stranger to being told “no.” Odds are, you’ve interviewed a random person on the street about a serious topic, been asked to put down your camera at a critical moment, or, more generally, had to justify your presence as a reporter.
inclusive coverage. We must consistently reiterate our commitment to representing underrepresented perspectives to increase trust in the media and maintain be er source relationships. e only way to build reliable, truly accurate coverage is through transparency. at’s as true on a college campus as anywhere else.
LETTER FROM THE EDITORS AVANI KALRA
As reporters, we are not strangers to di cult situations. We both led e Daily through historic periods of change and turmoil on campus, when countless community members did not want their faces and names a ached to reporting. We found ourselves repeatedly explaining our mission and purpose to skeptical sources.
As students and as reporters, we should take those hesitations as an opportunity to re ect and develop our goals. Journalism has historically not served and represented every community, and it is our responsibility to not just write down what we see, but to build more
Pavan Acharya
Aviva Bechky
Divya Bhardwaj
Madison Bratley
Alyce Brown
Nora Collins
Colin Crawford
Jay Dugar
Charlotte Ehrlich
Mika Ellison
Seeger Gray
At a critical moment for universities like Northwestern, proponents of higher education express the necessity of college campuses as a training ground for young adults to take risks and make mistakes without the consequences of the so-called “real world.”
But those who have the privilege of studying journalism or practicing it at student publications like e Daily are o entimes the rst to learn that our work can have real consequences on the people in our community.
Over the last two years, student activists and reporters across the country have faced disciplinary action, prosecution and deportation in response to writing op-eds or covering protests for their student papers.
To insist in times like these that college campuses are a risk-free environment is not only wrong — it also undermines the reality that student artists, activists and reporters have positive impacts on the real world every day, through critical coverage of breaking news or holding our university and elected leaders accountable when their leadership falls short.
Class of 2025
The Daily Northwestern
Scott Hwang
Ella Jeffries
Avani Kalra
Chiara Kim
Jamie Kim
Lucas Kim
Selena Kuznikov
Ethan Lachman
Ashley Lee
Anita Li
Joyce Li
It’s our job as journalists to make connections and repair impressions of the media. In our own reporting, we must ensure people feel seen and re ected by the coverage in their community. And, yes, that also means taking accountability when we fall short of those goals, — as challenging or uncomfortable as it may be. Student journalists, when someone says no to you, go learn from them. Hear their concerns, and listen to their stories. We know we both have learning to do, and we will take these lessons with us as we move forward. With transparency and understanding, we hope to build a more representative future in news reporting.
JACOB WENDLER
e Daily Northwestern Friday, Sept. 24, 2021
e Class of 2025’s rst issue of e Daily Northwestern during its eshman year
Jessica Ma
Nicole Markus
Tabi Parent
Kara Peeler
Saul Pink
Fiona Roach
Shveta Shah
Shannon Tyler
Kate Walter
Jacob Wendler
Aria Wozniak
Graduation Issue Staff Box
Editors in Chief
Avani Kalra, Jacob Wendler
Design Editor
Jamie Kim
Contributors
Pavan Acharya, Aviva Bechky, Colin Crawford, Charlotte Ehrlich, Davis Giangiulio, Scott Hwang, Ella Jeffries, Chiara Kim, Selena Kuznikov, Ashley Lee, Anita Li, Lucas Kim, Nicole Markus, Kara Peeler, Saul Pink, Fiona Roach, Shannon Tyler
Vienna waits for you
Slow down, you’re doing ne.
It’s hard to believe those Billy Joel words to be true. I mean what would he know about being a college student trying to get a job in this economy?
Although times have changed and the workforce is far more competitive for many of us, I think these words from his iconic song “Vienna” still have merit that’s taken for granted.
A hard lesson I’ve learned the past four years — and I’m still trying to learn — is that there is no straight path or perfect timeline for success.
At Northwestern, it can feel like there’s only one path to success, and it all starts with ge ing that perfect internship a er your freshman year that somehow sets you up for a job when you graduate. Everything must
fall into place between the ages of 18 and 22 years old. If it doesn’t, well, you’re screwed.
But, I would be willing to bet that success will feel di erent for each one of you and that it isn’t dependent on what you did in college.
I’m sure many people relate to the countless hours of applying to internship a er internship and receiving rejection email a er rejection email. It starts to feel hopeless.
I felt like a failure at the ripe age of 19. I felt like I wouldn’t be able to get a job a er graduation or even pay for my piling student loans in the future. One thing leads to another until it all piles up and I am behind on the eeting timeline to success. I was on a tight schedule and my time was ticking away.
It’s okay to take a break
In a 2008 interview, Billy Joel said, “You don’t have to squeeze your whole life into your 20s and 30s trying to make it, trying to achieve that American dream, ge ing in the rat race and killing yourself. You have a whole life to live.
I had a professor once who told us all to go work on a farm before we start our careers. I understand that may not be everyone’s calling, but I think he had a point in that it is invaluable to go and just have life experiences. What he told us is that we have time. ere are so many twists and turns that life can throw at you, and I encourage you to take those twists and turns and let go of the straight path and impossible timeline, at least for a li le while.
I spent so many hours on the third oor of the Norris University Center in the newsroom. While I learned so much of what I know about journalism there and met some wonderful people I get to call my friends, there’s always a part of me that can’t help but wonder what else I could have done with those hours. My last
quarter senior year I took that time and I pushed myself. I joined Survivor NU and Triathlon club. I even tried stand up comedy. ose were all things I thought I didn’t have time to try before. I can’t express how much I loved doing them.
Even a er your time at Northwestern, you can take that time. You can take those jobs that don’t make sense for a Journalism degree, you can head to Idaho for a summer, you can spend time doing a hobby that doesn’t progress your career in the slightest. You don’t have to race to the top. You can slow down and nd things you want to do, because Vienna waits for you.
SHANNON TYLER
like you need to spend every waking moment in the newsroom, you can’t do those things without taking the time for yourself rst. To bring a deeper level of care to your reporting, editing, source relationships and friendships, you have to take care of yourself.
A er reporting across most desks, being an assistant city editor and arts and entertainment editor, I found
e Daily isn’t a place where you’re allowed to take a break. is was the general sentiment I heard from people coming into my freshman year: you’ll stay up until 6 a.m. to lay out the paper every night, have your article ripped to shreds by an editor, and spend your entire undergrad life in the newsroom. And once I joined e Daily my freshman fall, I gured there probably wouldn’t be a time until I graduated that I wouldn’t be in the newsroom in some capacity. But, instead of feeling like I was pressured into staying late or like the newsroom was some scary entity, I found myself bonding with other devos, editors and newfound friends I’d found my place on campus. While before college I might have envisioned myself working on a magazine or not doing traditional newspaper journalism, I grew to love the fast-paced environment at e Daily, and all of the friends I bonded with during nights on the third oor of Norris.
You know what? Hell yeah.
When I rst came to Northwestern I was hesitant about joining e Daily. I was terri ed at the prospect of quickly turning around a story and reporting for real. Even though it seemed like “the thing to do” as a rst-year, I avoided e Daily like the plague. And I was steadfast in my resistance for most of the year, as class assignments felt like plenty of reporting. But in the spring of that year, I was feeling an incredible amount of homesickness and needed an outlet. I wanted to write something because I needed that cathartic relief. So, I said “You know what? Hell yeah,” and decided to write a column. And I fell in love almost immediately.My love for the opinion section knows no bounds. Sure, it can be trying, even frustrating at times, trying to corral submissions and going through edits with combative writers, but I think there’s real value in learning about what other people are thinking and feeling. Some people nd that ful llment through their reporting sources, but I always found it in Opinion. As a columnist I felt supported and my voice was never lost in the dozens of edits that would inevitably light up my Google Doc. And as an editor, I strove to
myself drowning trying to nd a balance between my personal and journalism life my sophomore year. Working a serving job at a breakfast restaurant and staying up until 2 a.m. in the newsroom weren’t exactly conducive. I recognized that a er reaching that point, I needed to take a step back from the paper. I ended up not applying for an editor role during that quarter, and wrote a single column throughout the ten publishing weeks.
Returning to e Daily in the fall of my junior year, I fell back in love with reporting, editing and spending many nights a week with my friends in the newsroom.
Taking that break is what gave me the space to nd that same love I had the rst time I ever went into the newsroom.
Even though coming into e Daily it might seem
make sure people felt that same support and got the opportunity to be heard by our community in their own words.
Yes, e Daily can be a lot. And yes, you may spend a good chunk of time on the third oor of Norris. But, I never made e Daily my entire life. As important as it was to me to be part of student media on campus, it was equally important to actually have time to adjust to being a student far away from home in a new city.
So, when your friends ask if you can join them on a trip into Chicago, you can and should say “You know what? Hell yeah.”
My time in opinion was essentially borne from saying “You know what? Hell yeah.” Taking this path less traveled made my life at e Daily enjoyable and not the scary unknown it once was. To this day, I have never
once reported on a story for e Daily Northwestern. All my bylines are columns or other forms of opinion pieces.
I was able to carve out my own path in opinion by trying something new. at’s my biggest takeaway from my time at NU and e Daily — you won’t know anything for sure until you try. Have the courage to say “You know what? Hell yeah.”
COLIN CRAWFORD
Most Northwestern students don’t bat an eye at the stately brick building on Ridge Avenue between Simpson and Noyes. But by the time I moved to my off-campus house directly across the street, I already knew my new neighbors well.
I’m talking about the Lorraine H. Morton Civic Center, the century-old home of Evanston’s city government. During my first two years at NU, I’d make the 15-minute trek from campus to report on City Council. That commute became way shorter when I moved off campus my junior year.
I got something better: local government in all its powerful, comedic and occasionally dysfunctional glory. One of my proudest moments as a city reporter came during a hearing on Northwestern’s Ryan Field rebuild. For the majority of you that have never attended an Evanston public meeting, they can run long. Very long. NU’s plan to build a new stadium and host concerts there was so contentious that the city had to split a usually-routine Land Use Commission hearing into three segments over the course of a month.
