The Daily Northwestern — March 1, 2021

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8 SPORTS/Soccer

Wildcats beat Indiana with late-game goal

4 OPINION

Don’t threaten students, solve problems

High 32 Low 21

After Texas storm, students struggle Without power, Texas natives at NU scramble

By ALI MCCADDEN

the daily northwestern @amccadd

Communication freshman Lila Wu lost internet access for three days during Texas’s winter storm. Her only option besides missing class was to attend on her phone, using her cellular data for Zoom lectures. Although she was eventually able to log onto classes at a neighbor’s house, catching up on her missed lectures and assignments was so stressful that she dropped one of her classes.

“Having no internet and no way to ask for help really highlighted how much I was struggling,” Wu said.

Wu is among the millions of Texans who lost power during the storm that began the night of Feb. 14.

Temperatures across the state reached historic lows, with Austin and San Antonio reaching single digits for the first time in over 30 years. At least 32 Texans have died from causes related to the storm, ranging from carbon monoxide poisoning to house fires to hypothermia. The frigid temperatures caused pipes to burst in many areas, leading to complications with water access and sanitation.

Communication freshman

Victoria Kim ran out of battery on her devices after her first day without power and had to resort to charging them in her car. She said she struggled to stay motivated and focused while doing her homework by candlelight.

Medill freshman Alice Shao said that a pipe burst at her parents’ house in northern Texas, causing part of the roof to blow out and forcing her parents to turn off their water. Shao, who is currently in Evanston, said being away from home during the crisis was stressful.

“I’m here, I can’t do anything,” Shao said. “I can’t just head home and help out with fixing a roof or help out my friends. It’s just hard when something’s out of your reach.”

Due to the crisis, necessities like bottled water, milk and eggs were out of stock, Kim said. Many areas experienced food shortages, with grocery stores unable to restock fast enough and food spoiling due to the lack of power.

McCormick freshman Chris Woodard, a Houston native, said that some stores sold 24-packs of water bottles for $18 because of the increased demand.

Woodard cited Texas’ infrastructure as a main reason the state wasn’t prepared for the winter storm.

Natural gas, coal and nuclear plants supply the majority of Texas’ power in

» See TEXAS, page 1

Maia Spoto/The Daily Northwestern

Downtown Evanston’s Century 12 movie theatre. Since the pandemic’s onset, the theatre has faced economic loss and eventually shut its doors for good in February.

Century 12 theater closes for good

Residents, NU alumni bid farewell to shuttered downtown theater

By NICK FRANCIS

the daily northwestern @nick24francis

Resident Nick Anderson (Weinberg ‘19) said Evanston’s

Century 12 movie marked the “halcyon age” of his college life.

He said his most prominent memories at Century 12 were not of sitting in vivacious rooms with animated moviegoers, but of more intimate

connections the theatre facilitated with friends.

“I remember being there to see ‘Call Me by Your Name’ and crying with a friend of mine sitting next to me in the movie theatre,” he said. “It was really

cool to see how the Northwestern community was experiencing these cultural moments together.”

Century 12 announced it

» See MOVIES, page 1

Residents keep Gyros Planet afloat Medill deans talk After outpour of community support, local restaurant to stay open

On school’s 100th anniversary, Medill deans look forward

By JULIA RICHARDSON

daily senior staffer @juliaa_grace

Just last week, Gyros Planet and Taqueria owners Erika Castro and Pablo Sanchez were cleaning out their restaurant and breaking down their equipment.

But after an outpour of support from the Evanston community, they now have enough money to pay six months of rent and get their store back up and running— and they say their future looks brighter.

“I don’t have words to describe how this is a miracle,” Castro said. “I just want to say thank you to everybody that just stepped up and helped us keep the restaurant.”

Gyros Planet opened in March 2019, but Castro and

Recycle Me

centennial, future

By MEGAN MUNCE

daily senior staffer @meganmuncie

Daily file photo by Julia Esparza

Gyros Planet, 1903 Church St. After owners Erika Castro and Pablo Sanchez made the tough decision to close, an outpour of support from the community.

Sanchez struggled to keep their business afloat with a loss of foot traffic from Evanston

Township High School students and staff due to COVID-19. Although Gyros

Planet set up a GoFundMe in

» See GYROS, page 1

When The Daily Northwestern first wrote about the then-Joseph Medill School of Journalism in 1920, it described “a school of journalism which will eventually be without peer in the United States.”

One hundred years after the school’s founding in 1921, Medill students can now spend Fall Quarter in Washington D.C., spring break in Shanghai and Winter Quarter in San Francisco. They can

take classes in integrated marketing communications, data visualization and web development. Once they graduate, they join the ranks of both David Barstow, the reporter with the most Pulitzer Prizes ever won and George R . R .

Martin, the author of a book series with the most disappointing final season of a television adaptation.

Many of these opportunities only became possible in the past 20 years.

When John Lavine became dean in 2006, he envisioned the “Medill 2020” plan: a proposal to “catapult the school forward.” The curriculum was reshaped, more faculty were hired and the school’s name officially changed to the

» See MEDILL, page 1

INSIDE: Around Town 2 | On Campus 3 | Opinion 4 | Classifieds & Puzzles 6 | Sports 8

2

MONDAY, MARCH 1, 2021

THE DAILY NORTHWESTERN

AROUND TOWN

City’s Larry Murphy featured in PBS documentary

By LAYA NEELAKANDAN

the daily northwestern @laya_neel

For Dr. Larry G. Murphy, his approach to faith and equity traces back to his time as a religious studies student at University of California, Berkeley in the 1970s.

“It was really formative in how (my wife and I) came to view the world and our place in it, and how to be advocates for equity,” said Murphy, who Evanston residents best know as the co-owner of YoFresh Yogurt Cafe.

A historian, professor and religious leader, Murphy recently worked as a script consultant and an interviewee in the making of a PBS documentary entitled “The Black Church: This Is Our Story, This Is Our Song.”

The documentary, hosted by historian Henry Louis Gates Jr., is a two-part series exploring the history of the Black church in America and its implications for the Black community. The documentary is available for viewing on PBS until Mar. 16.

Murphy, who has chronicled Black history for decades through several books and projects, said the production team reached out asking him to help ensure the script was historically correct.

He said the documentary allowed him to uncover new details about the history of the Black church.

“People aren’t always aware of how (religion is)… either the backdrop for, the instigator of or the guiding principles behind what happens in the public scene,” Murphy said. “To be a part of telling that story in the documentary about the role of the Black church and Black religious leaders in the national life of the United States was energizing and exciting for me.”

After working through the script, Murphy said he was asked to fly to New York to be interviewed on camera for the documentary, alongside people like Oprah Winfrey and John Legend.

