Candidates face o in historic congressional primary
ASA hosts Jabulani for Black History Month
By ALLISON KUESTER and MAYA HEYMAN the daily northwestern @allisonrkuester / @mayaheyman
Six Democratic candidates running to represent Illinois’ 9th Congressional District tackled topics ranging from campaign nance to Immigration and Customs Enforcement across two programs on Feb. 25 on FOX 32 Chicago — the rst televised debate of the election cycle. ree frontrunners — Mayor Daniel Biss, progressive content creator Kat Abughazaleh and State Sen. Laura Fine (D-Glenview) — participated in the rst debate, moderated by the station’s Political Correspondent Paris Schutz.
Another debate featured brie y during and a er the television program included other candidates polling “above 5%,” according to Schutz, including State Sen. Mike Simmons (D-Chicago), Skokie school board member Bushra Amiwala and former FBI hostage negotiator Phil Andrew.
During the rst debate, the candidates sparred over reported ties between the American Israel Public A airs Commi ee and the Fine and Biss campaigns, which has become a ashpoint in the race to replace outgoing U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Evanston).
Elect Chicago Women, a super PAC reportedly supported by AIPAC, has spent upwards of $2
million boosting Fine’s campaign through televised advertisements and mailers.
“It is an independent expenditure. It’s dark money,” Fine said of ECW. “Our campaign does not coordinate. I have asked publicly for them to reveal who their donors are because we don’t know.”
Schutz asked Biss to respond to allegations that he was “pining for that AIPAC support,” appearing to reference a January Substack post from Biss in which the mayor admi ed he had met with local representatives of the proIsrael lobbying group last year.
Biss explained that although he met with AIPAC representatives, he would never have accepted the group’s support, adding he opposes unconditional aid to Israel. Biss has previously expressed support for the Block the Bombs Act, which would prohibit the U.S. from providing defense articles or services to Israel until the country complies with international human rights laws.
Despite the mayor’s commitment to the legislation, Abughazaleh questioned his meetings with AIPAC and accused Biss and Fine of “bickering over who likes AIPAC more.”
“Frankly, both of you are trying to push policies that, even if you’re supporting the Block the Bombs Act, have a lot of very precarious and dangerous implications,” Abughazaleh said.
NU-Q under shelter-in-place order, operating remotely
‘Timeless’ celebration features pageant, performances
By LULUYA TEKLE
Celebration echoed through McCormick Auditorium on Saturday night as the African Student Association closed out Black History Month with Jabulani, a Zulu word meaning “rejoice.”
Under this year’s theme, “Timeless: e Echoes of Our Ancestors,” the night featured a pageant for Mr. and Ms. Africa and performances from NU groups like ELEL Dance Team and Afrothunda.
For McCormick sophomore
Sandrine Douti, who represented Togo in the pageant, this wasn’t her rst rodeo. She also participated in Jabulani’s fashion show last year.
Crowned this year’s Ms. Africa, she said she showed up for all the African countries, “especially the ones that were not able to be represented.”
Campus restrictions for week following Iran’s retaliatory strikes
Douti said she plans to spend some of the money on her friends, a ributing some of her success to her support system. One of the a endees who showed up to Jabulani to support her was her work manager, she said.
“I feel a bit more connected with her because I feel like she’s seen some parts of me that she maybe did not know before,” Douti said.
She said her friends were screaming “Ms. Africa” and that by the end, most of them “couldn’t
» See JABULANI, page 14
“If you can know more about (their culture), then you can connect on a deeper level with that person,” Douti said. She le the night with more than just a sash. $200 cash prizes were awarded to Mr. and Ms. Africa, $100 for rst-runner-ups and $75 for second-runner-ups.
By RUIXIN ZHANG and SUMMER HU the daily
northwestern @ruixinzhang_ / @Summer_Huu
Editor’s note: All sources in this article requested anonymity for fear of retribution om the Qatari government.
Northwestern’s Qatar campus moved to remote operations for the rest of the week a er NU-Q and national authorities issued shelter-in-place orders, following Iranian missile and drone strikes beginning Saturday.
e United States and Israel conducted a joint-military
operation Saturday in Iran, targeting several large cities including its capital, Tehran, e New York Times reported.
Iran carried out retaliatory strikes across Gulf Arab states containing U.S. military bases, including Al Udeid Air Base southwest of Doha, Qatar, according to Al Jazeera.
Students at NU-Q’s campus expressed fear and uncertainty about the strikes. e air base is stationed about 16 miles from NU-Q, according to Google Maps.
NU-Q students reported hearing loud noises Saturday
morning. Several students said they also observed smoke in the sky as the missiles came in waves throughout the day.
“I saw ares going up and a very loud boom,” a Communication senior said. “ en, there was a trail of smoke in the sky.” Qatar issued several national emergency alerts throughout the weekend and Monday, which alerted people of safety measures.
e Communication senior said he initially thought the national message was just a test.
» See NU-Q , page 14
Christina Lin/The Daily Northwestern
Desiree Luo/The Daily Northwestern Christina Lin/The Daily Northwestern
Desiree Luo/The Daily Northwestern
Desiree Luo/The Daily Northwestern Yong-Yu Huang/The Daily Northwestern
Democrats condemn U.S. military attacks in Iran
By CLAIRE COFFEY
the daily northwestern
Democrats running to represent Illinois’ 9th Congressional District condemned President Donald Trump’s military operations in Iran over the weekend.
The United States and Israel launched joint military strikes on the country Saturday morning, targeting multiple cities, including Iran’s capital, Tehran. The nation’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and several top security officials were among those killed during the operations, Iranian state media confirmed Saturday.
Iran has since launched retaliatory strikes on U.S. military bases, Israel and neighboring gulfstate nations.
“The American people overwhelmingly do not want another war in the Middle East,” U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Evanston) wrote in a Saturday news release. “The last thing our country needs is to be drawn into a conflict that would cost lives and destabilize the region.”
In the news release, Schakowsky also reiterated her support for the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, an existing international agreement she wrote “establishes that diplomacy, not war, can constrain Iran’s nuclear program and keep Americans safe.” Under Trump’s leadership, the U.S. withdrew from the JCPOA in 2018.
Several candidates in the crowded race to replace Schakowsky — including frontrunners Mayor Daniel Biss, progressive content creator Kat Abughazaleh and State Sen. Laura Fine (D-Glenview) — questioned the motivations behind Trump’s attack.
“Donald Trump is leading us into another military conflict to distract from his own failures that puts American lives at risk and threatens to send the Middle East into further chaos,” Fine wrote in a statement posted to X on Saturday morning.
In a Saturday news release, congressional candidate and State Sen. Mike Simmons (D-Chicago) also criticized Trump, calling for a “swift end” to military operations and writing that the U.S. “doesn’t need another forever war.”
Candidates broadly condemned the attack’s lack of congressional approval, with many calling for
Trump’s impeachment.
“Democratic leadership must be clear in its united condemnation of this war, and Congress must use its authority to stop this insanity while moving toward impeaching Trump before he sparks a wider conflict,” Biss wrote in a Saturday morning news release.
Skokie school board member Bushra Amiwala wrote in a news release that afternoon that Trump’s actions were an “impeachable offence that none of us should tolerate.”
Both Biss and Abughazaleh urged Congress to pass a War Powers Resolution to ensure legislative authorization for future military actions.
In a Saturday news release, congressional candidate and former FBI hostage negotiator Phil Andrew criticized Trump but called Iran’s pursuit of nuclear armament “an existential threat to the United States, Europe, and Israel and a grave danger to regional and global stability.”
While he did not call for impeachment, Andrew
noted the importance of “disciplined strategy, allied unity, credible diplomacy, and sustained congressional oversight.”
In a Sunday post to Bluesky, Abughazaleh emphasized the human toll of military attacks in Iran. Responding to casualty reports, she wrote, “The blood of these service members, these children, and every civilian rests in Trump’s hands.”isn’t it the kids?” c.coffey@dailynorthwestern.com
Illustration by Nicole Cheah
Democrats running for Illinois’ 9th Congressional District broadly condemned the attack’s lack of congressional oversight, with many calling for President Donald Trump’s impeachment.
ON CAMPUS
CSA hosts food influencer Kenny Song
By KATARZYNA NGUYEN
the daily northwestern
@_ktnguyen
Northwestern’s Chinese Students Association hosted cooking influencer Kenny Song for its Winter Quarter speaker event in Harris Hall on Monday evening.
Song, who has garnered 3.5 million followers on Instagram and 2.4 million followers on TikTok, produces short-form cooking videos on social media.
CSA’s programming chairs, SESP sophomore Angelina Mo and Weinberg junior Maddie Wang, organized and moderated the event.
The event featured a Q&A session with Song and a live mystery-box style cooking competition between Song and a team of two NU students who were randomly chosen beforehand to participate.
Song and the team of two students were asked to cook a dish out of the ingredients in a box of random items, including rotisserie chicken, a bag
of Lay’s potato chips, an apple and cucumbers.
“We had never done something as ambitious as a cooking competition before,” Mo said. “With this speaker event, we really wanted to switch it up by adding a more fun, dynamic element to it.”
During the Q&A session, Song said he started posting cooking videos after he applied to work for food content creators on YouTube and never heard back.
“I was trying to do video editing,” Song said. “I always liked video editing as a kid. I couldn’t wait anymore, so I posted my first video.”
When he first started producing content, Song said he filmed and edited everything himself. Now, though he has his own cameraman, he said editing some of his videos can take up to two weeks.
Song’s catchphrase that he says at the end of his videos is “You want some?” — stylized as “uwansum?”
He said he came up with it after a friend told him to be more interactive in his videos.
“I cringe every time after I say it,” Song said. “When I’m filming the videos, I try my best to get
the best shot, so I’m saying that so many times.” Weinberg first-year Jonathan Lee said he enjoys watching cooking content, including Song’s videos.
He said he was excited to see someone he has only seen online in real life.
“I thought the highlight of this event would be to see the cooking competition, because obviously it’s what Kenny is known for, so just being able to see someone cook in action,” Lee said.
Song said he started producing cooking videos after realizing that he didn’t want to go to graduate school, which was his original intended path.
He said being a content creator making cooking videos has given him “the most unexpected opportunities.”
“I’m so happy to be here, to be able to travel and do what I love,” Song said. “I feel like every day I’m working at making better videos and making people impressed. I feel like that is the true pinnacle of what I could ever imagine.”
katarzynanguyen2028@u.northwestern.edu
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Cooking influencer Kenny Song eats a meal from a Northwestern dining hall alongside Chinese Students Association Programming Chairs Angelina Mo and Maddie Wang during the speaker event Monday.
A&E
Musical blends high-energy dance, corporate chaos
By MICAELA RIVERA PORRAS
the daily northwestern @micaelariverapo
In a world full of finance bros and business baddies, the Wirtz Center for the Performing Arts brings a step-by-step guide to success in the business industry with “How To Succeed in Business Without Really Trying.” The Pulitzer Prize- and Tony Award-winning musical opened on Feb. 20 as a highenergy blend of choreography and corporate chaos.
Based on the satirical 1952 book by Shepherd Mead, the show was adapted into a musical in 1961 by Frank Loesser. The show follows J. Pierrepont Finch, an ambitious window cleaner who learns how to climb the corporate ladder thanks to the advice of a self-help book he finds lying on the ground outside of the World Wide Wicket Company.
The musical opens with “The Book,” voiced by actor and comedian Richard Kind (Communication ’78), urging Finch (Communication junior Gabrielle Gutierrez) to open its pages, promising
that with its guidance, he will achieve success quickly and effortlessly.
Under the direction of third-year MFA directing student and Director Christopher Michael Richardson, Wirtz’s production features genderbent versions of the original characters Finch and Smitty (Communication junior Marcus Dowd). This choice subtly challenges the gender norms of the era in which this musical was originally written.
Rosemary (Communication senior Kennedy Naseem) is a secretary at the World Wide Wicket Company, the enterprise where Finch lands a job after applying the book’s suspiciously convenient instructions. The minute they meet, Rosemary falls in love with him and starts dreaming of their future.
Rosemary’s dreamy bubble of love is quickly popped by her best friend and matchmaker Smitty, who reminds her that she has more important things to focus on like her own responsibilities at the company.
Finch also encounters multiple corporate
personalities: World Wide Wicket Company President J.B. Biggley (Communication junior Ibrahim Khan) and his nephew Bud Frump (Communication junior Jonah Mensch), two characters that illustrate how nepotism plays in the business sector regardless of capability.
Their scenes together become some of the production’s strongest comedic moments, particularly when office rivalries escalate due to Biggley’s romantic interest in an outsider woman he hires.
As the story progresses, the audience sees how Finch’s personality and goals shift with the success of his varying strategies, such as claiming to have attended the same college as Biggley, arriving early in the morning and pretending to have slept in the office or even flirting with his boss’ secretary so she recommends him for a junior executive role.
This shift in character from a young man who dreams of just getting by to becoming a successful businessman is also shown through their costumes, designed by third-year MFA stage design student Naya Tadavarthy. The clothing uses color and style to show different sides of each character. When
Biggley shows his vulnerability, he sheds his suit. Meanwhile, Finch’s suits get more polished as he continues climbing the executive ladder. Finally, even though Finch has a great ending with Rosemary and lands a chairperson role at the company, his way there is nothing but messy. He creates a failed advertisement campaign that almost leaves the company bankrupt and hurts Rosemary’s feelings by making her think he no longer cares about her after receiving a big promotion. Ultimately, this shows us the importance of being cautious of extreme ambition and disparaging those who were by our side from the beginning.
