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FIFTH WARD RUNOFF TOO CLOSE TO CALL

APRIL 3, 2019 FIRST WEEK VOL. 131, ISSUE 33

PAGE 2

Lightfoot Sweeps Mayoral Runoff, Will Be First UChicago Alum, Black Woman to Lead City

MAYOR Lori Lightfoot Toni Preckwinkle

74% 26%

Lightfoot (J.D. ’89) beat Preckwinkle (A.B. ’60, A.M. ’77), closing off a historic runoff between two Black women, both of whom are UChicago alumnae. PAGE 3

TREASURER Melissa Conyears-Ervin Ameya Pawar

60% 40%

Conyears-Ervin beat Pawar (S.M. ’09, A.M. ’16) in the city’s first contested race for treasurer since 1999. PAGE 6

FIFTH WARD Leslie Hairston William Calloway

Incumbent Hairston and Calloway were neck and neck throughout the night. As of 11 p.m. on Tuesday, the race was still too close to call. PAGE 2

Lightfoot at her campaign party in South Loop. jeremy lindenfeld

Class of 2023 Acceptance Rate Drops to Record 5.9 Percent PAGE 2

The 20th Ward’s Overwhelming Question PAGE 7

51% 49%

20TH WARD Jeanette Taylor Nicole Johnson

Dean of Admissions James Nondorf announced the rate at an admitted students reception this past weekend.

Hari Kunzru on the Modern Distortion of Truth PAGE 11

60% 40%

Taylor and Johnson competed in an especially high stakes race after incumbent Willie Cochran pleaded guilty to a corruption charge and resigned. PAGE 5

The Maroons Compete Over Spring Break: Baseball, Softball, Men’s Tennis, Women’s Tennis, Lacrosse, Volleyball PAGE 12

Like our Facebook page at facebook.com/chicagomaroon and follow @chicagomaroon on Instagram and Twitter to get the latest updates on campus news.

chicagomaroon.com

THE CHICAGO MAROON — APRIL 3, 2019

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Nondorf: Lowest Acceptance Rate in University History

By JUSTIN SMITH Senior News Reporter The acceptance rate for the Class of 2023 reached an all-time low of 5.9 percent, Dean of Admissions James Nondorf said during an admitted students reception held at Credit Suisse in New York on Saturday. The acceptance rate for the Class of 2022 was 7.2 percent, 1.3 percentage points higher than for the Class of 2023. This year’s acceptance rate is the lowest in the University’s history.

According to Nondorf, the University received just under 35,000 applications, an increase of almost 3,000 applicants

compared to the 32,291 applicants for the Class of 2022.

The Class of 2023 also has the highest standardized test scores ever, “about 15 points” above last year’s average, Nondorf said at the reception. According to UChicago College Admissions, last year’s middle 50 percent of admitted students scored between 1490 and 1560.

The University typically does not publicly comment on admissions numbers until fall quarter. This is the second year in a row that Nondorf has released admissions statistics during an admitted students reception, following last year’s announcement.

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Nondorf’s speech on Saturday was recorded during the reception and sent to The Maroon. The source wishes to stay anonymous.

“As you can imagine, this has been an interesting admissions season,” Nondorf said, likely in reference to the college admissions bribery scandal that has charged over 50 wealthy parents in a conspiracy to buy their children’s way into several elite universities. UChicago has not been implicated in the scandal.

“Every day, I’m quite happy to not be in the media,” Nondorf said. “I used to make jokes about cheating, but I don’t do that anymore.”

Nondorf also indicated his excitement to receive videos and artwork from students along with the essays UChicago traditionally accepts. This is part of the UChicago Empower Initiative, which gives students the option of submitting a two-minute video introduction instead of the traditional alumni interview. The initiative, in its first year, also allows students to submit non-standard materials as part of their applications, including artwork and research abstracts.

Echoing statements he made in recent years, Nondorf said that “this was the most selective class we have ever had.”

Incumbent Hairston Holds Narrow Lead in Fifth Ward Runoff; Calloway Has Not Conceded

By JACK CRUZ-ALVAREZ and DIMITRIY LEKSANOV Deputy News Editor and News Reporter 20-year incumbent Leslie Hairston holds a narrow lead in the Fifth Ward aldermanic race against challenger William Calloway with 50.8 percent of the vote. Calloway earned 49.2 percent of the vote, with 97.56 percent of precincts reporting as of 10 p.m. on Tuesday.

As of Tuesday night, the results of the runoff were as yet undeclared.

Whether or not Calloway would seek a recount was unclear as of 11:45 p.m. on Tuesday, as he said he would need to consult with his team. He did, however, promise not to concede until the Board of Election Commissioners finishes counting every vote, including mail-in ballots, the Hyde Park Herald reported.

Calloway said he would not make a decision on asking for a recount until after mail-in ballot votes are counted— and even then, he would need to speak with his team. His communications director Kelsey Kruzel said the decision would be based on information about potential machine errors and other potential problems in the vote-counting

process. On election night last February, both the Calloway and third-place finisher Gabriel Piemonte campaigns heard unconfirmed reports of machine errors from poll workers pulling plugs on them in the fifth precinct of the ward.

“This right here, this says a lot,” Calloway said, pointing to the narrow difference in votes. “We got everything from the grass roots; [Hairston] got everything from developers. No matter what, if I come on top, or vice versa… the margin is too small for any of us to say a clear winner.”

This has been the closest race in Hairston’s five-term career as alderman, and her only runoff election since she won the seat in 1999, defeating incumbent Barbara Holt.

Calloway’s loss comes after a challenging close to the campaign, which was clouded by the publicizing of Calloway’s homophobic 2015 tweets after the Supreme Court validated gay marriage. At a Q&A session about the tweets held at the Hyatt Place in Hyde Park last week, Calloway said that his views have changed since 2015 and referenced his CONTINUED ON PG. 4

THE CHICAGO MAROON — APRIL 3, 2019

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Lightfoot Beats Preckwinkle With 74 Percent of the Vote

Lightfoot celebrating her overwhelming win jeremy lindenfeld

By CHARLIE KOLODZIEJ, PRANATHI POSA and ELAINE CHEN Maroon Staff Lori Lightfoot (J.D. ’89) won the mayoral race over Toni Preckwinkle (A.B. ’69, A.M. ’77) by a margin of nearly 50 percentage points on Tuesday night, closing off a historic runoff between two Black women, both of whom are UChicago alumnae.

In addition to being the first UChicago alumna and Black woman as mayor, Lightfoot will also be Chicago’s first openly gay mayor.

With 97 percent of precincts reported on Tuesday night, Lightfoot had 74 percent of the vote and Preckwinkle had 26 percent.

Lightfoot, originally seen as a long shot in the race, increasingly drew traction shortly before the February general elections. In her campaign, she appealed to her status as an outsider unbound by the complex relationships of Chicago politics.

