The Daily Northwestern — May 21st, 2025

Serving the Northwestern and Evanston communities since 1881

The Daily Northwestern

4 A&E/Dillo Day

Mayfest hosts 53rd annual Dillo Day

9 CITY/Reparations

With $1 million raised, RSAE turns to Black residents to shape reparations plan

12 SPORTS/Lacrosse

Northwestern lacrosse prepares to ship up to Boston for NCAA Tournament Final Four

Both candidates launched campaigns just days a er State Sen. Laura Fine announced her congressional campaign.

Two state Senate hopefuls emerge North Shore progressives vie for State Sen. Laura Fine’s current seat

By CASEY HE and MARISA GUERRA ECHEVARRIA daily senior staffers

@caseeey_he/@marisa_g_ech

Following a trend of generational transition within the Democratic Party, Illinois has seen shake-ups across all levels of politics. As longtime political xtures retire from the national scene, state and local politicians have begun to set

Biss announces congressional run

Biss to take on Trump agenda, ‘corporate power’

By SOPHIE BAKER the daily northwestern

Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss announced his campaign for Illinois’ 9th Congressional District in a Thursday morning news release. e seat is currently held by U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Evanston), who announced her retirement this month.

e mayor has emphasized countering the Trump administration’s agenda — most recently at the State of the City address Wednesday — and plans to continue that work in a potential congressional term.

“I am running for Congress to stand up to Donald Trump and his MAGA cronies. I’ve never backed down from a ght, and I’ve won some big oneson LGBTQ+ rights, campaign nance reform, protecting abortion access, defending the environment, and more,” Biss said in the news release. “In Congress, I’ll

take on billionaires and corporate power, lower costs for working families, and ght tooth and nail to protect our civil rights.”

State Sen. Laura Fine (D-Glenview) and content creator Kat Abughazaleh have already announced their candidacies for the seat. Multiple Chicago Democrats, and Rocio Cleveland, an Island Lake Republican, have also led paperwork with the Federal Election Commission and launched campaign websites. Biss previously served in the Illinois House and state Senate. He ran an unsuccessful gubernatorial bid in 2018. In April, he won reelection for mayor, beating out challenger Je Boarini with 63% of the vote.

roughout his tenure, Biss has championed many progressive initiatives, including updates to the city’s Inclusionary Housing Ordinance and the passage of a Healthy Buildings Ordinance, which aims to curb carbon emissions. He also touted a strengthened Welcoming City Ordinance, codifying greater protections for Evanston immigrants regardless

their sights on new positions, spurring potential turnover between Capitol Hill, Springeld and city halls across the state.

A er longtime U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky’s (D-Evanston)

retirement, the ballot for state Senate has already begun to ll. Two North Shore Democrats announced their candidacy to replace current State Sen. Laura Fine (D-Glenview), who

Former student pleads guilty

By ISAIAH STEINBERG daily senior staffer @isaiahstei27

Sco omas, who a ended Northwestern from 2018 to 2019 before being expelled, pleaded guilty to aggravated ba ery of a fellow NU student and has been sentenced in state court to two years’ standard probation and 80 hours of community service. omas, a Weinberg freshman at the time of the incident, was arrested in March 2019 and expelled from NU a er allegedly sexually assaulting a fellow student outside the Jacobs Center. He initially pleaded not guilty to 64 charges, including aggravated criminal sexual assault, aggravated kidnapping and aggravated criminal sexual abuse. Now 26 years old, Thomas entered a guilty plea to aggravated ba ery April 9.

The case has dragged on since 2019. In the six years since the start of the case, omas returned to his New Jersey residence and moved to dismiss the indictment in 2022. During that time, the prosecutors and defense led dozens of motions

of continuance, repeatedly pushing the case back, until omas eventually declined a jury trial in April. In a 2022 motion to dismiss the indictment, omas’s a orneys argued that a police o cer misled the grand jury in his testimony. Speci cally, the defense alleged that some of the relations were consensual, that omas and the victim were similarly inebriated and that aspects of the o cer’s testimony were not supported by video evidence. A judge rejected the motion to dismiss in 2023.

As a result of the April aggravated ba ery plea, prosecutors dropped the remaining charges. omas will be required to continue therapy and avoid contact with the victim. He will also be required to complete another sex o ender evaluation in six months, according to a spokesperson for the Cook County State’s A orney’s O ce. omas will not be required to register as a sex o ender.

omas’s a orneys declined e Daily’s request for comment. The State’s Attorney’s O ce spokesperson con rmed details of the case to e Daily but did not respond to a request for comment on behalf of the prosecution.

i.steinberg@dailynorthwestern.com

e Daily Explains: NU’s spending

By MADELINE LESCOTT the daily northwestern

As a world-class university, Northwestern manages a substantial amount of funding across its undergraduate and graduate schools. From faculty salaries and research grants, to campus maintenance and student services, each dollar plays a role in shaping the university experience.

NU manages a total of $15.6 billion in assets, with about $3.3 billion spent in operating expenses in fiscal year 2024, according to the annual budget. These assets represent a $669.9 million increase from fiscal year 2023 to 2024, as a result of philanthropy and alumni contributions — which were the second largest in University history this past year — as well as investment profits.

NU’s investments grew by 4.5%, totaling roughly $14.7 billion in 2024. The University’s investments are overseen by the Investments Committee of the Board of Trustees. NU, which claims to meet

100% of demonstrated need, distributed $618.3 million in scholarships and fellowships in 2024, with about $250 million allocated to undergraduate student tuition and expenses. Almost $2 billion is kept in the endowment and earmarked for financial aid.

Employee salaries and benefits have been a point of tension between the financial office and faculty. At a Faculty Senate meeting in January, employees raised concerns over adjusting salaries to match rising living costs and inflation.

One aspect of pay is the faculty merit pool, which consists of apportionments of the operating budget that each school’s dean can dole out at their discretion. Many faculty are asking for a blanket

Illustration by Cayla Labgold-Carroll

STATE SENATE , page 11

Illustration by Clare Kirwan

Residents demand more traffic enforcement from EPD

By EMILY LICHTY daily senior staffer @emilymlichty

Before the sun rose on a February morning in 2023, owner of Soapie’s Cleaners & Tailoring Yun Park left for her daily three mile walk before work, but as she crossed Chicago Avenue, she was hit by a car turning left.

The driver of the white SUV kept going. Park was left unconscious and critically injured in the street with a brain hemorrhage.

“I am not a very ‘live in the past’ type of person,” Park said. “When you have a brain hemorrhage, especially your first year (of injury), you don’t realize the changes you have to go through.”

Following the pandemic, pedestrian and bike crashes rose in Evanston, according to data from the Evanston Police Department. Although pedestrian crashes decreased to their pre-pandemic numbers in 2024, some Evanston residents are still calling for more traffic law enforcement.

Car accidents involving pedestrians have increased since 2021, with Park’s hit and run being one of the 70 crashes in 2023, according to data from EPD.

The number of cyclists hit by cars also increased, rising to 67 crashes in 2023, up from 50 in 2021.

There was improvement in the last year, though. In 2024, the number of pedestrian crashes decreased to 41. However, the number of cyclist crashes remained stagnant, with 65 crashes.

EPD Cmdr. Ryan Glew attributes the recent spike in crashes in Evanston partially to the pandemic, but said there was not one factor responsible for the increase.

“There was less traffic enforcement during COVID, people took more risk-taking behavior, which resulted in corresponding fatalities and injuries,” Glew said. “But here locally … it doesn’t lend itself to one ‘a ha’ moment.”

However, he says that the EPD has worked over

the past decade to improve traffic flow through lowering speed limits and providing more “robust enforcement” of traffic law in targeted areas.

One area where Glew has seen recent improvement is on Ridge Avenue, a location EPD has targeted with traffic engineering efforts since reducing the street’s speed limit to 25 mph from 30 mph in 2018.

“I wouldn’t say problems are ever really always completely solved, but I think it has been mitigated or minimized on Ridge,” Glew said.

Organizations like Streetsblog Chicago are calling for infrastructure improvements, such as protected bike lanes, to make Chicago area streets safer for cyclists. Streetsblog Chicago writes articles and social media posts informing residents on transportation news. In November, members of the organization called for an extension of the protected bike lane on Chicago Avenue.

Former Evanston resident Anne Alt (Weinberg ’84), who writes for Streetsblog Chicago, supports increased safety for bikers. As an avid biker, she is a member of Evanston Bicycle Club and Chicago Cycling Club. Alt said she has noticed increased danger on the roads since 2020 and has had to adapt her efforts to avoid aggressive drivers while on her bike.

“Since the start of the pandemic, I feel all kinds of driver aggression have increased quite a bit, including drivers threatening people who get in their way,” Alt said.

Alt said she believes that the increase in crashes in Evanston coincided with reduced traffic stops by the EPD, which declined by almost 70 percent from 2015 to 2023, according to data from the EPD. Traffic citations are still lower than they were before the pandemic and have dropped by about 71 percent, from 10,477 in 2019 to 2,989 in 2024.

Alt said she believes the city is not doing enough to promote road safety.

“(The roads have) really become a problem in terms of enforcement because a lot of drivers feel like they can get away with anything because there won’t be any consequences,” Alt said.

Overall, there are fewer officers on the streets.

The number of EPD traffic officers on duty was reduced from eight officers plus a sergeant in 2020 to only three officers in 2023. The City of Evanston website says there are now six officers plus a sergeant on the Traffic Bureau for 2025.

In 2022, the EPD experienced its highest number of officer vacancies, 27, since 1993. Twentytwo of these open spots opened through resignations, many of which came from officers in the middle of their careers.

Currently, Glew said the EPD is still “understaffed” with 11 vacancies for sworn members. However, he said there are currently 10 officers in training, thus, the EPD is around 20 officers down as far as the number of officers “independently out on the street.” Glew said he attributes this lack of staffing to the increase in resignations in 2021.

“We need safer driving,” Glew said. “If you have less officers, and they have less time to address traffic safety, it’s not going to be helpful in bringing down traffic crashes.”

Evanston resident Monty George said he has experienced decreased enforcement of speeding laws and road signs since the pandemic.

For George, the solution to road safety lies in continuing to put money back into Evanston’s Traffic Bureau, because road safety is a “huge part” of preventing a “catastrophe,” especially when considering pedestrians and children.

Following the pandemic, funding for the EPD Traffic Bureau was cut in half. According to data published in the EPD’s annual report, the Traffic Bureau spent $588,930 in 2023 compared to $1,160,316 in 2019. However, in 2024, the bureau’s funding returned to pre-pandemic numbers with $822,660 spent.

