Students share tips about staying fashionable while keeping warm
11 CAMPUS/ Lobbying
NU’s $1.14 million lobbying e orts reach a two-decade peak by October
CITY / Live coverage thread Scan for the latest on immigration enforcement
Evanston leaders, lawyers recommend best practices for encounters with immigration enforcement
By MARISA GUERRA ECHEVERRIA and EMILY DISSANAYAKE the daily northwestern
@marisa_g_ech
Saturday a ernoon, hundreds of community members gathered at the Dr. Jorge and Luz Maria Prieto Community Center for a vigil protesting immigration enforcement activity in Evanston.
Friday’s arrests follow an in ux of activity from federal immigration agencies across the city, with several community members taken by agents throughout the fall.
Community members have taken efforts to protect residents against federal agents by
A day prior, on Halloween, the Department of Homeland Security made at least eight arrests in Evanston and Skokie — including protesting citizens and those it said lacked legal status, a DHS spokesperson con rmed to e Daily.
NU researchers seek grant reinstatement
from NIH
Spring terminations le some projects lacking funds
By CATE BOUVET daily senior staffer
A slew of National Institutes of Health grant terminations in the spring le a ected Northwestern researchers with few avenues to reinstate funding for their disrupted multi-year research projects.
To get their funding reinstated and avoid abandoning projects, some professors turned to joining lawsuits to reinstate funding or working with the O ce of General Counsel at NU, which can send a le er of appeal to the NIH.
A er the initial $790 million federal funding freeze in April, the University announced its commitment to continue funding
research affected by the freeze and the around 100 stop-work orders issued by the Department of Defense. NU extended the commitment through at least the end of 2025.
However, research projects with terminated NIH grants have not received continued nancial support from the University.
“While Northwestern does not control the federal cancellation of grants or changes in federal agency funding priorities, we are working hard to restore federal research funding to the greatest extent possible,” a University spokesperson wrote in an email to e Daily.
On March 21, two of Feinberg Prof. Gregory Phillips II’s NIH grants were terminated. Phillips had used the grants to
research substance use and HIV risk in LGBTQ+ populations. He was in the fourth year of the ve-year grants when they were terminated.
To research HIV risk and mental health in relation to alcohol use disparities among LGBTQ+ youth, Phillips received a $2,483,960 NIH grant. To study data monitoring the health of “sexual and gender minority populations” and community engagement to address disparities in alcohol use, substance use and mental health, Phillips received a $2,872,007 NIH grant.
“It’s hard to hear that the research doesn’t ma er, especially when you’re part of the community,” Phillips said.
» See NIH, page 15
hosting informational workshops and mobilization events. City o cials have followed suit, including by prohibiting the use of city property in civil immigration enforcement operations. On Oct. 22, the city also held a Community Preparedness & Empowerment Seminar to connect residents with immigration resources and advocacy tools.
e seminar featured Chicago-based immigration a orney Enrique Espinoza, a certi ed “Know Your Rights” trainer from the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, and community members from the James B. Moran Center for Youth Advocacy and Sanctuary Evanston. The Daily compiled a breakdown of key recommendations from the seminar, along with further guidance and immigration enforcement coverage.
» See KNOW
Residents host food drive amid SNAP bene t cuts
More than 150 volunteers mobilized at ETHS
By JACK BAKER daily senior staffer @jdowb2005
Hundreds of cars lined Evanston Township High School’s campus Sunday as volunteers carried food and household essentials into the Willie May Field House.
e community food drive, organized in just 10 days and sta ed by over 150 volunteers, responded to uncertainty surrounding Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program bene ts and heightened Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity in Evanston.
ETHS Community Service Coordinator Erin Claeys said the
school was well-equipped to host the event because of its size and central location, calling Sunday’s turnout “mind-blowing.”
“We knew there were going to be a ton of people, but it has far exceeded our expectations,” Claeys said midway through the drive. “ e line to drop o stu is over an hour, and we’ve made, I think, hundreds if not thousands of dollars in grocery (gi ) cards.” SNAP, funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and administered by the Illinois Department of Human Services, provides bene ts to nearly 2 million residents across the state.