Murphy’s background in religion began

Screenshot from “The Black Church: This Is Our Story, This Is Our Song.”

Dr. Larry Murphy, co-owner of YoFresh Yogurt Cafe. Murphy was featured in a recent PBS documentary entitled “The Black Church: This Is Our Story, This Is Our Song.”

when he joined the faculty at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary in Evanston after he graduated from Berkeley. Once he retired, he opened up YoFresh Yogurt Cafe, but he is still a professor emeritus at the seminary.

Murphy’s wife of 53 years, Jean Murphy, called the documentary a culmination of all of her husband’s work.

She said the documentary built upon the research her husband has done by emphasizing the role of the church as both a support system and an “avenue through which Black talent and Black brilliance could be nurtured.”

“I’m truly excited for him that he was selected as a historian for this project — I think they chose right,” she said.

Vicki Bankston, a longtime friend of the Murphys, echoed Jean Murphy’s sentiments.

She recalled a story from a trip to Europe with Murphy that she said exemplifies his eloquence and willingness to teach.

On the eleven-hour flight, Murphy turned to explain a point from the Bible to his motherin-law, drawing a small crowd and eventually holding an hour-long Bible study with people of all different faiths and backgrounds.

“That is so Larry,” Bankston said.

Bankston has known the Murphys for years through Ebenezer African Methodist Episocopal Church, where Murphy was a minister of education.

“He is laser-focused on accurately telling stories about people who are in less-fortunate situations,” Bankston said. “He finds excellence in everyone, no matter what a person’s status is in life.”

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Ultimately, Murphy himself was also impressed by the documentary and its strong production values. He said he was excited to see others in the documentary doing the “critical reflective work” of highlighting the Black church’s importance.

He said the documentary reaffirmed how central faith is to life, especially in the Black community.

“The call of the religious leader is to speak for all by challenging powers and principalities, by engaging the system, by being a voice at the table” Murphy said. “It was exciting to know that I could be in some small way a contributor to tell a story that is a critical story to tell.” laya@u.northwestern.edu

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MONDAY, MARCH 1, 2021

THE DAILY NORTHWESTERN

3

ON CAMPUS

Tovar talks body positivity, diet culture

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By SAM LEBECK

eic@dailynorthwestern.com

the daily northwestern @sam_lebeck

Body image activist Virgie Tovar spoke to the importance of an intersectional approach to health and weight discrimination in a guest lecture Thursday.

In an event organized by NU College Feminists a part of the University’s Body Acceptance Week, Tovar, an expert on weight-based discrimination, discussed the impact of fatphobia on diet culture and body image.

Tovar first defined fatphobia in a modern context, describing how its origins can be traced to slavery and colonialism. She went on to discuss how the world’s current fixation on diet culture and weight loss negatively impacts people’s relationship with food, sharing personal anecdotes from her podcast, “Rebel Eaters Club.”

“Weight loss is not the solution to our food anxieties or discrimination,” Tovar said. “All bodies are valuable, health is not a condition of human rights and should never be. Dieting is an inefficacious, unscientific behavior correlated with anxiety, depression and eating disorders, not improved health.”

Body Acceptance Week aims to coordinate articles, speakers, resources and activities to highlight the importance of self-compassion, body positivity and intuitive eating. This year’s theme, “Every Body: Come As You Are,” explores body acceptance through an intersectional lens.

McCormick junior and NUCF president Divya Sharma said she was inspired by the intersectionality in Tovar’s approach to racism, sexism and classism in her previous discussions about weight discrimination.

Sharma also said Tovar’s talking points, ranging from diet culture manifestations to the future of size acceptance, were especially relevant to a student audience.

“For college students especially, the interpersonal aspect (of diet culture) is huge,” Sharma said. “There’s a lot of social activities

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Activist Virgie Tovar discusses the importance of body acceptance and the impacts of diet culture at an event hosted by NU College Feminists.

related to eating and kind of involved with body image, and it becomes really normalized to restrict yourself in terms of eating and also in terms of justifying what you eat.”

Weinberg junior Jimena Collado, who had read Tovar’s book “You Have the Right to Remain Fat” beforehand, came into the lecture with some idea of the toll an unhealthy relationship with weight can have on personal connections, school performance and extracurricular activities.

Still, she said she found Tovar’s examination of the social aspect of diet culture shocking. Tovar said on Thursday that the social determinants of weight discrimination are reliant on a combination of intrapersonal, interpersonal and institutional relationships instead of depending on a single factor.

“I think that (discussing social influences)

was very crucial in her argument of how intertwined social justice is with diet culture,” Collado said. “Having events that help you move towards that goal of loving yourself and accepting your body, it’s really important for our collective health.”

Tovar concluded her talk with a look into the future she’s fighting for, one without the constraints of diet culture. She said “when we are fighting for justice, we are fighting for joy” but ultimately, the beauty of the future is something even she can’t imagine.

“Every single person, regardless of body size or health status, deserves to live a life free from bigotry and discrimination,” Tovar said. “(They have) the right to access good things and the right to thrive.”

Wildcat Crossword

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by Henry Alford Welcome to The Daily's new student-created crossword puzzle.

Come back every Monday during winter quarter for a new crossword.

Answers on Thursdays.

"Turn Right" Mon. 03/01/21

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ACROSS 1 Life advice from Taco Bell 4 *On all _____ 9 *Late 2000s data network style 14 African snake 15 Visionary?

16 Knight's attire 17 Sweet treat shaped like an unsweet treat 19 Turkish city 20 Throne inheritors 21 Long balls, abbr.

23 Key with one sharp, abbr.

24 Norwegian capital 25 Dairy throwaway 28 Sweet sandwiches 30 UN rep.

31 They're spotted on dresses?

35 1970s NYC Mayor 39 Chirped 40 More than just ________ face 42 Battery pole 43 Year of King's Selma marches 45 Jack Layton's party, abbr.

47 Ho-hum responses 48 Bail money source 52 *Flat 56 Study last minute 57 Major Jewish fraternity, abbr.

58 "_____ evil..."

59 Caribbean cruise stop 61 2013 Brad Pitt zombie flick 64 Valentine's flowers 65 Breath-taking disorder 66 "Science Guy" Bill 67 "______ Jacques" 68 Repeat the question 69 Capital Hill VIP

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“Turn Right” DOWN 1 Aggressively male 2 Burn residue 3 Turn 4 Spinning table game, slangily 5 Decide 6 Stage legend Hagen 7 The 1% 8 *Run home 9 Plane safety org.

10 Thing to do at a comfort food restaurant 11 Soy sauce flavor 12 1998 De Niro flick 13 *Magnificent 18 Big total on a baseball scoreboard, and what each pair of intersecting starred answers combine to make 22 After work org.