The Associated Press first declared Lightfoot the victor less than an hour after polls closed at 7 p.m. on Tuesday evening.

Around two hours after polls closed, Preckwinkle called Lightfoot to congratulate her. The two then spoke to crowds at their respective campaign parties.

“In this election, Toni and I were competitors,” Lightfoot said. “Now that it’s over, I know we will work together for the city we love.”

“When we started this journey 11

months ago, nobody gave us much of a chance,” Lightfoot said at her campaign party in South Loop. “We had faith—an abiding faith in this city, in its people…. We let our faith overcome our fears.”

Preckwinkle told the crowd at her campaign party in Hyde Park, “While I may be disappointed, I am not disheartened.”

Preckwinkle continued, “I still believe in the power of public service. It’s why I’ve dedicated so much of my life to it. It’s why I continue to dedicate my life to it.”

Tuesday’s runoff election, the second mayoral runoff in Chicago history, had dramatically low turnout. Chicago Board of Election Commissioners spokesman Jim Allen predicts total voter turnout to be near 33 percent, potentially a record low for a Chicago mayoral race. In 2007, voter turnout reached a historic low of 33.08 percent to reelect Richard M. Daley for a sixth term as mayor.

Many Preckwinkle supporters voiced concern over the low turnout.

“I am disappointed in Chicago for the turnout because it is a historical moment,” Preckwinkle supporter Deborah Lane said.

“I hope that people understand and get more involved by understanding that politics is not only about the leadership, but also about the constituents.”

Lightfoot’s victory came as expected, based on polling leading up to Tuesday. A poll published last week showed Lightfoot with 53 percent of the vote and Preckwin-

kle with 17 percent of the vote.

Lightfoot, former chair of the Chicago Police Accountability Board, was originally seen as a long shot in the race. She ran against candidates with more extensive political experience such as Preckwinkle, Cook County Board President and Fourth Ward Democratic Committeewoman, and candidates with more political connections such as Bill Daley, brother of former mayor Richard M. Daley and son of former mayor Richard J. Daley.

Lightfoot gained popularity in the weeks leading up to the February general elections, emphasizing that as a political outsider, she did not have the relationships that her opponents do that would make her “beholden to any political party or any unions.” She tied with Preckwinkle and Daley in a poll conducted the weekend before the general elections, and led the race with 17.5 percent of the vote in the general elections.

Following the general elections, seven out of the 12 defeated mayoral candidates lined up to endorse Lightfoot, while none of them endorsed Preckwinkle. The Chicago Sun-Times editorial board had endorsed Lightfoot prior to the general elections and the Chicago Tribune editorial board endorsed Lightfoot several weeks after the general elections.

Lightfoot graduated from the Law School in 1989. While she was there, she served as student body president and worked to ban a law firm whose recruiter had made racist and sexist remarks to a

Black female student. After law school, she served various positions in the private and public sector, including federal prosecutor, president of the city’s police board, and partner at Mayer Brown LLP. Critics have noted that Lightfoot has never held elected office before. Leading up to the runoffs, Preckwinkle emphasized her extensive experience serving as an elected official. Before her terms as Cook County Board president starting in 2010, Preckwinkle served as Fourth Ward alderman for five terms.

“It’s easy to talk about change. It’s hard to actually do it. And that’s been my experience—being a change-maker, a change agent, transforming institutions and communities,” Preckwinkle said while campaigning.

Preckwinkle has also implicitly criticized Lightfoot’s lack of experience, claiming that mayor is “not an entry-level position.” Lightfoot refuted criticisms that she would not be prepared to serve as mayor, claiming that her wide experience adapting to different jobs makes her qualified.

Lightfoot, who will be Chicago’s first openly gay mayor, campaigned on improving LGBTQ+ participation in city government as well as increasing safety for LGBTQ+ community members by introducing police training and hate crime investigations.

Before Lightfoot’s appearance on stage at her campaign party, UChicago third-year Sarah Lewis emphasized Lightfoot’s status CONTINUED ON PG. 4

Lightfoot at her campaign party in Hyde Park sophia corning

THE CHICAGO MAROON — APRIL 3, 2019

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Calloway Said He Will Consult with Team about Recount CONTINUED FROM PG. 2

Christian background. However, at his election party, Calloway did not say he disagrees with the views he expressed in the posts, only saying that he has evolved in his beliefs.

Calloway characterized the controversy as a distraction from the election.

“I think the Facebook posts was [sic] a distraction from the policies and the issues that we were facing in the ward,” he said.

Calloway also separated his religious beliefs from how he would run the ward if elected.

“I’m sure some people were upset, some people who don’t know me or don’t have a personal relationship with me, especially if they’re not from the LGBT community. But for the most part I think people...know where I stand.

They know the difference between my biblical values and how I will govern if I was [sic] elected,” he said.

Calloway distributed copies of a 100-day plan detailing the first moves he plans to make as alderman at a meeting held at the Experimental Station on Sunday, two days before Tuesday’s election. The plan—drafted with the “huge help” of Piemonte—included monthly

meetings with all local school council heads and “wellness checks” on residents of the ward.

“I want the Fifth Ward, which is the greatest ward in the City of Chicago... to be the leading ward on everything innovative and everything related to the people in regards to progression,” Calloway said on election night.

At the election party, Piemonte said that Hairston “lacks the civic imagination necessary to create real opportunity that we need, especially in the southern part of the ward. She can’t picture anything other than what she’s been doing for the last 20 years.”

Hairston, who has been in office since 1999, has brought a number of developments to the ward, including the $162 million renovation of South Lake Shore Drive, the founding of Comer Children’s Hospital, and a skating rink on the Midway. Upcoming arrivals in the ward also include a Shop and Save Market grocery store, set to open this fall.

“She’s really just starting to bring a lot of development into the ward,” Fourth Ward alderman Sophia King said at the election night party. “We’re about to see the fruits of her labor.”

Hairston also recently voiced support for a Community Benefits Agreement (CBA) for the forthcoming Obama Center. The decision, which she attributed to the results of the ward’s overwhelming support for a CBA ordinance in the February general election, marks a reversal from Hairston’s longtime opposition to the measure. However, Hairston maintains that her support does not represent a shift in policy to being pro-CBA. Instead, she referred to an open letter she wrote to the Obama Foundation in 2017 asking the foundation to ensure community members are protected from any adverse effects that may arise.

“I will clarify, as I’ve said in my first letter, that I support it. But I support that the people, the stakeholders are at the table, and right now all of the stakeholders are not at the table,” Hairston said in an interview with WGN on election night.

Hairston supporter Ricki Gilliam said at Hairston’s Tuesday night election party that she believes Hairston’s experience and past successes make her the woman for the job. Although about half the voters in the ward seemed to believe otherwise, Gilliam attributed

the closeness of the race to “low voter turnout.”

“She does a lot to bridge the neighborhoods together,” Gilliam continued, referencing the South Shore Summer Festival.

