Boston City Council is set to hold a hearing Monday to review Northeastern’s policies around administrative transparency and academic freedom, according to a public hearing order on the council’s agenda.
The hearing order, filed and referred to the Committee on Education March 18, calls for a meeting to “review administrative transparency, equitable student representation, and student freedoms in higher education.” It is sponsored by 12 of the 13 city councilors.
The council invited Northeastern President Joseph E. Aoun and Vice President of City and Community Engagement John Tobin to the hearing, according to emails obtained by The Huntington News.
The order names Northeastern’s transparency as a primary topic of discussion while also touching on the broader responsibilities of higher education institutions.
“Students at higher education institutions, including Northeastern University, have raised concerns regarding the level of engagement between students and university administrators and the extent to which student perspectives are represented in institutional decision-making,” the order reads.
Additionally, it notes that Northeastern students have brought up concerns surrounding “policies related to protections for international students, protocols related to federal immigration enforcement and the availability of resources and information for students and the broader university community.”
The order also states that decisions made by an institution’s Board of Trustees “can have significant impacts on faculty, students, and staff,” yet information from board meetings, including minutes and notes, are not always publicly available. In the fall 2025 semester, the board added a $100 fee for each studio and lab course students take without notifying the student body.
Three Student Government Association, or SGA, senators filed a referendum this semester calling for the Board of Trustees to publish meeting minutes and notes to give the Northeastern community more information on what is discussed and how decisions are made. Students are able to vote on the referendum during the ongoing SGA elections.
Boston and the surrounding areas are home to more than 70 colleges and universities, all of which have direct impacts on not just their campus communities but also the city. In the order, the city council states that higher education institutions have a responsibility to serve these communities.
“Institutions of higher education play an important role in supporting open dialogue, civic engagement, and the exchange of ideas, including the protection of speech, expression, and peaceful demonstration within campus communities,” the order reads.
Northeastern has been under increased scrutiny as the federal government has threatened academic freedoms, minorities and international students, prompting some to call for greater transparency from the university.
In spring 2025, the Trump administration revoked thousands of student visas, citing pro-Palestinian activism and minor crimes as reasons for revocation (though many who had visas revoked had no history of political activism or criminal record, Northeastern said at the time). After President Donald Trump signed an executive order threatening to cut funding for higher education institutions that use diversity, equity and inclusion, or DEI, language, Northeastern silently scrubbed DEI language from university messaging and rebranded the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion to the Office of Belonging.
The council stated it is interested in fostering an open dialogue with Boston’s higher education institutions regarding “transparency, governance, and student engagement.”
The hearing will be located at Boston City Hall Monday, March 23 at 2 p.m.