Because of the ongoing federal government shutdown, funds were not distributed on Nov. 1. However, following a court order,
the Trump administration agreed Monday to pay half of scheduled payments using USDA contingency funds.
Still, IDHS said the shutdown will delay payments to Illinois residents.
“The federal government’s decision to fund reduced benets will make it signi cantly more complicated for states to issue the funds, which will delay November SNAP bene ts to households by days or weeks,” the department said in a statement on its website. More than 100 community members signed up to work the food drive within 24 hours of its announcement. By midday Sunday, there had been more than » See SNAP, page 15
Illustration by Siri Reddy
D65 board decides on final two school closure scenarios
By SIDDARTH SIVARAMAN daily senior staffer @sidvaraman
At the Evanston/Skokie School District 65 board meeting Oct. 27, the district’s Structural Deficit Reduction Plan consultant, Susan Harkin, pressed the board to define its goals more specifically so she can provide more concrete recommendations on its plan to cut costs and close schools.
“Part of why we don’t have specific data is because the net is really wide right now,” she said at the October meeting. “I feel very confident in modeling estimates, but again, if you change drastically what the parameters around that (are), I can’t do that for you.”
Harkin came to the board’s Monday night meeting directly challenging members in attendance to settle on the number of schools they want to close, when closures will occur and how school boundaries should change.
The five board members in attendance unofficially honed in on two school closure scenarios — closing Kingsley Elementary School as well as either Lincolnwood Elementary School or Willard Elementary School — as it heads to an official vote Nov. 17 on which scenario to move forward with.
“It seems from a score perspective that we keep coming back to the same things: either 2-D (Kingsley and Willard) or 2-F (Lincolnwood and Kingsley),” board member Mya Wilkins said. “I don’t know if anyone else has a specific or compelling reason to open this up, but I would prefer to put our efforts into the most likely scenarios at this point.”
The board also reached a consensus to explore a phased model for additional spending cuts and revenue raising outside of school closures. Phase 3 of the district’s SDRP aims to find $10 to 15 million in savings to set the district on sound financial footing through Fiscal Year 2030.
After Harkin’s presentations at the last two meetings, the board decided to spread its budget-balancing decisions — school closures aside — across the next five years. The move allows
it to consider future financial reports, such as a special education audit and Foster School construction costs, which could change its outlook, Board President Patricia S. Anderson said.
Board forges ahead without Salem, Opdycke
Reduced to a council of five, the board reached its conclusions without two of its most outspoken members for minimizing and staggering closures, Maria Opdycke and Omar Salem.
They were not present at the Monday meeting due to personal engagements, Anderson said. Wilkins attended the meeting virtually because of a work engagement, she added.
Salem announced his resignation from the board in a Sunday letter published in the Evanston RoundTable. In the letter, Salem cited a “unique opportunity” that will require his family to leave Evanston for several months.
“Initially, I hoped to continue serving remotely, but after much reflection, I realized that wouldn’t be fair to the board or to the community,” he wrote. “This role requires full presence and engagement, and I wouldn’t be able to meet that standard from afar.”
The district has 60 days to appoint his replacement through an application process that is now underway, Anderson said.
Along with Opdycke and Board Vice President Nichole Pinkard, Salem supported closing only one school and exploring another closure in the future. While he acknowledged that he was stepping away at a challenging time for the district, he believed that it was the right decision for his family and the community, he wrote.
As requested by the board in its last meeting, Assistant Superintendent of Performance Management and Accountability Stacy Beardsley presented a staggered model in which Kingsley closes before the 2026-27 school year. District administrators evaluated all remaining schools in the Haven Middle School feeder pattern — Lincolnwood, Orrington and Willard Elementary Schools — based on the new parameters created by Kingsley’s closure.
Kingsley slipped from “commendable” to “targeted” on the 2025 Illinois Report Card, a
designation it shares with the imminently closing Dr. Bessie Rhodes School of Global Studies.
Neighborhood school boundaries, which determine students’ school assignments, were redrawn to ensure that school communities would not be fragmented due to any Haven feeder school closures, Beardsley said. The new boundaries caused transportation costs to rise and walkability to fall as students would be forced to travel farther to attend their new school with their old friends, she added.