25 Give up 26 Sweatshirt headpieces 27 Pre-human 29 Sign of inappropriate content 31 Student support grp.

32 Have 33 Like most born in August 34 Britain invader 36 Philippine native people 37 "Jersey Shore" network 38 Stare at 41 Vet's hardship 44 Atomic variant 46 Dispensable candy 48 Gryffindor wrap 49 Screw-up 50 Protestors' motivation 51 Child soldier fight 53 Eases off slowly 54 Like classic pastrami orders 55 *Baker's batch 58 Neb. neighbor 60 Enzymatic ending 62 Transcribed strands 63 "____ Miz"

4 THE DAILY NORTHWESTERN

MONDAY, MARCH 1, 2021

OPINION

Join the online conversation at www.dailynorthwestern.com

Stop threatening students, start solving problems ZACH WATSON

GUEST CONTRIBUTOR

I ride my bike to the Donald P. Jacobs Center every Monday morning for my COVID-19 test.

Testing marks the beginning of my work week. I get tested, ride home to my apartment, make tea, and start on my schoolwork.

This week was different. I was tested on Monday, Feb. 15, per usual. Three days later, I received an email stating that my test could not be completed due to shipping delays and that I should get retested on Friday. I did so. The next Monday, I received the same email yet again.

Meanwhile, I had already gone in to do my first of now twice-weekly rapid antigen tests with a brand new app and a brand new testing process announced just a day earlier. This was the third testing service in the same number of months. The antigen test, which was promised to be fast, took me half an hour and required me to reset my password three times to access the app. Lines reached out to Sheridan Road and even to Lunt Hall that day.

Going on the 11th month of the pandemic, I feel like I have the right to expect that my university

would have its COVID-19 testing protocols worked out. I expect Northwestern to have fallback plans, for the sake of the community’s health. Instead, I’ve had to navigate three different testing services, test processing errors and retesting on a moment’s notice because somewhere along the way my test was lost.

From the perspective of an off-campus undergraduate, Northwestern’s handling of the curveballs of the pandemic has been dismal. Where to start?

For one, Northwestern told first- and second-years over the summer that they were not subject to the on-campus housing requirement, as in years past.

Dozens, likely hundreds, of underclassmen joined their third- and fourth-year classmates in Evanston apartments, optimistically hoping that they’d be back in classrooms at some point during the 202021 school year.

Nine days before move-in, Northwestern pulled the rug out from under these students, telling them not to come. Not only were they not welcome, but these first- and second-years, many of whom had signed leases for Evanston residences over the summer, found out that they would have no access to COVID-19 testing in the fall. A ghost student body lived in Evanston for weeks, exiled to their apartments, before the administration relented and allowed them to be tested. Students planning to live in Greek houses were told at the same time that they’d be barred from their planned living space,

giving hundreds more just a week before move-in to get their affairs in order.

The mismanagement has continued throughout the school year. During a time when students were protesting the existence of a privately funded University Police, administrators instructed students who witnessed COVID-19 policy violations to call the cops. Students have repeatedly been told by university officials that the best way to keep cases down is to rat on each other to police or administration, enforcing an already hostile environment of constant surveillance and mistrust. Administrators have shown up at students’ homes in Evanston to “check in” and “reiterate student behavioral expectations.” Multiple emails have been sent out during the fall and winter warning of consequences if cases arose, with the latest email from Vice President for Student Affairs Julie Payne-Kirchmeier threatening a “mid-term Wildcat Wellness period,” a euphemism for mandatory quarantine, if the positivity rate continues to rise.

This is on the same day that lines to get tested stretched out to the road, and some students like myself had not received any test results for up to two weeks. While the blame is being placed on student gatherings, students themselves have expressed concerns of unsafe living environments on campus. University contact tracing operations have been a failure, and students themselves have resorted to passing emergency legislation through

Associated Student Government to push the university to help keep students healthy.

To add insult to injury, University President Morton Shapiro proudly announced that Northwestern had a budget surplus of nearly $85 million, just a few months after laying off hundreds of service workers and offering them little to no support. Students Organizing for Labor Rights has raised tens of thousands of dollars, in light of the university’s failure, to support its workers during a nationwide pandemic. They did this despite the fact that in April, Northwestern refused more than $8 million in CARES Act funding, and the university’s cash on-hand grew by approximately $250 million, according to a Northwestern University Graduate Workers analysis.

It is one thing to be flexible in light of “unprecedented times,” a phrase I have grown to loathe. It is another to act with negligence and obstinance when multiple options to alleviate stress are placed on the table in front of you. It is a shame that students have been forced to pick up the slack where administration has failed.

Zach Watson is a Medill junior. They can be contacted at zacharywatson2022@u.northwestern.edu. If you would like to respond publicly to this op-ed, send a Letter to the Editor to opinion@dailynorthwestern.com. The views expressed in this piece do not necessarily reflect the views of all staff members of The Daily Northwestern.

Why Asian-American hate crimes are often overlooked AIDAN OCAMPO

COLUMNIST

Since the domestic arrival of COVID-19, AsianAmerican hate crimes have reached an all-time high. Fears of the virus, conflated with widespread misinformation, have placed Asian Americans at the center of an unprecedented national crisis.

However, it is imperative to recognize that COVID19 was not the only source of the recent rise in hate crimes. Rather, the xenophobic characterization of COVID-19 was merely another iteration of antiAsian sentiment that has persisted in the United States for centuries.

From the moment Asians first set foot in America, they have consistently been alienated and ostracized. In 1869, the successful completion of the Transcontinental Railroad depended solely on exploiting 20,000 Chinese immigrants for their intensive labor in often fatal working conditions.

After enduring brutalizing labor and hundreds of fatalities, the Chinese were excluded from attending the inauguration ceremony — a fitting culmination to the years of abusive treatment.

Once thoroughly utilizing Chinese laborers to

fulfill their own economic ambitions, Congress passed the Chinese Exclusion Act, effectively restricting further immigration for decades. The bill cited declining wages and economic ills, despite Chinese people only composing 0.002 percent of the population.

Blatant abuse of Asian Americans has consistently been overlooked in American history. World War II also brought a surge in anti-Asian sentiment into every sphere of American society. Though the U.S. government participated in overt acts of abuse, they were “justified” under the guise of supposed national security. The fear-mongering language used by President Franklin D. Roosevelt to justify Japanese internment offers an uncanny resemblance to President Trump’s Chinese travel ban and racist characterization of the virus as “Kung Flu” or “Chinese Virus.”

Such parallels suggest that America has not progressed past the anti-Asian attitudes that pervaded the country almost 80 years ago. Asians have always been portrayed as foreign, dirty, exploitable assets that pose a threat to the racial purity valued

by White Americans. The coronavirus merely provided an opportunity to manifest these sentiments into acts of violence and discrimination.

