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The Daily Northwestern Wednesday, January 15, 2025

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Global students Residents dissent, delaying Biss’ vision fear travel ban Impending Trump admin policies spark worry on campus By ALEXIA SEXTOU

the daily northwestern

Shun Graves/The Daily Northwestern

Last May, Mayor Daniel Biss touted his leadership over a testy year in Evanston politics. Now, with Envision Evanston, his foes have sought to tee up the fight of his political life.

‘Urgent’ Envision Evanston slow-walked amid citywide furor By SHUN GRAVES

daily senior staffer @realshungraves

As the frigid dusk fell above them, the voices of Evanston residents rose with dismay and a tinge of rage in a cozy downtown basement Thursday. The residents had gathered

over Mayor Daniel Biss’ oncenebulous project, Envision Evanston 2045. Unveiled as a transformative vision on everything from affordability to sustainability, the plan has quickly become a lightning rod. Why, some residents asked, must it happen all at once — and now? While the 1st Ward meeting

took place beneath Orrington Avenue, the residents’ push against Biss’ vision has hardly stayed underground. Aghast at Envision Evanston’s brisk pace and sweeping proposals — such as nixing single-family zoning — the dissidents have organized against it. They contend that Biss has finally met his match. And the

dissidents have already notched their first victory. After hearing an earful of criticism, City Council decided Monday to rein in Envision Evanston. It separated its two chief components and delayed the contentious rezoning to August. Jeff Boarini, challenging

» See ENVISION, page 8

When returning to Northwestern from her trip home to Iran during the Winter Recess, Weinberg freshman Rosha Sodeifi said she was excited to be back on campus. But what she didn’t expect was the five-hour questioning she received from authorities at the U.S. border, she said. In light of President-elect Donald Trump’s potential reinstatement of a travel ban in 2025, some international students are expressing fear and anxiety over what the ban could mean for their travel obligations. Several universities across the U.S. — such as the University of Southern California and Cornell University — already urged their international students this January to adjust their winter break travel plans, advising them to return before Jan. 13 and Jan. 21st, respectively. While international students at Northwestern did not receive such instructions due to the early start of the quarter system, a University spokesperson said the

Office of International Student and Scholar Services continues to monitor domestic and international developments and plan for potential scenarios to official immigration policy changes. With airport security already executing thorough port of entry checks and passport inspections, Sodeifi said she was worried that traveling home may become even more difficult after Trump is inaugurated on Jan. 20. “When I came back (to the U.S.), they stopped me and they searched all my luggage,” Sodeifi said, recalling her experience at O’Hare International Airport. “They took me to another room and questioned me and everything,” she said. Upon entry to the U.S., international students are expected to have their I-20 documentation available and answer any questions asked by Transportation Security Administration officers. Refusal to answer questions by non-citizen visa holders may result in denial of entry, according to the American Civil Liberties Union. Sodeifi said she was “very annoyed” during the inspection because she is a dual Canadian citizen but felt that she was being treated differently due to her Persian background.

» See TRAVEL BAN, page 10

Students fund Judge retires in Ryan Field lawsuit L.A. wildfire relief New twist in courtroom battle draws out long-brewing dispute Two freshmen team up, launch GoFundMe By LEAH SCHROEDER

daily senior staffer @lmschroeder_

Weinberg freshman Nate Berman has lived in the Palisades for his entire life. Over the past week, he has watched a fire blaze across his hometown from more than 2,000 miles away. The Palisades fire was the first of several wildfires to break out last Tuesday and may go down as the most destructive in state history. This fire is also the largest of the series of wildfires spreading across Los Angeles, all of which have been powered by gusts from the Santa Ana winds. “When this all first happened, it was really shocking and devastating, and it almost didn’t feel real,” Berman said. “Just seeing the footage of how (the

Recycle Me

Palisades have) been completely destroyed is so hard for me.” Being so far away from home, Berman said, contributed to a feeling of helplessness. This feeling manifested as an intense fear — for his family, his friends and all of the small business owners in the Palisades and L.A. as a whole, Berman said. “Right now, what’s weighing on me most is just thinking about my house and the place where I grew up, and all those memories and pictures that we wouldn’t be able to get back,” Berman said. “I’m really just hoping that it’s still standing.” Medill freshman and Daily staffer Nonso Kojo Onwaeze is also from L.A. and attended Palisades Charter High School, which was significantly damaged by the fires. This loss, Onwaeze said, was particularly painful. “This was the community

» See GOFUNDME, page 10

By SHUN GRAVES

daily senior staffer @realshungraves

For a dispute that launched in a public uproar, the courtroom debate over Northwestern’s plans to commercialize Ryan Field has rarely dropped a bombshell. So the long-simmering lawsuit’s latest twist Tuesday offered some familiar news: The courtroom battle has only begun. Judge Pamela McLean Meyerson told the attorneys gathered at a virtual Cook County Circuit Court hearing that she would retire by Feb. 1. She set a date — March 12 — for the next hearing, where a different judge will preside. Transferring the case filed by Ryan Field foes to the unnamed judge could lengthen a case that has already brewed for more than a year. In her brief remarks to the attorneys, Meyerson hinted at its already long history. “I do want to move the case along,” Meyerson said. Mo s t L i v a b l e C i t y

Association and allied Evanston residents filed the lawsuit against the city in November 2023. That followed Mayor Daniel Biss’ tie-breaking vote in favor of NU’s plans to host public-facing concerts once it rebuilds the stadium. The plaintiffs argued that Evanston had engaged in “secret negotiations” with the University to allow a “capricious” zoning change that would allow commercial events. Furthermore, they argued the city had violated various procedural rules in approving NU’s rezoning bid for its $850 million stadium rebuild. The battle arrived in Meyerson’s hushed downtown Chicago courtroom last April. Attorneys for Most Livable City clashed with lawyers for the city and NU, which had intervened in the case. Later that week, Meyerson handed down her first decision, which dealt a blow to the group. Her dismissal of three counts from Most Livable City’s lawsuit left only one remaining. Yet the group hit back.

Shun Graves/The Daily Northwestern

Construction continued Tuesday on the new Ryan Field, the subject of a long-simmering lawsuit.

In May, Most Livable City amended the dismissed claims and added some more. In December, the plaintiffs sought to stop “burdensome” subpoenas by NU of the group’s communications. Both motions remain

pending, and with Meyerson’s retirement, a new judge will pick them up. Most Livable City, the city and NU each declined to comment, citing the pending litigation.

» See RYAN FIELD, page 10