“In all seriousness, Leslie is the best.... Mr. Calloway’s got some hype to him, but he doesn’t have the experience to hold the office,” she said before the election results came in. “I wholeheartedly believe [Hairston]’s going to win.”

Gloria Pittman, another supporter, was also confident before Hairston’s declared victory. She said that she thinks Hairston will “take the ward to the next level.”

Pittman added that she was unconcerned with Calloway’s projected boost in support, even though many had predicted that Piemonte’s supporters would transfer their votes to Calloway in the runoff. “[Piemonte] never had a presence in the ward before.... If you go five blocks down, nobody would even know his name,” she said.

Lightfoot: She and Preckwinkle “Will Work Together for the City We Love” CONTINUED FROM PG. 3

as the first openly gay mayor.

“If Lori were to win mayor of Chicago, she would be the first openly gay and first Black woman,” Lewis said. “My parents are from Jamaica, and as a first-generation low-income student I know the feeling of being the first.”

Despite Lightfoot’s social policies, some question whether Lightfoot would be a progressive choice for working-class Chicagoans, having been a former corporate lawyer who defended banks, pharmaceutical companies, and other multibillion dollar industries. Lightfoot also raised concern among voters due to her policies surrounding policing, who criticized her for her past experience as federal prosecutor and chair of Chicago’s police board.

Two weeks ago, Chance the Rapper endorsed Preckwinkle, citing his concerns

over Lightfoot’s past history as a prosecutor.

“To be a prosecutor—to be not on the side of families of victims of police crimes, to me, puts you in the machine,” he said.

He also claimed that members of Chicago’s Black community “don’t necessarily feel comfortable or safe going into a city where Lori Lightfoot sits on the fifth floor.”

Chance’s sentiment was echoed by others at Preckwinkle’s election night party, such as a county employee who wished not to be named due to their employment. “[Preckwinkle] has not done anything that can be shown to intentionally harm marginalized communities,” they said.

“With [Lightfoot’s election] there are communities that are no longer feel safe.”

In a forum on campus last month, Lightfoot suggested converting vacant schools into mini police academies, inciting fur-

ther criticism on online forums about her policing proposals. She later clarified that she would only implement the proposal after “intensive community engagement and input process,” and the proposal reflects “the broader need to ensure officers can receive urgently needed training in or close to the communities where they work.”

On education, Lightfoot said in answers to a questionnaire by Chalkbeat that she supports a fully elected school board. Chicago’s school board is currently fully appointed by the mayor. Asked if she would keep in power Janice Jackson, the current Chief Education Officer heading the school board, Lightfoot did not give an answer, saying she would “sit down with Dr. Jackson to discuss my vision and expectations for change.” Turnover on the school board, particularly for the Chief Education Officer, could entail changes to how the school

board allocates resources to schools across Chicago and the school board’s handling of charter schools.

Lightfoot has also been circumspect— as has Preckwinkle—about how she would deal with the city’s pension crisis. Lightfoot told the Chicago Tribune that she would address the pension problem through “progressive sources of revenue” and by cutting the size of city government via measures like eliminating the city treasurer’s office and city clerk’s office.

At the end of her speech at her campaign party, Lightfoot encouraged her supporters to “join together as one Chicago, indivisible and for all.”

She chanted, “Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine,” referencing the song “This Little Light of Mine” and her last name.

Lightfoot will officially take office as the new mayor on May 20.

THE CHICAGO MAROON — APRIL 3, 2019

5

Jeanette Taylor, Community Organizer with Union and Democratic Socialists’ Backing, Picks Up 60 Percent of Vote in 20th Ward

Taylor posing for pictures after her win over Johnson sophia corning

By ISHA JAIN, CAROLINE KUBZANSKY and ALEX DALTON Maroon Staff Community organizer Jeanette Taylor won the aldermanic race for the 20th

Ward with 60 percent of the vote. Her opponent, nonprofit employee and former elementary school teacher Nicole Johnson, received 40 percent of the vote and conceded at 9 p.m.

At Taylor’s election party, campaign

manager Candis Castillo struck a triumphant tone when addressing a crowd of friends and supporters.

“Tonight, a mandate has been given to the 20th Ward to end the legacy of neglect and corruption. We finally have an alderwoman who is completely of the people,” Castillo said. Former alderman Willie Cochran resigned two weeks ago after pleading guilty to a corruption charge.

In her victor y speech, Taylor thanked her family members, saying they inspired her run.

“Words cannot even describe the love and the joy that I feel that the 20th ward decided on sending a mother, a wife, a community organizer, a Local Schools Council (LSC) member,” Taylor said.

She reiterated a major theme of her campaign, emphasizing her people-oriented approach to politics.

“I told folks when they voted for me that’s not enough, I need them to go to City Hall with me. I meant what I said about organizing around what the community wants to see,” she said.

In the February 26 election, Taylor and Johnson led a field of nine candidates with 29 and 22 percent of the vote, respectively. Former candidates Jennifer Maddox and Anthony Driver, both of whom threw their support behind Taylor following the February election, attended Taylor’s event.

“I think the 20th Ward won today,” Driver told The Maroon. “I think we finally have a champion that’s for the people.”

In her concession speech, Johnson expressed concern about the future of the city.

“Chicago is changing and it may or may not be for the better. In order for us to move to the next step, we need to listen to one another. We all want the same things. We all want to feel safe, we want better means. I love the South Side, but we deserve better,” she said.

Johnson supporter David Miller was disappointed but optimistic in the wake of Johnson’s unsuccessful run. He also noted that this campaign does not have

to be Johnson’s last.

“The numbers did not come up as we wanted tonight, but Nicole was the only young candidate that has made it this far, in the third largest city in America.

Though this is tough, the future looks bright,” he said.

Johnson and Taylor both supported measures to increase the availability of affordable housing in the ward, such as eliminating the $10,000 fee that developers can pay in lieu of setting aside 10 percent of their housing units for low-income residents.

Johnson has worked at the nonprofits Teamwork Englewood and Chicago Votes, and garnered backing from Chance the Rapper, among other supporters. Johnson and Taylor were the two best-funded candidates in the nine-person field for 20th Ward alderman. Though Johnson is a member of the Chicago Teachers’ Union (CTU), the CTU endorsed Taylor in the race, donating $60,000.

The CTU endorsement has been the subject of some contention, with Johnson positing a “backroom deal” between Taylor and the union. Taylor has rejected all claims of such dealings.

Taylor hopes to dismantle aldermanic prerogative, which currently gives aldermen sweeping power over the development that arrives in their wards.

Under the current prerogative system, aldermen can veto or support a possible initiative in their ward and largely expect City Council to follow their leads.

Johnson had planned to reform the system to make it more accountable, using a planning advisory committee to make decisions more transparent and accessible. Prior to the elections, she expressed confidence that some but not all aspects of life in the 20th Ward would improve under her opponent.