Beyond fake betting lines, covering Evanston made me actually pay more attention to the city I live in. When I get charged 10 cents for using a paper bag at Jewel-Osco, I know where my dime is going (half to the business; half to the city’s Solid Waste Fund). Every time I fill my purple water bottle, I think about the story I reported on Evanston’s water treatment process and how the city won an award for best tap water in the state.
beyond the well-worn corridor between Trader Joe’s and Tomate. Or, maybe even read The Daily’s coverage.
There is some bad news. Future students won’t get to attend a meeting at the Lorraine H. Morton Civic Center. The city shut its doors for good this spring — perhaps fitting timing with our graduation — and moved city hall to an office space downtown.
I’m graduating. So is the civic center. SAUL PINK
When I joined The Daily as a freshman, I chose to cover Evanston rather than campus news, partially to avoid the awkwardness of having to constantly interview my own classmates.
I posted on X that I was setting over/under for the length of the final meeting at 286.5 minutes — nearly five hours. It was 286 minutes on the dot. (DraftKings, don’t get any ideas.)
What I’m taking with me
I spent a majority of my time at The Daily editing stories that weren’t mine. Tightening ledes, reworking endings, cutting quotes that softened the point. The best edits were the ones no one noticed.
That’s what most of college felt like, too.
When I was a baby reporter, I was shocked to learn The Daily — which delivers incredible community reporting — is made entirely of a group of (well-trained) college students hooked together by a massive Slack, many email chains, a workflow manager with animated confetti and a lot of passion and hard work. The Daily, in all its glory, is nothing without the people who care to make it happen.
Some of the most meaningful things I did here didn’t come with bylines. They happened in Slack threads at 1 a.m. In buried Google Docs. In side conversations that didn’t make it into the piece. There was no credit for it. No applause.
So, like a true senior writing a graduation column, I’ll end with some unsolicited advice to current and incoming students. Keep in touch with Evanston. You don’t have to sit through hours of municipal bickering. Just pay attention to your surroundings. Strike up conversations with business owners. Venture
But it mattered. And if I had to do it again, I would—with the same people, in the same windowless room, at the same absurd hour. Because even when I was tired, frustrated and halfway through a sentence I didn’t know how to fix, I still cared. About getting it right. About giving people space to tell their stories. About building something worth reading, even if no one knew I touched it.
That’s what made me love journalism. Not the bylines or holding the finished paper. But
The good news: Evanston now has to decide the fate of the old civic center building. In classic local government fashion, there will be heated debates, marathon meetings and plenty for Daily reporters to cover.
JEFFRIES
a blip in The Daily’s history feels like it meant something big, despite the impermanence.
Joining The Daily is inherently temporary. It’s a four-year timeframe, max. I tried to make the most of my time here, doing everything from copy to arts and entertainment to managing roles. Of course I learned a lot, but unsurprisingly, working in whatever position wasn’t what made me feel fulfilled. It was the people I met and loved. Cliche, I know.
We feasted on vending machine snacks in the dead of night and went through an insane amount of Dum Dums. We shivered in the cold to get footage of community events, we queued for countless theatre performances to cover and we met at cafes to chip away at draft after draft after draft. The halls of the newsroom have heard me pour my heart out to friends between edit rounds. Even the long walk from the newsroom in Norris University Center to our dorms at 2 a.m. some nights felt more like an adventure when we were together.
things happen, to the devos that rose ranks, to all the reporters contributing quality reporting, to the communities we cover — it was always about the people.
My loved ones, in and outside of The Daily, kept me going. Keep people close to you and lean on them. Because while everything around you changes, they’re the one cherished constant.
The people make the paper kara peeler
Good people make good content. When The Daily works as a team, it’s beautiful. From the editors above that pitched in to help, to the hardworking assistants making
The inside jokes scribbled on the whiteboards will get wiped away, and the purple couches outside the newsroom have been replaced. Each new round of editors adds to the mess of paper tacked onto the wall and tweaks the decor. Even the edit board masthead changes quarter after quarter, people coming and going and graduating and moving on. Being just
It was hard leaving The Daily. Even after swearing I was “retired” after my junior year, I returned in the fall as a video assistant to spend time with a close friend who was about to graduate early. The Daily has a unique pull, and the people who commit their time have a dedication like no other — just look at how many senior reflections are in this graduation issue.
the quiet conviction that stories—when done right—can mean something. That’s what kept me there. And that’s what I’m taking with me. ELLA
It’s cool to care
For most of my life, I was afraid to be caught caring. I tried too hard in school, obsessed over my favorite celebrities, and knew too much about current events. In high school, I was told I was “too political” when I spoke out against injustice or expressed a deep sense of fairness. e criticism was always the same: I cared too much.
So, I learned to downplay it. If someone in my class asked what grade I got on a test, I’d lie and say I did worse than I actually did. When Taylor Swi dropped a new album, I’d act indi erent, even though I’d stayed up all night listening to it. I didn’t want to be seen as a try-hard, so I tried to play it cool. It rarely worked.
When I arrived at Northwestern, imposter syndrome hit hard. At rst, I let others’ success make me doubt my own. I saw their achievements not as inspiration, but as evidence that maybe I didn’t belong.
“Everyone at this school is so freaking accomplished. It’s so annoying,” I told my mom on the phone my freshman year.
en, during winter quarter, I received a card in the mail from my Aunt Annie. On the front was a quote by Leonardo da Vinci, “It had long since come to my a ention that people of accomplishment rarely sat back and let things happen to them. ey went out and happened to things.” Inside, she wrote that the quote had
How can I do the same?
Why Northwestern?
When people ask me this question, I think back to the rst few months of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. My mom asked me if I wanted to watch “Spotlight,” a movie about Boston Globe’s investigative journalists uncovering the local Catholic church’s protection of priests who have been accused of sexual abuse. “We go a show people that nobody can get away with this; not a priest, or a cardinal or a freaking pope!” ose words by Michael Renendez struck me then and still linger today.
I asked myself: “How I can do the same.” So I ended up applying to Medill, hoping to become a journalist
My first article for The Daily took me approximately four whole days to finish.
My pitch was to write a simple 600-word piece on the midseason March Madness odds for the Men’s and Women’s Basketball teams. What ensued was a personal four-day nightmare of writing, deleting, writing, deleting, and so on. My inability to find the right words to use was, in retrospect, a result of a deeper issue: I lacked confidence in my voice.
that would one day write about systemic injustices. I knew that I would sign up for e Daily Northwestern as soon as I got to campus.
e Daily taught me the value of local, everyday journalism. I started o writing stories for the arts and entertainment desk, mostly previews for incredible plays at the Wirtz Center. I still remember my hands trembling as I waited for my rst interview in the lobby. e director of the play came to talk about the artistic direction of the show and why people should come watch.
I felt the passion that they and other crew members had for the play. I saw how art is one way people connect with one another in a new community, and how
always reminded her of me.
I realized I had been looking at it all wrong. I wasn’t a try-hard, I was someone who tried, and cared, and happened to things.
Slowly, I stopped apologizing for how much I cared. I found that, at Northwestern, most people cared just as much. I started to appreciate being surrounded by students who wore their ambition openly, who didn’t hide how hard they worked or how deeply they felt.
I love being at a school where I don’t have to pretend not to care about my grades. Where I can walk out of a job interview and say to my friends, “I want this so badly.” Where passion isn’t embarrassing, but expected. at same spirit de nes e Daily. My peers at the paper care deeply — about student journalism, about truth, and about one another. Working here has reminded me that caring isn’t just admirable; it’s essential.
it tells the stories of communities that are o en not in the mainstream. It was a privilege to write about this beautiful connection that the crew had to the play but also their teamwork to present the story to the audience. I came to understand that every desk at e Daily was valuable and provided a space for everyone in Evanston to share their stories.
Classes can only teach you so much about the real life weight reporters carry to be good journalists. It is my experience at e Daily that taught me how hard journalism is. It is not about ge ing the story out there the fastest, nding the most jaw-dropping story, nor appeasing those in power. It is about the truth even if people do not want to face it, while making sure we keep powerful people in check.
Legacy media is all I knew growing up. But I have come to realize that at times they keep the status quo. I have seen what goes on behind the scenes at e Daily
In the end, caring is what got me here: graduating from Northwestern with a degree in Journalism and International Studies and starting a job on a U.S. Senate campaign a er graduation. I’m proud to say I am cool and accomplished because I care, not in spite of it. I would not be where I am today without the incredible people at Northwestern and e Daily. So I want to say thank you, for challenging me, for inspiring me, and most of all, for caring.
FIONA ROACH
and how the edit board strives to be be er than these big name organizations when it comes to how we talk about communities and issues.
I hope e Daily continues its work trying not to perpetuate harm to students and families, especially now as free speech and people are under major scrutiny. It will not be easy, but I hope current and future sta ers will continue to nd comfort and strength in each other to be be er.
ASHLEY LEE
a lifelong sports fan.
me would pick apart my analysis. Afraid that I would be exposed as a fraud.
But it turns out, upon submission, none of that was true. Sure, there was a lot I had to work on, but with the guidance of my editors, I diligently reworked and polished it until it felt right. In the end, what began as a struggle turned into a source of pride—a finished product I could point to as proof that maybe my writing could turn into something more.
Best gametime decision LUCAS KIM
In fact, I was afraid. Afraid that my editor would turn it away. Afraid that someone more knowledgeable than
Over my four years with The Daily, my writing evolved and adapted. From covering Baseball and Golf to Women’s
Soccer and Women’s Basketball — and eventually Men’s Basketball — I sharpened my research, interviewing, and editing skills with each new beat. I even ventured into the lands of arts reviews and city news, adding dimensions to my writing I hadn’t known were possible. What I’ll remember most are the experiences my writing led me to. Beyond the confines of Northwestern’s campus, I connected with the larger Evanston community and with athletes from around the world. Trips to Bloomington, West Lafayette, and even Brooklyn placed my feet on the courts of arenas I never imagined stepping onto as
If I had given up writing that very first article, sure I wouldn’t have spent countless days writing, editing, designing social posts, waiting on my sources, or devouring Smarties in the newsroom. But I also wouldn’t have made the memories, met the incredible people, or discovered the voice that I carry with me now. I think I made the right choice.
