The Daily Northwestern Tuesday, October 15, 2019
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University’s credit rating downgraded Moody’s based drop on NU’s high level of debt, low cash flow By ALAN PEREZ
daily senior staffer @_perezalan_
Chris Vazquez/Daily Senior Staffer
Interim city manager Erika Storlie. At Monday’s City Council meeting, Storlie discussed the city’s new budget and long-term financial goals.
City’s two-year budget avoids cuts Post-defecit, city staff propose $317 million budget with no layoffs By CASSIDY WANG
daily senior staffer @cassidyw_
After last year’s deficit, aldermen praised city staff
at Monday’s City Council meeting for the 2020-21 proposed budget, which avoids layoffs or cuts to services. This year, the city is proposing a two-year budget, amounting to approximately
Ethics Board to hear complaint Ald. Braithwaite faces complaint from two residents By SAMANTHA HANDLER
daily senior staffer @sn_handler
Evanston’s Board of Ethics will hear a complaint Tuesday against Ald. Peter Braithwaite (2nd) that alleges he “scorned and ridiculed” white residents during a City Council meeting. Residents Trisha Connolly, who is white, and Albert Gibbs, who is black, filed the complaint on Aug. 5, accusing Braithwaite of violating three provisions in the city’s Code of Ethics: abuse of power of office, intimidation by a public official and impartiality. The complaint followed a July 15 City Council meeting when Braithwaite expressed frustration with white residents talking about racism. D uring the meeting, before aldermen discussed a proposal from Mayor Steve Hagerty to censure City Clerk Devon Reid for
the workplace environment complaints against him, residents during public comment said racism fueled the city’s actions against Reid, who is black. “I really sit here and have a difficult time when I hear white folks admonishing me and using the word racism like it’s some coin phrase you just came up with,” Braithwaite said at the July 15 meeting. “Unless you’ve walked in my shoes or any one of us blacks sitting back here I suggest you keep that to yourself. You want to have that conversation internally. I’m a big fan of that, internal versus external conversations. Do that.” Braithwaite’s attorney C. Shawn Jones said the complaint is not an ethics board issue. He encouraged residents who disagree with the alderman to speak out at public comment. “If you don’t like something an alderman says, run against him,” Jones said. “It’s not a Code of Ethics issue.” At a Sept. 17 Ethics Board meeting, the committee » See ETHICS, page 6
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$317 million, which will be broken up across 38 different funds. The largest amount is the city’s general fund, which has approximately $118 million in both expenses and revenues.
Implementing a two-year budget for the first time would allow for “long-range planning” for next year, said interim city manager Erika » See BUDGET, page 6
A credit rating agency last week downgraded its opinion of Northwestern’s financial health, marking a bump in the road to achieving a balanced budget. Moody’s, a Big Three rating agency, stripped Northwestern of its top credit rating, citing “ongoing weak operating performance projected for the next several years.” The agency based its decision on the University’s high level of debt, low cash flow and the challenge of reducing expenses while facing pressure to invest and remain competitive with other “elite universities.” In a statement, Craig Johnson, NU’s vice president for business and finance, said the change is “expected to have minimal impact on the University’s day-to-day operations or our ability to borrow.” “The University will continue to operate with discipline and prudence to move forward as one of the world’s premier centers for research, education,
and public service,” Johnson said, noting that he expects the deficit to recover by the end of August 2021. Lower credit ratings signal great risk of an organization’s ability to pay back its debt. Northwestern was one of a select few schools to hold Moody’s Aaa rating, but the downgrade to Aa1 reflects continuing financial pressure for the University. NU’s new rating — Aa1 — is still one of the highest Moody’s awards and still investment grade, which the agency said reflected NU’s “still excellent credit quality” supported by strong fundraising and research enterprises, “impressive” student demand and management practices focused on restoring financial stability. Moody’s also switched its outlook to stable from negative, indicating the rating would not move anytime soon. Northwestern has been trying to fill what turned out to be a $94 million budget gap since early 2017. A leadership change later that year led to a strict fiscal plan that included spending cuts in custodial services, student groups, independent school budgets and administrative offices, among other areas. » See RATING, page 6
Student activists express challenges Some named a visible dynamic: marginalized students do the most work By ASHLEY CAPOOT
daily senior staffer @ashleycapoot
In 1960, four undergraduate students in Greensboro, N.C. famously staged the first sit-in, refusing to leave a lunch counter to protest racial inequality. In the months that followed, thousands of students replicated this protest in more than 50 cities, and this simple, nonviolent act of resistance became a symbol for the power of student activism. College campuses are still widely recognized as hubs for progressive social justice activism — however, many Northwestern students feel that most of the students who participate in advocacy hold marginalized or underrepresented identities. Northwestern currently has 37 organizations dedicated to advocacy in some form, but Weinberg senior Lucy Yang said it can be difficult to find and retain engaged members who do not already identify with the marginalized group in need. Yang is the diversity and inclusion chair for Northwestern’s chapter of Girl Up, which operates through the United Nations Foundation to promote intersectional feminism for girls around the world. She said that since the organization is mainly centered around women’s rights, it can be difficult to attract male-identifying members. “Activism is very interesting, because you can say you’re a feminist but not do anything,” Yang said. “The core group of activists are oftentimes people who have
Evan Robinson-Johnson/Daily Senior Staffer
Lucy Yang and Chloe Cohen working on a poster for the Chicago Marathon. Lucy Yang said it can be difficult to find and retain engaged members who do not already identify with the marginalized group in need.
marginalized identities, and it’s really hard to get other people with different identities to be allies and stuff. It’s like, what is an ally really do? Everyone is a little confused about that sometimes, and it definitely presents a challenge.”
Weinberg junior Mara Kelly has noticed similar trends in her political activism work. Kelly is currently interning for Marie Newman’s congressional campaign for Illinois’ » See ACTIVISTS, page 6
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