“It’s an imbalanced use of resources and a lack of resources being put to traffic enforcement,” George said. “It’s only public pressure that’s going to do it, because they’re just not doing it.”

Across the country, traffic fatalities have increased in all but five states over the past 10 years, according to a study shared by The Kryder Law Group, a firm that focuses on accident and injury law.

Illinois ranks as the ninth worst state for traffic fatalities, with a total of 10,920 deaths from

2013 to 2022.

Despite her experience with a hit-and-run crash, Park said she doesn’t feel like Evanston feels more unsafe for pedestrians than other cities she has lived in, such as New York.

“People are very aware of just being polite and following the rules,” Park said. “It’s a city. I don’t think people realize that we have a population of 80,000, but I think it’s safe.”

Some Evanston residents don’t look only to EPD as a solution to road safety. Alt says she would like to see more red light speed cameras installed and increased protection for bikers.

Evanston resident Miah Ebels-Duggan agrees that Evanston roads could be safer. Ebels-Duggan said they prefer to walk or bike around Evanston due to concerns about other aggressive drivers on the road.

“There are enough drivers on the roadway that just seem to exhibit a lack of care for everyone else on the road that being on the road is scary,” Ebels-Duggan said.

Like Alt, Ebels-Duggan cited infrastructure changes as an alternative to increasing police funding and efforts. These changes, Ebels-Duggan predicted, would reduce resident encounters with police, allow for police resources to go to other efforts and, overall, make the roads more pleasant for residents.

“I think the (EPD) just shouldn’t be our first line of defense against reckless driving, against safety concerns,” Ebels-Duggan said.

While they said they feel Evanston does a better job than other cities, they want to see “physical traffic calming techniques” put in place. These strategies include installing physical protection for bike lanes, building narrower roadways, making intersections harder to speed through and decreasing turning radii at corners.

“We should instead be focusing on physical and infrastructural measures that make the city safer and more pleasant for everyone,” Ebels-Duggan said. “Make the city a more pleasant place to get around no matter how you’re doing it, but especially without a car.”

e.lichty@dailynorthwestern.com

Students, professors navigate AI policies

By JENNY JANG the daily northwestern

Although arti cial intelligence tools like ChatGPT have become a staple in many Northwestern students’ study routines, students and faculty are simultaneously adapting to the implications of generative AI use for academic norms and student learning.

Across NU, departments and individual professors generally have broad discretion to implement their own AI policies. e University provides guidance to professors for considering the use of AI, and the O ce of the Provost does not add speci c restrictions.

At the same time, AI use in the classroom is rapidly evolving. ChatGPT launched in 2022, and 66% of worldwide college students reported using it in a mid-2024 study conducted by the Digital Education Council.

But for Weinberg freshman Aanya Sahu, generative AI has become a topic of uncertainty on campus.

Some instructors encourage limited use with proper citation while others ban it outright. With varying policies across departments and speci c classes, Sahu said students are le to navigate an ambiguous set of expectations.

Sahu emphasized that the confusion extends beyond individual classes to broader academic norms.

“Personally, the rules regarding AI are confusing,” she said.

For others, including McCormick freshman Alice Ping, who studies electrical engineering, generative AI has become a valuable academic resource for them.

Ping said she primarily uses AI to gather preliminary research and walk through di cult problems.

In her experience, STEM students o en use AI for problem-solving assistance, while humanities majors tend to leverage it more for summarizing readings or generating writing ideas, she said.

“I think AI is going to be a huge asset for STEM majors in the future — not just as a STEM major but as a personalized tutor,” Ping said. “It’s already helping people learn faster and more independently, and I can see it becoming almost like a second brain for working through complex concepts.”

Despite the changing landscape of academic norms surrounding AI, both Ping and Sahu said that AI, when

used thoughtfully, o ers real bene ts.

Sahu said she used to use AI frequently for tasks varying from dra ing emails to brainstorming fundraising ideas. However, she has since made a conscious e ort to decrease her usage to prevent becoming overreliant on AI. Today, she mostly relies on AI for clarifying questions she gets wrong on assignments.

Professors, meanwhile, are also adapting to the changing generative AI landscape as they a empt to balance exploring new technology with preserving academic integrity.

Philosophy Prof. Megan Hyska said she allows her students to use generative AI for brainstorming, re ning research questions, outlining writing assignments and checking for grammar and style. However, Hyska does not allow AI use for writing complete sentences, paragraphs or papers that students submit.

“I personally have not had an instance yet where it was clear to me that a student was using AI vastly past the bounds where I asked them to do so,” Hyska said.

Hyska said it can be challenging to enforce generative AI policies because she and her colleagues struggle

to discern when students are violating them.

Other instructors, such as Spanish and Portuguese Prof. Alfonso Fierro, encourage creative experimentation. Fierro said he believes AI is something that should not only be tolerated, but used creatively.

One example stood out to Fierro: A student in his class used AI to transform a poem into a song, and then created two versions of the song, one in a rap and another in a rock style. Fierro said he found this project to be a “playful and interesting” way for his students to experiment with AI.

As students, departments and professors continue to ne-tune their approach to generative AI, they are still learning to adapt by experimenting with new assignments and approaches.

“AI is something that exists in this world and younger generations are overusing (it), and should learn how to use (it) in critical ways that help them, but also allow them to do whatever it is that they’re doing,” Fierro said.

jennyjang2028@u.northwestern.edu

Daily Northwestern www.dailynorthwestern.com Editor in Chief Lily Ogburn eic@dailynorthwestern.com

General Manager Stacia Campbell stacia@dailynorthwestern.com

Holly and John Madigan Newsroom Phone | 847.491.3222 Campus desk campus@dailynorthwestern.com City desk city@dailynorthwestern.com

Sports desk sports@dailynorthwestern.com

Ad Office | 847.491.7206 spc-compshop@northwestern.edu

THE DAILY NORTHWESTERN is printed each Wednesday during the academic year, except vacation periods, the two weeks preceding them and once during August, by Students Publishing Co., Inc. of Northwestern University, 1999 Campus Drive, Evanston, IL 60208. All news is published 24/7 online at Dailynorthwestern.com.

First copy of THE DAILY is free, additional copies are 50 cents. All material published herein, except advertising or where indicated otherwise, is Copyright 2025 THE DAILY NORTHWESTERN and protected under the “work made for hire” and “periodical publication” clauses of copyright law.

POSTMASTER: Send address changes to THE DAILY NORTHWESTERN, 1999 Campus Drive, Evanston, IL 60208. Subscriptions are $100 for the academic year. THE DAILY NORTHWESTERN is not responsible for more than one incorrect ad insertion. Check out

Illustration by Clare Kirwan Across

A & E arts & entertainment

By ZOYA KHAN the daily northwestern

A er a Dillo Day lled with carnival festivities and hours of live music by the Lake ll, pop singer Natasha Beding eld called on the crowd to do one last thing: feel the rain on their skin. e skies may have cleared, but Beding eld’s performance of her 2004 hit “Unwri en” capped o the festival’s 53rd rendition. ousands of Northwestern students and guests a ended Dillo Day on Saturday, participating in festival programming and listening to the lineup of artists, who performed setlists spanning electronic, indie, rap, R&B and pop music.

Dillo Day’s musical lineup kicked o with performances by student artists who earned their spots through Mayfest Productions’ Ba le of the Artists competition. Inertia, an all-female indie-rock band, opened the main stage. ey were quickly followed by student DJ Perl mixing tracks live on stage.

Originally scheduled to perform as Dillo’s daytime headliner, BigXthaPlug was unable to a end due to a scheduling con ict, as his agency double-booked him for another festival in Alabama. Mayfest Productions announced the late-hour cancellation on the morning of the festival. In response, the booking team secured rapper and hip-hop artist iann dior as a replacement headliner.

Pulp and Chicago-based R&B singer-songwriter Ravyn Lenae on the main stage.

Beding eld’s one-hour set as the Dillo Day headliner featured hits such as “Pocketful of Sunshine” and “ ese Words,” as well as covers of other artists’ songs, including a special rendition of Prince’s “Purple Rain.” ough Mayfest’s “Carnival Dillo” theme was announced prior to the artist lineup release, their a empts to transform the Lake ll with themed programming did not go unheeded. With the presence of minigames, photo booths, food trucks, face-painting and a carousel overseeing Lake Michigan, the activities and decorations stayed true to the carnival vision. In addition, many a endees dressed in fair-inspired a ire. Many popular clothing choices included redand white-striped clothing and clown costumes.

Weinberg senior Defne Deda and SESP senior Alex Kahn, co-chairs of Mayfest Productions, said that they had discovered the double-booking on Friday, just 24 hours prior to the festival’s commencement.

“ is has never happened before, so a lot of our exec board was up until 2 a.m. working on the issue,” Kahn said. “We know how important BigX was to the student body, so we really wanted to get someone that students would also enjoy, given the constraints.”

Mayfest Productions began planning Dillo Day last summer, working directly with artist agencies and navigating complex scheduling. e nal lineup is determined by budget, artist availability, student preferences and other factors. at planning prowess came into play as soon as BigXthaPlug pulled out.

For upperclassmen with prior Dillo Day experience, a highlight of the day was reminiscing on previous years’ festivals and admiring Mayfest’s continuous endeavors to improve.

McCormick junior Haneen Awadelsayed said she was satis ed with the organization and programming for the festival’s 53rd iteration.

“I feel like this year is a lot more chill, especially compared to my freshman year, which was really hectic,” Awadelsayed said. “ is Dillo’s lineup is a lot more relaxed so the vibe is quite chill, which I like a lot.”

Weinberg sophomore Maddox Short said that a ending Dillo Day for the rst time exceeded her expectations.

“I’m a transfer, and my previous school didn’t have anything like Dillo, so this is really fun for me,” Short said. “Out of the artist lineup, I only knew Natasha, but I was not expecting the performance she put on. Her vocals and charisma on stage just blew me away, and I think others would agree.”

Kahn and Deda said their promotional team, also in charge of monitoring social media and taking note of general opinions and atmosphere, shared perspectives on how students felt regarding the theme, lineup and programming.

“We know that a lot of the audience are rap fans, so bringing iann dior really saved us within those last 24 hours,” Deda said. “We didn’t actually have a fully executed contract until about 10 minutes until he went on stage, but I think, despite the circumstances, we were able to navigate the di culties.”

ough students voiced disappointment on Instagram and Northwestern’s Fizz platform in the weeks leading up to the event, the overall outlook a er the festivities shi ed to praise Mayfest.