“Staying whole with your community feels important, yet every day (students) get up to walk to school,” Beardsley said. “There’s a longterm and a short-term impact piece that I think we’re trying to hold.”
Beardsley asked the board for feedback on how the administration should weigh different community values in mapping out scenarios. Some previous projections prioritized ideal utilization rates, which measure enrollment as a percentage of a school’s capacity, while others favored keeping school communities together.
Pinkard and other board members agreed that walkability must take the greatest priority as the district models school boundary changes. Other goals include minimizing the number of students who need to be bussed, avoiding relocation for specialized programs and minimizing change from the board’s currently agreed upon boundaries for the 2026-27 school year.
In their initial scenario creation, district administrators were asked to consider all school closures simultaneously occurring next summer, Pinkard said at the Oct. 27 meeting. Based on scoring criteria created by an SDRP subcommittee, closing Lincolnwood and Kingsley was judged to be the least impactful two-school closure, along with a scenario that would close Kingsley and Willard. District staff recommended both these scenarios to the board at its Sept. 29 meeting.
Salem requested the Orrington and Lincolnwood model — which originally received the same score as the Kingsley and Willard plan — because of his concerns about closing two schools in close proximity to each other. On Monday, board member Andrew Wymer pointed
out that the suggestion came from someone who was no longer part of the board.
“I’m in this odd spot of having to respond to emails for a scenario that I wouldn’t have selected to be under consideration, but now I’m trying to be sensitive to what is raised as a board member,” Wymer said.
District discusses opening forensic audit into Horton era finances
Board members deliberated over areas of focus to guide a potential external investigation into district financial management during former Superintendent Devon Horton’s tenure from 2020 to 2023. Horton was indicted on 17 counts of embezzlement, wire fraud and tax fraud on Oct. 8.
Based on recommendations from the district’s legal counsel, Chief Financial Officer Tamara Mitchell suggested hiring one of the “big four accounting firms” — Deloitte, Ernst & Young, PwC and KPMG — to conduct the audit. Board members said they wanted any potential auditors to focus on administrative expenditures, special education transportation costs and no-bid contracts in particular.
Board member Sergio Hernandez, who has served on the board through three superintendents, said he wants to investigate the last 20 years of district finances to assess whether or not the district’s financial problems were endemic. Some staff in the district’s business office have served for 20 years, he said, presenting what board members thought to be balanced budgets at the time, but they might have been manipulated.
“I just want to make sure that we dig deep,” he said. “That’s my only intent.”
Considering how much time it would take to produce such a report, Anderson suggested focusing more intently on Horton’s term. The findings may be very important in how the board views its finances moving forward, she said, adding that she wanted the results sooner rather than later.
s.sivaraman@dailynorthwestern.com
NU faculty, staff navigate health care shift
By LUCAS KUBOVCHIK the daily northwestern @lucaskubovchik
When Global Health Studies Prof. Noelle Sullivan heard that Northwestern was switching its employee health care administrator from Blue Cross and Blue Shield to UnitedHealthcare, her initial reaction was one of “horror.”
UnitedHealthcare announced last July that the Justice Department began an investigation into the company for fraud. Sullivan said the investigation, along with the company’s tendency to deny claims, caused her a high degree of alarm.
Sullivan found herself frustrated with the limited collaboration between NU administration and its workforce before the change was announced, a sentiment shared by other faculty and staff.
“There’s a complete lack of partnership on large decisions that tremendously impact the faculty and the staff,” Sullivan said. “It feels like a slap in the face.”
On June 12, NU announced that all medical plans for University faculty and staff will be administered by UnitedHealthcare starting Jan. 1, 2026.
In 2026 there will be four medical plans offered, with the price of premiums depending on employee salary, coverage tier and selected plan, a University spokesperson wrote in a statement to The Daily.
“By moving to UnitedHealthcare, we expect to slow the growth of annual costs for our participants, while maintaining the comprehensive coverage our employees need,” the spokesperson wrote.
Yet, many employees were left feeling unsatisfied with the switch.
McCormick Prof. Luís Amaral questioned why faculty with expertise in health insurance weren’t consulted by administration before the decision was made.