Hundreds of students surrounded the Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternity house, spilling into Lincoln Street. The crowd stood still, holding a moment of silence in solidarity after an alleged drugging Thursday.
The protest, held outside the on-campus houses of Sigma Alpha Epsilon and AEPi Sunday night, followed two University Police crime notices. According to the Friday notice, multiple individuals reported they were drugged at an AEPi house event, and according to the Saturday notice, another individual reported they were drugged at an SAE house event. Neither notice identified the fraternities by name.
October 11, 2021
RebeccaBlanknamednextpresidentofNorthwestern
Rebecca Blank was announced Northwestern’s 17th president, the University announced Monday.
Blank was the chancellor of the University of Wisconsin-Madison and was set to replace University President Morton Schapiro, whose tenure concluded in August 2022. Blank’s appointment represented NU’s first woman president and she was the first tenured woman at NU’s economics department.
October 18, 2021
NUdiningworkersratifyagreementwithCompassGroup
Northwestern dining and service workers voted to ratify an agreement for a new contract with Compass Group, the University’s food service provider.
The new agreement included a minimum hourly wage of $19.88 and a permanent extension of health insurance benefits to all workers. Compass workers were advocating for these demands for over two years.
Evanston’s Reparations Committee selected the first residents to receive reparations through the Restorative Housing Program at a Thursday meeting.
Livestreaming from the FleetwoodJourdain Center, committee members drew numbered ping-pong balls from a bingo cage to determine the order in which the 122 recipients in the Ancestor category would receive $25,000 housing benefits. All Ancestors, people who lived in Evanston as adults between 1919 and 1969, will receive benefits before the program moves to Direct Descendants, whose parents or grandparents fit the Ancestor criteria.
The first 16 recipients will receive their benefits from the initial $400,000 budgeted for the program, while the remaining 106 will receive benefits in the order of the draw and as City Council allocates additional funds to the program into the future.
The University wrote that it had “effectively managed” COVID-19 spread on campus, allowing NU to proceed with a maskoptional policy in certain indoor shared spaces in accordance with the state and city timelines.
Masking was made optional in indoor spaces like research labs, athletic facilities, libraries and Norris University Center. Masking was still required in classrooms and on campus shuttles.
The Native American and Indigenous Student Alliance made history hosting Northwestern’s first student-run Pow Wow. More than 200 people attended the event, including Native and non-Native students, faculty, family, local residents and students from other universities. Marin “Mark” Denning, who is of the Oneida Tribe of Wisconsin, served as the emcee and Mark LaRoque, who is Ojibwe, acted as the event’s arena director.
May 21, 2022
MayfestProductionsbrings50thDilloDaytothelakefill
Mayfest Productions held its 50th Dillo Day on Saturday — the first in-person Dillo Day after two years of virtual performances. The student-run music festival featured daytime headliner Remi Wolf and nighttime headliner Dominic Fike.
Rebecca Blank stepped down as Northwestern’s next President after learning she had an aggressive form of cancer.
In an email to the NU community, Blank said that she had planned to arrive on campus Monday as President-elect, but discovered the cancer last week. She said the treatments she was starting would make it “almost impossible” to take on the job of new University president.
August 11, 2022
MichaelSchillnamednextpresidentofNorthwestern
Michael Schill was announced Northwestern’s next president, the Board of Trustees announced Thursday.
Schill, who served as president of the University of Oregon from 2015, began his presidency.
“I am thrilled, honored and humbled to join Northwestern, one of the world’s most prominent universities,” Schill said in an email to the community. “Northwestern has a long tradition of educating the brightest minds and pushing the boundaries of research and innovation.”
Evanston’s Reparations Committee selected Some of the most respected women in fields like sports journalism and professional athletics served as panelists and guest speakers during cross-departmental events to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Title IX.
Title IX refers to a series of historic legislation passed in 1972 that prohibited discrimination based on sex for educational programs or activities receiving federal government funding.
Northwestern University Graduate Workers’ union with United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America was certified following two days of voting in Chicago and Evanston, NUGW announced.
The union was authorized after a majority (1,644 to 114) voted in favor of the union.
An 18-year-old died and two 15-year-old boys were injured following a shooting at Clark Street Beach. Evanston officials never employed their emergency alert system, and the University took more than 30 minutes to issue its shelter-in-place order, which lasted for slightly more than an hour. Clark Street Beach borders the south end of NU’s Evanston Campus.
June 2, 2023
UniversitypresidentMichaelSchillinaugurated
Michael Schill was inaugurated as Northwestern’s 17th president. The New York native took office in September 2022, only two months after Rebecca Blank stepped down as president-elect after receiving a cancer diagnosis. Blank died in February.
A former Northwestern University football player told The Daily some of the hazing conduct investigated by the university involved coerced sexual acts. A second player confirmed these details.
The player also told The Daily that head coach Pat Fitzgerald may have known that hazing took place. Two days later, Northwestern parted ways with Fitzgerald.
Northwestern named David Braun its permanent head coach, the University announced Wednesday.
Initially hired as the program’s newest defensive coordinator in January, Braun’s promotion comes just days after the Wildcats’ dominant 24-10 win over Wisconsin — NU’s first away victory since its triumph over Nebraska in August of 2022.
The Northwestern Prison Education Program hosted its first commencement ceremony at the Stateville Correctional Center in Joliet. The year’s graduating class was the first to be conferred a bachelor’s degree from a top 10 university through the Northwestern Prison Education Program, founded in 2018. The program provided incarcerated adults the opportunity to receive a college education while serving their prison sentence.
After months of debate, City Council approved Northwestern’s plans to rebuild Ryan Field and host concerts at the new stadium during a special meeting.
The council voted 6-2 to approve the rebuild, but split on two ordinances: one that would rezone the area and allow for NU to hold public-facing concerts at the stadium – a contentious debate – and another authorizing City Manager Luke Stowe to sign a memorandum of understanding between NU and Evanston.
June 29, 2023
boys were injured following a shooting at Clark Street Beach. Evanston officials never employed their emergency alert system, and the University took more than 30 minutes to issue its shelter-in-place order, which lasted for slightly more than an hour. Clark Street Beach borders the south end of NU’s Evanston Campus.
NU affirmed its commitment to diversity in a statement after the Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that affirmative action admission policies are unconstitutional. University President Michael Schill said he is “deeply disappointed” by the court’s decision. While the University will abide by the ruling, Schill said the majority opinion makes it harder for NU to achieve its goals.
Northwestern and the Kellogg School of Management launched a Center for Enlightened Disagreement – a new research center aimed at developing stronger ways to engage in diverse perspectives, the University announced Wednesday. Kellogg Profs. Nour Kteily — co-director of Kellogg’s Dispute Resolution Research Center — and Eli Finkel are selected to codirect the center, which focuses on research, outreach, curriculum and discussion.
Members of the Northwestern University Graduate Workers union voted to ratify the union’s tentative contract agreement with the University.
The three-year contract, which came after about nine months of drawn-out negotiations, would raise the base stipend for graduate workers from $36,960 to $41,000 in June and to $45,000 in September, with 3% yearly increases over the next two years.
A group of about 50 student activists began se ing up a tent encampment on Deering Meadow ursday morning. e students intended to remain until Northwestern agrees to the demands laid out in the Northwestern People’s Resolution.
Protestors formed a human chain surrounding the encampment. Organizers led the protesters in chants calling for the University to divest from companies with ties to Israel.
NU’s 2024 pro-Palestinian encampment lasted from ursday, April 25 until Monday, April 29 and was one of the rst encampments across the country to end with an agreement.
Student demonstrators wrapped up negotiations with the University after five days of demonstrations. The University committed to engaging in a number of steps to support Palestinian students and protest on campus in exchange for an end to the encampment established on Deering Meadow Thursday, the University announced Monday.
“This agreement was forged by the hard work of students and faculty working closely with members of the administration to help ensure that the violence and escalation we have seen elsewhere does not happen here at Northwestern,” the University said in a Monday statement.
The eventual agreement reestablished the Advisory Committee on Investment Responsibility and committed the University to answering questions about endowment investments.
University President Michael Schill’s Advisory Committee on Preventing Antisemitism and Hate decides to cease its work.
In a letter to Schill and Board of Trustees Chair Peter Barris, obtained by The Daily, the 11 remaining committee members wrote that — given the resignations of seven members of the committee one day prior — “the committee as currently constituted cannot continue to function.
Northwestern was under investigation by the House Commi ee on Education and the Workforce regarding its response to antisemitism on campus, according to a document obtained by e Daily. In a Friday le er addressed to University President Michael Schill and Board of Trustees Chair Peter Barris, Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-N.C., who chairs the commi ee, requested that the University supply the commi ee with seven sets of documents related to its response to the recent pro-Palestinian encampment on Deering Meadow by May 17.
University President Michael Schill doubled down on his commitment to combating antisemitism and engaging with pro-Palestinian student activists in his Thursday morning testimony in front of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce. Schill defended NU administrators’ decision to negotiate with pro-Palestinian encampment organizers nearly a month ago — a move that drew sharp criticism from Jewish organizations.
Villanova University Athletic Director Mark Jackson was selected to serve as Northwestern’s next athletic director effective Sept. 1, the University announced in a news release.
Jackson held his position at Villanova since 2015, and the Wildcats won two men’s basketball national titles and more than 30 conference championships during his tenure.
Prior to his time at Villanova, Jackson held positions with the New England Patriots, the University of Southern California, Syracuse University and the Oakland Raiders organization.
Administration leaders announced updates to Northwestern’s demonstration policy and Student Code of Conduct, and a new display and solicitation policy, among other changes in a message to the NU community. The updated demonstration policy bars overnight demonstrations.