Subsequent a ernoon performances consisted of DJs, electronic artist nimino, indie rock band Slow

“Although there were doubts initially, everything I’ve seen has been really positive a er Saturday, which is always great,” Kahn said. “At the end of the day, we do this for the student population, and that’s really all that ma ers.” zoyakhan2028@u.northwestern.edu

Gabe Hawkins/The Daily Northwestern

Ridhima L. Kodali/The Daily Northwestern

Ridhima L. Kodali/The Daily Northwestern

Ridhima L. Kodali/The Daily Northwestern

Gabe Hawkins/The Daily Northwestern

Mudlark Theater Company celebrates 20 years

By CHELSEA ROBINSON and YANA JOHNSON the daily northwestern

Longtime Evanston community establishment Mudlark Theater Company recently celebrated its 20-year anniversary April 11, marking two decades of providing a creative outlet for students across the city and beyond.

Putting on around eight shows a year with participants from elementary to high school, Mudlark serves as a space for young people to explore the intersection of performing arts, creativity and social expression.

Founded in 2005, Mudlark Theater is a nonprofit organization where children act, write and immerse themselves into the performing arts. Local Evanston resident Karen Van Ausdal, who dabbled in theater and stage crew growing up, has involved her children with Mudlark for five years.

“I have a son and a daughter who have both done Mudlark Theater and just had incredible experiences,” Van Ausdal said. “They accept everyone and put on amazing productions and do it with such artistry.”

Mudlark provides students with the opportunity to write and collaborate on their own pieces, whether those be poems, free-writes or personal essays. Their recent production, “Mudpie,” which had its closing night on Sunday, featured a collection of original pieces from children in the Chicagoland area.

“I think it’s really important to hear what the next generation has to say,” Mudlark Marketing and Engagement Manager Sarah Kinn said. “They say some really important stuff, and not to sound cheesy, but they are our future. It’s just really important to have friends, schoolmates and the community hear what’s going on in the lives of the young people around them.”

Mudlark often relies on peer-to-peer and

family-to-family networks because its impact is strongest in those who have experienced it firsthand. Having recently installed new risers to expand audience space in its Hinman Ave. building, Mudlark continues to grow as a space to enrich its current students and give alumni a chance to support the next generation.

This past fall, Mudlark had its first alum come back and direct a show. An event that is only possible because of their tight knit community, Mudlark Artistic Producer and Resident Director Rebecca Schilsky said.

“Mudlark is so resilient and has withstood so much,” Schilsky said. “We have completely flourished and grown because of how much love we build here.”

Executive Director Ian Frank said much of why Mudlark has lasted so long is its unconditional scholarships, which works to eliminate financial barriers keeping students from participating in Mudlark programs. This initiative has been rooted in Mudlark’s

values since its founding: being a welcoming, safe space and honoring all youth identities and stories, according to the Mudlark Theater website. Mudlark’s diverse environment includes students from across communities and socioeconomic backgrounds. However, as the world changes, Mudlark’s commitment to ending all financial barriers for their students only gets harder, Frank said.

“I think what’s really important for people to understand is that if we don’t talk about the good things and we don’t take action to support the good things, they will go away,” Frank said. “I would urge people to donate, to volunteer, or at the very least, if they know somebody that Mudlark has positively impacted, to share that…we are the best place they could possibly be.”

chelsearobinson2028@u.northwestern.edu yanajohnson2028@u.northwestern.edu

Ani Kabillio makes waves with debut album ‘Ripples’

By KATE MOORES

Communication junior Ani Kabillio’s introduction to songwriting came early. By age 4, she was crafting simple melodies accompanied by her dad, who would strum along on the guitar. She performed her first original song, “Spring is in the Air,” at her pre-K graduation.

Now 21 years old, Kabillio is making waves with her debut album “Ripples.” Released on April 4, the introspective, self-produced project captures years of songwriting shaped by her upbringing and deep emotional connection to friendship and memory.

Born and raised in the Lower East Side of New York City to filmmaker parents, Kabillio was surrounded by creativity from a young age. Her grandfather, a Juilliardtrained percussionist, noticed her musical talent early on.

“He always recognized me as musical,” Kabillio said. “He was like, ‘That one is going to be the musician one.’” His prediction held true, and by age 7, she started regularly performing in school musicals and talent shows.

The spring of her sophomore year at NU, Kabillio

set out to record her first album. The idea for the album didn’t emerge all at once. Kabillio had recorded music before but never released any of it, often caught in a cycle of perfectionism.

“I’d listen to things too much and drive myself insane,” Kabillio said.

Dissatisfied with its sound and direction, she kept her work to herself. That changed after what she described as an “intense aging crisis” during her sophomore year.

“I was like, ‘I’m turning 20. What have I done?’” Kabillio said. “I haven’t done anything of importance or that I wanted, that I set out for myself to do.”

Kabillio promised to herself that when she returned home over the summer, she would finally record an album. Her dedication to the project was unmistakable to those around her.

“Music is really important to her. It’s a huge part of her identity,” Medill junior Kennedy French said.

“She’s always writing, she’s always singing. She’s always wanted to make something and just have something to show for herself.”

She reached out to a few friends from high school and formed a band. In two days, they recorded most

of the project — excluding the album’s closer, “Not a Home,” which was recorded as a voice memo in her bedroom closet — at a friend’s “back alley” recording studio in Nyack, New York.

The songs on the album span from high school to college compositions.

“I just was so blown away,” said Kabillio’s roommate Communication junior Veronica Silvosa after the album’s release. “I always would hear her singing in our shared room. But hearing all the work that she’s been putting in, hearing it all in one product is just amazing.”

The album’s title track, “Ripples,” opens with the faint sound of running water and a child’s voice, which she discovered from a family video recorded from when she was a child. At one point, her father prompts her to sing a song about a fountain, to which she responds, “Maybe a song about water?”

Kabillio said the discovery felt oddly serendipitous. Without intending it, she had named the album “Ripples” and built it around imagery of water.

“I’m like, ‘How weird is that?’’ Kabillio said. “This is bizarre.”

When asked to describe her sound, Kabillio said it’s a mix.

“It can’t fit into a genre,” Kabillio said. “If I said pop, that would be inaccurate. If I said folk, that would be inaccurate.”

Instead, she leans on terms like “indie,” “alternative” and “singer-songwriter” to describe her work, though none of them feel like a perfect fit, she said.

She said the inspiration for her music mostly comes from her relationships. While romantic relationships can be a source of material, she often finds that friendship plays a more central role in her songwriting.

“Friendship is something that I have much more experience with in my life,” Kabillio said. “A lot of people, especially our age, have more experience with friendship and long term friends that have been there, supporting you or disappointing you.”

For Kabillio, “Ripples” is just the first wave. She is back at her notebook hoping to record a deluxe version of the album, which will include a few additional songs.

“It’s more about what makes more of an impact. Like, one big wave that crashes or like a steady ripple that just keeps going,” Kabillio said. “It’s the beginning of something that will hopefully continue for a while.” katemoores2028@u.northwestern.edu

Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter Tour is epic, larger-than-life

By GABE HAWKINS and SYDNEY GAW the daily northwestern @gabe19violin

Beyoncé took Soldier Field by storm after a threehour weather delay during her Chicago stop on the Cowboy Carter Tour on Thursday.

Braving a National Weather Service tornado watch and a torrential downpour, audience members sheltered inside the stadium for nearly three hours waiting for the international superstar to take the stage. Patrons with floor seats were not allowed to enter until well after 9 p.m., two hours after the show was set to start.

Despite the delays, the artist needed no introduction. When the lights dimmed, attendees waited with bated breath for her to bring the beat in.

When Beyoncé finally took to the stage at around 10:15 p.m., she was met with thunderous applause. Emerging from a triangular cutout in the stage, the superstar launched into her anthemic “AMERIICAN REQUIEM,” calling on the crowd to “stand

Wirtz’s

By ALEXIA SEXTOU

for something” and “face the wind.” The song is a rallying cry and a call to arms to defend the legacy of Black musicians in the country genre, which Beyoncé conveyed fiercely through her powerful vocals.

Sporting custom denim ensembles and sequinembellished bell-bottoms, Beyoncé traversed her Grammy-winning 2024 album “Cowboy Carter” while interspersing early hits like “Crazy in Love,” “Formation” and “If I Were a Boy” and deeper cuts like “THIQUE” and “Why Don’t You Love Me.”

She also broke into a rendition of “The StarSpangled Banner,” reprising her 2013 performance at former President Barack Obama’s second inauguration. This performance was reminiscent of her groundbreaking Coachella headlining gig in 2018, when she halted her larger-than-life performance to sing “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” a formidable tune of Black resistance commonly labeled the Black national anthem.

These performances took a brilliant stab at the status quo. Whereas 2013 marked the second term of America’s first Black president, Beyoncé’s 2025 stadium performance caps a seminal album reclaiming

Black contributions to country music. Throughout all the phases of her career, Beyoncé has channeled Black empowerment, and “Cowboy Carter” is no exception. The American iconography throughout the show championed Black artistry as a pillar of patriotism and United States history while calling out the country’s anti-Blackness.

At one point in the show, the screen read, “Never ask permission for something that already belongs to you.” Beyoncé’s performance seamlessly intertwined messages of resistance, activism and self-empowerment within the show’s primary thematic focus of breaking boundaries as a Black woman.

In her frenetic interludes, the pixelated screen refracted images of Beyoncé through the ages along with videos and artwork featuring Black artists who have contributed to the country genre. The interludes showed Beyoncé at her most political, confronting the erasure of Black country artists and reclaiming Black Americans’ place in the musical canon.

The Cowboy Carter Tour was as much a visual spectacle as an instructive history lesson. Beyoncé’s stunning visuals and sharp choreography further

cemented her showmanship as an unrivaled force in the industry.

Throughout the show, Beyoncé mounted a largerthan-life mechanical bull, soared ethereally above the crowd in an elevated horseshoe (and later, a red convertible) and entered and exited the stage through elaborate trap doors. Flanked by an all-star ensemble of dancers, she pulled out all the stops, underscoring her versatility.

Beyoncé was joined by her daughter Blue Ivy Carter. A force of nature in her own right, Carter served as a backup dancer for many of the tracks on the setlist. Beyoncé’s younger daughter, Rumi Carter, also made an appearance during an adorable rendition of “PROTECTOR.”