“The 20th Ward is in good hands,” she said in her speech. “I trust the character of my opponent, but I’d be remiss if I didn’t say that I wish this came in my favor. But this has made my skin much thicker. I didn’t know I was this sensitive, but also this strong.”

THE CHICAGO MAROON — APRIL 3, 2019

6

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Announcing

Conyears-Ervin Beats Pawar in Rare Contested Treasurer Election

By OREN OPPENHEIM Deputy News Editor Melissa Conyears-Ervin has won Chicago’s first contested race for treasurer since 1999.

Conyears-Ervin, Illinois State Representative for the 10th District, led the race with 59.51 percent of the vote, while Pawar had 40.49 percent of the vote, as of 8:41 PM with 82.60 percent of precincts reporting.

“First and foremost, we did it,” Conyears-Ervin said during an election night event held in a letter carrier union office in Bronzeville.

She thanked the organizations and unions that endorsed her, saying, “Unions!

Hardworking men and women! Those have been the supporters of this campaign!”

“The West Side of Chicago has never had a citywide elected official, and I am truly from the West Side of Chicago,” she added later in her victory speech.

“Please know that this young lady, born in Englewood, raised in the West Side of Chicago...knows what it means to struggle, knows what it means for families to have to fight for a livable wage,” she said.

“I do not take this role lightly.”

Conyears-Ervin’s platform emphasized auditing city agencies such as Chicago Public Schools, centralizing financial records online, and moving some municipal government departments such as the Office of Financial Analysis to the treasurer’s jurisdiction. She received an endorsement from Peter Gariepy, who ran against her and Pawar in the February race.

In the election on February 26, Conyears-Ervin received around 44 percent of the vote. Pawar received 42 percent.

The City Treasurer oversees Chicago’s investments in securities and bonds, the city’s municipal pension funds, the separately established Chicago Teacher’s Pension Fund, and programs supporting financial education and small businesses.

Current treasurer Kurt Summers, who took office in 2014, announced last October that he would not run for reelection.

“I am rooting for [Conyears-Ervin] to succeed,” Pawar said in a statement where he announced his concession. “I am proud of the race we ran.... Here is the silver lining: 40% of Chicago voted for a candidate running to launch a public bank and pilot universal basic income. We moved the needle on these issues.”

Logan Foundation Backs Lawsuit Blocking OPC in Jackson Park

By CAROLINE KUBZANSKY News Editor The Reva and David Logan Foundation this week granted $100,000 to the nonprofit Protect Our Parks (POP), which recently filed a lawsuit against the City to block the building of the Obama Presidential Center (OPC) in its proposed Jackson Park location.

The Logan Foundation, which supports arts, social justice, investigative journalism, and scholarly ventures, largely funded the construction of the University’s Logan Center for the Arts.

The lawsuit, which gained unexpected traction when federal judge Robert Blakey allowed the lawsuit to proceed despite the City’s request for dismissal last month, argues that the Obama Cen-

ter cannot occupy the proposed location because it would effectively privatize legal public lands.

Logan Foundation Board Chairman Richard Logan agreed with the suit’s argument, according to a statement quoted in the Chicago Sun-Times.

“We believe that this ‘land grab’ is both legally and morally wrong, and that the City of Chicago, the Obama Foundation and their partners need to reconsider their choice of location for this project,” the statement reads.

Despite its opposition to the OPC’s proposed location in Jackson Park, the Logan Foundation appears to continue to support the arrival of the OPC in Chicago.

“There are so many sites in the city that could benefit from...opportunities

for employment and the neighborhood regeneration without taking public land and destroying historic city parklands,” the statement says.

POP president Herb Caplan told the Hyde Park Herald in an e-mail that POP may use the money, labeled as a “general operations” grant, however it sees fit, and that the Logan Foundation has agreed to support the suit in the event of a higher appeal—even if that appeal reaches the Supreme Court.

The Logan Foundation said in its statement, quoted in the Chicago SunTimes, “This grant is designated for general operations and may be used to pay the ever mounting legal fees or for whatever purpose Protect Our Parks feels will further its just cause.”

The University has supported the

location of the OPC in Jackson Park, though it initially also proposed a Washington Park location. In its 2014 bid to host the OPC, the University said that Jackson Park, out of other proposed sites, would provide the University a large amount of control over the OPC’s development because the University owns greenspace and dorms surrounding Jackson Park.

Asked if the Logan Foundation’s donation to POP will change the University’s relationship to the Foundation, University spokesperson Jeremy Manier said, “No. The Logan Foundation is entirely independent of the University.”

Under the current schedule of the lawsuit, this round of hearings will begin in late April, with pre-trial information presentations on April 19.

THE CHICAGO MAROON — APRIL 3, 2019

7

The 20th Ward’s Overwhelming Question Aldermanic Contenders Must Buck History of Corruption

By ALEX DALTON Grey City Reporter

Last July, the Chicago Aldermanic Black Caucus gathered in the upscale Persona Lounge in the Loop for their annual fundraiser. Promoted on Facebook as a chance to “celebrate the summer season and raise funds for community scholarships,” the event did not go as smoothly as planned. Youth civil rights activists from several Chicago organizations arrived to protest the Caucus’s support of the Chicago Police Department and to express opposition to the planned $95 million police training facility on the West Side. An hour before the event, the Civilian Office of Police Accountability had released body camera footage of the police shooting of 24-year-old Maurice Granton Jr., who died when a bullet entered his back.

Parrish Brown, the co-chair of the Chicago chapter of BYP100 (Black Youth Project 100), was at the event, and felt that the aldermen present were distant from the activists trying to engage them. A fellow activist tried to raise the issue of the cop academy with the Caucus members, but “didn’t really get a chance to talk at all.”

“We’re here to have a good time; if you want to protest take it outside,” 34th Ward Alderman Carrie Austin told the crowd as security escorted a protestor shouting “No cop academy!” from the venue.

Willie Cochran, then the alderman of the 20th Ward, took the microphone.

“They must not know we got gangsters in here,” he joked, to a roar of laughter from his peers.

The activists did not share the aldermen’s sense of humor. “That infuriated me,” Brown said, “You got youth

out here that’s really trying to engage you, and you’re in here drinking chardonnay and laughing and not being for the community.” Still, Brown said the aldermen’s response was “not surprising.” “They’ve always been a part of that system,” he told me. “You can tell by the way that they vote.”

Cochran’s comment may have been a joke, but the suggestion wasn’t as absurd as it may have sounded. In 2016, a federal court indicted Cochran on 15 counts, alleging that he stole charity funds, accepted thousands of dollars in bribes from businessmen seeking deals, and coerced a liquor store owner into paying him $3,000 in exchange for Cochran’s support of an ordinance affecting liquor licenses. On March 21, he pled guilty to a single charge of wire fraud, admitting to a federal judge that he used $14,000 of contributions to the 20th Ward Activities Fund—intended for community events for constituents, particularly children and seniors—to gamble, make personal purchases, and fund part of his daughter’s college tuition.