“How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying” proves that satire ages well when performers understand the joke as deeply as they understand the score, and this cast and production crew clearly do. It’s an amazing show that brings back the old-timey Broadway feeling with big choreography, multiple ensemble-led songs and a storyline full of comedy and romance that never bores.
micaelariveraporras2029@u.northwestern.edu
Mayfest Productions announce third Dillo Day stage
By ALEXANDER HERNANDEZ GONZALEZ daily senior staffer
@alexbespeakin
“The Burrow,” a brand new addition to Dillo Day 2026, was announced by Mayfest Productions Friday morning. The third stage will be on Kahn Pavilion, formerly known as the East Lawn.
According to the release, the new stage will be a dedicated space for collaboration amongst other student organizations on campus. For its pilot partnership, this year’s organizations include the Korean American Student Association, the Chinese Students Association, the Middle Eastern North African Student Association and WNUR.
“Dillo Day has experienced incredible momentum over the last few years, and the launch of the new third stage marks a pivotal milestone in our evolution,” said Mayfest CoChair and Weinberg senior Ethan Sterling in the news release. “Expanding to a three-stage format fundamentally reshapes the attendee experience to rival major professional festivals.” Mayfest’s central mission is to entertain the Northwestern community through the curation
of “diverse, inclusive and accessible spaces,” according to the organization.
The stage will serve as a platform where the student body can see a “part of themselves reflected on the Lakefill,” Mayfest wrote in the announcement.
“The Burrow” will allow Mayfest to collaborate with additional on-campus organizations that weren’t present at past Dillo Days. Highlighting different perspectives is the driving force of the stage, Mayfest wrote.
“When Mayfest first reached out about this collaboration, (KASA Co-President) Caleb and I were so excited by the opportunity,” KASA Co-President and Weinberg senior Yena Son said in the announcement. “Having KASA and Asian American culture recognized and represented on such a big stage and important day is incredibly meaningful to us. We’re so excited and can’t wait to debut this stage at Dillo this year!”
The addition of “The Burrow” will not affect the budget for other Dillo stages, as artist booking fees are driven by Mayfest’s partner organizations. The stage is special to Dillo Day 2026 and is contingent on collaborations with partner organizations, Mayfest said in the Friday release.
“(Mayfest Co-Chair) Felipe and I are excited about how this initiative allows us to amplify underrepresented voices and diversify genres on the Lakefill, ensuring the lineup truly
Ashley Dong/The Daily Northwestern
NU senior Jackson Heller: The man in The Prattic
By DALTON HANNA daily senior staffer @daltonhanna06
For many students, Monday nights are spent doing piles of laundry, completing assignments that were due the prior weekend and attempting to prepare for the week ahead. For Communication senior Jackson Heller, Mondays are entering the crowded attic in his off-campus house on Pratt Court and performing stand-up.
The Prattic is a comedy show featuring student performers who sign up for three to seven minute stand-up sets in a makeshift attic comedy club. Aside from the time limit, the comedians have no rules or guidelines for their sets. Admission is a $3 Venmo charge, and the shows typically run for about 40 minutes.
Last winter, Heller founded The Prattic alongside Weinberg senior Mateo Garcia-Bryce, Weinberg senior Livia Salituro, Communication senior Luca Hirsch and Communication senior Ainslie Wilson.
While studying overseas in Prague, Heller said he was finally in a comedy club environment where he
could experiment and get comfortable with his standup. The Prattic is an attempt to build such a community in Evanston.
“It could have just been an attic,” Heller said. “But we looked at it as a space to continue to pursue our passions, and it unlocked our ability to do more.”
Heller grew up listening to comedy specials like Jim Gaffigan’s “Mr. Universe” on shuffle in his dad’s playlist. His parents — an avid comedy loving school principal and a non-profit worker — are not performers, but they helped teach Heller the art of humor and good jokes.
He first performed stand-up at The Green Room, a comedy club in De Pere, Wisconsin, the summer after graduating high school. He brought his two best friends and said he bombed it, getting only one or two laughs total. As he was leaving the venue, an employee caught him outside and told him he should come back again, a gesture that drove Heller to continue. During his first two years of college, Heller would trek to Chicago to practice stand-up sets.
“I hated going to Chicago,” Heller said. “The jokes cross the line of what’s okay. We can be better than this. We don’t have to punch down on every vulnerable
community to make jokes.”
Heller saw The Prattic as an opportunity to create his own comedy scene. He and his roommates shaped the environment and its values themselves. They always remained true to jokes that didn’t bring people down in order to make others laugh.
What started as a few folding chairs and one microphone became homemade wood benches, crowds of over 70 people and a full lighting setup. Garcia-Bryce gushed about his roommate’s creativity throughout the construction of what The Prattic is today.
“It’s nice to have someone who’s as committed to this as anyone can be,” Garcia-Bryce said. “He is a super moral person. That’s what fundamentally drives him — wanting to be nice to people and make everyone have a good time.”
When asked about the future of The Prattic, Heller revealed that he is unsure whether it will continue after his roommates move out in the summer. How the next lessees will choose to use the space is out of their control, but Heller hopes it continues to be an artistic attic.
Dozens of students have discovered comedy and community there. Communication sophomore Libby Nook tried a stand-up set after encouragement from
Heller. Nook said Heller helped her tap into poking fun at herself, specifically her big family and their chaotic dynamics. Thanks to The Prattic, Nook said she hopes to continue stand-up at NU.
“It’s this unique moment, I don’t think it would be the same if there’s other people running it,” Nook said. “It is such a reflection of them as friends and as people, and it’s even more special, knowing that it’s coming to a close.”
While The Prattic may be ending, Heller said his career in comedy is just beginning. After he graduates, Heller hopes to move to New York or Los Angeles to continue to perform stand-up and make films.
When Heller approaches the center of the room to perform at The Prattic, he’s taller than the mic stand, his head almost hitting the ceiling. Heller speaks with a slow voice and a laid-back demeanor, and the audience laughs from the first punchline to his exit.
“It’s terrifying, it’s scary, and I’m still not good at it,” Heller said. “But I owe it all to The Prattic. It’s the perfect space that has allowed me to grow as a standup comedian.”
d.hanna@dailynorthwestern.com
‘The Voice of Hind Rajab’ demands the world to listen
By EMILY DISSANAYAKE
Content Warning: This review includes graphic content and spoilers.
Two years ago, I heard little Hind Rajab’s voice for the first time.
It’s hard to describe what that moment felt like. Following Palestinian journalists on social media meant bearing witness to constant carnage, and, at the time, it had been over a year of blood feeds almost daily. I’d become numb to seeing death through the screen.
But for some reason, this little girl’s story felt different.
On Jan. 29, 2024, 5-year-old Hind and her aunt, uncle and four cousins attempted to flee the Tel alHawa neighborhood in Gaza City after the Israeli Defense Forces ordered their evacuation. Before they could escape, an Israeli tank fired at their car in broad daylight, killing everyone inside but Hind and her 15-year-old cousin, Layan.
The Palestine Red Crescent Society, a Palestinian National Society that provides humanitarian aid, was made aware of their whereabouts by a relative in Germany and was able to call Layan. She was killed while on the phone, leaving Hind alone and surrounded by her dead family for hours. Recordings of Hind’s following phone call with the PRCS garnered international attention and sparked widespread shock. Ultimately, that call — her voice — survived the wreckage; she did not. Hind was five years old when she was killed by the IDF. The car she was found in had 335 bullet holes.
“The Voice of Hind Rajab,” a 2025 film written and directed by Tunisian filmmaker Kaouther Ben Hania, recounts the harrowing hours before her death as the PRCS attempted to rescue Hind. The film was distributed to U.S. audiences in December. The film begins with dispatcher Omar Alqam (Motaz Malhees), who makes the initial call from
the PRCS emergency center in Ramallah, West Bank. He is the first to speak to Layan and later to Hind. What follows is hours of grueling stress and building dread as the possibility of saving her dwindles.
This film, however, is more than a dramatization of real events. Real recordings of Hind’s voice play side by side with the actors representing emergency workers. The file numbers of the recordings are displayed in the top right corner of the screen.
The first recording played in the film is of Layan screaming, “They’re shooting at us!” Real gunfire and explosions are scattered throughout the calls.
Of course, the fear in Hind’s voice is suffocating. Her cries for help, her fear as night fell and her genuine confusion as to why nobody can come save her break the viewer. But moments like when she tells Omar she’s in the butterfly class in her preschool or when she recites verses from the Quran remind me of her innocence.
The brilliance of this film lies in its directorial choices. The film isn’t bloody, as the entire movie is set at the Ramallah call center. Viewers never see Hind nor Gaza. Yet, the violence is inescapable. Even if you avert your gaze, you can still hear her terror.
There is no comfort in telling yourself this is just a movie. There is no fourth wall; Hind is the entirety of this film. Every time she speaks is a reminder that she was once alive. It’s as though you are on the call with her. The most devastating part is knowing her voice will soon be gone, that she will be killed before she finds relief.
In that way, this film refuses to let you deny Hind her story. You are unable to cast her off as a statistic, an unfortunate casualty or an arbitrary victim of war. Her death was cruel and avoidable, not random.
At one point in the film, the worker’s supervisor, Mahdi M. Aljamal (Amer Hlehel), and several others begin saving the phone call recordings to share with the media. When Hind says she’s hurt, Mahdi tells one of the workers to publish
that she said so. This pushes Omar over the edge, prompting him to pull up his social media and scroll through the countless images of rubble and of “children’s bodies ripped apart on the side of the road.”
“Do you really think the voice of a terrified little girl will spark their empathy?” Omar asks. He makes a good point: Why would a child’s voice shock the world’s conscience when two years of carnage hadn’t? I’m still not sure.
At the end of the film, you see the car Hind and her family were in. You see the bullet holes and the blurred bodies. You see the familiar carnage. Yet, you hear nothing. The silence is consuming.
And as the quiet continues, you realize this isn’t just Hind’s silence. She is one of the over 20,000 children killed in Gaza from October 2023 to early February 2026, according to the United Nations Children’s Fund. She wasn’t an anomaly. The silence at the end of the movie is the silence of every one of 20,000 children. Each one once had a voice; each one was more than collateral damage. If you haven’t heard her voice yet, I encourage you to watch this film or listen to those phone calls.
e.dissanayake@dailynorthwestern.com
funds for causes he cares about.
By HELENA JOHANNPETER the daily northwestern
SESP junior Jayden “JP” Pean runs a nail business in the basement of his Evanston home. As a heterosexual Black man in the nail world, Pean says he’s tired of assumptions and strives for excellence instead.
His nail journey began when he took his former girlfriend to get her nails done in Chicago. After witnessing the process of getting acrylic nails done, the then-engineering student realized he could do the same.
“When I hear the words, ‘You won’t,’ I’m always like ‘Oh, I’m doing it,’” Pean said.
Shortly after, he began to learn how to do his cousin’s nails. Practice sessions usually lasted for about seven hours at a time.
In the summer of 2025, Pean had to make a clear decision: take an engineering internship or earn his license as a nail technician.
“Looking at these two options, I was like ‘Let me try to do something different, go out of my comfort zone,’” he said.
Pean enrolled in cosmetology school in North Carolina, where he was the only Black male student seeking a nail technician certificate.
Despite being among the less than 2% of Black nail techs domestically, according to UCLA Labor
Center, he never let that discourage him.
“As a Black man, that’s my life,” he said. “I’m not always going to be welcome in my place, but I’m gonna take up space.”
Pean said that if there was one thing he could change about the beauty industry, it would be how it leads with assumptions. He says when he tells people he does nails, they often make judgments about his appearance and sexuality.
However, he said they never consider the quality of his work. Pean’s dedication paid off; now, he has a myriad of loyal clients in the Evanston area.
“The quality was genuinely impressive,” Weinberg junior Tulsi Patel said. “Everything was done in a precise, clean, thoughtfully done manner.”
Flexibility is important when faced with student clients who often have hectic schedules, according to Pean. He describes his time management as prioritizing tasks and being intentional about day-to-day planning.
He considers his nail art a creative outlet as well as a process he is constantly trying to optimize. From gel manicures to long full sets, Pean said he takes every small detail into account.
“I’m so appreciative of JP as a nail tech because he works with his clients to find things that they’re comfortable with, and isn’t afraid to try new things,” Weinberg senior Blaire Batista said.
Pean’s work goes beyond just nails. He also uses his platform on Instagram to raise awareness and
In November, he covered men’s mental health, posting a podcast episode to his Instagram in which he spoke with a male client about mental health while doing nails.
“I personally chose men’s mental health because I really connect to the issue, even on this campus,” Pean said. “When do we slow down, stop and think, ‘How are we?’”
Patel said that when Pean does clients’ nails, the service does not entail an “in-and-out” approach. Rather, he takes the time to talk and ask regulars about how their quarters are going.
Pean hopes to take his passion beyond the basement after graduation. He wants to combine his interests in travel and mental health awareness with nail art, potentially visiting new places and doing nails while sparking conversations about the issue.
“I’m on this earth to give, not to take,” he said. Batista finds herself coming back to Pean’s business because of the care and compassion he shows his clients.
He said he believes that people can become so boxed into their line of work that they are unable to explore their passions.
“At the end of the day, people are going to say whatever they want to say about you,” Pean said. “Don’t be afraid to do it anyway.”
helenajohannpeter2029@u.northwestern.edu
Courtesy of Charles Gipson
JP posing for a photoshoot for his business.
Illustration by Xuan Day Tran Hind Rajab was five years old when she was shot and killed by the Israeli forces in Jan. 2024.