With its insurmountable energy and thematic complexity, the Cowboy Carter Tour managed to eclipse Beyoncé’s record-shattering Renaissance Tour in 2023 — proving the superstar is in a league entirely of her own.

gabehawkins2028@u.northwestern.edu

s.gaw@dailynorthwestern.com

‘Mancub’ is funny, a little adolescently confused

and teddy bear-loving brother Luke. In all its theatricity, her performance was refreshing, fun and loud for both parts.

Adolescence is hard. Growing into adulthood is even harder — especially for the young protagonist in the Virginia Wadsworth Wirtz Center for the Performing Arts’ production of “Mancub.”

The 2005 play by Scottish playwright Douglas Maxwell is a story about a boy who turns into animals. Caught between a trance of imagination and reality, 16-year-old Paul (Communication sophomore Casey Bond) is obsessed with biology and struggles with the life of a teenager: fighting with his dad, flirting and soccer practice. More importantly, though, Paul struggles with his identity as an emerging adult.

Directed by graduate student Christopher Michael Richardson and set as a five-cast-member story, Wirtz’s rendition of “Mancub” was both a pleasant surprise and an eyebrow raise because of the play’s slightly bizarre plot. While all actors were exceptionally funny in the delivery of their lines, their switch between the multiple characters they played was what felt most entertaining.

Communication junior Nastia Goddard sharply transformed between angsty soccer coach Mr. Sisskind

But nothing stole the show quite like Ken, the talking dog next door. Played by Communication junior Liam Jeninga, the character is all wagging limbs, darling head tilts and hilarious faux-aristocratic diction. Jeninga’s performance was uncanny yet still comedic — tapping into a cartoonish but tender representation of dog-ness. Ultimately, Jeninga made it clear: If dogs did talk, this is exactly how they’d be.

As actors ran up and down the stage whenever Paul decided it was animal go-time, the choreography felt seamless and representative of the chaos within the young teenage protagonist’s mind. Paul thrashed adolescently between laughter and rage; confused, lost, overwhelmed — all emotions transmitted to the audience seats.

Yet not everything moved so smoothly. The actors’ attempted Scottish accents were a tough adjustment at first and inconsistently carried across the cast. It’s a small gripe and more a question for the director than the performers, who were otherwise sharp and compelling. Thematically, “Mancub” taps into familiar territory. Paul’s transformation — fur, claws, feathers and

all — appears to be a metaphor for adolescence. In that sense, it feels repeatable as a storyline and is not the first work to tap into the relationship between human and animal.

In one of Paul’s violent animal outbursts, “Mancub” appears to share DNA with Rachel Yoder’s “Nightbitch,” a visceral novel in which a mother thinks she is turning into a wild dog.

But where Nightbitch howls as an allegory about maternal rage, “Mancub” seems more confused about what it’s trying to say. Paul’s growing aggression is chalked up to “growing up” and the play teeters on the edge of excusing violent behavior as just another side effect of puberty. It’s murky. And maybe that’s the point — growing up is messy — but it leaves a few questions for Maxwell on my end.

Still, the ending lands with grandeur. Paul’s final transformation into a bird and his attempt to fly feels both literal and metaphorical: A flight from childhood into the vast, unknowable sky of adulthood.

In its powerful silk-curtain drop, the ending leaves us hovering between two readings: One where Paul breaks free, lifted by hope and new beginnings, and another where he surrenders to something darker, perhaps even fatal.

In the end, Mancub is a play that bites, barks and sometimes drifts into the bizarre — but it never loses its heart. And if you’re willing to follow Paul down the rabbit hole (or into the forest, desert or sky), it’s a ride worth taking.

asextou@dailynorthwestern.com

arts & entertainment

Editor

Emily Lichty

Assistant Editors

Desiree Luo

Maya Wong

Design

Editors Henry Frieman

Rachel Schlueter

Matt Wasilewski

Five members of the B100: To the NU family: A call to stand firm

“E pluribus unum” was adopted as the motto of the United States in 1782, appearing on the Great Seal as a symbol of unity. Yet, for generations, this unity did not extend to all.

Enslaved individuals and their descendants were systematically excluded — denied that very promise of inclusion and equality.

Northwestern, like many institutions of higher learning, practiced or tolerated racial exclusion, perpetuating inequities for Black students on its campus. This injustice persisted — until we, the B100, weary of persistent racism, declared: “Enough.”

On May 3 and May 4, 1968, Black students at Northwestern staged a peaceful occupation of the Bursar’s Office, boldly challenging systemic racism and the entrenched inequalities within the University. Our courage transformed Northwestern for the better, paving the way for a more just and inclusive institution. The 100 Black students who took over the Bursar’s Office became known as the B100.

The B100 negotiated a historic agreement with the University, leading to increased Black enrollment, non-discriminatory hiring of more Black professors and staff and the establishment of Northwestern’s first Black Studies program.

Our efforts extended beyond Black students — women and Jewish students benefited. Later, Asian American, Latino and other

OPINION

students also benefited. The fight for equity helped reshape Northwestern into a better institution for all.

Today, Northwestern and higher education in America stand at a critical crossroads, facing both formidable challenges and profound opportunities that will shape their futures. The landscape has been dramatically altered by sweeping executive orders, abrupt shifts in federal priorities and moves to gut the Department of Education and Department of Justice.

It has become clear that the Trump administration, while claiming to prevent discrimination against Jewish students, is mounting an unprecedented attack on the very foundations of higher education.

The administration’s demands for control over curriculum, admissions and faculty hiring violate principles of free speech and academic independence — principles that have long defined American universities.

These actions undermine the letter and spirit of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, which was intended to protect marginalized communities rather than erode their access to education.

At Northwestern, decades of hard-fought progress may now be at risk. We urge University leadership to remain steadfast and unwavering in its commitment to academic excellence, inclusivity across race, gender and culture, and honoring the May 3 and 4 agreement of 1968 it made with the B100.

The Black Northwestern community has proudly and profoundly contributed to the campus culture, future and legacy of this institution. The greater Northwestern family must join us and mobilize every resource at its disposal to resist racism, cruelty and malice,

attacks on democracy, attacks on the rule of law, attacks on academic freedom, assaults on free speech and the attempted interference in and destruction of higher education.

We now urge Northwestern to resist the wave of repressive, revisionist and regressive policies threatening higher education. We advocate that Northwestern engage with its colleagues to form a coalition of institutions that refuses to surrender to fear, defends diversity and upholds the fundamental freedoms of academic inquiry.

We call on the larger community to raise its voice. Silence in the face of injustice is not neutrality — it is complicity. Marginalized communities are being directly targeted by authoritarian policies, threatening the progress we have worked so hard to achieve.

”Silence is never the answer. Action is. And the time to act is now.

Our actions at Northwestern in 1968 mirrored the broader Civil Rights Movement and led to tangible change. Just as the Civil Rights Movement challenged racial injustice and systemic oppression, Northwestern’s students and activists paved the way for equity within our own institution. The fight is not over. The lessons of past generations must guide us now.

We need you to engage.

Organize within your communities to build resilience and solidarity. Call your elected representatives and demand policies that protect

civil rights. Write to the University Trustees to ensure that Northwestern upholds its commitments to diversity, inclusion and justice. Through united action and the collective legal expertise of our universities, we can secure a victory — not only for our students and institutions, but for the future of our nation.

When a government dictates what can be taught, who may teach and who is allowed to learn, we no longer have a university — we have an authoritarian think tank, designed to close minds rather than open them. For Black alumni and students, and for the broader Northwestern community, the stakes could not be higher. If education is reshaped by fear and regressive federal policies, we face a bleak future.

We must work together to prevent this from happening. Silence is never the answer. Action is.

And the time to act is now.

As members of B100, we unite through collaboration to inspire action and drive meaningful change.

Signed,

Kathryn Ogletree (Weinberg ’71) (President of FMO, NU’s Black student union, ’68)

Wayne Watson (SESP ’68)

Victor Goode (Weinberg ’70)

Widmon Butler (Weinberg ’70)

Eva Jefferson Paterson (Weinberg ’71)

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.

Winiarsky: Greek life is a two-tiered social structure

This week two years ago, I was dreading Dillo Day. I had been told it was the best day of the school year — even the library closes early, forcing students to put down their books at 2 p.m. to enjoy themselves.

However, I eventually realized that the day’s fun wasn’t readily available to all. Rather, to attend a pre-concert party, you had to acquire a wristband. You could get one through being in a sorority, which I was not. Or, you could be friends with a guy in a fraternity, which I also was not.

As a result, after leaving an upperclassman acquaintance’s pre-pregame, my friends and I aimlessly wandered, dejected as we heard lively chatter and music in the backyards of houses plastered with signs like, “No wristband, no entry, no exception.”

Dillo Day helped me understand the twotiered social life at Northwestern: one for members of Greek Life, and one for everyone else.

I don’t blame the frats, though their signs could be nicer. Their backyards can fit only a certain number of people, and they’re going to want it to be filled with their friends rather than some random freshmen.

Rather, the problem is that we have an unfortunate number of sororities and fraternities: enough that they dominate the social scene, but not enough that everyone is welcome.

This is an issue particularly because Evanston is a college town that hates being a college town.

Unlike fellow Big Ten schools, such as Michigan and Indiana, you cannot go anywhere in town after 9 p.m. to find something to do. Even the one spot in town that college students go to, Reza’s Lounge and Nightclub, just closed.

If you don’t want to join Greek Life, you could join a club with a substantial time commitment like an a capella group or the ultimate frisbee team, which also host social gatherings. Or, if you’re unathletic and vocally ungifted like me, you can tag along with one of your friends to their events, go to a musical performance in someone’s basement or go downtown — none of which I’d consider ideal.

It’s not only the access to parties that creates this hierarchical system within social life. The University’s housing system is another factor.

The few times I visited my friends in sorority houses, I was envious. We lounged on soft sofas and ate snacks from always-stocked kitchens. I watched as girls did their homework in their

pajamas in the warm environment of their living room. It felt like a home, but it wasn’t my home.

Furthermore, it’s natural to want to live with your friends your sophomore year, as students in fraternities and sororities do. Yet, this experience is almost completely unique to them. While you could technically live in a suite in Kemper Hall or Schapiro Hall your sophomore year, that’s a small minority of students.

Instead, a popular dorm for hundreds of non-affiliated sophomores, Foster-Walker Complex, is antisocial by design. It strangely resembles British reformer Jeremy Bentham’s ideal prison: a panopticon structure with cells/ rooms around the perimeter and a lack of common spaces for inhabitants to interact. Instead of a guard tower in the middle of Plex, however, there’s a slab of concrete with some trees.