Amaral also raised concern over the disconnect between the needs of faculty and staff and the shift to UnitedHealthcare approved by the Board of Trustees. He acknowledged the University’s claim that the shift will save NU $7.5 million, but questioned the impact of these savings when the University’s annual budget was more than $3 billion, as of the 2024 fiscal year. The University did not respond for comment regarding faculty consultation or the shift to
UnitedHealthcare, at the time of publication.
Sullivan questioned whether NU would be saving as much money as it claims, with copay and coinsurance costs for the Preferred Provider Organization plan that will nearly double under the new UnitedHealthcare plan. She noted that this change will ultimately result in many of NU’s covered faculty and staff hitting the out-of-pocket maximum for their plan.
After the out-of-pocket maximum has been reached, NU will be responsible for the rest of their health care costs for the year. She said the University paying these costs risks dipping into the planned savings from the switch.
Feinberg Prof. Melissa Simon concurred with Sullivan, noting that the shift may financially disadvantage faculty and staff.
“You’re decreasing the salary of your staff and faculty because they have to pay more for health care,” she said. “It’s a way to cut the salary of your faculty by not paying for more benefits.”
Simon said these changes could weigh down the wellbeing of NU’s workforce, impacting their productivity. She emphasized that shifting health care plans for patients in the middle of long-term treatments could cause a “major disruption in trust and care knowledge.”
The process of changing health care plans creates the “hassle” of calling providers and making new arrangements depending on whether their services are covered under UnitedHealthcare, she said.
“I have myself and four children covered under the health care plan,” she said. “I’m not just calling for myself… so the stress and the hassle factor go up substantially.”
Julie Bednark, a communications specialist at Feinberg School of Medicine, called communication surrounding the shift “very alarming.”
Along with a lack of shared governance, Bednark said finding those responsible for the choice is increasingly difficult due to a growing “lack of transparency.”
Bednark said the provider she was seeing was in a network under Blue Cross and Blue Shield. Under the UnitedHealthcare plan, she may have to find a new provider. Continuing to see her provider at the new out-of-network rates will likely cost her thousands of dollars, she said.
“(I’m) looking around and knowing that a lot of my colleagues are going to be struggling,” she said. “They are no longer going to be able to see their providers, myself included.”
lucaskubovchik2029@u.northwestern.edu
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Illustration by Lucas Kubovchik
Many faculty were left feeling unsatisfied with the switch.
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arts and entertainment
PinkPantheress dazes Chicago with two sold-out shows
By THOMAS HURLEY the daily northwestern
The Byline Bank Aragon Ballroom was inundated with plaid this weekend as PinkPantheress came to Chicago for two sold-out nights as part of her “An Evening With… PinkPantheress” tour.
In the Uptown venue, fans rocked plaid clothing, the singer changed outfits from plaid to more plaid and plaid visuals graced the background screen — all emblematic of the British superstar’s bold, unique style.
After doors to the historic venue opened, DJ Nick Cheo, who performed in an NU student’s off-campus basement last Spring Quarter, opened the show with a seamless and electrifying set, a “warm-up for PinkPantheress,” as he put it.
The audience erupted into cheers around 9:15 p.m. as PinkPantheress’ silhouette appeared and she sang the apt opening line from her hit, “Illegal:”
“My name is Pink, and I’m really glad to meet you.”
“Illegal” was later performed in full during the show’s encore, and there wasn’t a single dull moment from the opening line until then.
“Stateside,” which tells the story of an intercontinental love interest, was a fitting way to start a show that took place in the middle of the tour’s North American leg. The song is one of the most popular ones off her mixtape, “Fancy That,” which was released in May and catapulted her to a new level of fame.
While “Fancy That” was heavily featured, PinkPantheress also delved into plenty of her other work.
“I Must Apologise,” from her 2021 mixtape “to hell with it,” was one of the first few songs she performed. It’s an upbeat tune, but the lyrics are from the perspective of a narrator whose relationship is strained by frequent lying.
This juxtaposition between the production and lyrics is common in PinkPantheress’ music, and some of the other songs she performed delved into
serious topics while remaining consistent with her signature lighthearted sound.
