Anti-bias training video prompts Northwestern students to protest

Micol Bez has just three weeks left to make a choice.

The Northwestern University graduate student has spent years studying political epistemology and abolitionism. Now, she is prepared to risk everything — her Ph.D. dissertation, her student status and her visa — in an act of protest she calls “a question of moral clarity.”

Bez is part of a group of students boycotting Northwestern’s controversial antibias training video, which critics say conflates criticism of Israel with antisemitism. Those who refuse to complete the online training will be unable to enroll in fall classes, the university said, which could jeopardize their academic standing if they miss the final course registration deadline.

“I’m in a profound moral crisis,” said Bez, who is a member of the student group Northweste