You may say that I could choose to live in a residential college, which fosters a similar social environment as a sorority house. I did try to do

Dillo Day helped me understand the two-tiered social life at Northwestern: one for members of Greek Life, and one for everyone else.

- TALIA WINIARSKY, op-ed contributor

this, but it failed. Before I arrived at Northwestern, I excitedly applied to live in Willard Residential College — my first choice — followed by Shepard Residential College and Public Affairs Residential College.

However, apparently my application essay was not good enough; I was placed into International Studies Residential College. While technically a residential college, this building also lends itself to isolation — you have to make an active effort to go to the dorm’s common room.

What irks me most is that students who live in a worse environment actually have to pay more to do so. For example, if you were a sophomore member of the Delta Gamma women’s fraternity in the 2023-2024 school year, you would’ve paid $14,334 for the year, including chapter dues, building fees, social activities, miscellaneous fees, a double room and board. These costs were calculated according to the Recruitment 2024 matrices, a document provided to all potential sorority members.

Meanwhile, that same year, I paid $20,334 to live in a dorm that was about as welcoming as the dentist’s office.

There are a number of things the University could do to rectify this tiered system. Though it might seem silly to suggest when the University is under budget constraints, new dorms need to be constructed. They should have architecture that encourages social connection, and allow sophomores to live with their friends.

Although student quality of life isn’t factored into the U.S. News and World Report college rankings, I’d love for the University to spend more of its money on ensuring students have dorms they’d be happy to come back to at the end of the day. That, to me, is worth more than top-six status.

My second suggestion is that the Office of Community Standards should adopt a more permissive stance towards fraternities and sororities. For example, last year, Northwestern sent an email to members of Greek Life warning that they could be investigated for “concerning behaviors,” which could be subjected to disciplinary measures. The behaviors in question were wearing “elaborate costumes” and members “carrying objects with them,” typical activities for Big/Little sorority week.

Let me be clear: University policies should severely punish any incident of sexual assault, drugging or hazing that endangers the community. But disciplining students for wearing costumes to class, for example, does not create an environment in which these organizations thrive. Consequently, when there are fewer Greek Life events and chapters, it becomes more exclusive.

You could read this and wonder why I didn’t just join a sorority if it means cheaper, nicer housing and invitations to parties. However, I’m not into forced cheer, ranking potential new members against each other and the name of my chapter being used as a heuristic for my attractiveness.

Still, I am a person who likes to have fun at a school where most people like to have fun. I suspect this is why the Abolish Greek Life movement has lost traction — their latest Instagram post was from September 2023. It was easy to say Abolish Greek Life during the pandemic, when frats didn’t have parties. But, if you were to say Abolish Greek Life now, that would mean you would be obliged to forego football tailgates, Halloween festivities and Dillo darties.

For similar reasons, I, along with many other women, put on tops that could fit a toddler and attend parties that many of us had to ask a man to attend. Notably, these men are usually fully clothed. While this dynamic made me wary, I

still enjoyed myself, so I didn’t think about it too much. This year, thankfully, I am a junior with friends who live in houses and host their own events.

This gross power imbalance could be rectified, at least partially, if the University maintained a consistent stance towards these organizations: continue to subsidize them and encourage more of them to grow so that the rest of us are free to partake as we please, or don’t allow them at all so that an alternative social scene can develop.

But, as it stands, a select few enjoy all of Greek Life’s benefits, while the rest of us watch from the outside.

Talia Winiarsky is a Weinberg junior. She can be contacted at TaliaWiniarsky2026@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 149, Issue 7

Editor in

Opinion

Assistant

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR may be sent to 1999 Campus Drive, Evanston, IL 60208, via fax at 847-491-9905, via e-mail to opinion@ dailynorthwestern.com or by dropping a letter in the box outside The Daily office.

Letters have the following requirements:

• Should be typed and double-spaced

• Should include the author’s name, signature, school, class and phone number.

• Should be fewer than 300 words They will be checked for authenticity and may be edited for length, clarity, style and grammar.

Letters, columns and cartoons contain the opinion of the authors, not Students Publishing Co. Inc. Submissions signed by more than three people must include at least one and no more than three names designated to represent the group.

Editorials reflect the majority opinion of The Daily’s student editorial board and not the opinions of either Northwestern University or Students Publishing Co. Inc.

ETHS graduate champions Hispanic affinity spaces

By JACK BAKER the daily northwestern @jdowb2005

Last fall, school administrators informed the Evanston Township High School District 202 Board of Education that about one in 10 Hispanic or Latine students reported feeling like they don’t belong at ETHS.

Then-student representative for the board Rachel Durango-Cohen said the statistic confirmed what she had long observed among her peers and prompted an urgent response.

“I did feel like sometimes my identity as someone who’s interested in STEM and my Latin identity couldn’t coexist,” Durango-Cohen said. “So I started to recognize that issues of belonging are more pressing — and might be why some students weren’t trying out these harder classes.”

Durango-Cohen was elected to serve as the student representative to the D202 board for the 2024-25 school year.

She said leading ETHS’ junior chapter of the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers helped her support fellow Hispanic students in STEM. But after hearing the report, she shifted her focus toward creating new spaces for cultural connection.

Durango-Cohen began attending Black Brown + Breathing, a space for ETHS students “to gather, breathe, grieve, and celebrate in community.” The space was created after the deaths of Ahmaud Arbery, George Floyd and Breonna Taylor and the following societal reaction in 2020, according to the district’s website.

While she found the space meaningful, Durango-Cohen said she felt ETHS needed more programming specifically for Hispanic or Latine students to complement existing events like the annual Latinx Student Summit, part of the school’s Social Consciousness Series. Summits are a “big deal” among ETHS students but often provide an opportunity to learn from guest speakers rather than connecting with peers, she added.

“This was the first year we’ve incorporated affinity circles in all of our student summits. That was a really big deal because it really promoted the idea, ‘There are people like you here — connect with them, create a community, because it’ll make

you feel less isolated,’” she said.

Durango-Cohen said working with board members revealed “a completely different way of addressing problems” and showed her that schools can take concrete steps to combat challenges affecting both students and teachers.

Though she didn’t join the school’s Student Union, ETHS’ volunteer student government, until her senior year, Durango-Cohen said the organization’s annual voice forum revealed key student concerns. She used that feedback to help “nudge” board members toward responsive action.

At Durango-Cohen’s final board meeting last week, board member Pat Maunsell said her monthly reports offered a uniquely valuable window into the student experience.

“You ask questions that are really thoughtful, really useful to the conversation and that certainly represent you but also help us see through the lens

of our students,” Maunsell said. “Really, that’s why we’re all here — because of you and the other 3,900 people you share this building with.”

Durango-Cohen said concerns raised during public comment at the meeting regarding proPalestinian activism among ETHS students and teachers “should be addressed by the student representative.” She added these concerns could be a good starting point for newly-elected student representative Eva Hansen’s work.

Durango-Cohen also touted the Student Union’s efforts to incorporate self-defense training into all physical education classes at ETHS and increase the accessibility and selection of menstrual products in the school’s restrooms.

Other board members praised DurangoCohen’s personal qualities.

“I especially appreciate your ability to deliver challenging updates on difficult subjects without shying away from hard truths,” former board

member Gretchen Livingston said. “That talent will serve you well as you make your way through college and the world that awaits you — especially in these times when even speaking the truth seems like a challenge.”

Durango-Cohen graduated from ETHS Sunday morning and plans to study applied math and sociology at Harvard University this fall.

Though she will no longer serve on the school board, Durango-Cohen said she plans to continue working tirelessly to make Hispanic students at ETHS feel more included.

“I actually plan on continuing my work with ETHS until I feel satisfied with the progress being made and until there’s an active Latine affinity space,” Durango-Cohen said. “The board gave me great insight into the impact I can have, and it’s pushed me to keep going.”

j.baker@dailynorthwestern.com

Photo Courtesy of Rachel Durango-Cohen

Durango-Cohen graduated from ETHS Sunday morning and plans to attend Harvard University this fall.

Five for Good empowers local change in Chicago

By LAURA HORNE

the daily northwestern

When Weinberg sophomore Asha Mehta found herself disheartened by the lack of time and resources she had as a college student to make an impact on issues under threat by the Trump administration, she shared these frustrations with her friends at the end of Winter Quarter.

She realized many of them shared her sentiments. The issue was not that people didn’t want to make a change, but rather that they didn’t know how to find a good cause to support that could make a visible change, she said.

In late April, she and her friends at Northwestern launched Five for Good, an activist network empowering people to make local change in the Chicago area. Together, they assessed what issues in the news are most pressing and surveyed what issues people in the Chicago area specifically care about.

The group decided to focus on five main issues: sustainability, safety of LGBTQ+ youth, migrant rights, living essentials for all and healthcare accessibility.

The group’s goal is for Chicago area residents — including students — to donate $5 to a local organization and dedicate five hours toward volunteering each month to mobilize effective changemaking. Five for Good evaluates potential organizations by how local they are, how many people their mission impacts and how direct the impact is.

“We’re not super as much of a politically-motivated group as we are (a) social welfare, social goodness-motivated group,” Mehta said. “But these are all five causes that are threatened under the Trump administration and generally threatened in our current day.”

The nascent group announced their first organization to collect donations for this weekend: The Chicago Refugee Coalition. Mehta said Five for Good plans to announce new organizations to collect donations for on a monthly cycle.

The group will also post about different volunteer opportunities and organize ride shares to get to volunteer events. Currently, Five for Good has an “activist map” on their website which details over a hundred local volunteer opportunities. Five for Good also plans to post about rallies, protests and marches on social media for members to attend.

“Initially it was just going to be $5 a month, and

then I was talking to friends, and then they were saying it could be nice to have there be a more personal side, to have people be able to meet each other and also volunteer in person,” Mehta said.

McCormick sophomore Maria Ziegler, head of recruitment and marketing for Five for Good, said that, like Mehta, she felt helpless against the Trump administration and wasn’t sure how else she could educate people beyond posting on her personal Instagram story.

With Five for Good, Ziegler has helped the club reach a larger audience through Instagram posts, flyers and the group’s TikTok.

sophomore Liz Aaseng, Five for Good’s outreach coordinator, is also helping to expand this audience. She said she has been communicating with professors and student groups at NU and other universities to create a unified network of volunteers across Chicago.