A er Hollywood, Hana Hyde writes her own next act
By VALENTINA VALCARCE
daily senior staffer
e rst time Weinberg sophomore Hana Hyde ever acted, she was a 6-year-old standing on the sidelines of her younger brother’s soccer game when a stranger gave her a short script for a McDonald’s commercial and asked her to memorize it. She did. Quickly.
e woman — who turned out to be a talent agent — asked to lm her reciting it. Minutes later, she asked Hyde if she wanted representation.
“I was 6, so I was like, ‘Sure,’” Hyde said. “ en I got my mom.”
at moment led to a contract with Big Fish NW Talent Agency and a childhood lled with commercials for companies like T-Mobile, Volkswagen and Microso , modeling work for Sea lebased brands like Nordstrom and Amazon and, eventually, lm roles.
Acting on the big screen
Most recently, Hyde played the romantic lead in the feature lm “O the Line.” e lm centers on speed skating prodigy Mark Stevenson (Samuel L. Pierce) and his friend Jake Flyer (Forrest Campbell) as they train for the elite European Grand Prix 24-hour race.
Pierce, also the lm’s lead director, writer and producer, said Hyde’s presence on set made emotional scenes feel natural rather than forced.
“Her easygoing vibe is really easy to be a bit more vulnerable with,” he said. “It didn’t feel sti . It didn’t feel awkward at all.”
Today though, Hyde is a 19-year-old Wildcat majoring in environmental policy and sociology, trying to decide how much room acting will ultimately take up in her life.
Learning, performing and teaching
Hyde is the daughter of two Sea le dentists: Her father, Gregg Hyde is an Army veteran turned hometown practitioner, and her mother, Amy Kim is a dental professor.
For her, creativity wasn’t the expected path. Still, she vividly remembers reading chapter books with her mother, who was an English major at the University of Michigan. is tradition
fostered Hyde’s love for stories.
“She tried really hard to leave space for creativity,” Hyde said. “ at’s something we’ve always shared.”
Balancing professional acting with school was easier at rst, she “loved” using the excuse of commercial shoots to miss class. But the balancing act grew more complicated in middle and high school.
Hyde learned early how to advocate for herself, negotiating missed assignments and long days on set that could stretch up to 14 hours.
“You develop a strong sense of self pre y quickly,” she said. at self-assurance deepened while teaching preschool stage performance back home at Stone Soup eatre in Sea le, where Hyde now works summers with children ages 3 to 8.
“ ey just go on stage and be who they are,” Hyde said. “ at’s usually when it’s the best.”
Francomacaro said Hyde grew up within the theater’s community.
Hyde started out in its initial programs, then stepped into leadership roles as an assistant and eventually directed summer productions herself.
“She jumped right in as an assistant,” she said. “But Hana rose to being a director because she had that self-con dence, she had the discipline and she had the artistic ‘know-how.’”
When roles mirror reality
Hyde thought about these lessons last year while lming “O the Line” and playing Angela, a former champion speedskater pulled back into a competition a er stepping away from the sport. e character’s arc closely mirrored Hyde’s own uncertainty about pursuing a career as an actress.
“ ose emotional scenes were real,” she said. “It was me deciding whether I missed it enough to go back.”
On set, that same steadiness carried throughout long summer shoot days. Pierce described Hyde as a natural scene partner who kept performances unforced and genuine, even during vulnerable moments. Between takes, she was relaxed and upbeat, Pierce said, helping create an easygoing atmosphere that made “emotional scenes feel authentic rather than sti .”
Hyde does not actually speed skate. A stunt double handled the fast scenes, while Hyde learned to fall convincingly.
“I had bruises everywhere,” she said. “I was denitely the worst out of all the actors.”
Marking a new chapter by marching through e Arch
e sophomore applied early decision to join Northwestern’s class of 2028, keeping the door open for acting, but deciding it might be be er kept as a passion rather than a long-term career.
“Sometimes our goals have to change and adapt based on what’s realistic in our lives at that point,” Hyde said. “ at doesn’t mean you need to stop being (an) artist or stop being creative.”
On campus, she found another stage through NU Mock Trial, where she o en plays emotionally charged witnesses, roles that draw on the same instincts as acting, just in a courtroom.
e team’s president and Weinberg senior Téa Bartle vividly remembers Hyde’s audition.
“It was about two minutes into her tryout, and our vice president messages, ‘Holy s--t guys, she has an IMDb page,’” Bartle said.
But what ma ered most was the person behind
the resume.
As a member of the mock trial team, Hyde is part of a standout season that advances past the second qualifying round and becomes the rst Northwestern B team in six years to qualify for nationals: a milestone teammates describe as especially meaningful given the competitiveness of the eld.
When Hyde is not studying or rehearsing mock trial testimonies, she’s swimming laps at the Norris Aquatics Center or painting watercolors. Broadway may still live in the back of her mind, but so does law school, environmental advocacy and even talent representation.
Hyde hopes to bring more young talent into the theater business while encouraging youth to feel no shame in stepping away from creative pursuits — or reshaping them — when they choose paths that feel more sustainable and realistic for their lives.
“I don’t think giving something up means abandoning it,” Hyde said. “You can nd pockets of great wherever you go.”
valentinavalcarce2028@u.northwestern.edu
Got
Illustration by Chelsea Lim
The “O the Line” feature film is available on streaming platforms Fawesome TV and Prime Video.
The Daily Northwestern
9TH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT
ELECTION PREVIEW ELECTION PREVIEW
In May 2025, U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Evanston) announced her retirement a er nearly 30 years in o ce, sparking the rst competitive race to represent Evanston in the U.S. House of Representatives this century. e generational race has drawn national a ention and features a sprawling eld of 15 Democratic and four Republican candidates.
While covering the race, e Daily has centered the perspectives of voters, including those on campus and around Evanston. We’ve launched e Open Seat, a limited edition podcast series dedicated to covering this race. We’ve broken down the in uence of outside lobbying groups. We’ve a ended countless candidate forums, quizzing the leading contenders on their positions regarding federal immigration enforcement and Israel’s military actions in Gaza.
Now, with the March 17 primary election just two weeks away, e Daily sat down with six Democratic frontrunners to discuss their campaigns. We made the editorial decision to focus on these candidates because of their support in public opinion surveys and the district’s heavily Democratic lean.
I’d like to thank the reporters who worked tirelessly on these pro les and all those who edited their work, including Assistant City Editors Claire Co ey, Wallis Rogin and Emily Dissanayake.
Finally, I’d like to recognize e Daily’s outgoing editor in chief Emily Lichty for her fearless leadership throughout the past six months. Our city coverage would not be possible without your support!
— Jack Baker, City Editor
ELECTION PREVIEW
From page 1
She was the only candidate during the rst debate to oppose sending defensive weapons to Israel, arguing “weapons are inherently o ensive.”
Discussions surrounding ICE also dominated the debate, with the broad consensus being that abolishing the agency is necessary to prevent federal agents from in icting more harm on community members.
e candidates also discussed viral videos of Biss and Abughazaleh protesting at the ICE detention facility in Broadview, Illinois. In October, Abughazaleh was federally indicted for allegedly conspiring to “interrupt, hinder, or impede” the activities of a federal law enforcement o cer during a demonstration at Broadview.
As the moderator pressed Abughazaleh on her indictment, Biss defended his opponent, calling federal o cials “liars.”
“What they’re doing basically has nothing to do with immigration,” Biss said. “It’s sort of
authoritarian power and control and domination and brutality.”
Fine also a rmed she supports abolishing ICE, pointing to legislation she proposed in Spring eld to bar federal immigration o cers hired under what she called Trump’s “reign of terror” from working in state and local law enforcement.
Amiwala, Andrew and Simmons also brie y discussed ICE in both televised segments of their debate.
Simmons cited an instance in which he alleges ICE agents smashed a car window and abducted a community member. He said he took action by personally showing up to Broadview and waiting for three hours to return the man’s car key to his wife.
“ICE has shown that it is completely untrustworthy — that it lies, that it kills, that it kidnaps, that it abuses,” Abughazaleh said. “ICE should not be seen as any legitimate law enforcement agency, and I don’t trust a single thing they say.”
a.kuester@dailynorthwestern.com
m.heyman@dailynorthwestern.com
By JACK BAKER daily senior staffer @jdowb2005
In May 2025, Mayor Daniel Biss delivered a rousing State of the City address, outlining his accomplishments and pledging to combat the second Trump administration. The next morning, he formally launched his campaign to represent Illinois’ 9th Congressional District.
Nearly ten months later, Biss said his record in Evanston offers a blueprint for how he would govern in Washington.
“Most people in public office would say, ‘Let’s just kick the can down the road, take a pass, not do anything that’s going to ruffle too many feathers,’” Biss told The Daily. “I think that attitude is at the core of what’s broken in America today, and I’m really proud to have been willing to do what’s right, even when it’s politically hard.”
That approach was tested throughout the fall as Evanston faced increased federal immigration enforcement. Tensions peaked on Halloween when Border Patrol agents arrested five people, and an agent’s car was rear-ended near Chute Middle School.
The next day, Biss urged residents to stay vigilant, invoking his experience as the grandson of Holocaust survivors.
“I use that analogy very intentionally, knowing that it’s hard for some people to hear, but also knowing that the world looked away in the 1930s,” Biss said. “That’s what allowed what happened in the 1940s to happen, and I’m haunted by the idea that we would do that again.”
Biss praised the community’s response to what he called “unbelievable trauma at the hands of masked thugs” sent by the Trump administration to “kidnap our neighbors and assault people.”
He highlighted residents’ “concrete, creative rapid response and mutual aid efforts,” which he said complemented the city’s policies to protect vulnerable residents.
“We’ve been at the tip of the spear,” the mayor said. “And we’ve become a model for other communities across the country.”
Biss pointed to the incorporation of ICEfree zones on city property and the city’s Welcoming City Ordinance, which he said compelled Evanston to terminate its contract with Flock Safety over concerns that license plate reader data would be shared with federal officials.
Biss has called to abolish Immigration and Customs Enforcement and protested alongside his primary opponents at the ICE detention facility in Broadview, Illinois. On the campaign trail, he’s described himself as the only candidate who can lead a protest movement while producing legislative change.
“You have to be able to do both,” said political content creator and Democratic strategist Liz Minnella. “You have to have the spirit of a protester and an activist but the head of a legislator, and I think he does that really well.”
Minnella, who has endorsed Biss, said she thinks 9th District voters deserve a “legislative powerhouse.” She called retiring U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky’s (D-Evanston) spot in the U.S. House a “legacy seat” and praised her decades-long career of progressive advocacy.
“He takes tough votes. He spends political capital, and that’s what I want,” Minnella said. “I want somebody to go there and pass laws. I don’t think that’s too much to ask.”
Schakowsky herself endorsed Biss in January. The mayor said her support “means everything” and argued her career demonstrates the
Biss leans on record, embraces political risk-taking
seat “can be used to make change beyond just voting the right way in Washington.”
While his critics in Evanston and elsewhere have accused Biss of political opportunism, the mayor called such allegations “genuinely preposterous,” citing his controversial approaches to lowering housing costs and addressing climate change.
Biss acknowledged that his push for affordable housing, including the city’s Envision Evanston 2045 initiative, has been politically costly, adding that his mayoral reelection campaign was “tougher and more vigorous because of it.”
But the mayor still cruised to reelection over his lone challenger in last year’s municipal election. This month, with 15 Democrats vying to replace Schakowsky, his path to victory is less straightforward.
Nevertheless, while preparing at the mayor’s campaign headquarters to knock on doors Saturday, Schakowsky told The Daily she’s feeling good about his chances. She added that Biss is “hitting the right tone” and connecting with “everyday people.”
“I appreciate that so much,” Schakowsky said. “Just being part of the people who you are representing and listening to their voices. It’s not about figuring out every challenge that you have as a member of Congress, but really a challenge to make the people in the district thrive.”
One such person, Northwestern Dining employee Veronica Reyes, also attended Saturday’s canvassing launch, which drew members from several labor unions.
She praised Biss for backing the dining hall workers’ strike last year and spearheading the city’s Workers’ Retention Ordinance.
“He has supported the community of Evanston, especially the working people,” Reyes said. “He gave us strength by showing support to our fight.”
On foreign policy, Biss has sharply criticized Israel’s military actions in Gaza and called for a two-state solution to uphold the rights of every person “to live in peace and
dignity with self-determination.”
In an August Substack post, Biss called for the U.S. to recognize a Palestinian state. Denouncing the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, the mayor wrote that Israel “cannot save itself by destroying its own soul.”
But some opponents have criticized Biss for refusing to call Israel’s actions in Palestine a genocide. While he said he does not criticize people who use that term, Biss emphasized his focus remains on building the broadest possible coalition for peace.
“That coalition is going to include some people who are 100% certain that it’s a genocide, and it’s going to include people who are triggered to use that word,” he said.
Biss has also expressed support for the Block the Bombs Act, which would prohibit the U.S. from providing defensive weaponry to Israel until the country complies with international human rights laws.
He argued voters deserve a representative like Schakowsky — someone willing to embrace the district’s ideological diversity on this “complex issue.”
“I’m deeply committed to justice for Palestinians and for a free Palestine. I’m deeply committed to my family that found a safe haven in Israel after surviving the Holocaust,” Biss said. “There is a strong political push to take a one-sided point of view on this issue that doesn’t see all people’s humanity, and I’m just not going to do that.”
Partly behind that political push, according to Biss, is the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, the nation’s largest pro-Israel lobbying group.