In accordance with state law, Cochran resigned his position as alderman when he pled guilty. Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s spokesperson Matt McGrath said that the mayor does not plan to appoint a replacement, who would serve until the winner of the runoff takes office on May 20. Emanuel however, has not ruled out the move, and his office is “evaluating [their] options and will do what is in the best interest of the city and the residents of the 20th Ward,” McGrath said.

Cochran will be the third alderman from the 20th Ward to go to prison since the 1970s. The 20th Ward, covering most of Woodlawn, parts of Washington

The two candidates, Johnson and Taylor, after February’s general elections isha jain Park, Englewood, and Back of the Yards, only has two peers in aldermanic corruption rates: the 23rd and 31st Wards.

He will likely spend a little over a year in prison.

In 1986, the FBI ensnared then 20th Ward Alderman Clifford P. Kelley as part of Operation Incubator, a probe of Chicago and Cook County corruption that produced 14 bribery indictments.

Kelley, prosecutors alleged, accepted $7,500 from a con man turned FBI informant in exchange for expediting a private bill collection agency’s bids for lucrative City contracts while impeding those of their competitors. They also accused him of accepting a $6,500 bribe from a waste management firm, illegally soliciting a $10,000 loan, and failing to file three years of federal income tax returns. Kelley sought reelection in 1987 but lost and ultimately pled guilty to four counts of mail fraud and failure to file his tax returns for 1985. He spent

nine and a half months behind bars.

Arenda Troutman, the first female alderman indicted while still in office, served as 20th Ward alderman from 1990 until 2007, when Cochran won in the midst of her corruption scandal.

During the race, Cochran emphasized Troutman’s violation of constituents’ trust and promised reform. Troutman was sentenced to four years on mail fraud and tax fraud charges.

Aldermanic prerogative, the largely unwritten power of aldermen to initiate or block City Hall actions that impact their Wards, has been a major topic of debate both on the citywide and Ward levels throughout the campaign and election process. Though it doesn’t stem from any legislatively granted authority, members of the City Council, the mayor’s office, and citywide administrators responsible for land-use policies overwhelmingly respect this privilege.

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THE CHICAGO MAROON — APRIL 3, 2019

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“The alderman’s office is supposed to be a resource for the community and it hasn’t” CONTINUED FROM PG. 7

In most cases, if a development that requires a zoning change or permit lacks the support of the local alderman, the City Council can be relied upon to vote the measure down. Each alderman effectively holds the final say regarding developments planned for his or her Ward. This can quickly lead to aldermen making deals to enrich themselves illicitly and potentially at the expense of Ward residents—a phenomenon with which the 20th Ward is familiar. Absent sufficient oversight, aldermen often end up granting deals to those business owners willing to pay the most, and not those whose developments would most benefit residents.

In addition to facilitating corruption, aldermanic prerogative has contributed to keeping affordable housing developments out of affluent white communities and perpetuating racial segregation, as a study from the Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law out this month concluded. The report cites the example of 29th Ward Alderman Chris Taliaferro, who in 2017 effectively scuttled a proposed housing development in the West Side neighborhood of Galewood that would have included affordable units by withholding his support. “Any attempt the City may make to advance affordable housing,” the report reads, “is destined for inadequacy unless and until the structural barriers imposed by aldermanic prerogative are dismantled.”

Proponents of the system, however, argue that it makes City Hall more responsive to Chicagoans’ needs by privileging the voices of those residents

most closely affected by any given governmental action. Aldermanic prerogative can allow City Council members to reject developments planned for their Wards that are popular on the citywide level, but have potentially negative consequences for those living nearby—for example, Emanuel’s proposed City-owned casino.

Not surprisingly, the issue of corruption featured prominently in the lead-up to the February election, in which nine candidates vied to replace Cochran. On April 2, voters winnowed the field to two candidates, Nicole Johnson and Jeanette Taylor. Both boast strong grassroots credentials and plans of reform, but will continue to grapple with the problem as they compete for votes in the runoff election.

“People are getting more educated around it,” BYP100 co-chair Brown said. “People are looking for action plans.”

Whoever wins will face the daunting task of rebuilding the community’s trust in its alderman and reforming the institutional failures that have allowed corruption in the past.

Nicole Johnson, who finished with 22 percent of the vote in the February election, grew up in Englewood, and still lives there in a house that her grandmother owns. Her experience of “going to really good schools but knowing at an early age that that wasn’t the case for a lot of other kids” inspired her to become a public servant—first as a third grade teacher, and later through a career in public policy work.

She has worked at a number of local nonprofits, including Teamwork Englewood and Chicago Votes, and was selected as a peer adviser for the Obama

Foundation’s inaugural Civic Engagement Training Day. Johnson is acutely aware of the ways in which her community has been underserved, and for that reason chose the campaign slogan “We Deserve Better.” “There is so much out there in the world that we could access,” she said, “but because of poor management of the responsibilities of this office, because of mistrust, because of racial discrimination, we are in the circumstances we are in today.”

When I asked her if she feels that Cochran has served the people of the 20th Ward, she told me, “It depends on who in the Ward you’re talking about.”

Voters from Woodlawn—comparatively the wealthiest part of the Ward—have told Johnson, “Oh, he’s done okay, he makes sure that we have block clubs and we get our permits, so, basic constituent services.”

Things are different in the more impoverished areas of Englewood, Washington Park, and Back of the Yards.

4/2/2019

“When I’m in this part of the Ward though, people are like, ‘We just been completely forgotten about,’” Johnson said.

Johnson’s campaign office, located in a storefront on Englewood’s South Halsted Street, sits next to a vacant lot; another lies across the street.

At the nearby intersection of South Halsted Street and West Garfield Boulevard, a boarded-up building sports a colorful mural paying homage to the neighborhood’s history of blues music.

There are parts of the Back of the Yards, she said, where “it looks like a forest. There’s nothing there.” Johnson also brought up residents of Washington Park who have to walk multiple miles to go grocery shopping and the poor quality of internet service in Englewood. “There’s a lot to be desired during his leadership in terms of just the basics,” she said.

Woodlawn, the home of University of Chicago students who

live south of Midway Plaisance, presents its own challenges.

Fourth-year and 20th Ward resident Anil Sindhwani, who serves as policy and outreach coordinator for Johnson’s campaign, expressed concern over expensive new developments changing his block. “I know that the rents of the apartment buildings down the street are going up,” he said.

Community organizer Jeanette Taylor, Johnson’s opponent in the runoff, led the field in February with 29 percent of the vote. She originally moved to the 20th Ward in 2013 when rising rents forced her to relocate from Bronzeville. It’s an experience that has fueled her activism. Having suffered the consequences of gentrification once, “I didn’t want the exact same thing to happen again,” she said.