“It’s so much more empowering when you can do things with other people, and you have a friend with you,” Aaseng said.

Ziegler echoed Aaseng’s goal of unifying people and organizations throughout the Chicago area. At organization meetings, Ziegler said many people voiced that there are many small organizations

throughout Chicago, but not one that brings their overlapping goals together.

Ziegler hopes Five for Good can be that centralized organization, helping coordinate collective action across social issues.

“I really hope that people realize they have so much more power than they think they do,” Ziegler said. “We are so much stronger together than we are separated, and I hope that people can realize that they really can do so much more than they think they can.”

l.horne@dailynorthwestern.com

Weinberg

Illustration by Cayla Labgold-Carroll

Five for Good evaluates potential organizations by how local they are, how many people their mission impacts and how direct the impact is.

RSAE turns to Black residents to shape reparations plan

By BEN SHAPIRO

When nonprofit Reparations Stakeholders Authority of Evanston reached its fundraising goal of $1 million in April, it had to make

To answer this question, RSAE Operations and Engagement Manager Vanessa Johnson-McCoy set up a three-part community engagement initiative to collect feedback from Black residents.

RSAE held the initiative’s rst meeting at Faith Temple Church in the 5th Ward on Monday night.

“ is is how we want to do it — ge ing the community’s feedback, categorizing it and bringing it back to the community to see what they think about these ideas,” Johnson-McCoy said. “It’s all supposed to be community-driven.”

RSAE is separate from the city’s Reparations Commi ee and collects money through private donations, not city-allocated funds. is allows RSAE to support “what the Black community wants” without being bound by City Council decisions, Johnson-McCoy said.

e $1 million collected came primarily from the interfaith community in Evanston, Johnson-McCoy said. RSAE pledged that once it hit the donation goal, it would start planning how to allocate the money.

Before workshop a endees split into groups, they heard from local clergy members, Mayor Daniel Biss and community activists.

“ is must be a community project,” Biss said. “What the RSAE represents is this idea that we are going to come together as a community and do all that we can collectively to repair the harm.”

A er the remarks, Johnson-McCoy asked workshop a endees — those who “live, work, pray or play in Evanston” — to collaboratively identify how they want to see the reparations dollars spent in the categories of housing, economic development, educational and cultural initiatives, and health and wellness.

Fi h Ward resident Ndona Muboyayi said she hopes RSAE will use its reparations dollars to fund culture-based education in schools and for the larger community.

“I’m just trying to see if we can get some funding

for cultural programs,” Muboyayi said. “So many people are not aware of our folklore and traditions.” e education and housing categories elded a large proportion of the recommendations from community members.

Chicago resident John Fuller said even though he no longer lives in Evanston, he felt it was his duty to help the city’s Black community shape its vision for the future. He said seeing fewer Black residents in what used to be predominantly Black neighborhoods worries him.

Fuller said that because he’s “always been an Evanstonian rst,” he a ended the RSAE meeting to help guide the conversation on the allocation of reparations dollars, even though they wouldn’t directly bene t him.

“We have the money,” Fuller said. “But if you have a billion dollars and nothing focused with what you’re going to do with it, it makes no sense to collect the money.”

Johnson-McCoy said her goal was to collect ideas from Black community members at the rst

meeting, categorize suggestions and analyze trends.

At RSAE’s next meeting, she said she plans to present the feedback and work as a collective to decide next steps.

For Johnson-McCoy, the meeting marked a hopeful rst step in building a reparations model shaped directly by those it intends to serve.

“ is is the beginning of something great for the Black community of Evanston,” Johnson-McCoy said.

b.shapiro@dailynorthwestern.com

WANTED Syllabus Yearbook 2026 Editor in Chief & Staff

Students Publishing Company of Northwestern University is seeking a current undergraduate student to manage the creation of the 2026 Northwestern Yearbook. The editor in chief will be responsible for the visual and verbal content of the yearbook and will work with a student staff of writers, designers and photographers. This paid position begins in Spring Quarter 2025, with the largest time commitment in Fall Quarter 2025 through Winter Quarter 2026

The best candidate should display:

•Strong writing and editing skills (journalism experience a plus)

•Creativity and graphic design skills

•A keen interest in activities and life at Northwestern

Interested in leaving your mark on NU?

Request an application NOW by contacting syllabus@northwestern.edu or call 847-491-7206

Ben Shapiro/The Daily Northwestern

A community member writes ideas for how RSAE should allocate its reparations funding in the “economic development” category.

New Central Street bakery hopes to bring seasonal treats

By BEN SHAPIRO the daily northwestern @benshapiromedia

Andersonville resident and pastry chef Ian Willa always wanted to open his own bakery. is summer, that dream will become a reality.

Along with his wife, Georgia Willa, Ian Willa is pu ing the nishing touches on Poplar Pastries. e couple plans to open the shop on Central Street at the end of June.

“I’ve always wanted to open my own shop, and the perfect li le location came up,” Ian Willa said.

“A er about 20 years of experience, I said, ‘You know what, it’s time.’”

The Willas said they chose the location for their bakery in part due to its proximity to the Central Street Metra stop. The couple hopes their shop will serve as a quick stop for commuters on their way to work or school in the morning.

Georgia Willa added that when she saw the building, it was “love at rst sight.” She said the space felt “enchanted” and hopes it can help facilitate the couple’s goal of making and selling themed pastries, in addition to bakery staples.

“We are just so excited to get to know the

community,” Georgia Willa said. “To nally have the doors open and to feel welcomed, to get to know people, to see what the community wants — that’s the main excitement.”

Angela Sha er, the community director for the nonpro t organization Central Street Evanston, said she is excited to welcome the bakery to the neighborhood. She noted that independent businesses have historically been essential to the character of Central Street, and she is glad to see the trend continue.

According to Sha er, more than 90% of Central Street’s businesses are independently owned.

“I think people who are looking to come out

and support local businesses really feel that love on Central Street,” Sha er said.

e building previously housed Beth’s Li le Bake Shop. Georgia Willa said the building’s history as a bakery helped make renovating the space easier.

While the couple nishes se ing up shop, Ian Willa said he is looking forward to the ability to connect with the community over the summer.

“I’m super stoked,” Ian Willa said. “It’s been a dream of mine to make my food for the community and make something special for people.”

b.shapiro@dailynorthwestern.com

Ducks Dan and Dave: Glass Half Full of Ducks

Nathaniel Foster is a student at the School of Professional Studies and writer of Ducks Dan and Dave. He can be contacted at nathanielfoster2027@u.northwestern.edu. Lia Kim is the illustrator for Ducks Dan and Dave and is not associated with Northwestern. e views expressed in this piece do not necessarily re ect the views of all sta members of e Daily Northwestern.

Weekly Crossword The Daily Northwestern

Drink up!

By Games Editor

By Kate Pollot

Drink

37 Mexican airport, abbr

39 ______ Mist

1 Coca-Cola-owned soda that comes in flavors like orange and grape

5 Drag queen currently competing on season 10 of “RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars”

7 A small troublemaker

10 One of the 12 minor prophets of the Hebrew Bible

11 Level of effort, abbr 12 Brings someone to a lower position or rank

16 A mollusk similar to a clam or oyster

19 A stretchy material often used in waistbands

20 Refers to a vehicle that is no longer usable, abbr

21 Sloth from the “Ice Age” franchise

22 Marine reptile found worldwide

25 Organization created to make archived materials more accessible, abbr

26 Anger; irritation

27 It’s found at one end of a pencil sometimes

28 College attended by Olivia Rodrigo and Will Ferrell, abbr

29 Makeup brand e.l.f.

31 A soda and a single by Addison Rae

40 ___ Paulo, Brazil

41 “___ the fields we go, laughing all the way!”

42 Bravery; endurance

44 A brief brush with death, abbr

45 “Feel the ____ on your skin”

47 “The Da Vinci Code” main character Robert

49 Instantaneously

52 It’s between E and D on a guitar

53 2,000 pounds

54 Gaming slang meaning destroyed or defeated

55 Forest creature in “The Lord of the Rings”

56 Movie theater franchise

57 A soda brand owned by the same corporation that produces 7UP and Canada Dry

1 Gradually decreases, especially at the end of a movie

2 Bedelia and Earhart, e.g.

3 Describing people that move from place to place

4 General ____ chicken

5 Calculus BC and Psychology, e.g.

6 Singer ___ Max

7 A disease or sickness

8 Sound a cow makes

9 Dr. ______, a soda made up of

Technology that converts text into spoken words, abbr

Repeated line in “Old MacDonald”

Marks left by old injuries

Symbol used to indicate an addition to a sentence or paragraph

A shade of light purple, and a flower

Anonymous, abbr

The sound an angry bear may make

River in Russia

Original American Idol judge _____ Abdul

Coke or root beer,

launched her campaign for Schakowsky’s seat in early May.

Both Rachel Ruttenberg (Medill M.S. ’04), an Evanston resident and former deputy chief of staff for policy in the Cook County Board President’s office, and Patrick Hanley, a Winnetka environmental activist and political organizer, are in the running for Fine’s seat. They launched campaigns May 8, just days after Fine announced her congressional run.

Less than 10 months out from the 2026 primary elections, each candidate has begun to define their campaign, with both boasting progressive missions and pushing back on Trump administration policies.

Ruttenberg prioritizes economic justice, policy expertise in state Senate bid

Ruttenberg wears many hats: attorney, advocate, policy advisor, local party leader, community organizer and more. But when asked why she’s running for public office, she reached — without hesitation — for a personal answer.

“I am the parent of two young girls, and they are growing up in a country where they have fewer rights than I did at their age,” the Evanston resident said. “That is a key driver of why I am in this work. I want to be building and making people’s lives better and not going backward.”

After two decades working “behind the scenes,” Ruttenberg, a North Shore native, was

It’s not just how you put the food on the table, but how you keep your family moving forward.

- RACHEL RUTTENBERG, Senate Candidate

one of the first candidates to jump into the race to succeed Fine, who launched her congressional campaign after Schakowsky announced she would not seek reelection in early May.

Praising Schakowsky as a progressive leader and role model, Ruttenberg said her retirement opens up opportunities for “new faces” of the Democratic Party. With her announcement, Schakowsky joins Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), another fixture in Illinois politics, and a score of outgoing congressional Democrats in what some lawmakers and pundits call a generational shift in the party.

Pitching herself as both a first-time political candidate and an expert in policymaking who has been “fighting against the Trump administration since day one,” Ruttenberg said she sees the state legislature as a key political arena — and one to which she has much to offer.