Last year, AIPAC labeled Biss and fellow congressional candidate Kat Abughazaleh “dangerous detractors” in a fundraising email promoting State Sen. Laura Fine’s (D-Glenview) campaign. Biss has also accused AIPAC of supporting Fine through a newly-formed super PAC, Elect Chicago Women, which has spent millions in pro-Fine and anti-Biss advertisements.
While Biss met with representatives of the
lobbying group last year, the mayor maintained he “never sought — and would never accept — AIPAC’s support in this campaign” in a January Substack post.
Beyond reportedly fundraising on Fine’s behalf, AIPAC is the top campaign contributor to U.S. Rep. Tim Walberg (R-Mich.), the chair of the House Education and Workforce Committee. In a January letter, Walberg criticized the mayor’s decision not to send Evanston Police Department officers to end the April 2024 pro-Palestinian encampment on Deering Meadow.
Walberg’s letter featured private text messages from that time between former University President Michael Schill and NU trustee Michael Sacks, who contributed to Fine’s campaign in September. In a text exchange, Sacks speculated that Biss would publicize his decision not to intervene “to shore up his progressive credentials.”
“The most important thing I want Northwestern students to know is that there was a lot of pressure on me to do what would have been wrong for public safety and wrong for free speech, and I stood firm,” Biss said, noting his decision drew attention because of Republican attacks. “I think it would have been bad for me to do what President Schill asked. It would have been bad for me to clear the encampment and arrest everybody.”
Biss plans to brief Walberg’s committee on his actions this week, according to a campaign spokesperson. In the meantime, Biss said his political opponents are “welcome to keep broadcasting” his “good decisions.”
Ultimately, whether or not voters agree with his policy proposals, Biss claimed no one can accuse him of being risk-averse.
“The truth of the matter is that governments are full of elected officials who said the right things when they ran and checked the right boxes, and then when it came time to really fight, they backed down,” he said. “We can’t afford that right now.”
j.baker@dailynorthwestern.com
Christina Lin/The Daily Northwestern
The mayor’s supporters praise his fighting spirit and legislative skills.
Illustration by Nicole Cheah Illinois’ 9th Congressional District stretches from the city of Chicago to McHenry Country, encompassing all of Evanston. U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky has represented Evanston in Congress since 1999.
ECHEVERRIA daily senior staffer
State Sen. Laura Fine (D-Glenview) has represented Evanston and its surrounding municipalities for more than 13 years across both chambers of the Illinois General Assembly.
Fine aims to ‘get things done,’ touts legislative record
it will have on individuals,” Morrison said. “And I have not met a legislator that has worked harder than her.”
In her congressional run, Fine has most expounded upon her achievements in the healthcare and insurance sectors, which she claimed have made Illinois one of the most “consumer-friendly” states.
Now, she’s calling on voters to remember her years spent ghting “the biggest bullies in Spring eld” as her campaign for Illinois’ 9th Congressional District navigates controversy less than a month before the
“My experience, I believe, will allow me to tackle the really tough issues that we’re seeing in Washington right now,” Fine told e Daily. “I don’t think it’s time for a beginner. I don’t think it’s time for somebody who doesn’t understand the process. I think it’s time for somebody who’s really ready day
She noted that one of the most “impossible” pieces of legislation she achieved, a 2023 law allowing the Department of Insurance to review and reject unsubstantiated premium rate increases, took about
“Sometimes when things are hard, you know that those are the best things that you have to get done, and you can’t give up on that,” Fine said.
If elected to Congress, Fine said her next ambition is to lay the groundwork for a Medicare for All singlepayer national health insurance system.
She noted that the change cannot be achieved “tomorrow,” but that Congress can start by reinstating A ordable Care Act subsidies and reversing cuts to Medicaid enacted by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act during President Donald Trump’s
Since Fine launched her campaign to replace outgoing U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Evanston) in May, the race has ballooned to 15 Democratic candidates, including her legislative predecessor, Mayor Daniel Biss, and colleague State Sen. Mike Simmons (D-Chicaco).
e election has also drawn national a ention for reported meddling from outside lobbying groups and several campaign advertisements featuring the race’s three frontrunners — Biss, Fine and progressive content creator Kat Abughazaleh.
Despite the scrutiny, the state senator and her supporters nd strength in her sense of political purpose since her early days serving at the state capital.
Fine’s journey to Spring eld began a er her husband nearly died in a 2010 car accident, leaving her family swimming in medical expenses a er their insurance company tried to cancel his coverage. A er almost facing bankruptcy, Fine studied and received an insurance license to be er understand the industry behind her family’s struggles. en, she took the ght to Spring eld as a state representative.
“I made it my life’s mission to make sure what happened to my family wouldn’t happen to anybody else’s,” Fine said.
State Sen. Julie Morrison (D-Deer eld), who works with Fine as chair of the Illinois Senate Insurance Commi ee, said she noted Fine’s subject matter expertise from the moment they began serving together. Morrison, who has endorsed Fine, said she took on an “unusual” role for a legislator since the commi ee o en relied on industry perspectives.
Instead, Morrison said Fine brought a “valuable” consumer perspective to the table.
“She’s consistently been able to help commi ee members understand what the bill is and the impact
“We’ve got to get that in place so we can try to move towards a Medicare for All system,” Fine said. “Don’t pull the rug out from under us until we have something to change it with.”
By SOPHIE BAKER and EMILY DISSANAYAKE the daily northwestern
When Kat Abughazaleh was growing up, she thought she’d be the first female Republican president.
Now, Abughazaleh is a leading candidate in the Democratic primary for Illinois’ 9th Congressional District, where she has gained national attention for her progressive, antiestablishment platform.
In an interview with The Daily, she described that initial dream as “so embarrassing.”
“I started realizing that maybe Ronald Reagan wasn’t right about everything,” Abughazaleh said. “Maybe things are a lot harder, and the system is far more rigged than I had ever thought. And so that’s when I decided to devote my life to disproving these myths that I believed and trying to help others to reach that point as well.”
In March 2025, Abughazaleh celebrated her 26th birthday by declaring her candidacy for Congress. U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Evanston) had not yet announced her retirement.
Abughazaleh said her decision to challenge Schakowsky, who has represented Evanston for decades, was “nothing against” the long-time congresswoman.
“I didn’t want to wait,” she said. “I felt a sense of urgency in this moment.”
Fine said. “So to me, I’m like, ‘We can do this.’ is is really possible.”
Fine also gained recognition for her role in establishing and chairing the Illinois Behavioral Commit-
working across the aisle to enact mental health legislation at the committee level. e same practice applies to di erences in opinion within her party. In its endorsement of her congressional campaign, the Chicago Tribune Editorial Board wrote about Fine leaving the progressive caucus in Spring eld “a er she was made to feel uncomfortable for her belief in Israel’s right to defend itself or even to exist.”
Elect Chicago Women, a newly-formed super PAC with reported ties to the American Israel Public A airs Committee, has spent over $2.8 million on pro-Fine advertisements and over $1.3 million on advertisements attacking Biss.
Despite that exit, Fine emphasized the importance of ongoing conversation to achieve the votes necessary to pass crucial legislation.
phy (D-Des Plaines), who also endorsed Fine, said it took a “really unique personality” to anticipate the demand for mental health services before the situation became “epidemic.”
“I don’t turn my back on anybody,” Fine said. “I think it’s more important to hear from people who disagree with you than agree with you, just so you can learn where they’re coming from.”
e outside spending has drawn frequent attacks from Fine’s opponents, including Biss, who called ECW’s contributors “right-wing, Trumpaligned, dark money.” Last week, the two campaigns exchanged complaints against each other with the Federal Election Commission, each accusing the other of nancial misconduct.
e Fine campaign has since denied any involvement with outside groups. Publicly, Fine has called for greater transparency and requested ECW disclose its donors ahead of the FEC-mandated March 20 deadline, which comes three days a er the primary election.
Since then, the commi ee has helped establish mental health parity in the state, which requires insurance to cover both mental and physical health care.
Ald. Tom Su redin (6th) has described Fine as an “incredible person” and has endorsed her as the “best candidate” for the district at this moment. He said her family’s experience with the insurance industry and mental health enhances her support for constituents.
“She certainly puts herself in the place of the li le person ghting the big entity very naturally,” Su redin said.
According to Murphy, Fine approaches every legislative problem with empathy. Murphy said her ability to listen to and engage with stakeholders is Fine’s “best quality” as a legislator.
Fine’s campaign has received criticisms for taking donations from those she calls “bipartisan donors.” While Fine said there is a “line in the sand” for values she is unwilling to compromise on, including her support for Medicare for All and abortion rights, she emphasized her experience
One of the largest divides between Democratic congressional candidates has proven to be the Israel-Hamas war and its destructive impacts on civilians in Gaza. In forums, Fine has repeatedly stated that she supports continued arms funding to the country and that she cannot support “tying Israel’s hands right now.”
She spoke of her own experience visiting the country’s borders and bomb shelters, noting that Israelis are “constantly under attack.”
“It’s very di cult for me to say that you can’t protect yourself,” Fine said.
However, like several of the race’s leading candidates, Fine promotes a two-state solution. She envisions bringing Palestinians to the table and prioritizing their necessities through U.S. diplomacy.
She emphasized her family’s longtime participation in Hands of Peace, an interfaith nonpro t connecting Israeli, Palestinian and American youth for extensive dialogue programs over the summer, as crucial to her belief in a peaceful future for Israelis and Palestinians.
She remembered her rst time hosting one of the organization’s participants, a Palestinian teenager who held Israeli citizenship — someone Fine said she keeps in touch with to this day.
“ at was an ‘aha’ moment for me because there was a Palestinian mom thousands of miles away who trusted American Jews to care for her child,”
In previous statements to and interviews with e Daily, Fine’s campaign has compared ECW’s activities to the outside spending of groups like 3.14 Action Fund, a hybrid PAC that has endorsed and paid for advertisements promoting the Biss campaign.
When asked to elaborate on that comparison, her campaign stated it cannot speculate on di erences between the two outside groups.
In response to the turbulent campaign, Murphy maintains Fine’s independence, adding that accepting donations from someone “does not mean that you’re beholden to that person ever.”
Murphy reminded voters of Fine’s longstanding connection to the local community, something Morrison said would not fade should she win the race and enter the “Washington bubble.”
“She is the same person you elected. She is that same person that will solve problems, that is empathetic,” Murphy said. “It’s hard to get past all that campaign noise, but it is nothing more than noise meant to distract you from what’s really important.”
m.guerra-echeverria@dailynorthwestern.com
Abughazaleh looks to upset congressional status quo
Schakowsky’s announcement not to seek another term in May kicked off a crowded primary for the reliably Democratic seat that encompasses Evanston, Skokie, Glenview and Wilmette.
Abughazaleh moved to Chicago in 2024 but did not live in the district when she announced her candidacy. Some have criticized her for this, but she said she welcomes these questions, claiming that voters should be “skeptical of anyone running for office.”
Prior to launching her campaign, Abughazaleh worked for Media Matters for America, where she covered the far right. Abughazaleh said this experience makes her uniquely positioned to combat conservatives in Congress.
“I think people are sick of the far right bullying us,” she said. “We need Democrats who actually understand how to handle white nationalists. That’s literally what my job is.”
Abughazaleh highlighted two priorities as central to her campaign: anti-authoritarianism and basic existence, which she called her “North Star.”
She sarcastically described her support for basic existence as the “radical idea” that “everyone deserves to afford housing, groceries and health care with money left over to save and spend.”
“We say that something isn’t possible
Daily file photo by Desiree Luo
Abughazaleh has attended a number of protests throughout her campaign, including several anti-ICE demonstrations and vigils for victims of ICE shootings.
MARISA GUERRA @marisa_g_ech
March 17 primary.
one a decade to pass.
Mental Health pandemic.
Daily file photo by Desiree Luo
Fine drew criticisms from opponents for her campaign contributors at a February candidate forum.
because it’s a lot more work to actually do that thing. And that doesn’t help when people are starving, when people can’t a ord to feed their families, when people can’t a ord to just keep the lights on,” she said. “So that’s what we need to be working towards, and anything else — anything less — we shouldn’t accept.”
Her emphasis on basic existence has also in uenced how she runs her campaign. For one, her Rogers Park campaign headquarters doubles as a mutual aid hub that collects and distributes essentials like toiletries, hygiene products and clothes. e hub isn’t the only unconventional strategy Abughazaleh has employed. In August, her campaign hosted a punk-rock show at a bar in Wrigleyville. Last month, she launched a now-viral satirical a ack ad against herself. Abughazaleh is also a proli c kni er and her campaign has hosted kni ing circles to cra clothes for community members in need. ese are all activities that she enjoys and cares about.
“Politicians and people running for o ce need to show more of themselves,” she said. “Part of the reason that we both lionize and demonize people in elected o ce so much is because they don’t feel like people.”
Mia Festo, the creative director for Abughazaleh’s campaign, added that these strategies all serve to di erentiate Abughazaleh from the 14
other Democratic candidates in the race.
Festo, who grew up in Evanston, said they want the Democratic Party to “take notice” of the priorities of a “new generation” of voters.
“Our strategy is to stand out,” Festo said. “We want to look di erent. We want to sound di erent. We want to feel di erent. And every decision that we make stems from that. Every conventional wisdom that politics has given us has failed us. And so why not try something di erent?”
ese unconventional methods t into the broader anti-establishment theme of Abughazaleh’s campaign.
If she were to win both the March primary and November general election, this would be Abughazaleh’s rst time holding elected o ce. In April, she told e Daily that she didn’t want to be a “career politician” and has since critiqued other candidates she views as such.