Despite thousands of reports of Asian-American hate crimes across the country over the past year, these incidences have garnered limited national

attention from the press or the government. The lack of acknowledgment can largely be attributed to the recent regarding of Asian Americans as the “model minority.” This stereotype largely assumes Asian Americans maintain a higher class status and receive better education, thereby deeming them exempt from discrimination. However, not only does this invalidate the experiences of millions of Asian Americans, but it also pits minorities against one another in an attempt to further the mechanisms of White supremacy. Rather than confront the mistreatment of Asian Americans that is deeply rooted in in our society, America would rather continue to benefit from their economic contributions and invalidate any claims of discrimination.

Due to the intentional disregard of Asian-American hate crimes, many Asian-American communities have emphasized the need of added security.

However, more policing is not the answer.

To continue the discussion of the model minority, removing this preconceived notion would also build a broader coalition of Asian-American solidarity with other BIPOC communities. Asian Americans have often been under the impression that the police simply exist to “protect and serve.” However, increasing the presence of police in Asian-American communities would only serve to advance a racist system that disproportionately incriminates and brutalizes

The Democratic Party is a testament to inaction BEN BORROK

OPINION EDITOR

For all the promises Democratic candidates made in their campaign runs, the election victories and resulting control of the executive and legislative branches of the government have not led to the progress that many expected. Instead, the platform that Democrats have espoused for the past four years seems to be nothing but virtue signaling. For a good part of the last two decades, maintaining the status quo appears the motto of the party, while an outwardly fascist Republican Party continues to pull Democrats further to the right.

A perfect encapsulation of this trend has been the aggressive immigration policies, which have necessitated the use of detention camps, often resulting in squalid living conditions for asylum seekers. Beyond the reports of disease, insufficient food and shelter, as well as accusations of abuse at the hands of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, the government has been unable to reunite over 500 children with their parents after separating them at the border. Rather than reversing this abhorrent practice, Democrats have instead re-opened controversial emergency holding camps for children while still removing them from their parents. While a step up from the prison-like conditions in Border Patrol stations,

this is little more than the legislative equivalent of polishing a turd.

This era of Democrat control has been ushered in under the backdrop of economic strife and an ongoing pandemic, two issues on which Democrats were largely critical of Republicans. While vaccinations have increased in recent weeks, we are still largely uncertain about when the pandemic crisis will end. In the meantime, millions of Americans continue to struggle with making ends meet.

Unlike other nations who provided welfare to citizens on a regular basis, the United States opted for two, one-time stimulus payments. As we are now in the eleventh month of the pandemic, it is truly a wonder as to how the government thought that payments totaling $1800 would suffice for individuals who may have lost their jobs or have had to take care of their relatives during this time. Democrats advocated for additional $2000 checks to be sent out as soon as President Biden entered office, but that has yet to be seen. Despite having a Senate majority, Democrats have allowed for their stimulus checks to be reduced to $1400 in initial negotiations and soon, I imagine, they will forget about this promise altogether. Meanwhile, the voter base who they rely on, namely people of color, will continue to bear the brunt of the pandemic.

Beyond the pandemic, there is now rather widespread support for a $15 minimum wage among the public. It has been 12 years since the last federal minimum wage increase and the current minimum wage has been proven time and time

again as too little an amount of money to survive.

Now that the stage is set for Democrats to act on this momentum from the public, President Biden has quietly told governors that the wage hikes are unlikely to happen, essentially killing the prospect of lifting more Americans out of poverty. Further, Biden has also shied away from making effective declarations concerning the elimination of student loan debt. Just over a month into his presidency, he has backtracked from previous promises, almost as if he never meant it in the first place.

What is so beyond frustrating is that Democrats are essentially debating themselves. They propose a policy, then water it down before it even reaches Congress. When you play to compromise, you can never win. Sure, the majority in the Senate isn’t filibuster-proof, but isn’t it worth it to at least make an effort to introduce bills and act on policies that you spent four years discussing?

These next few years stand to be a crucial period for American governance. With Republicans split between conservatism and Trumpism, the time is now for Democrats to stand for something besides the status quo.

Ben Borrok is a School of Communication junior. He can be contacted at benjaminborrok2022@u.northwestern.edu. If you would like to respond publicly to this op-ed, send a Letter to the Editor to opinion@dailynorthwestern.com. The views expressed in this piece do not necessarily reflect the views of all staff members of The Daily Northwestern.

Black and brown individuals. Promoting this system of policing would contribute to the division between racial minorities in America, thus strengthening the position of White supremacy.

It is important to note that Asian Americans are not exempt from brutalization by the police in America. Just two months ago, police officers killed Angelo Quinto, a 30-year-old Navy veteran and Filipino immigrant. Quinto was experiencing a mental health episode when police knelt on his neck for five minutes as his mother and sister watched him die in their own home.

Now, Asian Americans are left with few answers on how to address the rise in violence in their communities. With a lack of considerable action from the government, Asian Americans require a broader movement to recognize and remove this bias from American society. Like COVID-19, every individual plays a role in preventing the virus of anti-Asian views from taking the lives of more Americans.

Aidan Ocampo is a Weinberg freshman. He can be contacted at aidan.ocampo@u.northwestern.edu. If you would like to respond publicly to this op-ed, send a Letter to the Editor to opinion@dailynorthwestern. com. The views expressed in this piece do not necessarily reflect the views of all staff members of The Daily Northwestern.

The Daily Northwestern Volume 143, Issue XX Editor in Chief Sneha Dey

Opinion Editor Ben Borrok

Managing Editors Austin Benavides James Pollard Janea Wilson Molly Lubbers Olivia Yarvis

Assistant Opinion Editor Simona Fine

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MONDAY, MARCH 1, 2021

THE DAILY NORTHWESTERN

5

President Schapiro signs letter supporting Lightfoot

By MAIA SPOTO and MEGAN MUNCE

the daily northwestern @maia_spoto, @meganmuncie

Alongside 62 other corporate leaders, Northwestern University President Morton Schapiro signed a letter supporting Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s leadership.

“The pandemic, racial strife and recession are a triple threat to our hometown,” the letter said. “We commend you and your team for your steadfast leadership in navigating the city through this crisis.”

The letter, published as a full-page ad in the Chicago Sun-Times Thursday morning, called on business leaders to connect with political leaders, religious institutions, nonprofits, cultural institutions and civic groups and work toward economic growth in the city by investing in schools, healthcare and small businesses.

Kip Kirkpatrick and Martin Nesbitt, co-CEOs and senior partners at private equity firm The Vistria Group led the list of signatures spanning a range of industries, from entertainment

to dining to banking. President and CEO of NorthShore University HealthSystem J.P. Gallagher and AMITA Health CEO Keith Parrott also joined Schapiro in signing the letter.