Two days after Taylor moved in, six-month-old Jonylah Watkins died after she and her father were each shot multiple times while he was CONTINUED ON PG. 9 untitled - Vectr

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THE CHICAGO MAROON — APRIL 3, 2019

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“The constituents are the people who are going to hold me accountable” CONTINUED FROM PG. 8

changing her diaper in the family minivan. The tragedy made national news. Shaken by the shooting, Taylor went to talk to Cochran with her 10-yearold daughter in tow.

“I went to his office and told him that I didn’t really feel safe in the community,” Taylor said. Cochran responded that she was being “too critical” for someone who had just moved into the neighborhood.

“My reaction has to be strong, but it has to be strategic, because my 10-year-old is watching,” Taylor said of her reply to Cochran: She pulled out her card, identifying herself as the educational organizer for the Kenwood-Oakland Community Organization, and told Cochran that if the way he was treating her was any indication of how he treated his constituents, “we’re going to have a real problem.”

Once Cochran realized who he was dealing with, he changed his tune. “I pay my taxes, I live in this community,” she told him, “and I expect to be treated as such.”

Taylor echoed Johnson’s sentiment that Cochran’s office has benefited some but not all in the 20th Ward. “Back of the Yards, Englewood, New City, all feel like they’re left out,” she said.

Brown of BYP100, who has worked on Taylor’s campaign, also doubts Cochran’s engagement with the community. His experience knocking 20th Ward doors in support of BYP100’s Community Benefits Agreement campaign heightened this suspicion.

“A lot of people have said that they’ve never seen him, or they’ve only seen him once and that was on election day,” Brown said.

Taylor agreed that Cochran has been largely closed off to

constituents. “The alderman’s office is supposed to be a resource for the community and it hasn’t,” she said. Cochran, when contacted for comment, was unwilling to speak to *Grey City* at the time of publication.

Both candidates have had to think carefully about what to tell residents who want assurances that they’ll keep their hands clean. Johnson recalled the first time the issue was raised for her. “It was a Friday in September; still warm out, and I was circulating my petitions.” A man asked her how she intended to stay out of jail.

Johnson, who is young, petite, and well-dressed, replied, “Look at me. I’m not going to jail.”

Johnson might have been right to assume that she doesn’t resemble the stock image of a crooked politician, “but he wanted a real answer.” Johnson’s platform involves giving the Attorney General’s office increased power to monitor aldermen’s campaign contributions and the development and zoning deals they make, “to see if there’s any foul play there.”

Johnson also wants to improve communication between the 20th Ward alderman and the Ward’s constituents through a steady stream of e-mails, newsletters and in-person meetings.

Johnson also wants to take a census of the Ward to better understand its residents and their skills, “so that I can plug them in to different opportunities that come, [and] show them that ‘Hey, I’m not doing this for me. I want to elevate you. I want to build capacity.’”

Taylor starts with humor when asked for assurance that she’ll stay out of prison.

“I start off as light as I can,” she told me, joking that she doesn’t look good in orange and that the jail’s bologna isn’t up to her standards—“I like

Oscar Mayer”—before getting serious.

Taylor aims to foster a level of engagement and transparency that will make corruption impossible.

“It’s not enough that you vote for me,” she said, “I have to take you to City Hall with me.

You know what I’m doing, you know what the budget is, you know about every dime that I spent, you know about the meeting with the developers that’s coming up.”

Johnson said her success in the February election was the product of her ability to leverage her community ties to build support. “Every dollar that was raised on my campaign, I made those phone calls,” she said.

Her opponent, Johnson thinks, “cannot say those things.”

The two candidates were the second-best and best funded contenders in the February election, respectively. According to Illinois Sunshine, Johnson’s top donors include former cannabis entrepreneur and philanthropist Peter Kadens, musician and activist Chance the Rapper, Duchossois Family Foundation president Ashley Joyce, and retired asset manager Timothy Schwertfeger.

Taylor, on the other hand, has received most of her support from unions and progressive organizations. The Chicago Teachers Union (CTU), Service Employees International Union, and United Working families are her biggest backers. When I asked Johnson why she thought Taylor had received the CTU’s endorsement, despite Johnson’s own history as a member, Johnson said that the move was probably the result of a “backroom deal.”

However, she didn’t elaborate on what such a deal might have looked like.

Taylor rejected that characterization.

“That’s funny,” she said.

“Where was she at when they were out fighting school closings? I was there. Was she on the picket line when they were fighting?”

Taylor also cited her involvement with the CTU’s push for Sustainable Community Schools, which offer smaller classes sizes and broader forms of community engagement to students and their families, implying that Johnson could not tout the same involvement.

“Where was she,” she went on, “in her own community, in Englewood, to stop the closing of Hope and Harper schools?

Nowhere to be found. I was there. Ain’t no backroom deal.”

She said she was tired of telling people that she won’t apologize for getting the CTU’s support. “These are the same people that I’ve been fighting for for 10 years,” she said.

Regarding her funding, Taylor told me that if elected, her first obligation will always be to the residents of the Ward.

“It’s nice to have great endorsements. It’s nice to have organized people, organized money,” she said. “But the constituents are the people who vote, the constituents are the people who are going to hold me accountable.”

Both 20th Ward candidates aim to address the issues with aldermanic prerogative. Taylor wants to see aldermanic prerogative abolished, and make land-use decisions at the citywide level based on an equitable development plan. Johnson plans to make the system more accountable rather than eliminating it wholesale, primarily through the implementation of a planning advisory committee, a move that will result, she says, in “more transparency,” and “more involvement [with] what the zoning will be.”

Broader community en-

gagement is a potentially powerful solution to the 20th Ward’s problems, but not an easy one to pull off. Voter turnout among registered 20th Ward voters in the February election was around 34 percent, about the same as the citywide average and similar to 2007, when Cochran was elected with a turnout of 33 percent. The overwhelmingly working-class nature of the 20th Ward also presents challenges. Johnson staffer Sindhwani acknowledged that getting constituents to show up for community events in order to make their voices heard is “not an easy ask for people who might work three jobs and have two kids and don’t have time to even sleep or breathe or eat.”

Taylor recognizes the difficulty, but says there are ways around it. Keeping people involved at the Ward level, for Taylor, is about making sure that they are “proud of the process.”

“If you’re not able to come to a forum, can we e-mail you the notes from the forum? Can we get your phone number and have a conversation with you?

Can we get your input?”

W hen I asked Johnson whether she thought the Ward was in for an improvement, regardless of the election’s outcome, she told me that “certain aspects” would definitely improve, but not all. Despite her differences with Johnson, Taylor was much more sanguine.

“The 20th Ward needs a champion who is going to fight for all constituents, and regardless of who wins the election I still will be advocating, fighting for, and fighting with the 20th Ward,” she said. The problems facing the Ward aren’t going anywhere, and until they are addressed, Taylor said.