“I want to come in, make some change and then go hang out with my cat,” she said in April.
Abughazaleh has also criticized how Democratic congressmembers operate. At a candidate forum hosted by Pink Poster Club in late February, Abughazaleh said she wouldn’t support U.S. Rep. Hakeem Je ries (D-New York) as House Speaker.
In a recent televised debate, she added that Democrats need to be “creative” in nding ways to prevent Republican legislation from passing, in part by exploiting parliamentary procedure.
Taking a stringently anti-authoritarian stance, Abughazaleh has said she wouldn’t work
across the aisle if it means compromising on her values.
“If we want bipartisan support, then they should also want it,” she said. “ ey have to come to the table too. It can’t just be us bending over backwards and capitulating to fascists.”
She has taken a similar approach while opposing federal immigration enforcement. Abughazaleh attended several anti-Immigration and Customs Enforcement protests throughout her campaign and was federally indicted for activities tied to a September demonstration at the ICE detention facility in Broadview, Illinois.
Abughazaleh, who has called her indictment politically motivated, pleaded not guilty to all charges in November. She added the indictment made her more determined to “beat these bastards.”
“People across the country have been essentially tortured by this administration, whether it’s through legal fees or whether it’s through actual kidnapping and detainment,” she said. “We’re gonna win on Election Day and in court.”
Videos of Abughazaleh demonstrating at Broadview have captivated the internet. During a canvassing event in Skokie Sunday morning, some voters said her activism inspired them to support her.
Chicago resident Amir Vilchez said Abughazaleh’s views on immigration were a key reason he knocked on doors for her.
“You just see all these videos of people who are protesting for my rights,” he said. “I’m Hispanic,
and seeing as I’m still documented, I feel like I have the responsibility to also show up.”
In addition to immigration, Israel and the in uence of the American Israel Public A airs Commi ee have been a ashpoint throughout the race. AIPAC, the country’s largest pro-Israel lobbying group, has reportedly a empted to consolidate support around State Sen. Laura Fine (D-Glenview).
Abughazaleh, who is Palestinian American and the only leading candidate who has called Israel’s military actions in Gaza a genocide, advocates for a solution driven by people living in the region. She said she wants to “turn o the spigot” by halting U.S. military aid to Israel. is willingness to challenge powerful institutions has energized supporters while inviting scrutiny from others.
Abughazaleh’s rise to prominence comes as progressive candidates make political gains nationwide, a trend she called “unbelievably exciting.”
“ is is a movement that shows the discontent of the American people and how many are unhappy not just with their current status quo, but with the past, too,” she said. “We can’t go back to normal when normal wasn’t serving anyone except the rich in the rst place.”
Still, Abughazaleh doesn’t count herself as part of this movement quite yet.
“We go a win rst,” she said.
s.baker@dailynorthwestern.com
e.dissanayake@dailynorthwestern.com
Andrew emphasizes crisis management experience
By YONG-YU HUANG daily senior staffer
@yong_yuhuang
Content warning: is story contains mentions of gun violence.
Before Phil Andrew was a hostage negotiator for the Federal Bureau of Investigation, a gun violence prevention advocate or a congressional candidate, he was a 20-year-old college swimmer trying to protect his parents.
In 1988, Andrew was home in Winnetka for the summer from the University of Illinois UrbanaChampaign, where he captained the men’s swimming team. A er a school shooting that le one child dead and several others wounded, shooter Laurie Dann ed the scene, drove to Andrew’s childhood home and took him and his parents hostage.
He managed to talk Dann into le ing his parents go, but when Andrew tried to disarm her, he was shot in the chest and critically wounded.
Andrew survived. When he returned to UIUC, he juggled class, the swim team and gun control lobbying — beginning a lifelong commitment to justice and public safety.
Andrew grew up on the North Shore in a “big Catholic family” as one of seven kids. He spent his summers lifeguarding at Lake Michigan beaches, where he said he made multiple rescues, including saving people trapped beneath an overturned sailboat. He credited his upbringing in a service-oriented family raised by parents he described as “Kennedy Democrats, Kennedy Catholics,” as well as his time at Loyola Academy in Wilme e, for instilling “that sense of justice and commitment to social good” in him.
A er a ending law school and spending several years as a practicing a orney while volunteering with violence prevention groups, Andrew joined the FBI in the mid-1990s. He began at a Topeka, Kansas eld o ce, working on counterterrorism, counterintelligence and public corruption cases.
Over a 21-year career with the Bureau, he served stints at its Washington, D.C. headquarters as well as its eld o ce in New York. Andrew said he was deployed to international kidnapping and terrorism cases, including the 2008 Mumbai a acks, and was involved with negotiations tied to the release of kidnapped journalist David Rohde.
Andrew and his wife, Michelle, moved back to the North Shore in 2011, hoping to raise their four children in the same environment in which they had grown up.
Recent empty-nesters, Andrew said three of their four children have pursued naval service. All four are also either current or former collegiate swimmers — three at the U.S. Naval Academy and one at UCLA.
“Our youngest just le ,” Andrew said, “(It was) a li le badass that she was willing to sign up and go to the Naval Academy at a time when this administration was saying, and this defense secretary is saying, that women don’t belong.”
Andrew spent his nal eight years with the FBI working out of its Chicago eld o ce before retiring in 2018 and launching PAX Group, a crisis management and public safety consulting rm.
Among its projects, the rm recently conducted a safety review at University of Arizona following the 2022 murder of a professor by a former graduate student. e review outlined recommendations to improve the school’s public safety. Additionally, the
rm has developed a hate crimes training curriculum in partnership with the Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center.
PAX Group partner Steve Knipstein has known Andrew for over three decades, from the time Andrew was in law school and running a violence prevention nonpro t.
Knipstein said he has worked with Andrew at PAX Group for three years and is now managing more of the company as Andrew focuses on his campaign.
“Phil doesn’t need to make a name for himself,” Knipstein said. “He wants to serve people.”
From 2018 to 2020, Andrew was the director of the Archdiocese of Chicago’s Violence Prevention Initiatives, which heeds Pope Francis’ call for the Church to become a “ eld hospital.”
ere, Andrew’s mission was twofold: to build safety and resilience programs for the 225 schools and 300 parishes in the region while organizing Catholic assets, including food pantries, homeless shelters, hospitals and social service agencies. He met with a range of people, from interreligious organizations to police departments, trying to understand their needs.
Andrew called this work a “turning point” for the city, emphasizing that this plan helped signi cantly reduce gun violence in Chicago.
“To solve real problems with people in crisis, you have to actually be close to them, which says a lot about the way that we are running this campaign,” Andrew said.
“One of the things that is very important to me is that our communities are still at great risk of gun violence,” Andrew said.
Since the 1988 shooting, Andrew said he has been involved in advancing gun violence prevention e orts at both the state and federal levels. He lobbied for the passing of the Brady Bill, one of the rst pieces of legislation to restrict handgun ownership by mandating federal background checks.
Andrew added he has also advocated for state gun dealer licensing, rearm restraining orders, assault weapon bans and safe storage laws. Now, he is working with activists to pass the Responsibility in Firearm Legislation Act in Illinois, which, among other requirements, would require rearms manufacturers to obtain licenses, according to Andrew.
While gun violence remains a critical issue, Andrew said danger can also take other forms, including limited healthcare access and economic uncertainty.
“We have a lot of business leaders here,” Andrew said. “Small business leaders, like myself, they feel that the chaos and the instability has made it very di cult to plan.”
Pointing to the 9th District’s large Jewish community, from its Jewish schools and synagogues to the Illinois Holocaust Museum, Andrew added that community members “constantly feel the threat of terror and hate crimes.”
For example, Andrew noted the antisemitic hate symbols recently painted throughout Evanston and on Northwestern’s campus.
“ e threats to safety in our community — as diverse as it is from North Chicago, Uptown, Rogers Park — still exists. But now it’s unique to each community,” Andrew said. “Some communities are being targeted now by threats, intimidation and violence, by the federal government, by the use of ICE.”
Former congressional candidate and Chicago 50th Ward Commi eeperson Bruce Leon endorsed Andrew a er withdrawing from the race in January.
Since then, Leon said he has campaigned with Andrew.
Leon recalled visiting a factory with Andrew on the campaign trail.
He said Andrew walked around, looked each employee in the eye, asked them their name and what issues were important to them — an experience that Leon said reminded him of the presidential campaigns of former Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama.
During candidate forums, Leon said it was already obvious to him that Andrew was di erent from other congressional contenders.
“He’s not a yeller, he’s not a screamer, he’s not a panicker,” Leon said. “He actually likes to talk about solutions and solving problems and crisis management. I o en say to people, ‘Sometimes, I feel like he’s the only adult in the room.’”
When Andrew doesn’t know an answer, Leon said, he asks questions to learn.
When Leon withdrew from the race, he joked that Andrew was such a strong second choice it made him question his rst choice, too.
“ en I realized maybe I had to drop out of the race,” Leon said.
Just days away from the March 17 primary election, Andrew said he was con dent in his “surging” campaign, as voters turn away from those who have played “political games to nance their campaigns.”
He condemned “career politicians like Dan Biss and Laura Fine,” who he said have become “part of a political class” that take dark money contributions.
“ ey grew up in that system,” Andrew said, referencing former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan’s legacy of corruption and nancial mismanagement. “And now they’re using the same playbook.”
Additionally, he criticized both Biss and Fine for running simultaneously for Congress and state Democratic Party leadership positions, accusing them of using money from the commi ee races to promote their congressional campaigns.
To Andrew, this is an issue of public trust and accountability, arguing others lack the “high ethics” this moment demands.
“When you’re ba ling the most corrupt administration, you have to come in with clean hands,” Andrew said.
y.huang@dailynorthwestern.com
Daily file photo by Jack Baker
Born and raised in the North Shore, Phil Andrew grew up in a service-oriented family.
Amiwala points to local roots, progressive credentials
By YONG-YU HUANG daily senior staffer @yong_yuhuang
At 28 years old, this isn’t Bushra Amiwala’s rst election cycle. It’s not her second, either.
As a 19-year-old student at DePaul University, she ran for Cook County commissioner, a empting to unseat 16-year incumbent Larry Su redin. ough she lost that race, Amiwala said Su redin encouraged her to stay involved.
More than that, Amiwala added, she walked away with 5,400 new voters.
In 2019, Amiwala was elected to the Skokie School District 73.5 Board of Education, becoming the rst Gen Z woman and the youngest Muslim to become a U.S. elected o cial. She is currently serving her second term, having won reelection uncontested in 2023.
Now, Amiwala’s aiming for a congressional seat.
“I don’t have an independently wealthy family at all. I do not have a Rolodex of donors. I don’t have an a uent partner or community that I can rely on,” Amiwala said. “I’m really proud to have paved this with dedicated people that want to see someone like me representing them.”
Niles West High School social studies teacher and debate coach Eric Oddo has known Amiwala since she was a student at Niles North High School. He later grew to know her be er when she worked as an assistant debate coach at her alma mater.
“Even in times when she’s already experienced losses politically, she bounces back — which is a huge, important thing for the youth to see,” Oddo said.
Born and raised in the 9th Congressional District, Amiwala has emphasized her knowledge of the area’s
character and its communities.
“When I announced my candidacy, I did not have to spend copious amounts of time trying to recruit volunteers or nd where people are and learn what’s important to them through polls,” Amiwala said. “I was already ingrained in that fabric of society.”
Amiwala pointed out that the U.S. census previously designated the district’s signi cant Middle Eastern and North African population as white — which she said obscures its true diversity. At least 90 languages are spoken across the district, she explained.
According to Data USA, 35.1% of households report speaking a non-English language at home as a primary shared language.
She said the district is also “home to the sandwich generation,” which she described as those with aging parents and young children. e community also claims some of the region’s highest and lowest earners, Amiwala said.
Growing up, Amiwala said her family was reliant on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
“ at means the rst of the month was our snack of choice,” she said. “ at meant when the Trump administration was cu ing SNAP bene ts, this was deeply personal work.”
If elected, Amiwala promised, her o ce will “at the minimum” provide support in the district’s three most commonly spoken languages other than English.
According to Amiwala, she grew up being “the literal translator” for her family. And that outreach didn’t stop there. She said that in June, when the rst community member was taken by Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Skokie, she interpreted for the impacted family in Spanish.
e most vulnerable community members are not the ones “raising their hands asking for help,” she said.
“
ey’re drowning and trying to survive,” Amiwala said. “It’s being a proactive legislator that doesn’t need to wait to be told what their struggle is.”
Amiwala said her legislative goals include providing Medicare for All, paving paths to citizenship while abolishing ICE and increasing federal funding for public education.
Although threats to democracy are something that “deeply plague” her personally, Amiwala said, “the average community of color is not thinking about that.”
“Bring back the things that materially can bene t and improve someone’s life rst before we try to zoom 50,000 feet outward,” Amiwala said. “Because even though this is a federal o ce, it is a hyper-local election.”
Amiwala’s calendar features an additional layer compared to her primary opponents. She’s campaigning during the month of Ramadan, and Eid, the holiday marking the end of the Islamic holy month, falls two days a er the March primary.
Come election day, Amiwala will still be fasting from sunrise to sunset.
“It actually poses a unique opportunity to normalize my faith in a way that is traditionally constantly being outcasted and misrepresented,” she said.
Amiwala said the district is home to one of the largest concentrations of Muslim Americans in the state, and she has also watched non-Muslim neighbors to her faith respond warmly.
e host of a campaign meet-and-greet set out dates so that she could break her fast during the event, and Amiwala added that a endees of a recent candidate forum wished her a happy Ramadan.
