Northwestern Signs Federal Resolution Agreement: $75,000,000 to the United States, Board Special Committee, Mask and Demonstration Terms

Northwestern University and the United States, through the Justice, Education and Health and Human Services departments, signed a resolution agreement. Dates. Northwestern’s interim president announced it in a message dated November 28, 2025: “the University reached an agreement with the federal government.” The signature page of the posted PDF carries a handwritten date line that does not read reliably, so no signature date is stated here; the effective date is set by execution by all parties.

Payment and federal side. Northwestern “shall pay the sum of $75,000,000 to the United States” in installments; Northwestern’s own FAQ says $75 million. For its part the United States provides “the financial equivalent of the costs associated with the Terminated Grants” listed in Appendix A, and the agreement excludes other terminated grants from that provision.

Oversight. The text names no outside monitor. Northwestern establishes a “Special Committee of the University’s Board of Trustees,” and the President and the Board Chair “shall each independently certify under penalty of perjury each quarter.” The term is “three (3) years to the day” from the Effective Date.

Protest, mask and policy terms. Northwestern terminates the “Deering Meadow Agreement” of April 29, 2024. The policies it lists include compliance with officials’ directives “including by removing face masks or coverings for purposes of identification,” and during the Term they cannot be revised “without the consent of the Assistant Attorney General.” Northwestern also “shall prohibit wearing of face masks or facial coverings” for concealing identity.

Data. Northwestern gives the Assistant Attorney General a spreadsheet of complaints to its Office of Civil Rights and Title IX Compliance reaching back to October 7, 2023, and provides admissions data “broken down by race, ethnicity, grade point average, and performance on standardized tests.”

Admission, limits and breach. The agreement “is not an admission in whole or in part” and “Northwestern expressly denies liability.” It also says no provision “shall be construed as giving the United States authority to dictate faculty hiring, University hiring, admission decisions,” among other things. Disputes may go to a “non-binding Arbitration” yielding an advisory decision, then to court in the “Northern District of Illinois.”