“I Must Apologise” is a good example of PinkPantheress’ EDM inspiration, as it samples Crystal Waters’ “Gypsy Woman (She’s Homeless) (La Da Dee La Da Da).”
Many of her songs similarly incorporate other music, but the sampling always sounds and feels like an earnest creative choice rather than a form of musical “stealing.”
PinkPantheress showcased one of her most clever production moments in a transition from an uncharacteristically mellow segment of Erik Satie’s 1888 piano solo “Gymnopédie No. 1” into her hit “Pain,” which samples it.
She also paid homage to other music throughout the show, like when she mixed Britney Spears’ “Toxic” into her performance of “Romeo.”
The performance had an intimate feel despite being in a mid-sized venue, mostly thanks to PinkPantheress’ ability to connect with the audience.
PinkPantheress didn’t speak much throughout the show, but she didn’t need to. Her positive energy matched the audience perfectly.
For such a popular artist, the crowd seemed surprisingly undistracted by their phones — a majority of fans were dancing, jumping around and laughing with each other.
The audience’s engagement is a testament to what PinkPantheress accomplishes in her music: She uses her talents as a singer and producer to delve into the often-unspoken challenges of life while staying true to a sonically cheerful genre. Concertgoers danced joyfully to some truly devastating lyrics, demonstrating the comforting value of her music.
Overall, “An Evening With… PinkPantheress” felt like an evening in an early 2000s London club, and PinkPantheress made the right choice in bringing her talent “Stateside” for this tour.
thomashurley2029@u.northwestern.edu
Students stay fashionable amidst dropping temperatures
By SIRI REDDY daily senior staffer
If the shorter days and cloudy skies are any indication, it’s no longer tank-top-and-shorts season in Evanston. Students across campus are breaking out their best bulky sweaters and puffy jackets, gearing up for a windy and chilly Illinois winter.
For Weinberg fourth-year graduate student Amaya Mitchell, dressing for colder temperatures hasn’t meant sacrificing style. Mitchell, a California native, said she initially thought she’d “perish” in Chicago winters — but tactful and stylish layering has kept her warm.
“Baggy’s been a thing for the past few years, and it’s great for the winter because I can layer,” Mitchell said. “You would never know if I had 10,000 layers under this.”
Amid Evanston’s harsh winters, Mitchell said her advice to other students is to include unique pieces in outfits and embrace customization. She said her favorite piece to wear in the winter is her oversized leather jacket — which originally belonged to her mom in the ’90s — because of its warmth and style. Mitchell isn’t alone in preferring secondhand clothing for winter. SESP sophomore Gracie
Shaw-Rothberg’s outfit featured two thrifted pieces: a denim jacket from Chicago’s Andersonville suburb and baggy blue jeans embroidered with purple stitching.
Shaw-Rothberg layered the jacket over a HeatTech thermal shirt, which she said she wore because of low forecasted temperatures that day. For her, layering is crucial to staying cute during the winter, especially since she said she’s not a big fan of conventional winter coats.
“I don’t like wearing big, puffy jackets, even though it gets super cold,” Shaw-Rothberg said. “I like to layer up under the jacket — wear leggings under jeans and wear a lot of shirts and sweaters.”
Weinberg freshman Christian Saleh also said he plans to layer up in cold weather this winter, as well as don beanies on colder days.
Like Mitchell, Saleh hails from California and he said he doesn’t know much about staying warm in the Midwest just yet. Nevertheless, he said he looks forward to incorporating a newly-bought pair of Timberland boots into his winter outfits this year.
In the spirit of the season, Communication sophomore Zach Cook layered a North Face puffer over a black sweater emblazoned with pumpkins. Cook said he loves sweaters because they provide the coziness and warmth required for chilly Evanston winters — hence why his closet is full of them.
As far as advice to other students, Cook said he believes cold weather and long commutes to class
Thomas Hurley/The Daily Northwestern
Illustration by Siri Reddy From sweaters to beanies and beyond, some Northwestern students are determined to stay stylish despite subzero
winter.