“We’ve still got some fighting to do in Chicago.”

THE CHICAGO MAROON — APRIL 3, 2019

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VIEWPOINTS LETTER: Non–Tenure Track Professors Condemn Administration for Violating Contract UChicago boasts many historical firsts. Among them is the first teaching award—the Quantrell. Established in 1938, the prize is a “monetary award… presented annually to faculty members in recognition of their excellence in teaching undergraduate students.”

Despite the fact that nontenure-stream faculty teach roughly 40 percent of classes in the College, all but a handful of us have been excluded from this award. Students who made nominations were surprised to learn that instructors who had changed their lives were deemed

ineligible because they had the wrong job title. Dean Boyer would write a nice note to these faculty members thanking them for all they do.

Last year, our Union of nontenure-stream faculty, after over two years of negotiations with the University administration, ratified our first collective bargaining agreement. It’s a contract that we are very proud of, and it includes significant gains such as better salaries, a pathway to promotion, more secure employment for some parttime lecturers, and green card sponsorship. All of our wins are

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wins for our students and for the greater Chicago community.

While a teaching award may not seem significant, it cuts to the heart of the principle that informed our entire bargaining effort: working toward equal respect for all faculty. We recognize the extraordinary teaching that goes on in classrooms run by tenure-stream faculty. But if UChicago is fully committed to recognizing excellence in teaching, it should recognize this excellence no matter who the teacher is.

The administration resisted including eligibility for the Quantrell in the teaching awards section of our contract.

Time and again, we submitted our version of the article with the Quantrell language included. Time and again, the administration returned their version with our Quantrell language crossed out.

This back-and-forth continued for some six months. We continued to argue that including all faculty in the Quantrell award eligibility is in everyone’s best interest. At the University of Chicago, excellence in teaching is excellence in teaching.

The final version of the teaching award section of our contract reads: “Nothing in this Agreement precludes a Lecturer from being nominated for and receiving any teaching awards for which they are eligible, including the Llewellyn John and Harriet Manchester Quantrell Award, as those awards exist from time to time.”

That should have been that.

It shouldn’t occasion a second helping of the Latke-Hamantash debate.

Recently we learned that students wished to nominate one of us for the Quantrell.

When they wrote to the associate dean of the College for Academic Affairs, they were told effectively not to bother, that a full-time lecturer with 14 years of experience teaching in the College was not eligible for consideration of an award for excellence in undergraduate teaching.

Hadn’t the administration read the contract they signed?

When we reached out to the University for clarification, their labor lawyer told us that it was the administration’s position that, well, what the sentence clearly says isn’t what it clearly says. Their position seems to be a mixture of gaslighting and obfuscation, essentially saying in legalese that they had their fingers crossed behind their backs when they made a commitment in writing.

Since our primary role as non-tenure-stream faculty is to teach, why shouldn’t our exemplary teaching be recognized alongside that of our tenure-stream colleagues? We made this argument across the bargaining table. The administration finally signed off on language that they are now going to extremes to contort into saying what it does not say.

The larger questions are: How does restricting this award to tenure-stream faculty and a tiny fraction of non-tenurestream faculty enhance the collective teaching mission at Chicago? When the clear purpose of the award is to encourage excellent undergraduate teaching, how do our students benefit from excluding nearly half

of undergraduate instructors?

What motivates the administration to backtrack after they agreed that all lecturers will be eligible for the Quantrell?

What does it say about an administration that will go to such great lengths to keep some of their most dedicated teachers ineligible for a teaching award, even though doing so requires a lengthy grievance and arbitration process? Shouldn’t a student nomination automatically confer award eligibility for a faculty member? What’s the principle at stake here? We haven’t heard a peep.

We believe strongly that the University risks tainting this very prestigious and historically significant award by refusing to honor their commitment.

We would welcome a public forum to discuss the principles at stake with students, our colleagues, the administration, and anyone else who has a stake in seeing excellence in teaching recognized at the University of Chicago.

The deadline for the Quantrell nominations, April 6, is fast approaching, and the administration is refusing to honor their commitment. We call upon the administration to honor the contract they signed. We ask our colleagues and our students and the entire UChicago community to reach out to Dean Boyer (jwboyer@uchicago.edu), President Zimmer (president@ uchicago.edu), and Provost Diermeier (ddiermeier@uchicago.edu) and urge them to honor their commitment.

—The UChicago Faculty Forward Union Steering Committee

THE CHICAGO MAROON — APRIL 3, 2019

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ARTS

Hari Kunzru on the Modern Distortion of Truth

By VERONICA CHANG Arts Reporter

On March 12, novelist Hari Kunzru gave a lecture titled “On the Difficulties in Writing the Truth,” one of six speeches for the Common Artist Project Parts of Speech by the Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA). Organized by Public Fiction with Triple Canopy, the project entails six commissioned speeches by different interdisciplinary figures, given in public sites throughout Chicago. The speeches are given in conjunction with an installation of videos at the MCA regarding public speech.

Kunzru’s speech, which revolved around the theme of the distortion of truth, took place at the Music Box Theatre. He read a modernized version of Bertolt Brecht’s 1935 essay “Writing the Truth: Five Difficulties,” which argues that “writing the truth” requires the courage to express the truth, the wit to recognize

[3/28–4/11] 35th Chicago Latino Film Festival AMC River East, 5:30 p.m., price varies with film Currently underway, the International Latino Cultural Center of Chicago’s two-week-long festival features films from Latin America, Spain, Portugal, and the United States.

Friday [4/5] B. A . Thesis Ex h ibition Opening Reception Logan Center Gallery, 6–8 p.m., free Join fourth-year visual arts

the truth, the skill to manipulate the truth as a weapon, the judgment to select those in whose hands the truth will be effective, and the cunning to spread the truth among the many. Kunzru outlined and alluded to these five difficulties alongside a slideshow presentation of different forms of fake news and alternative facts which pervade our mainstream media today: photos which falsely claimed that the Jews were responsible for 9/11, artwork which lauded pride for white America, and eerily Nazi-esque propaganda posters for Aryan supremacy.

“Engagement can always be monetized,” proclaimed Kunzru. Even today, websites such as Facebook and YouTube profit off our time. Yet, these algorithmic websites care only about our engagement; popularity, Kunzru argued, feeds on itself, and in turn, the truth is buried.

He seemed to be asking his audience: What truths are worth telling? And in this age of dis-

traction, how can we find those truths?

Modern references such as “Alexa, make the government change” resounded through the dark theater. Kunzru’s voice was not necessarily loud, but it was piercing and powerful. With this voice, Kunzru forced his audience to ponder the questions and dilemmas he was proposing.

Kunzru implored the audience to use cunning to spread the truth whenever it is oppressed or concealed, even if it is belligerent, even if it “claps back,” to insist on it and to consider to whom you tell the truth, and who tells it to you.