October 10, 2024
NU-QendscollaborationwithAlJazeera
Northwestern University in Qatar has ended its collaboration with Qatar-based news network Al Jazeera, a University spokesperson confirmed to The Daily.
The media conglomerate drew headlines after University President Michael Schill faced hardline questioning about the University’s ties with the media network at the House Committee on Education and the Workforce’s hearing in May.
November 18, 2024
Northwesternunveils$850millionRyanFieldplans
Northwestern and the Ryan Family unveiled the rst public look at the $850 million new Ryan Field Project. e 35,000 capacity venue — marketed as a “year-round community asset” is scheduled to open during the 2026 football season.
“ is stadium is not just a world class football stadium; it’s for our students, and student-athletes, our fans, our alumni, and the Northwestern and Evanston communities,” Pat Ryan Jr. said in the release.
e new Ryan Field will be the smallest capacity football stadium in the Big Ten and is expected to have a $1.3 billion impact on the Chicago Area.
A U.S. House of Representatives Staff Report on Antisemitism details findings in investigations of “the troubling rise of hate and extremism” in various institutions including Northwestern.
The report criticized University President Michael Schill’s testimony before Congress last May, arguing that Schill “appears to have misled Congress.” The 42-page document recommends increased oversight over American universities, including NU, from the U.S. Department of Education and other federal agencies.
After a slew of Northwestern schools eliminated mentions of diversity, equity and inclusion programs from their websites in recent days, Northwestern’s Office of Civil Rights and Title IX Compliance was no different. The office took down its pages on affirmative action and diversity recruitment resources to comply with US President Donald Trump’s crackdown on DEI.
Northwestern denied tenure to Medill Prof. Steven Thrasher and plans not to renew his position in August 2026, Medill Dean Charles Whitaker informed Thrasher on March 12.
In a news release, Thrasher accused Medill of targeting him for his participation in the April 2024 pro-Palestinian encampment, at which Thrasher formed a line between police and protesters.
The Trump administration froze $790 million in federal funding for Northwestern, a White House official confirmed to The Daily.
The freeze, first reported by The New York Times, comes amid recent attacks on some of the nation’s elite universities by the Trump administration, with more than $3.3 billion in federal funding having been paused or completely cut thus far.
In an email to the NU community around two hours after the news broke, University President Michael Schill said the federal government has not notified the University of the freeze.
Northwestern reached a settlement with a group of student plaintiffs in their claims of personal injury against the University, among other defendants, relating to allegations of hazing on the football team. The settlement did not resolve Fitzgerald’s breach of contract suit against NU and Schill.
Several current and former Northwestern students’ visas were terminated by the Department of Homeland Security, a University spokesperson confirmed to The Daily.
The spokesperson said the University learned of the terminations during a recent check of the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System. The University routinely monitors the status of NU’s international students using SEVIS, according to the spokesperson. NU sponsors more than 9,300 international students.
U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Evanston), a stalwart of Illinois Democratic politics and a progressive voice on Capitol Hill since the late 1990s, announced Monday she will not seek a 15th term as representative for Illinois’ 9th District. Her decision follows weeks of speculation sparked in part by U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin’s (D-Ill.) late April announcement that he will not seek another term.
NORTHWESTERN THROUGH THE AGES
PhotocourtesyofNorthwesternAthletics
DailyfilephotobyJacobWendler
Congratulations, Class of 2025!
The Board of Trustees, President Schill, Provost Hagerty, and Dean Marwan M. Kraidy, faculty, and staff of Northwestern University in Qatar wish the Class of 2025 success in their future endeavors.
Abdulaziz Soud A H Al-Nasr
Abdulla Amer A. S. Al-Hemaidi
Abdulrahman Khalifa Y B Alsayed
Aidana Bauyrzhanova
Aisha Abdulla H. A. Al-Thani
Aisha Abdulla N. A. Al-Misnad
Aisha Ibrahim A I Jaidah
Aisha Mahmoud A H Salat
Aisha Mansoor S B Al-Muhannadi
Aisha Mohammed H. J. Al-Jabir
Aisha Yousuf M A Al-Mohannadi
AlJohara Abdulla K. J. Al-Thani
Aljohara Khalid A. A. Al-Thani
AlKhansa Ahmad M A Al-Absi
Almaha Jassim H. J. Al-Thani
Almaha Yousef K S Al-Jaber
AlReem Saleh R A AlKuwari
Alya Khalil I A Al-Ansari
Amna Essa H A Al-Kuwari
Amna Fahad M H Al-Hitmi
Amna Jassim J A Al-Mannai
Amna Mohammed S. A. Al-Sada
Amna Sameer
Annastazia Ng'ambi
Anudit Basnet
Augusta Shimwa
Azat Temirbekov
Bashaer Khamis M K Al-Allaq
Bushra Basim Nasr Allah Heikel
Cheng Mei
Eiman Nasir
Eisa Hassan L.H. Al-Mohannadi
Emanuel Kalu Kenga
Esther Umutoni Kamanzi
Fahad Ali A A Al-Khater
Fairuz Rashad Yosef Issa
Faran Raza
Farhan Saleh Rafid
Fatema Khaled Mohamed A.Rahman Ahmed Janahi
Fatima Ali N A Al-Kaabi
Fatima Shafiq
Gabriela Prince Ribeiro Gonçalves
Ghada Ahmad A E Al-Mudahka
Ghada Mohd A AlSaad Al-Kuwari
Halima Ali Hashmi
Hamad Mohammed (M.A) Abu Hassan
Hassan Mohammed KH S Al-Muftah
Haya Nasser A A Al-Maadeed
Hend Khalid J T Al-Kuwari
Hissa Mohamed A. M. Al-Thani
Huda Reyad A A Al-Saddiqi
Inutu Imbuwa
Iqra Mazhar
Iraj Shahzad
Islam Suleimen
Jabor Ghanim J T Al-Kuwari
Jassim Saif J A Al-Kuwari
Jiaying Guo
Jingjie Wang
Joury Khalid M A Al-Jalham
Kadhi Mohamed Rashid Al Makhmari
Khaled Basim Khaled Al Disi
Khalid Mohammed KH M Al-Mana
Khalid Thani J. F. Al-Thani
Khuzaima Farooq Adil
Laeba Hafiz
Latifa Essa H A Al-Hetmi
Luna Mohamad Khatib
Maha Hassan M KH Al-Naemi
Mahnoor Ahmer Ansari
Mahnoor Naveed
Mai Essa N H Al-Nassr
Mai Salah M I Al-Jaidah
Maiara Anieli Lohmann
Makeisha Amir
Maria Clara dos Santos Lisboa
Maryam Abdulla H. J. Al-Thani
Maryam Ahmed M R Al-Khoori
Maryam Mubarak M A Al-Mohammed
Mohammad KH N B AlMutairi
Mohammed Ahmed M A Al-Kubaisi
Naeema Abdulaziz M A Al-Khori
Najd Ali I A Al-Mohannadi
Nayef Nasser S H Al-Meraikhi
Noor Ali A A Mashhadi
Noor Khalid A A Al-Mawlawi
Nousayba Fekhaoui
Omer Abdulaziz A A Al-Saadi
Onaedo Adaoba Nzubechukwu Ilegbune
Oshara Angelique Christina De Rosairo
Perizat Nigymadilova
Rakhat Nurmukhamet
Rashid Emair R A Al-Naemi
Ritaj Elgaili Abdalla Mohamed
Roshaan E Ali
Saad Abdulla S M Al-Mana
Salha Khalid I M Al-Mohanadi
Saqer Khamis R M Al-Mejali
Sara Abdulaziz A M Johar
Sara Abdulaziz H M AlKubaisi
Sara Ali A H Al-Muftah
Sara Saif KH A Al-Naemi
Sashreek Garg
Shaikha Ali A A AlMuhannadi
Sheikh Aoun Siddique
Shermeen Ejaz
Sofia Didinova
Sonia Uwase
Syeda Kisaa Zehra
Taniya Tleubayeva
Uwonkunda Sylvie Dushime
Vaamika Shrivastava
Vitória do Espirito Santo Teixeira
Xiaoyang Jiang
Yamna Maryan Abdi Jama
Yasmin Dianni Porto Barbosa
Yousef Abdel-Fattah
Zamzam Nasser A A Al-Hammadi
Take the time to leave the newsroom
I spent much of my first two years of college in a windowless room on the third floor of the Norris University Center, where The Daily’s newsroom meets. There, I interviewed sources over the phone. I watched Board of Education meetings on my laptop. I wrote up stories that should have been finished hours ago. I edited hundreds of articles about Evanston, and I sent more Slack messages than I could possibly count.
I built friendships in that room, as we fought to fill the newspaper night after night. I wrote my essays and did my class readings and worked on my knitting in that room, waiting for articles to make their way to me to edit. I cried in that room, and stayed up until 5 a.m. in that room, and guided budding reporters through writing their first-ever news stories in that room. I learned to be a journalist in that room.
And yet, looking back, I did much of my best work when I took the time to leave.
I dedicated my time at The Daily to the city desk, covering Evanston politics, education, business, health and activism. But too often, I reported via phone and Zoom, in my dorm or in Norris. I know that when I did make the effort to leave campus and report in person, I came away with better articles, better story ideas and better relationships with the people I covered.
At one City Council meeting I went to, I happened to meet a mental health expert. When the meeting took an extended recess, we chatted for about an hour. She later became a key voice in a feature I wrote.
When I covered an effort to bring a mental health crisis center to Evanston, I spent over two months interviewing
people via Zoom. But it wasn’t until I took a trip to see a similar center in Skokie that I was able to make my story come alive, grounding it in physical descriptions of a real place.
And when I wandered out to a community meeting on a local Starbucks pushing to unionize, I got to meet several of the effort’s leaders. We kept in touch over the next few weeks. Taking the time to pop into that meeting meant that I knew who to call when the store voted to unionize — and that the people I called were already comfortable talking to me.