Student band Rain Check is taking the stage by storm
By DALTON HANNA daily senior staffer @daltonhanna06
It’s rare that a band’s second official gig is played alongside a group with almost seven million Spotify listeners, but new student band Rain Check
did just that. Rain Check formed over the summer and features six unique student musicians. Unlike the typical scenario where bands form from a group of friends, Rain Check’s members hardly knew each other as a group until they started practicing together this fall. Their connection was formed on their mutual love of music, said Medill junior Sammy Krimstein,
who sings and plays guitar.
“Music is something that brings people together,” Krimstein said. “And, even though that’s not necessarily hanging out typically, you get to know someone by being in a practice, seeing how they work, even just playing styles gives you a lens into someone. It’s been really fun getting to know all of them in that way.”
While Rain Check has only had two gigs so far, bassist and Weinberg senior Liam Powers said the band plays a mix of funk, pop and “standard band songs.” The group played both at a Family Weekend gig a few weeks ago and at a Local Mojo event on Oct. 25 with well-known indie rock duo Good Neighbours.
Guitarist and Weinberg senior Hayden Kosiara said he and Krimstein had been in various bands prior to Rain Check. Something that makes this group stand out has been the group members’ natural enthusiasm to play, they said.
“I was in another band a couple years ago that I started, and one of the most difficult things is getting people who really want to practice,” Kosiara said. “Everyone (in Rain Check) is extremely enthusiastic, and everyone really loves playing in the group, so they’re eager to do gigs (and) practice.”
Krimstein met pianist and Weinberg junior Alex Anca in Spanish class. The two started having jam sessions last year, which Kosiara eventually joined in on. The trio would play on Friday nights in Willard Hall, and by the end of the year, they decided to bring in other members to form a band over the summer.
Krimstein knew drummer and Bienen junior Calvin Simmers, who by sheer coincidence was roommates with then-prospective band member Powers. The bassist had also heard of the budding group through a Spanish class connection. With the final addition of vocalist and Weinberg senior Elsa Steen Koppell, the six members of Rain Check had assembled and were ready to jam.
“When I got led into it, I was pretty skeptical because I didn’t know anybody else besides Calvin, and it’s hard to know exactly how good people are before you’ve heard them,” Powers said. “It was nice to have our first rehearsal and be surprised (that) everyone sounds really great.”
Rain Check’s first gig was low in attendance numbers, Powers said, most likely due to an expensive $20 cover fee the venue was charging. However, the group’s sound clicked as the members had their first opportunity to lose themselves in live performance, Powers said.
The stakes amped up for Rain Check’s second gig alongside Good Neighbours, Kosiara said. But if anything, this momentum only inspired Rain Check to work even harder to perfect their sound before performing.
“Pressure makes diamonds. Having the pressure of gigs motivates, at least me, to practice more and do rehearsals over and over,” Kosiara said. “It only took us maybe two rehearsals to get settled, and so I think we’re ready to really begin.”
d.hanna@dailynorthwestern.com
‘If The Earth Were Flat’ navigates identity, belonging themes
By ELIZA MARTIN
For its first show of the year, Vertigo Productions premiered the student-written play “If The Earth Were Flat” on Friday and Saturday at Shanley Pavilion.
Vertigo is the only theater group on campus fully dedicated to producing original student work; its fall show attracts new students to join for the winter and spring seasons.
“If The Earth Were Flat,” written by Communication junior Eliza Huang, centers around a couple who imagines exploring the edge of a flat Earth. The play reflects Huang’s experience as an international student.
“Coming here, there’s so many new things and there’s all these shows happening, and I don’t know what I should do,” Huang said.
The couple in the play, Ashley and Tony, attempts to settle down after years of traveling. Ashley proposes they role-play as explorers navigating the edge of a “flat Earth” to cope with her increasing discomfort in their new home — similar to something Huang said they did in their first months at NU.
The actors playing Ashley and Tony spend much of the show in silence, reacting as two other actors deliver lines as their role-play characters.
“It was interesting to see those choices manifest, nonverbally on stage, or even when we were watching a
castmate act out our crazy play fantasies,” said Communication senior Orville Amankwah, who played Ashley.