Chicago activists and aldermen criticized Lightfoot earlier this month for using hundreds of millions of federal COVID-19 relief dollars to cover the cost of police overtime, instead of allocating the funding toward housing, business and healthcare relief. In response, Lightfoot said the criticism was “just dumb,” and the city needed to spend the funding on police services to avoid worsening its budget deficit.

Lightfoot holds an honorary degree from Northwestern and has served as the 2020 commencement speaker. Lightfoot also led a dialogue at a meeting for America’s Urban Campus, a group of 20 Chicago-area colleges and universities, which Schapiro hosted.

“We love Chicago,” the letter said. “We are here to stay. And we are committed to contributing to the task at hand. Our future is very bright indeed.” maiaspoto2023@u.northwestern.edu meganmunce2022@u.northwestern.edu

Daily file photos by Evan Robinson-Johnson

Chicago mayor Lori Lightfoot and Northwestern president Morton Schapiro.

ASG approves relocation of GSRC to house on Sheridan

By EMMA ROSENBAUM

the daily northwestern @emmacrosenbaum

Associated Student Government unanimously approved legislation Wednesday to relocate the Gender and Sexuality Resource Center to a house

After shipping delays resolve, NU resumes Color COVID testing Northwestern will resume COVID-19 testing with Color on Mar. 1 after winter storm-related test shipment delays prompted the University to pause testing

on Sheridan Road.

The current location, two rooms in Norris University Center that can hold 10 students, was the result of a compromise after the administration denied similar ASG legislation in 2003. Rainbow Alliance Senator Jo Scaletty, who authored the legislation, said the space is unacceptable given how much the LGBTQ community has grown.

“There are a lot more LGBT students on campus,” Scaletty said. “So it’s important to us that we’re able to have a bigger space to continue to build community and provide resources to queer people.”

The legislation calls for the creation of a committee to push the initiative forward. It also includes a timeline for the project, asking the administration to commit to the relocation and announce it to the entire

student body by the end of spring quarter.

FMO Senator Jason Hegelmeyer and PHA Senator Pamela Chen also spoke in support of the legislation.

“Thank you all so much,” Scaletty said to senators after the vote. “I’m really excited to get working on this.”

with the company, according to a Friday email. Starting Monday, students are once again required to take one Color test and one rapid antigen test each week.

When inclement weather prompted a “two-week shutdown” of FedEx and UPS, the University shifted to relying solely on the rapid testing run by Abbott.

According to the email, 15,000 rapid tests were administered across the Northwestern community last week.

During the shipping lapse, Northwestern conducted the fewest amount of tests per week since freshmen and sophomores first returned to campus, which contributed to a positivity rate of 5.95 percent over the weekend. Over the past week, the University reported a 0.45 percent positivity rate and the largest amount of tests administered in a single week so far.

Testing pick-up and drop-off sites will also begin to reopen the week of Mar. 8.

“More than 95% of undergraduate students have been compliant each week with their testing protocols,” the email read. “We hope this increased testing will continue to level-off the number of positive cases we see and leave us in a position where we can increase in-person engagement opportunities in the Spring.”

emmarosenbaum2024@u.northwestern.edu

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6 THE DAILY NORTHWESTERN

MONDAY, MARCH 1, 2021

MOVIES

From page 1

would shut down indefinitely last March at the pandemic’s onset. But as time drug its feet — first March, then summer, fall and finally winter — coronavirus lockdowns stayed planted and revenues stalled. Finally, the Evanston RoundTable reported last week the downtown theatre was closing, permanently.

Paul Zalmezak, the city’s economic development manager, told the RoundTable a loophole in the lease agreement between Century 12/ Cinemark theatres and the Stockbridge Capital Group, which owns the Church Street Plaza development, allowed Cinemark to terminate its lease. Evanston is actively searching for a firm to fill Century 12’s place, but it could take up to 18 months before the selection process ends.

As the theatre shuts its doors, Evanston residents are rallying behind its memory and

TEXAS

From page 1

the winter. Power blackouts occurred from the combination of these sources shutting down, the freezing of wind turbines and gas pipelines, and residents using more heat than usual. To avoid long-term damage, utility companies began scheduling controlled, rolling blackouts.

Gov. Greg Abbott instead blamed the blackouts on solar and wind energy failures. In a segment on Fox News, he said the incident shows how “the Green New Deal would be a deadly deal for the United States of America.”

While severe winter weather does not occur often in Texas, Woodard said the state government should have been a more vocal source of support and should have enacted more emergency policies.

“Knowing that there’s a mismatched belief

MEDILL

From page 1

Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications.

“In ‘06, (the changes) sounded on the cutting edge and it sounded new. To some people, it sounded revolutionary,” he said. “But trust me, by 2008, maybe 2007, I had students saying, ‘Is that all?’”

When Lavine stepped down in 2012, Brad Hamm continued Medill’s expansion into the digital and international spheres. He sought to expand opportunities for students to travel abroad through Medill, but to also ensure that students’ experiences weren’t hindered by financial barriers.

While Hamm worked at both Indiana University and Elon University before coming to Northwestern, he said Medill’s global reach makes it unique.

“There are many strong, outstanding programs, but no one has the combination and the history of Medill,” he said. “No one has the multiple campuses, no one has the nationwide

The Weekly: Here’s what electing Biss could mean for Evanston’s future On Tuesday Feb. 23, former Illinois state Sen. Daniel Biss was elected Evanston’s next mayor after gaining over 70 percent of votes.

This concludes a campaign trail that started in Sept. when Biss publicly announced his candidacy. Biss’ win comes after facing off against Purdue junior Sebastian Nalls and local activist Lori Keenan. Nalls finished with nearly 9

mourning the loss of the downtown treasure.

Resident Daniel Kong (Weinberg ‘20) recalled one of his most exciting Century 12 escapades. Instead of finishing a final project due in 12 hours, he chose to see “Mulan” with his friends — submitting his project after he returned at 1:15 a.m.

If he had a chance to try the night again, Kong said, he wouldn’t have changed a thing.

Kong said he revels in the memories the theatre brought.

“I think what made the theatre great was watching movies that I probably wouldn’t normally,” he said, owing to its hefty student discount. “Those are probably the most fun moments — just being there, with a friend.”

Evanston Township High School senior Alex Johnson said he has frequented the theatre since he was a little kid. One of his earliest memories at Century 12 was seeing “Kung Fu Panda” as a reward for doing well in school.

Johnson added he loves talking about movies, system between these urban areas and the Texas government is kind of annoying, especially since it leads to issues like this,” Woodard said.

When temperatures rose dramatically in Texas this week, the power and water crises lessened in some parts of the state. Dallas saw an 83 degree temperature increase between Feb. 16 and Feb. 23.

