Former Northwestern chaplain sues university, alleging discrimination for her support of Palestinians, Muslim students

A longtime Muslim chaplain at Northwestern University filed a federal lawsuit this week against the school, alleging it demoted her and singled her out for her advocacy work in support of Muslims and Palestinians in Gaza. Tahera Ahmad, who worked for Northwestern’s department of Religious and Spiritual life as a chaplain for 15 years, filed the lawsuit in the Northern District of Illinois on Oct. 26. Ahad alleges that Northwestern also discriminated against her on the basis of her pregnancy in 2023 and was retaliated against when she filed an complaint with the school’s office of civil rights about her supervisor for that and a complaint she filed alleging that her supervisor compared Muslim students to “dogs.” Northwestern University did not respond to a request for comment. Ahmad also claimed in her lawsuit that she organized a meeting in 2023 with school officials at the request of students regarding discrimination toward Arab and Muslim students and that when she gave a