As a part-time MBA student at Kellogg School of Management at the time, Amiwala participated in Northwestern’s April 2024 pro-Palestinian encampment. ere, she a ended a Friday prayer led by Imam Omar Suleiman and brought umbrellas to hand out to protestors in the rain.
“I’m proud to have been a student at Northwestern that contributed in the small way I did,” Amiwala said.
Before her campaign, Amiwala spent several years working full-time at Google, while also serving on the school board. She le her job in September to campaign full-time.
Former Skokie school board secretary pro-tem and Winnetka teacher Maureen Jacob, who served alongside Amiwala from 2021 to 2025, said she initially had doubts about the young school board member, worrying that she would be “another ashy social media politician.”
Jacob witnessed Amiwala lose the commissioner’s race and expected her to try again somewhere else. But instead, she explained, Amiwala “learned from the loss” and “took notes.”
Amiwala soon disproved Jacob’s doubts. According
to Jacob, Amiwala consistently represented “the adult in the room,” despite being the youngest person on the board.
What struck her most was how process-oriented Amiwala proved to be, Jacob added. Although Amiwala didn’t come to the board with an educational background, Jacob, a teacher by trade, was impressed by how she handled gaps in her knowledge.
“ at’s another thing that I was always impressed with is her ability to stop and ask really good questions and try to gure out a system if she didn’t understand it, rather than becoming entrenched in a position,” Jacob said.
According to Amiwala’s website, some of her accomplishments include making the district livestream public board meetings, o er more diverse food options for students and provide free a erschool programming.
“She’s not somebody who is constantly talking,” Jacob said. “She’s very much a doer.”
Amiwala notes that she’s the only candidate in the race with experience across the public, private and nonpro t sectors.
Former U.S. Rep. Marie Newman, who has known Amiwala for roughly a decade and is now volunteering for her campaign, said that combination is rare and valuable.
“ e most successful members of Congress are those that have worked in non-pro t, in for-pro t businesses and in government,” Newman said. “You get o the ground really quickly in Congress when you understand how all those models work.”
Newman added that although Amiwala has been “an amazing fundraiser,” it’s hard to go up against the millions that the American Israel Public A airs Commi ee has reportedly funneled into the race.
As concerns about outside spending have grown, Amiwala has criticized candidates who run “on a platform of taxing billionaires and ge ing big money out of politics” but accept dark money contributions.
Amiwala accused her competitors who sport redboxes on their websites of “actively inviting” external spending on their behalf because they are “unable to earn people’s votes without millions of dollars being spent in TV ads and mail.”
“ at’s a sign of a mediocre candidate and a mediocre message at best,” Amiwala said.
She also denounced her opponents who have “ ip- opped” on their issues, depending on the time and place, and stressed that consistency, along with “everyday donors,” is one of the tenets of her campaign — which also includes credibility, lived experience and relationships.
To her, these are things that “money can’t buy.” y.huang@dailynorthwestern.com
Simmons centers Chicago upbringing, policy wins
By WALLIS ROGIN and MAX TURETZKY
the daily northwestern
@wallis_rogin / @maxturetzky
A er ve years in the Illinois General Assembly, State Sen. Mike Simmons (D-Chicago) has passed about 50 bills. Now, Simmons is aiming for Washington, D.C., where he believes he can have an even greater impact
As the only candidate who is both Black and LGBTQ+ running to succeed retiring U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Evanston) in Illinois’ 9th Congressional District, Simmons said people with his lived experience are “woefully underrepresented” in Congress.
“ at underscores even more how important it is to get people in these congressional seats who are closest to the pain in the community,” Simmons said. “Because those are the people I really do think have the best solutions.”
Simmons grew up in a working-class household in Chicago. His mother owned a salon in Rogers Park, and his father was an asylum seeker from Ethiopia who walked through the East African desert for eight days, passing through three countries, to escape political violence.
First elected to the Illinois Senate in 2021, Simmons has shepherded the rst state-level child tax credit in America through the state legislature and recently helped relieve medical debt for 340,000 Illinois residents.
Evanston resident and retired educator Ron Whitmore also pointed to Simmons’s role in helping pass the Je Hawkins Law, which prevents discrimination based on hair texture.
“Historically, Black people have been victimized and subjugated and red for hair,” he said. “Mike’s legislation made sure that people got measured on their ability, not on how their hair looks.”
Whitmore said he is planning to vote for Simmons because of his “consistency, presence and commitment.”
Born and raised in the 9th District, Simmons said his understanding of its communities has given him
an “urgency and re” that compelled him to join the crowded Democratic race in July.
“I have these lived experiences around healthcare, housing and a ordability, and I’ve got a track record now — half a decade as a state senator — passing bills,” Simmons said. “It made a lot of sense for me to jump at this opportunity to represent the people of the district.”
His supporters praise him as a ghter with a laundry list of legislative accomplishments. ey also highlight what they consider his authenticity.
Evanston Township High School District 202 Board of Education member Leah Piekarz said she originally planned to back Mayor Daniel Biss but chose to back Simmons a er she was impressed by his performance at a candidate forum last year.
A er the event, she approached Simmons, whom she told e Daily is “very genuine,” and o ered to volunteer for his campaign.
“It’s important to have really strong voices and fresh new faces representing di erent identities and lived experiences,” Piekarz said. “But you also have to be able to really understand the legislative process, how to work with others, including your opponents and get some bills passed.”
Canvassing throughout the district, Simmons has observed that voters’ number one concern is protecting American democracy, adding that his constituents are “pissed” about President Donald Trump.
“I think the voters in the 9th District want evidence that the next person who’s going to represent them is serious about taking on Donald Trump and stopping the erasure of Medicaid and human services, someone who’s serious about abolishing ICE and isn’t just going to say that because it sounds good on social media and gets you a bunch of clicks,”
Simmons said.
Simmons said he supports removing Trump from o ce, adding the “only fair outcome” is to bring forth articles of impeachment, convict him and then send him to prison. Simmons also said he supported “robust” reforms to the U.S. Supreme Court, including expanding the court to 13 justices, removing lifetime appointments and implementing
an ethics code.
roughout the race, several candidates, including Simmons, have publicly demonstrated their opposition to Immigration and Customs Enforcement by a ending protests and patrolling for federal immigration agents. Simmons said he supports abolishing ICE.
Among his proposals are defunding the agency and private prisons that he said are “one of the greatest threats to our democracy right now.” Simmons said as a taxpayer, he doesn’t want his money being used to detain people without due process.
Simmons also intends to expand the Illinois Child Tax Credit to the federal level by reinstating the child tax credit that was massively expanded under former President Joe Biden in 2021. He pointed to a
universal basic income and higher taxes on billionaires as additional measures to tackle rising costs.
“We know that this is a way to eliminate child poverty and put more money in the pockets of working parents and stimulate the local economy,” Simmons said.
Simmons is looking to make history if elected to represent the 9th District, which encompasses Evanston, Skokie, Glenview and Wilme e.
“I’d only be the third Black and LGBTQ+ person ever elected to Congress if I win this primary and the general in November,” Simmons said. “And the thing is, I’m going to ght for everybody.”
w.rogin@dailynorthwestern.com m.turetzky@dailynorthwestern.com
Daily file photo by Desiree Luo
Simmons has campaigned on his extensive legislative record in the Illinois Senate and supports abolishing ICE.
Daily file photo by Desiree Luo
Bushra Amiwala was the first Gen Z female and the youngest Muslim elected o icial in the country.
OPINION
Hamburger Medailleu: Missiles over a familiar sky
was dark enough to see the stars. We’d marvel about the people we had met and the home we felt we had made. We’d watch the same corn vendor park at the corner of the street and look out at the cascading hills coated in the same type of tan apartment building we were in.
Have you ever been in a room where the sunlight reflects in such a way that it looks like the entire place is soaked in gold? That was what the living room of my apartment in Amman looked like every afternoon as day turned to dusk, just as a morning back in Chicago began. I go back to that place sometimes on cold Evanston mornings and days when I miss my time across seas.
In my beautiful, sunlight-drenched living room, the sun came through a sliding glass door that led to our balcony. It was only big enough for us to sit with our knees pressed to our chests, and it was empty aside from a stolen tin ashtray and a purple lighter. My roommate and I would convene there after every long day and exchange stories until it
As it got colder, we’d shiver through it and reflect on what little time we had left. My roommate asked who we thought would live there once we were gone, and whether they, too, would feel as we did about our tiny balcony on top of the world. That night, a flash of white light soared through the sky, and we closed our eyes to make a wish — because what would it be if not a star?
When I decided to learn Arabic, I did not intend to move to Jordan two years later. Then, when I did decide to go, I underestimated the power of four short months. I did not realize that working in the city, going to dinner at friends’ homes, greeting the same vendors every day and memorizing street names would translate to more than just language acquisition.
Two days ago, a friend sent me a video from the same balcony I spent every night on. In it, she pointed at flashes of light passing over the sky, and if you squinted, you could almost believe that the shooting stars had returned. But the light turned a fiery orange, and the phone shook as they disappeared into the blanket of night. I have seen videos of missiles on the news countless times before, but I have never seen them over a place I called my home. I have never seen them recorded by someone I love. I looked, and I closed my eyes, though this time more in prayer than wish.
This is not a piece about my opinion on regime change in Iran. Yes, U.S. interventionist policy has time and time again hurt the people who we pretend to swear to protect. And American leaders are no strangers to sending our sons and daughters to fight in wars where democracy is oil acquisition in disguise, and nobody emerges victorious. I anticipate I will have more than enough time to talk about it as the war continues to unfold.
Unfortunately, I am too selfish to focus on those things right now. All I can see are flashes of orange light over the balcony I left and the people I loved along with it. I walked into Arabic class the other day, and my professor was brought to tears as she asked us why the U.S. insists on lighting the Middle East on fire. To the U.S., she insisted, every place is treated as a land without a people until they create another people without a land.
“Why am I here, and they’re there?” She asked me after class. I don’t know. I don’t know why I am lucky enough to be upset under different skies.
Gabriela Hamburger Medailleu is a Medill junior and author of “O the Record.” She can be contacted at gabrielahamburgermedailleu2027@u. northwestern.edu. If you would like to respond publicly to this op-ed, send a Le er to the Editor to opinion@dailynorthwestern.com. e views expressed in this piece do not necessarily re ect the views of all sta members of e Daily Northwestern.
I think most international students will relate to my pain.
Coming from a small city in Western Kazakhstan, I have been very honored and privileged to go to college internationally in Qatar and do an exchange semester in Evanston. I’ve traveled to places I once only saw in photos. I’ve seen parts of the world that still don’t feel entirely real to me.
And there is more to come.
For that, I am eternally grateful to my parents. ey made sure I received the education they didn’t have because they wanted me to have opportunities they didn’t.
But no one talks enough about the guilt. It creeps in when you’re boarding a plane, when you’re walking through a new city, even when you’re eating the most ordinary lunch alone in
Winter at Northwestern is notoriously brutal. I say that as someone who is from Chicago. Though I say I’m accustomed to our cold temperatures, this winter was fun, having experienced one of the great Chicago winter slumps.
Realizing this is probably my last column of the quarter, I want to put into perspective just how chaotic these past few weeks have been for me. I have no idea how we are already at the end of the quarter, especially when in the midst of it, I never envisioned this quarter ending.
Now, even worse, I find myself struggling to brainstorm the topic for the last Rent Free of winter 2026. Writer’s block is common, but I usually have a lot to say.
Not this week, though.
Being at Northwestern lately meant not having time to finish “Tell Me Lies,” catch Jake Shane’s podcast on Netflix or even use my Vanity Fair subscription to read their latest issue.
Instead, I continue to expand my collection of saved TikTok videos called “next watch.” Now, I have 45 videos of movie recommendations and TV show edits that spoke to me. I know at some point I will watch everything in my collection. It’s waiting for
see what I see.’
your dorm room.
I just wish I could share these moments with them.
Being an international student means saying “happy birthday” to your grandmother over FaceTime and seeing her tear up. It means watching your favorite cousin, the one you used to be inseparable from as a kid, get married through blurry livestream footage. It means going home for two weeks and arguing with your brother over the last slice of pizza, trying to compress a year of lost siblinghood into 14 days.
It means missing your niece’s rst days, seeing her crawl during one visit just to see her speak in full sentences during the next. I just hope she doesn’t forget me in between.
It means my parents are cheering for my achievements through a screen.
I imagine them si ing at the kitchen table, watching my projects and feeling proud. ere have been so many moments when I thought: ‘If only they could taste this food with me in bustling Tbilisi. If only they could be beside me to
e guilt is hard to describe, because even though I feel like I’m building a bigger life for myself, it’s all at the expense of being further from those I love.
at’s why it meant everything to have them visit me in Qatar, showing them my favorite views. Ordering the dishes I always get. Watching them experience a world they had only heard me describe in voice notes. For once, my two worlds overlapped.
And then there’s the other ache: choosing where to live next.
I want to be close to home. I want the option of weekend visits. I want to share life updates over dinner instead of FaceTime for once. is is hard to admit, but my parents are not ge ing any younger. inking about it brings me to tears. My dad was 35 and my mom was 26 when they got married. ey had me ve years later. You do the math.
e pursuit of opportunity o en pulls you away from the very people who sacri ced theirs
so you could chase yours. You leave home to build the life they dreamt for you, and sometimes it feels like you’re paying for that dream with time you can’t get back. Some days, beneath all the ambition and independence, I just want to be a li le girl again. To fall asleep on the living room couch and pretend I’m still asleep so my dad will carry me to bed. I don’t mean to make anyone sad. It’s just that no one really prepares you for this part of studying abroad. Life keeps moving without you back home, and you keep moving without them, and somehow, you’re expected to be grateful and okay with both.