Still, conditions are not back to normal for all residents. As of Wednesday, over a million Texans are without drinking water, and thousands are faced with the costs of damages from burst pipes.

“A lot of families are going to suffer,” Shao said. “And we’re just going to have to see if the Texas legislature and the state governments are actually going to do something about it.” alimccadden2024@u.northwestern.edu reach from San Francisco to D.C., no one has the Midwest and the Middle East.”

In 2021, Medill is faced with both old and new challenges and has fittingly found its dean in someone with an eye on both the past and the future: Charles Whitaker (Medill ‘80, ‘81).

As the first alumni to become dean in the school’s history, Whitaker said he feels a “tremendous responsibility” to continue the growth he’s observed since his time as a student.

“Our foundation is (and) has always been writing excellence, excellence in communication, fact-based journalism, ethics in journalism, marketing and advertising,” he said. “We are always going to be very much rooted in those things. The question then becomes ‘well, if that’s the foundation, how do you layer on top of that innovations that address the time?’”

Whitaker also said that Medill is now tasked with addressing the areas in which it has failed to live up to its standards, such as diversity and inclusion.

During his time as dean, he hopes to improve the diversity of faculty, students and curriculum

and running into like-minded friends who also often patronized the theatre gave him ample time for quality conversation.

Century 12, he said, also brought him a sense of growth and identity as his childhood years irreversibly waned.

“It always would be my happy place,” Johnson said. “When I turned 17, one of the things I’d been most excited for was being able to go see R-rated movies on my own — Century 12 marked milestones of my life.”

Johnson said it’s unlikely anything will come around that can have such an indelible impact on his life. He grew up as it grew old, and the theatre has stood beside him as his love for movies has blossomed.

Now, he has to say goodbye.

“We’ll go to other theatres, but it’s definitely not going to be the same,” he said. “It’s going to feel different, like we’re missing something.” nickfrancis2024@u.northwestern.edu

Photo courtesy of Lila Wu

Freshman Lila Wu’s house in the Houston suburbs during the most recent winter storm. Millions of Texans lost power last week, leaving some Northwestern students living in Texas struggling to keep up with online classes.

to teach students how to engage with diverse communities through journalism, marketing and communication. Whitaker also plans to expand the amount of graduate and undergraduate Medill classes available to students in other schools to expand the conversation beyond Medill.

Whitaker previously implemented initiatives to continue Medill’s path into the digital age of journalism, both through incorporating digital elements into the existing curriculum and expanding classes exploring digital storytelling.

According to Lavine, many of the drivers of the Medill 2020 plan are still relevant today — namely, the need for journalism, marketing and advertising to better understand and serve its audience.

“My wish would be that everybody that goes to Medill would borrow the question that I’m sure I took from somebody else: ‘How can I help people be better informed?’” Lavine said.

“Really engage that question and figure out how to make it better.”

percent of the vote and Keenan finished with just over 17 percent.

So we’re doing something a little different for this episode. Instead of diving into The Daily’s top headlines for the week, we sat down with the city reporters who covered Daniel Biss’ mayoral campaign, as well as City Editor Maia Spoto. What did Biss’ campaign trail look like?

What can we expect from Biss as Evanston’s next mayor? And where does he stand on issues like environmental justice and policing? Listen to The Weekly: Week Seven Recap for answers.

meganmunce2022@u.northwestern.edu

Scan this QR code with your phone camera to listen to the latest The Weekly episode and learn about the aftermath of Mayorelect Biss’ win.

GYROS

From page 1

November, the pandemic winter set in, and business had grown even slimmer. Castro and Sanchez couldn’t pay their rent. Eventually, they made the decision to close.

When Dear Evanston founder Nina Kavin launched a GoFundMe last Wednesday to fundraise $30,000, enough to cover six months of rent, the fundraiser met its goal in 24 hours. But the following day, Kavin learned the landlord had already given the lease to a new tenant.

Castro and Sanchez started exploring potential locations for a new space to open their restaurant. However, Friday afternoon, the landlord called Castro and Sanchez back to say he had witnessed a wave of support from residents, so he decided to break the new lease. Gyros Planet could stay in place, and the GoFundMe stayed open until Sunday, eventually raising over $60,000.

Kavin said the GoFundMe’s comments are filled with messages of support, both from people who know Castro and Sanchez and from people who have never met them.

“Covid has been really tragic for our community, and for every community,” Kavin said. “But it’s also shown resilience, and strength, and coming together, and supporting each other. We need so much more of that.”

For the past nine months, as food insecurity rates have increased dramatically, Castro and Sanchez have donated about 25,000 meals.

Castro said helping others despite their own struggles was always a priority for her and Sanchez.

“It was not just the work that Pablo and I did — it was the work of so many people,” Castro said. “So many people got involved to help us to make sure that other people would have food on their tables.”

Initially, the free lunches were funded through Castro and Sanchez’ own savings, but from April to December, Gyros Planet was supported by the Evanston Community Foundation’s rapid response fund.

ECF Vice President for Community Investment Rebecca Cacayuran said she’s grateful for Castro and Sanchez’s dedication to putting the community first.

“It really has been a partnership,” Cacayuran said. “I’ve had the privilege of getting to know Erica and Pablo, and we’re neighbors.

Evanston, we’re only 75,000 people, and there is a real feeling of ‘we’re all in this together.’”

Femke Munting, president of student-run nonprofit LEND NU, an organization that provides loans and counseling to local businesses, echoed Cacayurin’s sentiments.

Although LEND hasn’t worked with Gyros Planet formally, Munting has met Castro and Sanchez a few times, and she said their support for residents is “incredible.”

“They’re hard-working, smart, caring people who make really great food,” Munting said. “And that shows in a lot of the things that they do.”

Castro said she is unsure of an exact date, but Gyros Planet will reopen within the next few weeks.

She also encourages residents to continue supporting businesses like they did Gyros Planet.

“People are still dying and people are still losing their jobs and people are still losing their business,” Castro said. “If we just come together as a community … we can save other businesses, and we can save the community.”

Maia Spoto contributed reporting. juliarichardson2023@u.northwestern.edu

— Alex Chun and Yiming Fu

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MONDAY, MARCH 1, 2021

THE DAILY NORTHWESTERN

7

Local businesses partner up to design and sell masks

By KATRINA PHAM

the daily northwestern @katrinapham_

Tapas Barcelona has partnered with nine other local restaurants to start Crosstown Collabs, a mask-selling effort to reel in revenue amid the pandemic.

Many Evanston and Cook County restaurants rely on take-out orders to stay afloat, with limited capacity for indoor dining. Some restaurants, including La Vaca Margarita Bar, are still closed for dine-in.