As city editor, I held a few tabling events at Evanston community centers, handing out papers and asking for feedback on our coverage. I wish I’d done that more. I wish I’d arranged for more meetups with the people I interviewed, gone to more public meetings in person, spent more time chatting with people in
all nine wards of the city.
I know that all of this takes time, and that writing for The Daily can already be taxing. I know that putting an extra hour into student journalism sometimes means sleeping an hour less. But reporting in person also leads to richer coverage. It leads to articles full of bright sensory details, the kind of color you can only get by being there. It leads to more trust built and a community that knows its reporters a little bit better. It is, always, worth the effort.
BECHKY
I didn’t plan it this way, but I’ve spent most of my time at The Daily writing about numbers. So, true to form, I’ll start there.
I’ve been involved in the paper for nine quarters — ten, if you count the summer I wrote a single opinion. During that time, I’ve published 16 pieces, amounting to a prolific 1.6 pieces per quarter.
Of those, six were stories stemming from The Daily’s polling initiative (more on that later); four were opinions; three I wrote as a “devo” (a reporter-in-training); one was about admissions data; and the last two I wrote covering the Democratic National Convention last summer, which happened to be the first and only event stories I’ve ever written (a fact I didn’t mention to my editors when I asked for a press pass).
because, frankly, everyone more qualified was away that quarter. My only qualification was a largely unproductive stint as the assistant audio editor, during which I failed to turn in a single story (though I had a wonderful time and learned a lot, thanks to my brilliant editor, Mika Ellison).
I spent the next quarter as a columnist — writing about such hard-hitting topics as why you shouldn’t work on Saturdays and why you should take walks in the cold — before beginning the project that has, to varying degrees, occupied my last 15 months.
missing what the majority of students felt.
That impulse became the campus poll. We’ve now conducted two surveys of undergraduate students, collecting over 1800 combined responses. We’ve asked about a range of topics: how students feel about University President Michael Schill (mixed), how many are on dating apps (about a third), how often they use artificial intelligence (increasingly, all the time).
I’ve learned a lot. Given another chance, I would’ve written many questions differently, avoiding ambiguity and false choices that hurt our ability to tell the story accurately.
road — including the assistants and members of the polling desk, Jacob Wendler, Lily Ogburn and Yong-Yu Huang, who made the web pages and who is one of my best friends — thank you, truly. And to those younger than me who might find some inspiration in my story, I encourage you not to be afraid to take an unusual path. Try something new. It’s more fun that way.
In my sophomore fall, I held my first editorial board position as digital managing editor, a role I was asked to take on
Lessons from the most productive staffer SCOTT HWANG
I first pitched a polling desk in March last year, before my sophomore spring. In the fall, I had watched from the newsroom as the first student protests sprung up over the new war in the Middle East. At times, it felt like the campus was on fire. But I felt that, despite reporters’ hard work, we were
Don’t miss this great opportunity to introduce new students and their families to your business, restaurant or service.
Or tell them about your Northwestern department, activities and job openings on campus.
This special issue will be mailed home to the NU Class of 2029 on Friday, August 1.
But I’m proud of our work. I’ve heard some really thoughtful discussions in response to our poll results, including conversations about the state of free speech on campus.
To the people who helped me along the
n Ad Deadline: July 17
n Email: spc-compshop@northwestern.edu
n Phone: 847-491-7206
I have a confession to make.
From late 2021 through the spring of 2023 (and including a brief stint in the spring of 2024), I consumed hundreds of Dum-Dums™ lollipops from The Daily’s newsroom on the third floor of the Norris University Center. So, if you ventured to the newsroom at any point in recent years in search of a sweet treat only to find yourself sorely disappointed, you now know who to blame.
Jokes aside, those lollipops were just some of the many things that made my time at The Daily so valuable. For one, the people were pretty cool, other wonderful staffers in my year have done a much better job than I can articulating that in their own essays. And on a personal level, The Daily helped me become a more thoughtful and inquisitive journalist, a huge help to me in the opportunities I have pursued since.
mystery lollipops are a reminder to us to stay curious about the world and not judge a book by its cover. A mystery Dum-Dums™ lollipop has purple wrapping, but doesn’t necessarily mean it’s grape-flavored. It could be blue raspberry or cherry or any other flavor you dream of.
I have to admit, it feels good to get that off my chest. Like many hard truths, that one had burdened me for years. But now I’m free to admit the role that those Dum-Dums™ played in helping me get through those long nights writing or editing campus stories, working through line edits on In Focus pieces.
I have to admit that that metaphor is a bit crusty largely because I just made it up. Generally speaking, those Dum-Dums™ lollipops may not exactly be a metaphor for the “spirit of journalism” — but I like to think that they are.
An ode to the fallen Dum-Dums™ lollipops PAVAN ACHARYA
Still, the Dum-Dums™ stick with me, especially the mystery ones. Those were always my favorites because I never knew which flavor I was going to get –– one might say that life is like that. Or, they might say that the mystery Dum-Dums™ lollipops are a metaphor for journalism.
It’s a bit of a stretch but hear me out. Those
If I could give a bit of advice to new Daily staffers, I’d say, “Eat as many Dum-Dums as you want.” The hours you put in at The Daily can be both rewarding and challenging, but it’s important to find times for little moments of joy, whether that’s jamming out to
newsroom playlists with your friends or enjoying a sweet treat made in a factory in Northwestern (no pun intended) Ohio. Those pockets of joy can go a long way toward making your experience with The Daily more fulfilling and memorable. It’s often not the big memories that stick with you, but the little moments that are sprinkled in along the way. It’s been quite a ride y’all.
On inspiration, challenges, and fulfillment
When I arrived on campus for Wildcat Welcome, I knew I was going to be a part of the student newspaper. Just exactly what that meant was not something I could have predicted.
My time at The Daily inspired me. I started out by covering stories related to the Arts & Entertainment. I enjoyed going to theatre performances and shows on campus, and the passion and vision of actors, directors, singers, dancers, and artists I spoke to was amazing. As I watched operas in Cahn Auditorium and Lutkin Hall, plays in Shanley Pavilion and dances in Ryan Auditorium, I was encouraged to approach the activities in my life with the same passion and dedication the performers brought to the stage.
My time at The Daily also challenged me. I reported on the “For One and All” print exhibit at the Block Museum at the beginning of my junior year. As I was preparing to write the story, it hit me that I would have to actually approach people in the Museum in order to get visitors’ perspectives for my story. I couldn’t just email and schedule meetings ahead of time. It felt mortifying, and I spent a few minutes outside the Museum mentally preparing myself to go up to visitors, wondering if I could actually do it. And I did. I really appreciated the opportunity to hear the thoughts of people visiting the exhibit, and I was proud of myself for managing
to actually go up to a source I didn’t know and ask them questions.
Lastly, my time at The Daily fulfilled me. I applied to be an assistant on the design desk during the spring of my sophomore year. Joining the design desk had not crossed my mind at all when I went to the devo training session in Fisk 217 four years ago. I had never really seen myself as a designer: that was not a label I thought I deserved. I joined an amazing team that coached me through everything and gave me confidence.
One year later, I was co-editor of the design desk.
That quarter was the most challenging and fulfilling of my time at The Daily and at Northwestern. We
spent some very late nights in Norris, grappled with Adobe InDesign, ate a lot of trail mix, and watched The Great British Baking Show. I wouldn’t trade those experiences for anything.
The Daily would not be what it is without the people who are a part of it, and I am grateful for those who shaped me into a person willing to explore and push myself beyond what I initially envisioned myself doing. As I leave The Daily’s newsroom behind, I will take with me the lessons I learned in it.
JAMIE KIM
On the importance of third spaces and communities
You may have heard the advice to have three spaces: one for work, one for home, and one for community. At the beginning of college, I felt like I only had one, really huge space: I lived where I went to school and hung out with my friends. I struggled with the sudden melding of my life and it affected my ability to enjoy myself. It wasn’t until I found the three distinct communities that I was able to escape that feeling of being trapped. And it’s why I advocate for everyone to do the same.
The first community I made in college is the very same one I am writing for today: The Daily Northwestern. I spent all four years working at The Daily, and I often joke I spent more time in the newsroom than I did in my freshman dorm. I grew so much,
spending late nights writing stories, problem solving tough issues, editing and making some of my most cherished friends. Time at The Daily is never easy, but to me, always worthwhile. I urge everyone to find a space where they can do work they are proud of.
The second community I made in January of my freshman year, when I joined Kappa Delta during primary recruitment. I was unsure about joining a sorority, but I am so thankful every day that I did. In KD I found a home base and place to come back to at the end of the day. 711 University Place was my address for two years, and it’s here I met people I will call family for the rest of my life. They have seen me in every form: getting ready in the morning, in the tough days, at meal times. I cannot overstate how important
it is to find (or make!) a space like that in college, even if it’s not in the form of a sorority or fraternity. The last community I made was unexpected. Unlike The Daily and Kappa Delta, It does not have a distinct physical space (despite countless hours in Kresge). I joined Survivor Northwestern in my sophomore year, still feeling like I needed to find my footing in college and exercise some more creativity. Survivor is one of the best communities I have been a part of in my life. It is constantly entertaining and character building. It is full of breakthroughs and joy and sadness, it is people willing to wake up regularly at extremely early hours of the morning. It is a place people joined because they love it, not because it is a resume builder. It is my family in college. Everyone
needs one of those. So to those still unsure about what college will look like for you, my advice is to find three distinct communities. What they will look like is up to you, but ultimately, it is community that will make or break your college experience. I am so lucky my communities made mine.
MARKUS
The most unlikely Northwestern sports fan
My whole life, I’ve thought of myself as an ‘indoor kid’ — a term my family used to describe me once they realized I wasn’t as athletically inclined as my peers. When we were asked to run a mile in physical education class, I would conveniently make up excuses to get out of it. It didn’t help that my family’s idea of a fun vacation involved hiking and biking their way through every corner of the globe (not that I’m not very grateful for those trips, Mom and Dad).