Aizere Yessenkul is a NU-Q Communication senior and author of “Yes-sentials.” She can be contacted at aizereyessenkulova2026@u.northwestern.edu. If you would like to respond publicly to this op-ed, send a Le er to the Editor to opinion@dailynorthwestern.com. e views expressed in this piece do not necessarily re ect the views of all sta members of e Daily Northwestern.
Correa: Maybe you’re a personality hire right now, embrace it
me.
Enjoying a sitcom or crying as movie credits roll are two of my favorite human experiences. But lately, I haven’t had time to enjoy them, so I’ve felt a bit like a shell of a person running from class to class. Which brings me to my next rant: questioning whether I am ultimately a personality hire at NU.
I’m sure you’ve doubted why you’re in something. Maybe it’s been a bad day at work, and you’re questioning how you got hired. Or maybe you feel like you don’t belong in your friend group.
You can feel out of place across many different facets of your life.
But see, I recently remembered a lot of my favorite characters are personality hires, and that personality hires are not only great; they are essential. They are never the most academically gifted, but these characters always elevate plots.
I’m happy to not be the brightest in the room because maybe that helps me make someone’s plot a little more entertaining.
Michael Scott (Steve Carell) in “The Office” is not a great boss. He hinders productivity. He is, however, deeply devoted to his office coworkers, a very loving and supportive friend and quite a funny character.
Haley Marshall (Sarah Hyland) in “Modern Family” throughout the whole series is painted as the opposite of her brainiac sister, Alex. Still, she is a caring, protective older sister, and after being kicked out of college, her story continues to unfold.
Andy Dwyer (Chris Pratt) in “Parks and Recreation” is quite frankly a dopey, lighthearted character. I mean, his band being called MouseRatt tells you as much as you need to know about his character.
The show starts with his character falling into a massive pit behind his girlfriend’s house. He’s not very bright, but he is April’s (Aubrey Plaza) perfect match. They have quite a unique marriage, and it’s one of my favorite parts of the show.
None of these characters are book geniuses. Their stories often can be complicated and messy, but they’re fan favorites. They’re unhateable characters.
So don’t worry if you are also feeling exhausted and just a little defeated lately. Maybe you’re a personality hire right now. It’s good to embrace it. Personality hires are everywhere. We all need people who can make us laugh and offer more than just technical skills.
Spring break is coming. It’s almost time for Heavenston. If we have to be comedic relief, so be it.
Arlette Correa is a Medill sophomore and author of “Rent Free.” She can be contacted at Arlettecorrea2028@u.northwestern.edu. If you would like to respond publicly to this op-ed, send a Letter to the Editor to opinion@dailynorthwestern.com. The views expressed in this piece do not necessarily reflect the views of all staff members of The Daily Northwestern.
The Daily Northwestern Volume 146, Issue 19
Editor in Chief Emily Lichty
Managing Editors
Marisa Guerra Echeverria Nineth Kanieski Koso Betsy Lecy Anavi Prakash
Multimedia Managing Editors Femi Horrall Yong-Yu Huang Jonah McClure
Creative Directors
Christina Lin Matt Wasilewski
Opinion Editor Aidan Klineman
Assistant Opinion Editors DJ Harrison George Koutrouvelis
NAISA hosts event on history of Indigenous activism
By IVY FRATER the daily northwestern @ivyfrater
The Native American & Indigenous Student Alliance hosted a presentation on the history of Indigenous activism at Northwestern Tuesday evening.
“Preserving our history on our terms is something that’s really important and something that has been a collective priority for us in our existence at Northwestern,” Weinberg junior and NAISA Sustainability and Advocacy Coordinator Meadow Neubauer-Keyes said. “We’re still here, though we still face a lot of difficulties, whether from the community or admin. We’re still here.”
The presentation, titled “A History of Indigenous Activism on Campus,” covered Evanston’s Indigenous history. It specifically focused on John Evans, one of Northwestern’s co-founders, and his role in the 1864 Sand Creek massacre in Denver, Colorado.
Evans, the governor of Colorado at the time, told members of the Cheyenne and Arapaho tribes in the area to report to a military fort for safety and then issued a proclamation inviting white settlers to “kill and destroy all … hostile Indians.” Col. John Chivington then led an attack on the village, killing hundreds of Native Americans, mostly women, children and the elderly.
Weinberg junior and NAISA Marketing and Communications Chair Olivia England said she didn’t know much about Evans and Indigenous history at NU before joining the club, so she felt this event was important to share Native and Indigenous communities’ histories with the broader public.
“I knew of my own personal experience with anti-Indigeneity and my friend’s own experiences with that, but I wasn’t aware of how ingrained it has been since the start,” England said.
The event also covered NAISA’s efforts to preserve Indigenous history and culture on campus.
It concluded with a Q&A and an overview of NAISA’s goals for the future, which include advocating for the University to establish a Native American and Indigenous Studies major,
create financial scholarships for Native American students and allow Indigenous languages to count for Northwestern’s language requirement.
The Associated Student Government passed legislation Feb. 18. Introduced by NAISA Senator and Weinberg senior Lula Fox, it urged the University to support students learning Indigenous languages.
Sixth-year history Ph.D. candidate Heather Menefee (Weinberg ’15) said she was inspired to start NAISA after taking a class with John Low, a visiting assistant professor from the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi tribe.
Menefee said Low asked his students to reflect on why NU didn’t have good existing relationships with tribes native to the area and encouraged them to start an organization to provide a space for Native students.
“At the root of Northwestern history and at the root of American history is the dispossession of Indigenous people and nations,” Menefee said. “As a person who wants to live ethically in the world today and be part of communities that aren’t violent today, you kind of have to be able to address our shared history.”
When Menefee started NAISA, she said there was no information about Evans’ role in the Sand Creek massacre available on the University’s websites, and NU celebrated his birthday. She added that at the time, there were rarely land acknowledgements before campus events, but they are common practice now.
Menefee said she felt like the University was trying to erase Indigenous history, which inspired NAISA to start advocating for Native American justice on campus. There is now
information publicly available about Evans’ connection to the massacre on NU sites, thanks to the Native American Outreach and Inclusion Task Force.
Neubauer-Keyes said she hopes this event will inspire other affinity groups to feel safe to advocate for themselves, too.
Through NAISA, she said she has loved creating a space to share history and have conversations with other members about Indigenous justice.
“I would love for our story of advocacy to be one that other communities can look to and learn from when they’re looking to advocate for spaces for themselves on this campus,” Neubauer-Keyes said.
ivyfrater2029@u.northwestern.edu
The Daily Northwestern Weekly Crossword
I Want Candy!
By Kate Pollot
SCAN FOR ANSWERS
Crossword By Games Editor
ACROSS
1 Chewy, rainbowcolored candies marked with an S
8 Time zone including states like Louisiana, Oklahoma and Illinois, abbr
11 Serious disease spread by bacteria
12 Greek philosopher and teacher of Aristotle
14 “_______ Meltdown,” a song by Suki Waterhouse
15 Peanut butter chocolate candy with a disputed pronunciation
16 One in charge of greeting and welcoming
17 Lays elegantly
18 Contributes
Editor Kate Pollot Assistant Editor Tanat Johnny Tungsubutra
19 Person trained to fly new or experimental equipment
21 Therapists who help patients relearn everyday functions, abbr
23 Performed an ab exercise
25 Utterly infatuated
31 A note, en español
33 Los Angeles neighborhood sang about in “Little Shop of Horrors”
35 In the middle of
38 Cartoonist known for creating “Popeye”
40 Boys, men, dudes
42 “That’s right!”
44 Like John Grisham and Johnny Cash
48 To hit
51 Direction for boxed brownie mixes
52 “__ __ __ possible”
55 Small architectural dome
56 Italian rice dish
57 “Improvise, _____, overcome”
58 Thrown out
59 Number that’s all yours
60 A chocolate bar or tiny laughs
1 Meat-filled pastry in Central Asian cuisine
2 A necessary thing to do to bread dough
3 “Good enough”
4 Action for the hips during a glute workout
5 A horse’s walk
6 To emit concentrated light
7 Exhaust completely
8 Prince from “The Chronicles of Narnia”
Ivy Frater/The Daily Northwestern
“A History of Indigenous Activism on Campus” informed the community about the Indigenous roots of Evanston and Northwestern.
However, the senior said he could see the strikes from the northwest side of the dorms where his apartment is located.
NU-Q sent community members a series of emails Saturday instructing them to stay indoors and sharing available food and wellness resources.
e rst AlertNU-QATAR email was sent at 9:50 a.m. Arabian Standard Time, advising students to remain indoors until clearance due to a “potential security threat.”
A second AlertNU-QATAR email at 11:45 a.m. AST identi ed a “potential missile threat” and instructed NU-Q community members to continue to stay indoors and remain until “an ‘All Clear’ message is issued.”
NU-Q students said they have not yet received an email on speci c evacuation protocol.
e University did not comment on speci c questions about campus safety, mental health resources or relocation resources. At the time of publication, NU did not respond when asked about injuries at NU-Q or an evacuation plan.
A NU-Q Communication rst-year said the strikes Saturday would stop for around two or three hours before starting again several times.
Following a longer pause Saturday evening, a NU-Q Medill senior said they felt the a acks return more frequently around 11:30 p.m AST.
“I saw ashes of light re ect o the building so that made me freak out,” the Medill senior said. “ ere’s a huge boom sound, the oors vibrate and then the windows are very vigorously vibrating.”
Several students said strikes could still be heard throughout the weekend and on Monday.
On Sunday at 8:27 a.m. AST, Qatar issued another national emergency alert a er at least 11
JABULANI
From page 1
feel their voice anymore.”
As part of the pageant, contestants performed a talent, ranging from drawing to playing an electric guitar. Winners were chosen from both the votes of pre-selected judges and votes cast by audience members who scanned a QR code.
For others, this Jabulani was their rst at NU.
Competing for Mr. Africa, Weinberg rst-year Ezinna Egedigwe took the stage for a poetry reading. Initially hesitant to participate, he was convinced a er an ASA board member called his sister, Weinberg
reported explosions, according to Al Jazeera.
Iran also targeted other locations Monday, including Qatar’s energy facilities, civilian infrastructure and the international airport, according to multiple Qatari government spokespeople quoted in Al Jazeera.
A NU-Q Communication junior, who is currently studying abroad on the Evanston campus, said her friend told her the strikes were “the loudest that she’s heard” at around 1 a.m. AST on Tuesday. Classes at the Qatar campus were initially moved online, according to a Saturday email from NU-Q Dean and CEO Marwan Kraidy. However, on Sunday at 10:09 a.m. AST, Kraidy noti ed the community that there would be a pause in operations, “including online classes.”
“While we had hoped for greater stability, current guidance indicates that precaution remains warranted. is pause is intended to allow our community to prioritize safety and avoid unnecessary strain during a period of uncertainty,” Kraidy wrote in the Sunday email.
Kraidy sent an additional email Monday at 6:03 p.m. AST notifying the community that NU-Q will continue to remain in remote operations through the rest of the week, but faculty will communicate with students directly on class arrangements.
Having just come o Spring Break, which ended Saturday, the Communication senior said he had been working on upcoming assignments during the missile strikes. He said Qatar’s National Emergency Alert System alarms made it “distressing” to complete his work.
e Communication junior who is on the Evanston campus said students ying back from Spring Break told her they could not return to campus with the Qatari airspace closed.
On Sunday, the U.S. Department of State upgraded Qatar’s travel advisory status to “Level
junior Eni Egedigwe, to encourage him.
“ at just shows you the interconnectedness of the African community on campus,” Ezinna Egedigwe said.
Ezinna Egedigwe performed “Path of under” by Christopher Okigbo and “Dereliction” by Chinua Achebe, selecting poems that he said focused on “legacy and critique.” He said while polishing his performance, he learned Igbo phrases with help from his parents and re ected on cultural change.
e show blended spoken word and dance with a transition from traditional to modern a ire. According to ASA’s Instagram post promoting the event, it carried a guiding idea of “Crowned by our ancestors. Styled for the future.”
3: Reconsider Travel,” due to the “risk of armed con ict.” At the time of publication, Qatar’s airspace remains temporarily suspended by the Qatar Civil Aviation Authority.
e University did not comment when asked about travel advice for students returning to campus.
e Communication junior on the Evanston campus said her “heart just sank” when she woke up at around 3 a.m. CST on Saturday for suhoor, the early morning meal that Muslims eat before dawn to prepare for their daily fasts during Ramadan.
She said her phone was “blowing up” with WhatsApp messages from friends and di erent group chats expressing anxiety from the strikes.
“You’re expecting a month of peace and tranquility, so to see destruction and chaos happening is so much more jarring,” the Communication junior said.
Free packaged meals for i ar, the meal Muslims eat to break their daily fasts during Ramadan, would be provided by the dining halls, according to an email sent by Qatar Foundation student housing. e email added that additional wellness and spiritual support would also be o ered to support NU-Q students.
An NU-Q Medill sophomore said students have been supporting each other through communication platforms such as WhatsApp. A member of several online chat groups, he said students share updates and information about the strikes.
Some students voiced mixed reactions about the University’s communication e orts and Evanston students’ responses.
From Evanston, interim NU President Henry Bienen sent an email to the NU-Q community, writing that NU-Q was “in the hearts and minds” of NU community members in Evanston and Chicago.