“That is the front lines of where we are making sure that Illinois residents’ rights are continued to be protected, that families continue to have enough resources to get by, that our schools are funded, that our health care institutions are still available to us,” she said.

Prior to launching her campaign, Ruttenberg was the deputy chief of staff for policy for Cook

SPENDING

From page 1

pay increase of 2%, which would cost the University about $36 million.

In fiscal year 2024, NU spent $1.83 billion on salaries, wages and benefits. Services, supplies and maintenance cost an additional $1.14 billion. The average salary was $247,100 for professors, $156,500 for associate professors and $130,800 for assistant professors for the 2023-24 school year.

NU offers several post-employment and post-retirement benefits to its faculty and staff. The University contributed $101.7 million to its two retirement investment plans in 2024.

The University also sponsors a healthcare plan, which is also available to retired faculty and staff. Certain tuition reimbursement plans and payment for sick days accumulated at retirement are also available. The total cost of post-employment bene ts was $9 million in 2024.

Groundbreaking research is a critical part of maintaining NU’s status as a world-class university. In 2024, the University received $1.05 billion in research grants — up from $593.9 million in

BISS

From page 1

of citizenship status.

Yet, Biss has faced vocal backlash for his tie-breaking vote in the Ryan Field commercial rezoning process and for the expedited timeline of Envision Evanston 2045, the city’s

County Board President Toni Preckwinkle, where she worked on the county’s medical debt relief and guaranteed income programs. Before that, she held positions at the Chicago Public Schools and leadership roles at several advocacy nonprofits, including the Family Defense Center and Heartland Alliance, a human rights and antipoverty organization.

Ruttenberg said these experiences helped her realize the importance of economic justice, which she called the central plank of her campaign. The phrase, Ruttenberg explained, encompasses the issues critical to supporting working-class families, from addressing income inequality and funding public services to ensuring access to healthcare and clean air and water — many of which are now under threat from the Trump administration, she said.

“It’s not just how you put the food on the table, but how you keep your family moving forward,” Ruttenberg said. “If we are really putting our money where our mouth is around certain issues, those are the investments we should be making in our communities.”

Although Ruttenberg said she hasn’t identified specific policies to spearhead if she were to be elected, one area she wants to work on is housing affordability to ensure people can live in the community where they work. The issue is especially pertinent for the 9th district, which spans several affluent locales like Evanston, she said.

Environmental justice is another issue that representatives of the district — with its direct access to Lake Michigan — can play a leading role in Springfield in collaboration with Cook County and other local communities, Ruttenberg said.

Ruttenberg has already received endorsements from local leaders, including Illinois House Majority Leader Robyn Gabel (D-Evanston) and State Reps. Jennifer Gong-Gershowitz (D-Evanston) and Tracy Katz Muhl (D-Northbrook).

“I’ve worked with Rachel for many years, and I know that she has a deep understanding of policy, a passion for public service, and knows our community very well,” Gabel said in a statement provided by Ruttenberg’s campaign. “I am proud to endorse her, and I think she will make a great State Senator and partner in Springfield.”

Kathy Hayes, the president of the Democratic Party of Evanston, chairs Ruttenberg’s campaign. She said the pair first met at a gathering for the Illinois Women’s Institute for Leadership Training Academy, a program training Democratic women for leadership roles in government, and have been close since.

“She is an attorney, which is a plus, as well as well-versed in how policy affects people … in a 3D type of situation where policy will affect lives not just today, but tomorrow and years from now,” Hayes said.

Ruttenberg serves as the deputy committeeperson for DPOE, which has yet to give endorsements in the upcoming local races, Hayes said. She said the party will screen and hold conversations with local candidates through a subcommittee in the upcoming months before members vote on endorsement decisions.

Ruttenberg’s campaign launch joins the whirlwind of announcements in recent weeks to shape what could be a political shakeup in Evanston come 2026. Mayor Daniel Biss announced his congressional bid on Thursday, setting up a potential showdown with Fine, his successor in

scal year 2014. In scal year 2024, NU was chosen to lead a National Science Foundation engineering research center for the rst time, and received a $26 million grant to fund the project.

e University maintains a total of $1.89 billion in capital and operations assets, meaning that money is held for current and future projects.

Some notable capital projects started during the 2024 scal year include renovation of the Donald P. Jacobs Center to create a hub for social sciences and global studies, and the temporary eld at Martin Stadium.

Financial planning for the next year is underway. For the 2025-26 academic year, students will see a 3.3% increase in undergraduate tuition. NU plans to adjust for this by allocating $306 million towards undergraduate nancial aid, a 22.4% increase from 2024.

Future students can look forward to enjoying the bene ts of ongoing capital projects, such as the new Cohen Lawn, Deering Library renovations and Ryan Field..

madelinelescott2028@u.northwestern.edu

comprehensive plan and rezoning overhaul. including updates to the city’s Inclusionary Housing Ordinance and the passage of a Healthy Buildings Ordinance, which aims to curb carbon emissions. He also touted a strengthened Welcoming City Ordinance, codifying greater protections for Evanston immigrants regardless of citizenship status.

Springfield. For the state Senate seat, Ruttenberg will face Hanley and any other Democratic candidates in the March 2026 primary.

Ten months from the primary, Ruttenberg said she’s excited to start door-knocking and having one-on-one conversations with residents to hear their concerns and ideas.

“I was always raised with the spirit of ‘tikkun olam,’ a Jewish phrase to mean ‘to repair the world,’” Ruttenberg said. “I’ve hoped that I’ve carried that spirit through my career and hope to now carry it also into public office.”

Hanley hopes to bring sustainability, grassroots vision to state Senate

In a word, Hanley — the New Trier Democrats President — is basing his campaign on “sustainability.”

The 36-year-old activist, small business owner and father does not solely mean environmental sustainability — although it makes up a significant part of his activism and political platform — rather, the Winnetka resident has proposed a 100-year mindset relating to government policy.

“Our lifetimes have been spent watching institutions of the past collapse around us because they weren’t set up to last,” Hanley said. “So sustainability runs deep through my political ideology.”

Hanley’s expansive sustainability mindset is one that propelled dozens of followers to attend his official campaign announcement May 8 to represent Illinois’ 9th state Senate District and replace Fine following her bid for Congress.

He has already garnered an endorsement from Schakowsky, who said Hanley is “the kind of bold, progressive Democratic leader — and fighter — that Illinois needs” in a May 8 news release from Hanley’s campaign.

Subsequent endorsements include state Senate Assistant Majority Leader Laura Murphy and Majority Whip Julie Morrison, according to a May 19 news release from Hanley’s campaign.

Hanley said he’s been embedded in Illinois’ 9th District since birth, as he was born in Evanston, grew up in Northbrook and went to school in Glenview and Northbrook. Following a decade working in Washington and a brief stint in Chicago, Hanley moved to Winnetka in 2020 to put down roots with his growing family.

Among Hanley’s top platform priorities include boosting a “green and growing” state, according to his campaign website. If elected, Hanley said he aims to balance tensions between economic growth, progressive policies and sustainability efforts.

He said the state government is more crucial than ever in providing essential services and protection to residents following the Trump administration’s cost-cutting measures and deportation raids.

Apart from these core tenets, Hanley said he will prioritize community feedback in the coming months, describing his candidacy as a “vehicle” for conversation about political and day-to-day issues.

Liz Kunkle, a Winnetka environmental activist and former colleague of Hanley’s in the village’s Environmental and Forestry Commission, described him as a “doer and motivator” who knows everyone in the community.

Hanley has built a reputation for grassroots politics as a local organizer across a range of progressive policy issues and described himself as an “organizer at heart,” and said he hopes to bring that same rallying spirit to the state Senate.

I love bringing together partners around an issue that we care about, resolving the ictions between them, nding a values-aligned approach and then ge ing s–t done.

“I love bringing together partners around an issue that we care about, resolving the frictions between them, finding a values-aligned approach and then getting s–t done,” Hanley said. Local activists and organizers also spoke to his active roles in numerous service organizations. Hanley holds roles in multiple nonprofits, including environmental conservation organization Openlands and ranked-choice voting advocacy group FairVote Illinois.

- PATRICK HANLEY, Senate Candidate ”

Jessica Siegel, a Wilmette resident, first met Hanley while providing services to newlyarrived migrants bused from Texas in early 2024. Since it was her first time involved in grassroots activism, Siegel said Hanley acted as a mentor and helped generate traction for the cause with his connections to Illinois Democrats, including Schakowsky.

Siegel said Hanley is the type to “lead from the back” and fights for causes he believes in.

While Hanley recently resigned from Winnetka’s Environmental and Forestry Commission, Kunkle said his tenure as commission chair was marked by a sense of calmness whenever tensions ran high on environmental debates.

“He doesn’t get bogged down in tone or anger that somebody brings,” Kunkle said. “He can cut through that and focus on the underlying message.”

Hanley’s grassroots organizing particularly spoke to Weinberg junior Emilie Tueting, one of the co-presidents of Northwestern College Democrats.

Tueting worked with Hanley in Operation Swing State, a movement he co-founded to mobilize Illinois residents to canvas in Wisconsin and Michigan during the 2024 election. She described his enthusiasm for politics as “infectious” and said she believes his campaign will appeal to any voter based on common ground issues.

“He just wants government to work well for people, and he wants to restore faith in what elected officials can do,” Tueting said.

While some Democrats around the country have despaired since Kamala Harris lost the 2024 presidential election in November, Tueting said they have renewed belief in local campaigns, such as Hanley’s.

Siegel especially identified with his upbeat message and found hope in his grassroots campaign.

“It’s been a depressing few months, and it does really feel like his campaign could be this ray of light, and is helping to just take action as cheerfully as we can,” Siegel said.

c.he@dailynorthwestern.com

marisaguerraecheverria2027@u.northwestern.edu

Yet, Biss has faced vocal backlash for his tiebreaking vote in the Ryan Field commercial rezoning process and for the expedited timeline of Envision Evanston 2045, the city’s comprehensive plan and rezoning overhaul.

Still, he said in the news release that he aims to take a stand against “MAGA extremists.” “Enough is enough,” Biss said in the news

release. “I have taken on and beaten big corporations and powerful interests, and I’m not afraid to stand up to anyone who threatens our public services, our civil liberties, or our democracy. No more backing down before the fight even starts, and no more obeying in advance.”

s.baker@dailynorthwestern.com

Wednesday, May 21, 2025

SPORTS

Northwestern getting set for weekend’s Final Four

By HENRY FRIEMAN daily senior staffer @henryfrieman

When Northwestern lacrosse departs for Boston on Wednesday morning to play in the Final Four, there will be fanfare. The band will play. Willie the Wildcat will cheer them on. There will be a ceremony to send the school’s most successful athletic program to a location where it can reach the pinnacle of college lacrosse for the ninth time in its history.