Horacio Lopez, the principal organizer of Crosstown Collabs and the son of the owners of Tapas Barcelona, said the initiative is a way to support local businesses by giving them “an extra boost of attention and revenue.”

Crosstown Collabs features five unique mask designs, which each represent a partnership between two Chicago-area restaurants. For each mask sold, restaurant partner pairs split the profit.

Designs range from a cow and bull, which represents Tapas Barcelona and La Vaca Margarita, to a line of eggs with halos and wings, which represents Cleo’s Southern Cuisine and Ovo Frito Cafe.

Local restaurant Peckish Pig partnered with Chicago shop necessary & sufficient coffee to design a mask that portrays two pastel blue pigs against a white background set with pink, orange

Hilton Orrington/ Evanston hit with $50 millon foreclosure suit The Hilton Orrington/Evanston’s owners are slated to give up possession of the hotel in the wake of a $50 million lawsuit.

The hotel, owned by New York-based real estate firm Olshan Properties, was bought in 2015 for $60 million.

The firm has failed to make its mortgage payments since August, and plans to hand over the keys to the building as a result. The lawsuit was filed by Deutsche Bank on behalf of investors in Olshan Properties’ loan on the hotel, Crain’s Chicago Business reported on Friday.

The complaint, which was filed Thursday in Cook County Circuit Court, asks a judge to order a public

Photo courtesy of Horacio Lopez

A Crosstown Collabs Mask. Crosstown Collabs features five unique mask designs, which each represent a partnership between two Chicago area restaurants.

and white flowers. Janek Evans, Peckish Pig’s beverage director, said Crosstown Collabs is a reminder that just as community members should auction to sell the property and appoint a receiver for the hotel.

The hotel, which has been closed since late last year, is the latest local business to be impacted by a COVID19 driven recession, which has crippled Evanston’s economy. Reduced travel has impacted the hotel industry especially hard — and in Evanston, Northwestern University’s shift to virtual classes for the majority of 2020 have reduced hotels’ profits as well.

In the spring of 2020, the Orrington partnered with the city to house residents experiencing homelessness amid the pandemic. This past fall, the hotel opened its doors once again, allowing NU students to rent rooms for the quarter after student housing shut down — though the hotel closed soon after the end of Fall Quarter.

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support local businesses, local businesses should also stand up for each other.

“It’s simply about supporting local, and there’s

nothing better than seeing that your community thrives,” Evans said. “We grow up experiencing all of our special life moments in these establishments, and whether that be birthdays or proposals.”

Other collaborations include Polombia and Semilla’s Latin Kitchen as well as Ethiopian Diamond and Greenwood Grill.

Freelance artist Avery Li, who designed the masks, said she drew inspiration from the social media presence of each restaurant, as well as her conversations with the business owners.

“They were looking for a designer, and I was looking for work, so it just worked out,” Li said.

Even though she’s never visited Chicago, Li said she feels connected to the businesses. She heard from the owner of Polombia, for example, about the challenges of running a restaurant amid a pandemic.

While Lopez said he hopes the masks will bring more revenue and attention to local businesses, he also said he appreciates the opportunity to meet and share his experiences with other restaurant owners.

“No matter what neighborhood you’re from, everyone’s gone through it this past year,” Lopez said. “You see the weariness in everyone’s eyes, but you also see the love for their business and for their teams.” katrinapham2024@u.northwestern.edu

Daily file photo by Isabelle Sarraf

The Hilton Orrington/Evanston. The hotel’s owners received a $50 million foreclosure suit on Thursday.

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SPORTS

Monday, March 1, 2021

@DailyNU_Sports

‘MAKE THE PLAY’

NU beats Indiana for the first time in more than a decade

By DREW SCHOTT

daily senior staffer @dschott328

Joshua Hoffman/The Daily Northwestern

When Ugo Achara Jr. came off the field in the 64th minute, coach Tim Lenahan made sure to find the sophomore forward.

Lenahan told Achara Jr. he would enter the game after a 10-minute rest, and then said three words: make the play.

Nearly 23 minutes later, Achara Jr.’s goal proved to be the game-winner in Northwestern’s (2-1, 2-1 Big Ten) 1-0 victory over Indiana (2-1, 2-1 Big Ten), the Wildcats’ first against the Hoosiers in regulation since 2009. With three goals in his last two games, the Enugu, Nigeria native has provided an offensive spark to an NU team looking to win a Big Ten title.

“When he’s operating on all four cylinders, he’s a very dangerous player,” Lenahan said. “He’s our playmaker.”

Surrounded by a sea of crimson in the box, Achara Jr.’s score Saturday epitomized his skill as one of the Cats’ top offensive players.

As graduate defensemen Spencer Farina’s throw-in sailed through the air, the forward stood directly behind sophomore defenseman/midfielder Deng Deng Kur, waiting for the right opportunity to go for the win.

He found it seconds later when Kur headed the ball forward. With only inches of space, Achara Jr. stepped up and flicked a toe poke towards the goal.

FIELD HOCKEY

By chance, the ball hit the chest of Hoosiers defender Spencer Glass, who accidentally redirected the shot to the right corner of the goal and out of reach of Indiana goalie Roman Celentano.

“I just wanted to get my leg to it towards the goal,” Achara Jr. said. “There was nothing else in my mind. I didn’t think take a touch. It was get a leg to it.

And that’s exactly what I did. As scrappy as it was, we’re just happy to get a goal.”

Achara Jr’s goal was the culmination of an aggressive offensive attack from the Cats in the second half.

After firing only two shots to Indiana’s 10 in the opening 45 minutes, NU came out fast after the break by sending long passes down the field to their wings to set up scoring opportunities. Achara Jr. fired a rocket in the 50th minute and sophomore midfielder Logan Weaver almost put the Cats in front eight minutes later.

Deep into Indiana’s third, the Winnetka native received a long, curving cross from sophomore midfielder Eric Smits with his chest, flicked the ball forward and kicked a shot straight into the hands of Celentano, who failed to hold onto the ball.

Weaver then stepped up and fired another attempt, but hit the top bar.

Freshman midfielder Joseph Arena tried to convert a rebound in mid-air, but sent his shot out of bounds.

The Hoosiers had their share of scoring chances too, winding up with seven shots and one corner kick. But their attempts were stopped by senior goalie Miha Miskovic, back in his starting role after not playing against Wisconsin.

The Serbian native made five saves over 90 minutes, preventing shots from going into the net with dives, catches and blocks into the air.

“What makes this team so special is their willingness to sacrifice individual glory for team success,” Weaver said. “We trust each other. We rely on each other and we work together as a team to come out at the end of the day with a victory.”

Saturday’s win against one of the top squads in college soccer will go down as one of NU’s best in recent years, with Lenahan calling NU’s victory “the equivalent of the football team beating Alabama.”

