @LilyOgburn
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— NU touts 88% decrease in reports of antisemitism between 2024-2025
