The Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office dropped charges against two Black Northwestern University students who faced criminal charges for distributing parodies of the university’s student-run paper critical of the university’s stance on the Israel-Hamas war.
The fake front page was wrapped around actual copies of the Daily Northwestern at a “dozen locations on campus” last October, according to the Students Publishing Company, the publisher of the student-run paper.
The page mocked University President Michael Schill’s refusal to take a stance on the war. The resulting criminal charges against the students sparked controversy this week. Dozens of organizations boycotted the Daily Northwestern, and the editorial board at the paper entertained the possibility of a walkout if nothing was done.
“The Daily Northwestern’s Editorial Board is pleased to see that the State’s Attorney’s office has dropped the charges against our peers,” the board said in a statement Wednesday evening. “We are looking forward to getting back to covering our community and serving our fellow students.”
The publishing company reached out to the State’s Attorney’s office after receiving letters from campus editors, social media posts and thousands of petition signatures calling for the charges to be dropped.
“We have been listening to our fellow community members, and they have been heard,” John Byrne, chair of SPC board of directors wrote Tuesday for the paper. “We hope to heal the hurt and repair the relationships that have been damaged and frayed by our unintentional foray into the criminal justice system.”
Prosecutors asked for a hearing Wednesday where they dismissed the charges.
“Northwestern University and campus police are fully equipped to hold the involved individuals accountable, ensuring that such matters are handled in a manner that is both appropriate to the educational context and respectful of students’ rights,” the State’s Attorney’s office said in a statement.
The publishing company reported to Northwestern University police that about 300 copies of the newspaper were “tampered with,” according to a written response from the publishing company board of directors published in the Daily Northwestern Monday.
By law, campus police opened a criminal investigation, “which led to a citation for violating state law that was issued to multiple students,” Jon Yates, vice president for global marketing and communications at Northwestern, said.
The students appeared in court in December and were previously charged by the State’s Attorney’s office with theft of advertising services, according to Cook County court records.
“As it turned out, we were never informed by the State’s Attorney’s Office that these people would be charged — and we were not asked whether we even wanted them to be charged,” Byrne wrote.
A lawyer representing the students would not comment when reached by the Sun-Times.
The unfolding situation around the charges led to a boycott of the Daily Northwestern from over 60 organizations. Among them were performing arts groups like the Student Theatre Coalition and large student organizations like Mayfest and A&O Productions.
Nearly 90 faculty, students and community members at Northwestern signed a letter condemning the charges, saying, “We are watching the targeting of Black students at this university continue without accountability.”
The Daily Northwestern’s editorial board came out against the parody and acknowledged that the “imitated front pages damaged our relationships with community members.” Despite its objections, the board said it “cannot support the criminal prosecution of our peers.”
“Our newspaper has always prided itself on its commitment to informing and supporting students, and we believe our publisher should play no part in perpetrating harm against the communities we aim to serve,” the board wrote in an editorial Monday.
