This is a developing story and will be updated as more information becomes available. Last updated Nov. 6 at 11:12 p.m.
Northwestern’s Office of Civil Rights and Title IX Compliance has launched an investigation into NU’s Spoon University chapter, a University spokesperson wrote in a Friday statement to The Daily.
The investigation comes after Spoon canceled its Cultural Food Fest on Thursday following the withdrawal of multiple student organizations that expressed concerns about Wildcats for Israel’s participation in the event.
The University spokesperson wrote that OCR received a complaint Thursday night “alleging discrimination” by Spoon.
The spokesperson wrote that the University has frozen Spoon’s standing as a registered student organization in accordance with NU’s “standard protocols” as OCR continues its “formal investigation into the incident.”
In a Friday email obtained by The Daily, Spoon University Northwestern presidents announced to club members that the group is unable to “hold general meetings, host events, or participate in school-wide events as an organization until further notice.”
“Our goal for Cultural Food Fest has always been to bring our campus community together by celebrating different cultures through culinary tradition,” Spoon wrote in an Instagram statement Thursday. “Spoon University Northwestern stands against discrimination in all forms. We condemn the ongoing genocide in Gaza and do not condone political organizations advancing the efforts that perpetuate it.”
In 2025, a UN commission found that Israel had committed genocide against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. According to Gaza’s Health Ministry, more than 74,000 Palestinians have died since the beginning of the Israel-Hamas war.
In a Friday statement on Instagram, Wildcats for Israel wrote that its goal is to “share our culture and experiences as they relate to Israel and make positive contributions to our campus community.”
“Our connection to Israel does not tell you anything about our values or opinions,” the group wrote. “When we lose the ability to speak across our differences, we lose our ability to solve problems and grow together.”
Wildcats for Israel did not respond to The Daily’s request for comment.
NU’s Asian Pacific American Coalition, Alianza and the Middle Eastern North African Student Association posted a joint statement on Instagram on Thursday regarding their withdrawal from Cultural Food Fest.
“A cultural food festival ultimately provides Spoon a way to check off a box and profit off of the cultural knowledge and labor of students,” the groups wrote in their statement. “Inviting MENA and other affected student organizations while simultaneously platforming an organization that supports the Israeli state’s actions places those students in an unacceptable position.”
nuAZN, NU’s Asian-interest publication, also wrote in a Thursday Instagram story that they had withdrawn from the event, adding that participation in the event “would not align with our values, specifically our opposition to the ongoing violence against Palestinians.”
The joint statement continued that, despite Spoon informing participating organizations that Wildcats for Israel would no longer be a part of the event, Spoon’s subsequent course of action had caused a “significant loss of trust.”
The groups also wrote that, from their perspective, Spoon’s response appeared to be more focused on containing backlash than “meaningfully reckoning with how that decision was made in the first place.”
“What should have been recognized from the beginning only became an issue requiring action once organizations made clear that they would not participate under these circumstances,” the organizations wrote.
In a statement to The Daily, Spoon University Northwestern presidents wrote that they took “full accountability for including Wildcats for Israel in our Cultural Food Fest.”
They wrote that a “lack of communication” prevented the executive board from “thoroughly (vetting) the attendee list before it was published” and that they were making structural changes to prevent future similar oversights.
“We thank APAC, Alianza, and MENA for holding us accountable, and we agree there should have been more transparency regarding attendees,” Spoon University Northwestern presidents wrote. “We hope to rebuild trust with these organizations and the rest of the Northwestern community in the future.”
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