Northwestern President Michael Schill, who has led the Evanston university amid periods of turmoil that included student protests, a widespread hazing scandal within the athletic department and federal funding cuts that forced layoffs, has announced he is stepping down.

The Chicago Stars will play at the Evanston stadium on Sept. 7 for their “Lakefront Faceoff’ match against the Orlando Pride before moving to the stadium for the entire season in 2026.

Former Northwestern University football coach Pat Fitzgerald and his attorneys announced the “satisfactory settlement” Thursday, though terms of the agreement were not immediately known.

The university said it is cutting approximately 5% of its staff budget through the elimination of 425 positions across schools and units, though officials said about half of those are currently vacant.

One trial is seeking to discover whether the drug metformin could help prevent lung cancer. Another trial is testing a vaccine combination to prevent cancer in people with Lynch syndrome.

Northwestern President Michael Schill said the funding will be used to help promote “greater understanding around complex issues that fosters informed, respectful dialogue among students of all backgrounds.”

“We’re cutting off the pipeline to the workforce in science in the United States,” said Dr. Linda Forst, a professor at UIC. “So, it’s bad news for these students immediately, but it’s bad news for the United States over the long haul because we don’t have a new workforce coming through.”

Northwestern officials say the university intends to fund at-risk research, days after the Trump administration announced plans to freeze nearly $800 million in federal funding.

The U.S. House Education and Workforce Committee withdrew its records request during an emergency court hearing in Chicago after Northwestern professors sued the committee, claiming its investigation into the university’s law clinics violated their First Amendment rights.

More than 1,000 faculty members, alumni, students, attorneys and local community members have signed letters calling for “solidarity and resistance” from Northwestern’s leaders as it faces accusations of civil rights violations from Washington.

More than $1 billion in federal funding for Cornell University and around $790 million for Northwestern University has been frozen while the government investigates alleged civil rights violations at the schools, the White House said.

The business and law schools at the University of Chicago and Northwestern were each ranked among the best in the country according to a new list from U.S. News & World Report, which looked at the nation’s best grad school programs of 2025.

According to a university spokesperson, settlement documents are currently being finalized after Northwestern and the former student athletes recently engaged in a mediation process that resulted in the agreement.

UChicago is among nearly 50 institutions under investigation for alleged racial discrimination related to DEI programs. Namely, the college’s partnership with the PhD Project, a nonprofit that aims to increase diversity in the business world.

Northwestern and Illinois Wesleyan universities were among those that received notice from the department of potential Title VI violations stemming from what it called “antisemitic harassment and discrimination.”

In an order signed last week, Trump called for aggressive action to fight anti-Jewish bias on campuses, including the deportation of foreign students who have participated in pro-Palestinian protests. The cases were opened using the department’s power to launch its own civil rights reviews, unlike the majority of its investigations, which stem from complaints.