Over the past few years, though, I’ve found myself orbiting athletics much more. I have only one sibling, a 13-year-old, 6-foot-tall brother whom I’m very close to, and his life revolves around basketball. When he’s not playing, he’s watching. And when he’s not watching, football or baseball is probably on TV. So, when I visit home back in San Francisco, sports are always on the agenda.
My parents are like a much tamer version of Dance Moms — the super-involved parental units who travel across state lines to every game, competition, and tournament, wanting nothing more than to see their kid
succeed. And, as the non-athletic sibling, I played volleyball in middle school but was never good enough to take it further, eventually giving it up for more ‘indoorsy’ hobbies like theater and journalism. (And just to clarify: I’ve never once reported on sports.)
Ironically, the very teams at Northwestern that got me into sports aren’t exactly dominating the national collegiate athletic scene. I’ve sat through many grueling fourth quarters of football and basketball, both outdoors and indoors, in sweltering heat and freezing cold.
My love for athletics feels even more ironic because there isn’t a huge sports game culture at Northwestern, though I’ll admit the scene has improved since my first year. I would often beg my friends to stay past halftime at a chilly football game or try to convince them to sign up for basketball games in the dead of February, even when they had no intention of actually going.
But there was something about these teams that drew me in — the same girl who would ask her dad to change the channel when football or basketball was on. It probably wasn’t their stellar record that kept me
coming back, but the indisputable fact that athletic events are one of the few times I’ve seen a significant portion of the student body unite around a common cause. As Northwestern students, our schedules are jam-packed, and while the days feel long, the quarters feel short, and the academic years feel even shorter. Sports games gave me a much-needed break from my studies and a chance to see Northwestern in action, making the school feel larger than my tiny Medill bubble. For example, take the February 2023 basketball 64-58 victory over No. 1 Purdue, when it seemed like the entire Northwestern student body sprinted onto the court at Welsh-Ryan Arena. (Yes, I’m still seething about missing this game.) When else do we feel that happy together during a winter quarter at Northwestern?
Sure, our teams might not make it to the final rounds of March Madness or the College Football Playoff, but they give us something to rally behind during some of the darkest and coldest days of the year. The best part? I realized student athletes are just like us.
Celebrating discomfort
I hate change. Routines are my comfort zone. When they’re upended, and I’m thrust out of the confined box I’ve created for myself, I automatically feel a sense of dread and anxiety rush over me. And yet, some of the most pivotal moments I’ve had in college have come when I have ventured outside of these rigid structures. When I’ve been, well, uncomfortable.
Most of my first year at school was spent developing routines for a new chapter in my life. But that quickly changed when in my second year I headed to Washington D.C. Winter Quarter for Medill on the Hill, a program I dreamt about participating in when I first applied to Northwestern. Despite that, as the
days neared for the time to finally go, I was a mess.
I panicked. What in the world was I doing? Why was I taking a leap to abandon everything I built in Evanston to do something where I barely knew anyone else? Sure, this would be good for my career, but what about all that I would miss at school?
The only solace I could find was that being from Philadelphia, if all went poorly I could escape a few weekends by train and find temporary comfort in the familiarity of home.
But as 10 weeks in the nation’s capital passed, I ended up laughing at the ridiculous dread that I felt at the start of the program.
I developed close relationships with many
who participated, extending my social life for the first time in college beyond my close-knit support group. I learned how to live alone for the first time, teaching myself how to properly meal prep and gaining confidence in doing activities on my own. And I most importantly, I learned now to be not afraid of what I deem “uncomfortable.”
That defiance of discomfort I carried with me for the rest of my time at NU.
It made me choose a journalism residency that would force me every day to talk to people on the street, despite the fact I knew I would be apprehensive (like all journalists are). That defiance pushed me to meet people who could help me improve my Spanish when I studied abroad, even though it would have been easier to just hang out with other Americans. It even
They experience the same highs and lows of studying at Northwestern and living in Evanston, and that’s humanized athletes in a way I never saw when watching pros on TV with my family. The phrase “Celebrities — they’re just like us” always makes me laugh, because we’re all simply human—navigating similar struggles, whether we’re representing our university on a national stage or just trying to survive midterm season. So, I’d like to apologize to anyone who knew me during the fall and winter quarters of my senior year.
I know I was pretty insufferable at times, but following Northwestern athletics helped me fall back in love with my dream school and made it that much easier to push through a particularly bleak final winter in the Midwest.
exists on a smaller scale, like when I go to a birthday party with two people I barely know, or have deep conversations about Christianity while driving in Michigan for a class trip.
Feelings of discomfort and awkwardness haven’t totally disappeared. But now, I choose to overcome them, knowing that what awaits on the other side can be strong sources of growth, reform or just plain fun. So rather than running away from discomfort, chase it.
If I had got $10 for every time someone asked me “Isn’t journalism a dying industry?”, I’d probably make more money than I did at my previous internship.
And I think the doom we feel for our profession creates this idea that there’s no such thing as good enough. That if we’re not the best, we’re going to end up unemployed, or worse, a consultant.
But allow me to state my case that you should do the exact opposite: let yourself frolic, or in other words, f*ck around.
For my entire freshman year, I told myself I didn’t have to commit. I didn’t have to climb any publication’s ladder, I didn’t even have to do journalism. I wrote some stuff, and even though the pieces I had written were cool, I kept
pushing myself to try new things to see if I liked them better. And thank god I did. Because that’s how I ended up at an audio story training for the Daily Northwestern’s audio desk. But I still didn’t start my devo process until spring quarter, when a silly question popped in my head: Why the f*ck are there showers in Mudd Library? And then these questions started piling up: What if I did an audio story about the showers in classroom buildings? What if my story started with the sound of water coming out of a shower? What if I had people test the showers and share their experience? That goofy question was the start of one of my favorite pieces I’ve ever done, and my three year-long (and growing!) love affair with audio journalism. I never would’ve
found my passion for public radio reporting if I hadn’t given myself the freedom to explore.
My journey with bilingual journalism started very similarly, where one question about my study abroad orientation teacher’s wife’s hobby eventually led to me taking a train at 8 pm to the outskirts of Barcelona to watch people form Catalonian human towers.
I do want to acknowledge that it’s a privilege to be able to take risks and try new things. I have a safety net, a.k.a parents who will help me (even if a bit begrudgingly) financially. I don’t have to worry about paying off student loans.
If you are lucky enough to be in a situation like me, I humbly ask that you take your time to find what’s right for you. Don’t wonder what your life would’ve been like. No
amount of thinking and pondering can actually predict what you can handle and where you will thrive, you have to just try it.
The saying “f*ck around and find out” has always been used as a threat. But what if instead, it was a promise of adventure and self-discovery? Isn’t life all about learning more about ourselves and the world we live in, especially as journalists? I know it feels like we need to produce something Pulitzer-worthy every quarter, but when I took a step back and thought about what I really cared about, I ended up living a life beyond my wildest dreams.
The only way to find out… is to f*ck around ANITA LI
IrememberthetimeIpublishedmyfirststoryinTheDaily. After timidly approaching a shopper and the owner of a boutique store in downtown Evanston, I wrote up a visuals-dense, light-on-quotes, probably-just-barely-off-aPulitzer article. I worked with editors in the newsroom in Norris, then flew out of the building and into the stairwell of East Fairchild with joyous tears in my eyes.
Beyond my being an especially emotional person, being published in The Daily truly felt special. There is something momentous about seeing your words, your interviews, your revisions published in a real paper. Many bylines later, I still feel that glimmer of running-acrosscampus pride when my stories are published.
My first experiences with journalism did not come from my Medill classes, but from The Daily. I learned what a nut graf was in the training session, buried myself in a 501 page document detailing Evanston’s budget for a story that was frankly way over my head, and produced my first podcast about Northwestern theater. I proved to myself, new journalist that I was, that I could be an effective leader by recruiting and training new peers as development and recruitment editor.
While I was not a mainstay in the newsroom every night because of my 5 a.m. crew practice wakeups, I always felt welcomed and supported by editors and peers in the newsroom. Special shoutout to pa group 114, particularly my friends Nicole Markus and Ethan Lachman, for being an anchor for me in my work at this paper. As
Nicole’s assistant social media editor and Ethan’s assistant opinion editor, I gained experience with new platforms and saw how fun collaboration with friends in a newsroom can be.
At The Daily, I told stories that mattered to me. As someone with a brother with autism, it was empowering for me to amplify the story of a Special Olympics athlete who had 180 medals. As Assistant Opinion Editor, I got to talk about myself (one of my favorite subjects) in a series of journal-esque entries. I wrote about my beloved rowing team, and even found out from one of the recruits later that they joined the team because of my story.
When I was a creative nonfiction warrior in high school, I would wake up in the middle of the night to write something down for stories I was working on. I was always thrilled whenever I came up with something that seemed to pull the entire piece together. My time at The Daily has similarly allowed me to tie together the threads of my college experience into a cohesive story.
The Daily has given me the reporting and analytical skills to channel my writing energy into pieces that inform and empower. Infusing pieces with meaning that could impact someone else is something I know will serve me throughout my life, and I am forever grateful to The Daily for giving me that skill.
Piecing together my time at The Daily NU CHIARA KIM
In Memoriam
As we don our caps and gowns, we remember the members of the Northwestern community who will not be here to walk with us.
Our thoughts are with the loved ones of Daniel Perelman.
Source:DanielGivesBack
Commencement weekend
PhotobyRobertAscroft
Steve Carell
The beloved comedian, actor and devoted father Steve Carell will address Northwestern’s Class of 2025 at the University’s 167th annual Commencement at the United Center in Chicago on Sunday, June 15. Carell also will receive an honorary degree of Doctor of Arts at the ceremony, which will begin at 10:30 a.m.
Whether enlivening audiences with the salve of laughter or carving out space for vulnerability through flawed but striving characters in his dramatic roles, Carell has a gift for amplifying the human condition and putting us more in touch with our own shared humanity.