Following the send-off, the No. 3-seeded Wildcats (18-2, 8-0 Big Ten) will compete in their sixth consecutive Final Four and face No. 2-seeded Boston College, which beat NU in the national championship last year.

The ’Cats met the Eagles (19-2, 8-1 ACC) earlier this season in February at Ryan Fieldhouse, where Boston College emerged victorious. The Eagles grinded out a 13-9 win and handed the hosts their first home loss since 2020.

The Final Four matchup, held at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, is set for Friday at 4:30 p.m.

Here are three things you need to know heading into Friday’s bout.

1. Offensive matchup has a heavyweight feel

Junior attacker Madison Taylor leads the nation in goals with 105 this season, the NCAA single-season record. Boston College’s Rachel Clark trails just behind with 103. Both finalists for the Tewaaraton Award.

Friday’s matchup will pit the nation’s 2nd-ranked scoring offense in the Eagles against the 7th-best offensive output in the country, NU.

Boston College coach Acacia Walker-Weinstein’s squad boasts an attacking juggernaut replete with two elite scorers and one of the country’s

most prolific feeders.

Between Clark and Emma LoPinto, who has punched in 76 goals on the season, the two have scored 179 goals. Factor in Mckenna Davis, who’s scored 25 goals and assisted on 75 others, and that’s a deadly trio.

“They have quite a lot of weapons, and they utilize those weapons well,” NU coach Kelly Amonte Hiller said. “We have to play together. We have to play team defense. No one person’s more important than the next, and what we do is most important.”

Meanwhile, on NU’s end, Taylor is always a threat. Her two outings in the NCAA Tournament have been nothing short of spectacular. She notched 10 goals — a tournament record — in the ’Cats’ second-round matchup with Michigan before posting a six-goal, fourassist performance against Penn in the quarterfinal.

The rest of the ’Cats squad have offensive firepower of their own right, guided by Taylor but supplemented with a wealth of attackers in the form of veterans and rookies.

NU has seen production from its graduate student attackers, Niki Miles and Riley Campbell, as well as from its group of underclassmen. Sophomore attacker Taylor Lapointe has come into her own this season and freshman attacker Aditi Foster has come through in clutch moments.

2. Defense wins championships?

Though the Eagles might have a slight advantage offensively, NU makes up for it with its defensive fortitude.

The ’Cats boast the nation’s third-best scoring defense, surrendering just 8.35 goals per game.

Graduate student defender Jane Hansen anchors the unit and leads the Big Ten in caused turnovers with 42. The sixth-year defender, who hails from Cohasset, Massachusetts, will play a

SOFTBALL

humongous role in Friday’s game.

“(Hansen has) grown so much as a person and as a player in her time with us,” Amonte Hiller said. “She’s in a really good place where she understands who she is. She understands her strengths, and she’s really just going for it.”

Joining Hansen in the defensive area are freshman defender Mary Carroll, graduate student defender Grace Fujinaga and senior defender Sammy White. White earned a First-Team All-American mention, while Carroll was named to the Big Ten’s All-Freshman team.

Graduate student goalkeeper Delaney Sweitzer stands between the pipes. After missing the first two games of the season for undisclosed reasons, the Syracuse transfer has started every contest since.

“Sometimes, when our offense isn’t

Season ends at NCAA Regionals

By AUDREY PACHUTA daily senior staffer

@audreypachuta

Northwestern stepped onto the field Saturday hoping to flip the script on its postseason shortcomings from a year prior.

With a return to the winner’s bracket of the NCAA Tournament Regional — facing opening-round host No. 11 Clemson this time — the Wildcats (30-20-1, 16-6 Big Ten) had reached the same stage where last year’s run began to unravel.

Despite a sharper start and a more competitive showing compared to last season’s Regional losses to No. 1 Texas, coach Kate Drohan’s squad still saw its 2025 campaign come to an end on Saturday when it fell to the Tigers (46-12-0, 19-5 ACC) and Kentucky (31-27-0, 7-17 SEC).

“(I’m) just really proud of the team and how we battled, especially the last month of the season,” Drohan said after her group’s season-ending loss to Kentucky. “Our four seniors will be celebrated for many, many years.”

In the first of two Saturday drubbings, NU held Clemson to a scoreless stalemate through the entire duration of a typical seven-inning softball game, but ultimately fell 1-0 in extra innings.

Graduate student pitcher Lauren Boyd has been NU’s X-factor this season. Before Saturday’s matchup with Clemson, the ’Cats had lost just five games that Boyd started, but held a

losing record when any other pitcher commanded the rubber.

After a costly decision to look elsewhere in the rotation contributed to a first-round upset loss to Purdue in the Big Ten Tournament earlier this month, Drohan appeared to change her strategy against the Tigers. Boyd’s return to the circle after downing Kentucky in NU’s tournament-opener Friday marked her first time making back-to-back starts since early February.

In what would become the final start of Boyd’s career, Drohan’s defense flashed the leather to protect the veteran pitcher’s streak of 15 shutout innings before finally allowing Clemson to score the game-winning run in the top of the ninth inning.

One of Clemson’s best scoring chances came in the fifth frame, when runners stood at first and second with no outs. But in the snap of a finger, the threat was erased.

Freshman shortstop Kaylie Avvisato leapt to snag a sharp line drive above her head and quickly fired to senior second baseman Grace Nieto, who turned the ball to junior first baseman Kansas Robinson for a triple play. The highlight earned the No. 4 spot on SportsCenter’s Top 10 on Sunday.

The game’s lone run scored when a successful squeeze bunt followed Clemson’s ninth-inning leadoff triple.

Then, with only one out in the bottom of the frame, sophomore outfielder Isabel Cunnea fouled off eight pitches before she singled to

right field, but it wasn’t enough for NU to keep the contest alive.

Following the loss, the ’Cats awaited the winner of Kentucky and South Carolina Upstate to determine their Saturday evening elimination game opponent.

Kentucky won that game in runrule fashion to take revenge upon Drohan’s group, which had beaten them 4-0 Friday.

NU struck first in its second showdown of the day, plating one run in the bottom of the first inning when Nieto led off the game with a walk and scored on a two-out Robinson triple.

But Kentucky didn’t wait long to unleash an offensive onslaught of its own. In a second inning that forced two different NU pitching changes, Kentucky scored seven runs on five hits and five walks before the inning ended on a groundout.

Kentucky tacked on an additional run in the top of the third frame, while the ’Cats failed to score in the following five innings.

NU plated two runs in the final inning, but it wasn’t nearly enough to secure the comeback and save their season.

“I think it was obvious that the game this morning took a lot out of us,” Drohan said after the loss to Kentucky. “We had one tough inning, but other than that, I thought we battled really hard.”

Following the two losses to Clemson and Kentucky, NU’s season is over.

a.pachuta@dailynorthwestern.com

playing well, our defense will step up,” Amonte Hiller said. “When our defense isn’t playing well, our offense will step up. We’ve really been able to have each other’s backs, and that’s been a key for us this year.”

3. Setting the stage for next year

The focus remains on this year’s Final Four, but a year from now, NU will host the women’s lacrosse semifinals and championship on the shores of Lake Michigan.

Amonte Hiller said some of Northwestern’s athletic department is using this weekend’s event as a learning experience.

“A bunch of our staff members are coming down to Boston to see the operation and learn from it and get ready for

next year,” she said.

Next year’s pinnacle will mark the first occasion that a Final Four and national championship are held outside of the Eastern time zone.

As the University began rebuilding Ryan Field, it constructed temporary seating at Martin Stadium in 2024. The interim venue can hold about 11,500 fans.

Though the focus remains on the weekend, a long-term goal of growing lacrosse in the Midwest will culminate in what Amonte Hiller hopes will be a packed house next season.

“I think there’s this idea that you can’t pack a crowd unless it’s on the East Coast,” Amonte Hiller said. “We hope to really dispel that idea.”

h.frieman@dailynorthwestern.com

Chicago Stars FC set to play Sept. match at NU

By HENRY FRIEMAN daily senior staffer @henryfrieman

Professional women’s soccer team

Chicago Stars FC is headed to Evanston for a regular season matchup this September, the team announced Monday.

The Stars will play a regularseason match at Lanny and Sharon Martin Stadium, dubbed the “Lakefront Faceoff,” on Sept. 7. The team will battle the reigning National Women’s Soccer League champions Orlando Pride on the shores of Lake Michigan.

“This match at Martin Stadium gives us the opportunity to bring our world-class athletes to the City of Evanston to showcase their abilities to new and returning fanbase at a wonderful location on the lakefront,” Karen Leetzow, the Stars’ president, said in a press release.

The decision to host a game on Northwestern’s lacrosse, soccer and temporary football grounds comes a month after the Stars requested a zoning analysis to play its home matches at Martin Stadium during the 2026 season.

A club spokesperson said the Stars’ lease at their current home field, SeatGeek Stadium in Bridgeview, Illinois, expires at the end of the year and that the team is “considering a

variety of stadium options for the 2026 season.”

“We are excited to bring a premier women’s soccer franchise to our city, and look forward to welcoming to Evanston not only the players and staff but also their fans,” Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss said in the release.

“Beyond the joy of the event itself, I believe that the world-class athletes and conversations around women’s sports and leadership will help inspire a new generation of leaders in our community.”

As the University began rebuilding Ryan Field, it constructed temporary seating at Martin Stadium in 2024. The interim venue can hold about 11,500 fans. Ryan Field construction is set to be completed in 2026.

The Chicago Stars will celebrate Student Day during the match and will give away patch beanies at the gate to students. Throughout the season, Evanston families and youth will have special opportunities to engage with the team.

Chicago currently sits at the bottom of the NWSL table with a 1-1-7 win-draw-loss record.

“We’re incredibly excited to partner with Chicago Stars FC and bring the NWSL to Northwestern University for what’s sure to be a special night of soccer,” NU Athletic Director Mark Jackson said in the release. h.frieman@dailynorthwestern.com

LACROSSE

Daily file photo by Dov Weinstein Elul

Northwestern punched its ticket to Boston with a 17-12 win over Penn in the quarterfinal round. A matchup with No. 2 Boston College awaits.

WOMEN’S SOCCER