As Kunzru began to conclude his speech, a multitude of recorded voices started playing over his own, indistinguishable from one another. The voices were Kunzru proving how easy it is to hide the truth—how simple it is to distort it. As Kunzru walked off the stage, there was no applause. The audience was silent, captivated

by a rapidly vanishing truth.

The presentation was followed by a short Q&A session, in which Kunzru addressed the core themes of his speech. He discussed how, in the contemporary United States, there is an inherent discomfort with the truth, a relativization of absolute values and the ethics of truth.

And, ultimately, he revealed how this scares him. “All this stuff I

majors as they exhibit their artwork in for an easier recipe, sear pork shoulder.

Ida Noyes Hall, 7 p.m.

Director Claire Denis will join Doc Films for a special screening of her newest movie, High Life. This outer space survival film follows a father and daughter as they hurdle toward a black hole.

Sensasia Presents: Subtle Asian Story Logan Center, 5:30–9:30 p.m., $5/$10 with dinner Make sure to save room for Thai, Chinese, Taiwanese, Malaysian, Korean, Japanese, Singaporean, and Filipino cuisine at Sensasia’s annual East and Southeast Asian cultural show. This year’s theme will be “Subtle Asian Story,” and along with food there will be plenty of dancing, fashion, and more!

Saturday [4/6] Also on View: Exhibition Walk-through Renaissance Society, 3 p.m., free, RSVP requested As David Maljković’s solo exhibition Also on View nears closing, Associate Curator Karsten Lund is offering an informal tour of the show.

Monday [4/8] High Life Screening and Q&A with Director Claire Denis

Saturday [4/13] OLAS Tiene Talento Mandel Hall, 5–9:30 p.m., $8/$12 with dinner The Organization of Latin A merican Students’ annual cultural show will feature dancing, food vendors, and much more!

thought was gone is not gone,” he said, referring to corrosive postmodern ideas such as neo-Nazism; “it never was gone.”

Kunzru’s lecture is part of a free series run by the Museum of Contemporary Art. The next speech will be “On Similitude”

by Steffani Jemison on April 26, 2019 at the South Shore Cultural Center. More details can be found here.

Hari Kunzru courtesy of indulge express

Friday [4/19] Free Advance Screening of Long Shot

Ida Noyes, 9:30–11 p.m., free See this critically acclaimed film with Doc Films, starring Seth Rogen and Charlize Theron, before it’s released in theaters.

Saturday [4/27] BLOWOUT Opening Reception Renaissance Society, 5–8 p.m., RSVP requested In this solo exhibition, Liz Magor uses familiar, found objects to create “a collection of tiny intense narratives.”

THE CHICAGO MAROON — APRIL 3, 2019

12

SPORTS

The Maroons Compete Over Spring Break

By ALISON GILL and BRINDA RAO

Lacrosse

Baseball Continuing their season, the UChicago baseball team headed to Texas to face some of their toughest competition. The Maroons beat No. 1 Trinity University in a 4–3 game with impressive plays from fourth-year right-hander Joe Liberman and first-year Benjamin Rosengard. The

following day, the team faced Texas Lutheran University, starting with an impressive lead before faltering into an 8–5 loss. This loss follows four back-to-back games in less than a week, highlighting the demanding and grueling schedule the Maroons have faced all season.

Softball The UChicago softball team traveled to Clermont, Florida to kick off their season with a slew of games over spring break.

Playing 12 games against stiff competition over the course of seven days, the team returned to Chicago with a record of 5–7. The team netted 40 total runs over the dozen games for an average of 3.33, and the team notched impressive victories against Union (N.Y.), Carleton, Oberlin, Wiscon-

sin–Stout, and Wisconsin–Eau Claire. But the Maroon bats struggled to come alive in several lopsided losses. Fourth-year outfielder Maeve Garvey collected one home run and 10 runs batted in to pace the team.

Among players with more than 10 plate appearances, first-year outfielder Samantha Lauro leads the team with 0.400 hitting percentage with first-year catcher Katie O’Donnell (0.391) in close second.

Men’s Tennis Kicking off their spring season, the UChicago men’s tennis team competed and trained in sunny California. They started the week off against Pomona-Pitzer, securing a hard-fought victory (5–4). Pomona-Pitzer put up a fight that the Maroons were prepared to meet. Second-years Jeremy Yuan and Alejandro Rodriguez won early matches, setting

the stage for the win. This was complemented by another 5–4 win against Williams at Claremont McKenna’s courts.

Winding down from the laborious training and previous meets, the team faced Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, losing 6–3.

Despite the loss, the Maroons won two of the three doubles matches.

Women’s Tennis The UChicago women’s tennis team joined their counterpart in California to play two tough teams. The team balanced these games with intense practices to start their spring season off strong. They started the trip by competing against Williams at Claremont McKenna’s courts. Despite strong wins from first-year Nicole Semen-

ov and second-year Catherine Xu, the team faltered in its doubles matches. Women’s tennis continued the week by playing against No. 2 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps.

Despite the overall loss (8–1), an impressive doubles play from third-year Marjorie Antohi and first-year Lauren Park secured the Maroons a match win.

The UChicago lacrosse team tacked on another two wins but also suffered the program’s first loss while in California over break. The Maroons routed Linfield 22–6 to end their finals week hiatus, scoring a season high in goals and shots. First-year midfielder Ali Sheehy set the pace for the team with six goals while first-years Lally Johnson and Abbey Pouba added hat tricks.

Next, the team downed Whittier 19–6 in similar fashion. Sheehy and Johnson again recorded hat tricks as first-year attackers Sarah Bloomquist and Anne Rosloniec joined them. In their final game of the break, the Maroons’ op-

ponent found a way to slow their redhot offense, as Redlands bested them, 20–12. Redlands took a 13–6 advantage at halftime after a 9–2 scoring run that put them up for good. First-year midfielder Karina Schulze and Pouba each scored three goals, leading the visiting Maroons. Schulze also dominated on the draw, winning 14 of the Maroons’ 23 compared to Redlands team total of 12. The Bulldogs, though, were able to make up the difference by winning the ground ball battle 35–24 to even the possession. The Maroons, now sitting at 7–1, will begin conference play shortly.

Volleyball The UChicago volleyball team went to Iceland for the duration of spring break, mixing cultural experiences with training sessions. As part of the international experience, the team hiked through Icelandic national parks and waterfalls, relaxed in thermal spas, and visited local horse farms. The Maroons

took on the Icelandic national team at the Olympic Training Center for some friendly exhibition scrimmages after several practices. While the team was understandably rusty after five months since the end of their season, the matches served to help the team improve heading into spring quarter training.

UPCOMING GAMES SPORT

OPPONENT

Softball

Men’s Tennis

Baseball

Lacrosse

DAY

TIME

Carthage

April 4

3 p.m.

Illinois Tech

April 4

7:30 p.m.

Cornell

April 6

12 p.m.

North Central

April 6

1 p.m.