“Steve Carell is an absolute treasure, and I am thrilled he will be our commencement speaker,” said President Michael Schill. “Steve is such a versatile actor, who brings humor and humanity to every role, from ‘The Office’ to ‘The Morning Show’ and his recent work on Broadway. I cannot wait to hear him address our Class of 2025.”
“I’m thrilled to be speaking at Northwestern’s commencement this year,” Carell said. “My speech’s theme will be ‘The Importance of Lowering Expectations,’ which for these graduates should start with my speech.”
Carell is an award-winning actor, writer and producer, globally revered for his memorable work in film, television and theater, including his classic film roles in “Bruce Almighty,” “Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy,” “Crazy, Stupid Love,” and “Date Night.”
Carell first established himself as a comedian in Chicago, where he was part of the legendary Second City beginning in 1987. His time at Second City overlapped with Stephen Colbert ’86, ’11 H. The two did Dana Carvey’s short-lived sketch comedy show, and in 1999, Carell joined “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart,” where he served for six years as a correspondent. In 2004, Carell segued into the lead role of Michael Scott in the critically acclaimed and award-winning NBC mockumentary, “The Office.” This coincided with the release of Carell’s first leading role in a feature film, “The 40-Year-Old Virgin,” which he co-wrote with director Judd Apatow.
Since then, Carell has starred in several films, including “Foxcatcher,” for which he earned an Academy Award, BAFTA, Screen Actors Guild and Golden Globe nomination, and “The Big Short” and “Battle of the Sexes,” for which he earned Golden Globe nominations.
Saturday, June 14 9 a.m. 12 p.m. 3 p.m.
School of Communication Convocation
Welsh-Ryan Arena
Bienen School of Music Convocation
Pick-Staiger Concert Hall
Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences Convocation
Welsh-Ryan Arena
Sunday, June 15 10:30 a.m. 5:00 p.m. 167th Annual Commencement United Center
Baccalaureate Service Pick-Staiger Concert Hall
Monday, June 16 9:30 a.m. 2 p.m. 2:30 p.m. Medill School of Journalism Convocation ryan fieldhouse
McCormick School of Engineering Convocation
Welsh-Ryan Arena
School of Education and Social Policy Convocation
The Daily Northwestern THANKS OUR 2024–25 DONORS
We are grateful to the following donors who made contributions to The Daily These gifts were made between May 2, 2024 and May 1, 2025*
Victor J. Chi ’91
Rebecca J. Blondin ’97
Elizabeth Adames
Ivan A. Adames
Mariana Andrea Alfaro Martinez ’18, ’18 MS
JoAnn B. Alexander ’74
Andrea R. Allen ’80
Farrokh Allen
Garland H. Allen ’66
Jessica Lynn Allen ’12
Leslie J. Allen ’83
Joanna Elspeth Allerhand ’07
Katherine Alteneder ’93
American Express Company
American Online Giving Foundation, Inc.
Krishnan M. Anantharaman ’91
Christopher Anderson
Mary Anderson
Melanie Anderson ’82
Charlotte Angiolillo (’27 P)
Michael Angiolillo (’27 P)
Aliza Sarah Appelbaum ’08
Virginia F. Ayers
Liana Rochelle Baker ’10
Timothy John Balk ’18
Bridgett McCarthy Baron ’91 (’25 P)
Matthew Baron ’90 (’25 P)
Kristin Chou Barrett ’06
Michael Philip Beder ’07
Steven Andrew Berger ’10
Beth M. Berk ’85, ’86 MS
Micah Bettenhausen
Nathan Billig
Marti R. Bjornson ’60, ’94 MA
Jeffrey B. Blum
Jessica Paige Bobula ’07, ’08 MS
Susan Elizabeth Boyd ’65
David Braga
Brian Brockway (’21 P)
Ella K. Brockway ’21
Kim Brockway (’21 P)
Mareva Colette Brown ’86, ’87 MS
Martin A. Brown ’72
Julie Browning ’81, ’81 MA (’10 P)
Madeline Kim Burakoff ’20, ’20 MS
Jennifer E. Burke ’96
Robert J. Burow ’59
Craig D. Bustin ’81
Barbara Peterson Byrne ’89, ’02 MD, ’96 GME, ’02 MBA (’20 P)
Elizabeth Clare Byrne ’20
John M. Byrne ’90 (’20 P)
Michael A. Campbell ’80
Stacia G. Campbell ’80
Alena Carroll (’23 P)
Gabriela Libuse Carroll ’23
Michael Carroll (’23 P)
Samuel James Casey
Anne Joan Cauvin (’94 P)
Henri E. Cauvin ’94
Colin Nicholas Ceperich ’87 (’20 P)
Sherry Rae Dyche Ceperich ’86 (’20 P)
Phillip Alexander Cervantes ’24
Jennifer M. Cerven ’85
Brandon Jian Chen ’17
Ken Cheng (’28 P)
Erin Ding ’03
Madelyn Dinnerstein ’83
Jiin-Huey Esther Chou Tanaka ’03
Alvin F. Chow ’84, ’94 MBA
Douglas J. Clancy ’76 MS
Russell A. Clemings ’78
Douglas J. Cohen ’97
Marshall Jacob Cohen ’14
Tom Collinger
Christina Combe
Christopher B. Combe ’70 (’99, ’06, ’09 P), Trustee
The Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta
Elizabeth L. Coney ’76 MBA (’15 P)
Jeffrey P. Coney ’74, ’76 MBA (’15 P)
Mary Carole Cooney
Patrick Cooper ’02, ’02 MS
Jonathan R. Copulsky
Alicia Cordova ’10
Tracy Cosgrove ’87
Ronald James Cox ’55
Barbara Craig ’82
David A. Craig ’82
Andrew R. Croop
Kari Croop ’99
Dennis Culloton ’87
Kevin M. Daniels ’95
Monica Davey
Richard S. Davis ’81, ’84 JD
Mary L. Dawson ’75
Elise Katherine De Los Santos ’12, ’25 MA
Stacey B. Delo ’96
Stephan Clark Dimos
Charley H. Ding ’01, ’05 MD
Continued on the opposite page
*Every effort was made to recognize all who donated between May 2, 2024 and May 1, 2025. If you believe your gift was not recognized, have any questions or would like to donate, email campaignfuture@dailynorthwestern.com or call 847-491-7206 and leave a message.
Support the future of The Daily at
The Daily Northwestern THANKS OUR 2024–25 DONORS
We are grateful to the following donors who made contributions to The Daily. These gifts were made between May 2, 2024 and May 1, 2025.* Continued from the opposite page.
Alvin From ’65, ’65 MS
Haley E. Fuller ’22, ’23 MS
Phyllis Funkenbusch
Kathleen Galbraith ’91
Elizabeth Rome Galentine ’06
Ahthony M. Gama-Lobo ’95, ’95 MA
Rebecca May Gama-Lobo ’95
Olga L. Garnhart ’99
Mark C. Gelatt ’84
Lisa George
Stephen H. George ’88
Anita Gewurz ’85 GME
Henry Gewurz
Jonathan Gewurz
Luisa Ginnetti ’72
Geoffrey A. Glatt ’69
Hayley Susanne Glatter ’16
Allan R. Gold ’77, ’78 MS (’24 P)
Ania Gold (’24 P)
Shari R. Goldhagen ’98
Deana Goldstein
Judi Gordon
Mark Gordon
Jorin Graham
Shane D. Graham ’94
Wendy Gray
Adam L. Grayson ’01
Andrew Thomas Grayson ’01
Anne S. Greenberg ’79
Aviva L. Gutnick ’95
Lonnie E. Haefner ’63, ’69 PhD (’93 P)
V. Jean Haefner (’93 P)
Kerin Hagan ’79
William P. Halldin ’84
Patricia J. Handeland
George H. Harmon
Amy Johnson Harrell ’95
Mark D. Hassakis
Patricia Hastings
Peter Kent Hawryluk ’07 MBA
Maxwell Ganz Hayman ’09
Amy A. Healey ’78
Brenna Jeanette Helppie-Schmieder ’11, ’16 JD
Malia Rulon Herman ’98
Annika Narendra Hiredesai ’23
Clint C. Holder ’94
Hilary Holder ’94, ’99 MA
Neil D. Holdway ’92
David Honderich
Jennifer P. Hontz ’93
Gina F. Ikenberry (’26, ’27 P)
John Paul Ikenberry ’91 (’26, ’27 P)
Karen Infeld Blum ’92, ’93 MS
Aaron Lawrence Jaffe ’89
Elizabeth A. Jensen ’81
Jewish Communal Fund
Beverly K. Johnson (’20 P)
Vincent E. Johnson ’89
Andrew Johnston (’27 P)
Daniel S. Jones ’60 (’91 P)
Gregory Neil Jonsson ’00, ’01 MS
Gerald B. Jordan ’71 MS
Pradnya K. Joshi ’93, ’94 MS
JP Morgan Charitable Giving Fund
Michael L. Kahn ’96
Avani Desai Kalra ’25
David Y. Kan ’95, ’99, ’99 MD
Grace Kan
John D. Kann ’86 MBA
Lori H. Kann
Amber Kasses
Glenn Kasses ’03
Eskander Kazim (’27 P)
Terrence J. Kelleher
Evan M. Kent
Karen Zak Kent ’78, ’78 MS, ’82 DDS
Roma Khanna ’00, ’11 MS
Stephen W. Kiehl ’99
Andrew Keith
Suzanna Keith
David Kelso
Junu Kim ’86, ’87 MS
Joan King Salwen ’82 (’17 P)
Elizabeth June Kirk ’06
Daniel Kirwan (’28 P)
Kristen Kirwan (’28 P)
Kristina M. Kluetmeier ’86
William Frank Kobin ’18
Danika Koenig ’05
Peter Kotecki ’18
G. Lionel Kramer ’52, ’53 MS
Sheryl Krsticevic ’81
Angie M. Kucharski ’87, ’88 MS
Erin Kathleen Kuller ’09
Marian Kurz
Cayla Emma Labgold-Carroll ’28
Cliff Lachman (’25 P)
Margot Lachman ’87, ’88 MS (’25 P)
Craig Llewellyn Lamay
Karen H. Laner ’80
Alicia Lasek ’90 MS
Mark Russell Lazerus ’01
Candy Lee
Alan R. Leff (’03 P)
Donna Rosene Leff ’70, ’71 MS (’03 P)
Catherine Leffler
Robert W. Lehner ’73, ’76 MBA
Brian R. Leighton ’84
Philip A. Lentz ’72
Jennifer V. Lescott
Carl P. Leubsdorf
Thomas N. Lin ’95
Graham B. LippSmith ’99
MaryBeth LippSmith ’99
Amy Y. Liu ’97
Tyler James Lockman ’19 MS
Patricia Ann Loew
Bret V. Luboyeski ’01
John W. Luttermoser ’79
Margie MacNeille
Stewart L. Mandel ’98
Alison Margello (’27 P)
Nicole Jane Markus ’25
Jonathan Herbert Marshall ’91 MS
Marydelia Marshall
Anne Louise Martin ’09, ’09 MS
Michael Martinez ’83
Craig S. Matsuda ’77, ’78 MS
David M. Mazie ’55, ’56 MS
Maris Friedenberg Mazie
Lark Vidette McCarthy ’75, ’76 MS M. Yasmina McCarty ’00
Charles A. McCutcheon ’85
Janet S. McDonald
Stephen E. McDonald ’82 MBA
Ellen H. McEvily ’84 (’14 P)
Michael McEvily (’14 P)
Flynn W. McRoberts ’89
Stephanie Nicolas Mehta ’91, ’92 MS
Nomaan Merchant ’09
Naila-Jean C. Meyers ’00
David W. Mildenberg ’81
Angeli Mittal ’24, ’24 MS Rani C. Monson ’96
Tom Moran
Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust Inc.