Indiana is the defending conference champion and a winner of eight national championships with a record of 28-1-7 in its last 36 games. The Cats had lost their last five matches to the Hoosiers by a combined score of 10-3 prior to Saturday’s win.

After celebrating the win and before his team began stretches, Lenahan put his hands in the air. His players immediately followed suit.

This squad is not only NU’s best since 2014, as Lenahan said. It is a group of 26 players with great admiration for Lenahan and a determination to succeed during his final season on the sideline for the Cats.

“He has done a lot for the program, 20 years of his life,” Achara Jr. said. “We… want to send him off right and make his final memory here a great one.” drewchott2023@u.northwestern.edu

SOFTBALL

NU defeats Michigan NU starts 6-0 for first time ever State and Maryland

By BENJAMIN ROSENBERG

By GABRIELA CARROLL

daily senior staffer @gablcarroll

Northwestern field hockey took down Michigan State 3-1 and Maryland 2-1 in its opening weekend, giving a 2-0 start to the season.

In both games, the Wildcats (2-0) fell behind early, allowing the first goal in the first quarter. But, NU rallied back, reclaiming the lead in the second half and keeping it.

Against the Spartans, the Cats maintained possession on their offensive end for most of the game, but they quickly surrendered a goal on Michigan State’s first charge up the field..

NU struck next, with a goal from sophomore midfielder Peyton Halsey.

Halsey scored three goals in the two matchups, including both gamewinners.

With those numbers, Halsey has already tied her goal scoring output from her 2019 freshman season.

Halsey’s first goal against the Spartans came off a straight shot from the top of the arc, while her second was an elevated shot from the middle of the zone. Against Maryland, Halsey scored off a reverse hit from the left side of the zone.

“She has a really quick release on her shot,” coach Tracey Fuchs said of Halsey.

“We’re so balanced that everyone is getting opportunities, but she really put some home this weekend.”

Freshman midfielder Maddie Zimmer scored the third goal against Michigan State, the first of her NU career. Senior forward Mackenzie Keegan scored the tying goal against the Terrapins less than a minute into the second half.

The Terrapins dominated most of the first quarter offensively against the Cats, drawing seven penalty corners in that quarter alone, scoring on one of them.

NU struggled to transition the ball up the field and make any headway with an excellent Maryland defense.

After the first quarter, the Cats locked down defensively. NU’s offense found a way to get into their zone, and their defenders fed the ball back up with transition stops. Senior defender Christen Conley, often the Cats’ last line of defense, led the charge and the Terrapins took just four shots in the final three quarters.

“We struggled a bit in the first quarter,” Fuchs said. “We gave up a lot of corners, but our defensive corner team played really well today. And then we snapped out of it when we started to play better in the second quarter.”

In goal against Maryland on Sunday was freshman Annabel Skubisz, making her first start for NU. Skubisz allowed just one goal, and made five saves facing 11 shots, some of which were deflected by the Cats’ defenders.

“We had a first year in goal today who really kept us in the game,” Fuchs said.

“The first quarter could have been a way different outcome. She stepped in and really stepped up for us today.”

After months off the field, the Cats were excited to finally put what they had been practicing together. The victory against the Terrapins is NU’s first since 2017. Maryland was last year’s Big Ten regular season champion, and is a frequent conference and national title contender. The Cats may not have started strong in the game, but the win makes for a strong start to the season.

“To put it all together on the field really makes a difference…. We know we have strengths all over the field,” Halsey said.

“We can attack the outside and inside, and just play together and stay composed.

We could be really dangerous.” gabrielacarroll2023@u.northwestern.edu

daily senior staffer @bxrosenberg

For all the success the Northwestern program has experienced — six Big Ten titles, eight NCAA Regional championships and five trips to the Women’s College World Series — the Wildcats have never started a season as well as they did this weekend.

NU (6-0) finally stepped back on the field in Leesburg, Fla. after a 355-day wait, and came out on fire, sweeping doubleheaders against Michigan State, Rutgers and Penn State by a combined score of 41-5.

“We talked to the group a lot about handling their adrenaline because we were all so excited to get back on the field,” coach Kate Drohan said. “We knew their heart rate would be going. What I felt throughout the weekend was a real sense of maturity, understanding of our system, and that gave them a lot of confidence on the field.”

NU shut out the Spartans (2-4) twice Friday, both 5-0 final scores, on complete games by junior Danielle Williams and freshman Lauren Boyd. Williams’ masterpiece wasn’t much of a surprise. The California native was the NFCA National Freshman of the Year in 2019 and led the Cats to the Super Regionals that year. She allowed one hit in the opening game and struck out eight with no walks.

Boyd, though, threw a shutout in her college debut, becoming the first NU pitcher to do so since Williams. She gave up two hits and also did not walk a batter, striking out five.

“Every pitcher has a different look that really works for them,” junior catcher Jordyn Rudd said. “(Boyd) is crazy excited and really loves the game, and catching her is so much fun. She makes every inning a blast.”

The Cats made it three straight shutouts to open the year on Saturday against Rutgers (2-4), with sophomore Sydney Supple

Daily file photo by Katie Pach

Rachel Lewis takes a swing. The second baseman had seven hits this weekend to help the Wildcats start 6-0 for the first time in program history.

allowing three hits in a 8-0 win. Supple also ended the game early in the fifth inning, driving in three runs with a hit down the right field line to bring the run rule into effect.

NU’s offense was strong all weekend, averaging nearly seven runs per game despite not hitting any home runs. Drohan attributed the lack of long balls to deep field dimensions in Leesburg, but that didn’t stop the Cats from putting up four innings of four or more runs, including an eight-run third in Sunday’s first game against Penn State (0-6).

Junior center fielder Skyler Shellmyer had hits in eight consecutive at-bats spanning four games, and she leads the team with a .667 batting average.

“I’ve been focusing on simplifying my game and working toward my strengths,” Shellmyer said. “I have a lot of speed, so I’ve been utilizing that with bunts, and it’s

been working out.”

NU also saw strong offensive performances from senior second baseman Rachel Lewis, who had seven hits in 15 atbats, and junior shortstop Maeve Nelson, with her team-leading three doubles and eight RBIs. Through six games of this 44-game conference-only schedule, the Cats are in first place in the Big Ten. They’ll return to Leesburg from March 11-14 for a couple of tougher series, playing three games each against Indiana and Ohio State.

“This is a sign of a team that’s got a lot of potential,” Drohan said. “Their work ethic is awesome. Their effort and their physicality was really outstanding. This is just the start of the race, so we have a lot ahead of us still, but I’m pleased with the tone that we’ve set.” benjaminrosenberg2021@u.northwestern.edu