Although Weinberg sophomore Ruth Habtamu was representing Ethiopia, she said she was also representing three di erent tribes: Amhara, Oromo and Gurage.
“We did dances that were from all three of my tribes, which I was really excited about, so I was able to show each part of myself,” Habtamu said
She is a member of ELEL, an Ethiopian and Eritrean dance group, and said performing with the group at Jabulani was an act of self-representation.
Habtamu said rehearsing for the performance with some dancers who were not from Ethiopia or Eritrea gave her “a newfound sense of appreciation” for her culture.
e Medill senior said she appreciated Bienen’s email.
“Sometimes, it feels like we’re a li le disjointed, and we’re not really connected to the main campus,” she said. “So them just recognizing we’re going through this was really nice to see for a change.”
e Communication junior said being on the Evanston campus made her feel disconnected from the strikes happening in Qatar, describing the student response on the Evanston campus as disappointing.
“ ere’s no sort of compassion or empathy for what (NU-Q students) might be going through,” she said. “At the end of the day, we’re part of the same student community, but it just doesn’t feel like that in moments like these.”
e Communication senior expressed disappointment regarding NU-Q’s communication with students, noting how his friends from other schools in Education City received individual phone calls to check-in on their mental health. ose at NU-Q, on the other hand, received a “generic email,” he said.
Education City is the Qatar Foundation’s campus that hosts several other academic institutions. During their time at NU-Q, several students said there have been multiple instances of strikes. However, the Medill senior said she feels more anxious currently because these strikes have continued for a longer period of time.
“ ere’s just this lingering fear that, ‘What if they’re not able to intercept a missile?’” she said. “‘What if it falls in Education City?’ ‘What if it falls above a dorm?’ I don’t even know the protocol, honestly.”
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“Like, wow, this is just something that we have, and we’re actually capable of teaching it and they’re appreciating it,” Habtamu said.
Douti said living far away from home has made it only that much more important to represent Togo. She said the show invites Northwestern students to experience African history not as monolithic but as something diverse that “has it all.”
“Togo is a very small country that people don’t really know much about. So I feel like me being Ms. Africa just brings more spotlight on my country,” Douti said.
luluyatekle2028@u.northwestern.edu
SPORTS
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
Joe McKeown coaching era ends with a tight loss
By DESIREE LUO daily senior staffer @desiree_luo
In several ways, Northwestern coach Joe McKeown’s final game of his four-decade coaching career embodied his storied 18-season tenure with the Wildcats.
The contest against Purdue had everything. Thrilling highs. Heartbreaking lows. Although the Wildcats (8-21, 2-16 Big Ten) fell 67-62 to the Boilermakers (13-16, 5-13 Big Ten), it was still a nail-biter that kept the Welsh-Ryan Arena crowd tense down to the final minute.
Senior guard Caroline Lau, a lineup fixture for the past four years, brought most of the highs. The ’Cats’ primary playmaker finished her final game at NU with a double-double and five 3-pointers that swung the momentum in the ’Cats’ favor.
One of the loudest cheers came late in the fourth quarter, when Lau assisted sophomore guard Kat Righeimer off a steal to narrow the Boilermakers’ lead to three.
But seconds after, the arena fell quiet as graduate student forward DaiJa Turner — whom the team had just celebrated before the game along with graduating players Lau, Grace Sullivan, Tate Lash, Sammy White and Lauren Trumpy — left the floor injured.
In the last minute of play, the Boilermakers pulled ahead as the McKeown chapter came to a close.
With 2025-26 marking McKeown’s fourth consecutive losing season, it can be easy to forget the highs of his career. Just six years ago, in 2020, he took the ’Cats to the program’s first regularseason Big Ten championship following 26 wins.
McKeown became NU’s sixth-ever head coach in 2008 following a season in which the ’Cats finished at the bottom of the Big Ten. He went on to become the longest-tenured and winningest head coach in program history.
But despite his numerical accomplishments,
including 19 years coaching at George Washington before he came to NU, he valued more than the scoreline.
“I just want to be remembered as somebody that cared about his players, did everything we could to make them better,” he said. “Everything we could.”
Those lessons resonate for Lau, who became the team’s captain at the start of her sophomore year and has had the increasingly rare experience of playing for the same coach and team for all four years of college.
“We always say that we try to be good people
before good players,” she said.
On the other hand, Sullivan came to NU in 2024 after two years at Bucknell University. But the senior forward and fourth-leading scorer in the Big Ten said she “didn’t even feel like a transfer” thanks to the program’s environment.
Playing under McKeown, Sullivan said she’s learned to push through adversity, whether it was trailing during a game or enduring the season’s compounding losses.
“That’s what this team did so well this year,” she said. “We never broke. We always had that good chemistry, had the fight.”
With 14 seconds left in the game, Purdue led by seven points. McKeown called a full timeout. He didn’t say much. He said he just told players to “hit a three, get a stop and hit another three.” The road ahead for the ’Cats remains uncertain as NU has yet to announce McKeown’s successor. But in the midst of it all, McKeown said he wants players to know the imperfect journey, much like his own, with its ups and downs, makes them stronger.
“It’s going to be a lifetime win,” he said. desireeluo2028@u.northwestern.edu
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Coach Joe McKeown is retiring after coaching women’s college basketball for over 40 years.
SPORTS
NU stars on and off the field at 2026 NFL Combine
By ALEX BOYKO daily senior staffer @aboyko_nu
INDIANAPOLIS — As the football world descended upon the urban sprawl of hotels and restaurants surrounding Lucas Oil Stadium and the Indiana Convention Center for the 2026 NFL Combine, so too did members of the Northwestern community.
The Wildcats sent three players to participate in this year’s “Underwear Olympics,” with offensive linemen Caleb Tiernan and Evan Beerntsen as well as defensive lineman Aidan Hubbard making the trip down this past week. The trio was NU’s first representatives since 2023, when four ’Cats were invited to the combine and later selected during the subsequent NFL Draft.
Tiernan, NU’s highest-ranked prospect on most big boards, made a lasting impression during his time in the Crossroads of America and the crossroads of the football world.
While much of the attention centers around what happens between the white lines in Indianapolis, NU’s stalwart at left tackle wasted no time demonstrating the skillset he hopes to bring to the next level, making the most of his media availability Saturday.
Although he mentioned pass blocking as his greatest strength, his love for the game of football — a trait he believes distinguishes him from other prospects — was most evident when talking about opportunities to get down and dirty in the run game.
Tiernan called Duo, a gap scheme run call that relies on two sets of double teams driving an interior defender straight back, “the greatest football play,” and mentioned how exciting it would be to get in on the action for the Tush Push, should he be selected by the Philadelphia Eagles, as one reporter posed.
When asked by another reporter Saturday what he hoped headlines would read following his performance the next day, Tiernan responded, “Hopefully sneaky athletic.” With some hindsight, half of that statement came true, as there was nothing sneaky about his performance.
Officially measuring in at 6-foot-8, an inch taller than his listed height in Evanston, the ’Cats’ blindside protector put some noteworthy explosiveness and technical prowess on display to pair with his frame.
His 35.5-inch vertical jump was the top mark among offensive linemen from this year’s combine and is tied for eighth for all offensive line prospects since 2006. Paired with a more than 9-foot broad jump and a strong showing during the on-field position drills, the Michigan native found himself the beneficiary of many post-combine write-ups, including some from the Detroit Lions beat centered roughly
16 miles from his hometown of Livonia, Mich.
Tiernan was not the only one of NU’s offensive linemen to raise some eyebrows over the weekend, though, as Beerntsen’s passion and physicality from the interior of the line similarly seeped through.
Already well-regarded for his work with the ground game, with his 80.9 PFF run-blocking grade ranking 10th among guards this past season, Beerntsen recalled the most memorable block from his collegiate career, back during his time at South Dakota State University.
Unmarked at right guard, the former Jackrabbit had the opportunity to tee off on a cleanup block, where the defensive end on his side had spun inside and didn’t see Beerntsen barreling his way — “every O-lineman’s dream.”
“Didn’t see me coming, leveled him,” Beerntsen told reporters. “Ended up jumping on top of him, got a touchdown called back. So I hated that, but (the block) was one of the best feelings in the world.”
Beyond a nasty streak hallmarked by linemen across the league, the former FCS national champion looks to bring another characteristic trait of NFL players with lengthy careers to the league: positional
flexibility.
According to ESPN draft analyst Jordan Reid, Beerntsen was one of four from Sunday’s first cohort of linemen to test during on-field drills that were requested to take snaps at center following their workout.
“The biggest thing is just being versatile,” Beernsten said Saturday regarding what he brought to the table at the next level. “Being able to play left guard, center, right guard — wherever a team needs me to play.”
On the opposite side of the ball, the ’Cats’ leading pass-rusher last season noted a similar interest in playing wherever and however necessary to make it in the league.
“I’m comfortable doing whatever a team wants me to do,” Hubbard told reporters. “I think I’ve shown on film that I’m versatile and can do multiple things, so whatever a team’s looking for, I’ll be happy to do for them.”
Hubbard mentioned that he characterized his game by his “relentless effort,” and that he made a concerted attempt to prepare for the combine in a manner beyond his normal in-season routines, citing a more pronounced focus on training his explosive
side of his athleticism for the event.
For him, his love for the game goes beyond honing his craft on the field and extends into the little moments, exemplified by his approach heading into NFL Draft season.
“It also comes down to how much you’re doing outside of football to help you get better at football,” Hubbard said. “You really have to live and breathe football to love football.”
Hubbard opted not to participate in the on-field drills for defensive linemen on Thursday, but tallied 21 reps as one of three edge rushers to participate in the bench press event the following morning.
Although Monday marked the end of the combine’s festivities in Indianapolis, the impact NU will impart on the football world before the NFL Draft begins on April 23 is far from over.
For the ’Cats’ three combine representatives, and many other members of its graduating class, NU’s pro day March 17 represents their final opportunity to showcase their talents to scouts and the world at large ahead of the NFL Draft.
alexboyko2026@u.northwestern.edu
NU trio showcases loyalty, leadership in NFL Combine
By YONI ZACKS the daily northwestern @yonizacks
INDIANAPOLIS – As former Northwestern offensive tackle Caleb Tiernan stood at the interview podium of the NFL Scouting Combine in
Indianapolis, he couldn’t believe where he was.
“It’s pretty surreal,” Tiernan said Saturday.
“These (moments) are what you dream of as a kid.”
Tiernan, the eighth-ranked offensive tackle in the draft by The Athletic’s Dane Brugler, was one of three former Wildcats to participate in the combine, along with former defensive lineman Aidan Hubbard and fellow former offensive lineman Evan Beerntsen.
For Tiernan, his passion for football has always been present, and he credits much of his early inspiration to his dad and older brother. He was playing flag football in first grade while his brother, three years his senior as a fourth grader, played offensive tackle, he said. The next year, the Livonia, Mich. native decided to follow in his brother’s footsteps and moved to tackle.
Now, over a decade later, Tiernan sits on the precipice of becoming an NFL tackle, something he and his siblings had always talked about, he said.
Tiernan, one of the 2025 season team captains, said he hopes he left a positive impact on his teammates.
“I hope I was a great mentor to young guys and an example for them of what it meant to be a true professional,” Tiernan said. “The way I recovered, the way I handled myself within the facility, I’m hoping that those young guys can remember that, and carry on.”
One way Tiernan exhibited that leadership was by bucking the national trend of opting out of bowl games and playing his final game for NU at the GameAbove Sports Bowl.
While some draft prospects choose to opt out of bowl games to prepare for their potential NFL careers, Tiernan never thought of not participating. The game being played in his backyard — just over 20 minutes from his hometown — was a bonus.
“I would have played anywhere,” Tiernan said. “I made a commitment to those guys. Those guys elected me as captain. I felt like that was my team, and I’m not gonna let my team go out in the field if I’m not on it.”
Tiernan took the “his team” approach to heart. After committing to the ’Cats in 2020, he never wavered in his commitment to the team, spending
all five years there.
As that becomes an increasingly rare occurrence nationally, with over 60% of the top 600 players from Tiernan’s high school recruiting class transferring at least once, according to The Athletic, he hopes that NFL teams see his commitment to the ’Cats as an advantage.
“I just hope that it shows that I’m loyal,” Tiernan said. “Growing up, (when) you make a commitment, you stick to it.”
Tiernan learned this lesson from his father, who was often his and his three siblings’ coach when they played youth sports, he said.
Beerntsen, Tiernan’s roommate for the week at the combine, also brought his passion and care to the ’Cats for one year as a graduate transfer from South Dakota State.
The Green Bay, Wis. native spent his first four seasons with the Jackrabbits before coming to Evanston, where he was named an All-Big Ten Honorable Mention.
Despite only spending a year with NU, Beerntsen credits a lot of his growth on and off the field to coach David Braun and former offensive line coach Bill O’Boyle.
“They made me into the player I was,” Beerntsen said.
His favorite memory from Evanston was either the team culture and the city or playing at Wrigley Field, which he said was “special.”
As he moves on to a potential future in the NFL, Beerntsen hopes he left behind a legacy of dedication and love for the game.
“I just want to be known as a great person, great teammate, somebody that cared a lot, brought that physicality when it was needed,” he said.
y.zacks@dailynorthwestern.com
Alex Boyko/The Daily Northwestern
Former Northwestern offensive lineman Evan Beerntsen answers a question during media availability at the 2026 NFL Combine.
Alex Boyko/The Daily Northwestern
Former Northwestern offensive lineman Caleb Tiernan, ranked eighth by The Athletic’s Dane Brugler, was one of three Wildcats to perform at the NFL Scouting Combine.
FOOTBALL