Joshua Campbell Moshier ’08
Tomoko Hosaka Mullaney ’99
Jennifer L. Mullman ’99
Jeremy S. Mullman ’00
Megan Danielle Munce ’22, ’22 MS
Jonathan E. Murray ’03
David E. Nathan ’83
Susan H. J. Nathan
National Philanthropic Trust DAF
Louise Nelson
Mark E. Nelson ’90
Joel A. Nierman ’04
Melissa Nook (’28 P)
William Nook (’28 P)
Teresa Ann Norton ’67
Nuala O'Connor
Caroline H. Ogburn (’26 P)
Chris Ogburn
Staci Ogburn
Stephen Ogburn
Tom E. Ogburn (’26 P)
Vincent P. O'Hern ’65
Sarah Okeson ’88
Barbara K. Oliver
Richard L. Oliver ’72, ’79 MBA
Jennifer O'Neil
Allison Orenstein ’94
David J. Orenstein ’94, ’94 MS
Emiline R. Ott ’61
Marvin Ott
Levent Ozgur ’01
Robert M. Packer ’81
Christopher Page
Susan L. Page ’73
Tyler Benjamin Pager ’17
Julie Paget
Jerome Curran Pandell ’05
Bruce B. Pascoe ’87 (’24 P)
Mary Scott Patronik ’88, ’97 MBA (’21, ’23 P)
Timothy J. Patronik ’87 (’21, ’23 P)
Laurel Thompson Paul ’92
Peter J. Pawinski ’98
Julie Payton (’27 P)
Nancy Jean Pendergrass ’85
Andrew C. Peng ’00
Patrizia Angela Pensa ’00, ’12 MA
Daniel Perez (’20 P)
Olga Perez (’20 P)
Suzanne C. Peterson ’89
Cynthia M. Phelan ’88
Thomas S. Philp ’83
Jennifer Lynne Pilat ’05
Amy C. Poland ’87, ’90 MS (’17, ’19 P)
Douglas M. Poland ’88 (’17, ’19 P)
Carrie Ralstin Porter ’09
Anna Claire Prior ’08
Barbara N. Purdy (’05 P)
David Mark Purdy ’74 (’05 P)
James M. Puzzanghera ’85
Elisa Miller Quinlan ’98
Camilla Rab
Joan Radovich ’84
Lydia Charlotte Ramsey Pflanzer ’15
John A. Ranieri ’81
Manuel Mopas Rapada ’15, ’15 Cert
Connie Reddicliffe (’13 P)
Steven V. Reddicliffe ’75 (’13 P)
Heather Reid ’94
Amy B. Reinholds ’92
Scott Russell Reiter ’95
Kristoffer Ljones Resellmo ’03
Dorothy S. Ridings ’61
Katherine E. Ritchey ’00, ’01 MS
Jennifer Magat Ro ’93, ’94 MA (’28 P)
Jun H. Ro ’92 (’28 P)
Arnold Jeffrey Robbins ’75 JB Roberts ’89
Jose L. Rodriguez ’84
Charles G. Rogalske ’67
Mary Ann Rogalske
Christina Lauren Rosales ’11
Robert G. Rosenbaum ’84
Benjamin X. Rosenberg ’21
Amy Rosewater Halushka ’93, ’94 MS
Kathryn Rospond Roberts ’92
James M. Ross ’89
Melanie Fridl Ross ’89, ’90 MS
Rita L. Rubin ’78
Nathaniel J. Ryan ’95
Jennifer Clare Sakhnovsky ’15
Kevin G. Salwen ’79 (’17 P) Adrienne Samuels-Gibbs ’99
James D. Saunders ’88
Michael H. Schill Trustee
Daniel H. Schlueter (’26 P)
Gayle H. Schlueter (’26 P)
Peter A. Schoenke ’92, ’93 MS
Jill Schoenwetter
Paul Schoenwetter
Carly R. Schulman ’22
Elliot Schwartz
Andrew Michael Scoggin ’11
Christine E. Seliga ’87 (’24 P)
David C. Sell ’85
Gail S. Sell
Nilay Sen (’17, ’21, ’22 P)
Suat Sen (’17, ’21, ’22 P)
Gregory Shea ’95
John Shea ’96 MS
Janine M. Sieja ’88
Ann H. Silverberg ’74, ’75 MS
Nat J. Silverman ’72, ’74 MS
Andrew Markowitz Simon ’09
Gloria Sin (’28 P)
Stephen K. Sink ’69, ’70 MS
Bonnie J. Sinnock ’89
Peter D. Slevin
Amy Kossoff Smith ’89
Barbara Nordby Soderlin ’99
Josh Abraham Solomon ’14
S. Yuan ’98
The Daily is produced in the THE HOLLY & JOHN MADIGAN NEWSROOM OF THE DAILY NORTHWESTERN University Library Archives of The Daily were digitized thanks to a generous gift from DANIEL S. JONES The Daily is supported by the ED BRYANT MEMORIAL FUND
*Every effort was made to recognize all who donated between May 2, 2024 and May 1, 2025. If you believe your gift was not recognized, have any questions or would like to donate, email campaignfuture@dailynorthwestern.com or call 847-491-7206 and leave a message.
Northwestern’s most memorable sports moments of the past four years
Nov. 21, 2021 — Field hockey secures first national championship
The Wildcats earned their first non-lacrosse national championship in 80 years, shutting out Liberty in a 2-0 victory. With goals from Alia Marshall and Maddie Zimmer, the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player, NU was able to secure coach Tracey Fuchs some longdesired hardware.
May 29, 2022 — Softball reaches first College World Series since 2007
Down five runs in the third inning against No. 8 Arizona State in the final game of the Tempe Super Regional, the ’Cats clawed their way back courtesy of a game-tying solo home run from Hannah Cady. Backed by star pitcher Danielle Williams, NU earned the 8-6 comeback win in dramatic fashion.
February 12, 2023 — Men’s Basketball defeats No. 1 Purdue in historic upset
Entering the night 0-19 in matchups against No. 1 ranked teams, the ’Cats rode a 17-3 run in the final four minutes to down No. 1 Purdue 64-58. NU forced 16 total turnovers with Boo Buie’s 26 points leading the historic charge against the Boilermakers’ Zach Edey.
March 12, 2023 — Collins and Co. make March Madness
In a continuation of their magical season, which included a second-place conference finish, the ’Cats went dancing for just the second time in program history. NU defeated 10-seed Boise State before falling to 2-seed UCLA by just five points.
May 28, 2023 — Lacrosse delivers eighth National Championship
After suffering three-straight Final Four defeats, the ’Cats broke their 11-year National Championship drought with a dominant 16-8 victory over No. 3 Boston College. This capped NU’s 21-game winning streak that started after falling to Syracuse in the season opener.
December 23, 2023 — Football clinches bowl win after disrupted season
Following the high-profile hazing scandal that rocked campus and led to longtime head coach Pat Fitzgerald’s departure, Big Ten Coach of the Year David Braun sparked an unexpected eight-win season, capped by the ’Cats’ 14-7 win over Utah in the SRS Distribution Las Vegas Bowl.
February 22, 2024 — Buie snaps program alltime scoring record
Guard Boo Buie cemented his legacy in Northwestern history, breaking John Shurna’s program record of 2,038 career points on a 3-pointer against Michigan. Buie ended his five-year career with 2187 total points and 618 assists.
May 12, 2024 — Scane breaks NCAA all-time scoring record
Attacker Izzy Scane did what no other could, tallying her 359th career goal, the most by any player in Division I history. Scane ended up scoring four more against Denver in the ’Cats’ 17-4 win in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
November 4, 2024 — Field Hockey earns second National Championship
Since their 2021 National Championship victory, coach Tracey Fuchs and the ’Cats made two more championship games but suffered heartbreaking losses in both. Finally in 2024, a dominant 5-0 win over Saint Joseph’s brought NU its second National Championship.
May 21, 2025 — Women’s Golf wins first-ever National Championship
The ’Cats took home their first National Championship in a major 3-2 upset over No. 1 Stanford. In a run that also included match play victories over No. 2 Arkansas and No. 5 Oregon, NU hit one clutch shot after another, ending with Dianna