The “play fantasies” ranged from a man throwing objects off the edge of the Earth to a butcher and his beloved pet cow to a character tossing rice into the crowd.
These extreme role-play characters served a purpose, said show director and Communication junior Felix Gaddie.
“I was like, ‘Let’s have these two role-play characters be really farcical,’” Gaddie said. “That helps us kind of get to the beat of truth, which is that sometimes it’s really painful and uncomfortable, but I think we all kind of find our home at Northwestern, it’s just a different experience for all of us.”
Cast and crew members said they had found home in this production, including Communication sophomore Finn Callander, who played Tony.
Callander said he particularly prized the moments getting into character with his castmates during the final week of rehearsal. He said their connections improved a play that already left much room for experimentation.
“If this was Shakespeare, people would have expectations for what Shakespeare’s gonna be. But people came into this with no expectations,” Callander said. “And we got to meet them where they were.”
elizamartin2029@u.northwestern.edu
Playboi Carti brings ‘Antagonist’ energy to United Center
By DARIUS DAUGHTRY
Nothing makes sense with Playboi Carti. Ever since he burst onto the scene in 2017, he’s been at the cutting edge of hip-hop, pioneering sounds that would soon become staples of the genre, even when many didn’t understand or appreciate them.
Carti became perhaps the quintessential rapper of the 2020s despite mostly lying dormant. After his beloved “Whole Lotta Red” and its corresponding tour ruled 2021, his “aura” — a term for which he’s become the poster boy — not only kept him afloat, but also helped his popularity grow while fans waited for his next drop.
Carti visited the United Center on Thursday for his “Antagonist Tour,” which was finally underway this month — two-and-a-half years
after it was originally announced. The show featured a slew of openers: ApolloRed1 and Carti’s Opium labelmates Homixide Gang, Destroy Lonely and Ken Carson. Their performances gave the audience a taste of what was to come stylistically.
The last moment of normalcy on Thursday came as the lights went out before Carti’s set, as the packed arena of almost exclusively teenagers and young adults wearing all black chanted Carti’s name.
From there, chaos ensued.
Pyrotechnics and flashing lights pulsed as the screeching instrumental of “POP OUT” boomed through the speakers and Carti let out a signature screech of his own. The track served as an ideal tone-setter, just as it does on his most recent album, “MUSIC.”
The fans, especially those in the general admission section on the floor of the arena, came ready to rage. There were moshpits galore, and the audience’s resounding recitation of Carti’s repetitive lyrics — like during “Stop Breathing,” a highlight of the show — made for an electrifying atmosphere.
However, it must be said that Playboi Carti was not a perfect performer. He didn’t rap many of the lyrics to his songs, mostly throwing in a few “SEEYUH” adlibs while the backing track did most of the work. He also didn’t move much, and most of the space on the balcony stage was occupied by his not-so-hype men who didn’t add anything meaningful to the show. But none of that mattered — because nothing makes sense with Playboi Carti.
Many of the beats on Carti’s songs are already
robust. However, the added overlays of electric guitar and boosted bass that thundered through the arena created a sonic experience that undeniably dwarfs the studio versions of every track. There were some surprising omissions, however. Most notably: “RATHER LIE” with The Weeknd, the most successful song on “MUSIC,” “wokeuplikethis*,” featuring Lil Uzi Vert, and “Magnolia,” one of his most popular songs to date. Though he normally doesn’t, Carti did perform the Billboard #1 hit “CARNIVAL” by Kanye West, which he is featured on. Carti said that West, a Chicago native, “changed (his) life.” Despite the holes in the setlist and his shortcomings as a traditional performer, Carti engaged more directly with his fans toward the end of his set. He walked down the steps of the stage and through the crowd as he performed the airy “Long Time – Intro,” from his debut album “Die Lit.” The lyrics “Just to feel like this it took a long time,” hit a little harder as he dapped up fans in general admission who clamored around the pickup truck hood he stood on. Carti continued to work his way through the crowd in a U-shape for the final five songs of his set before standing atop another pickup truck and finishing his set with the melancholic unreleased track “24 Songs.”
It seemed fitting for Carti to end the show standing with his fans. He’s not a master of performance, but rather a ringleader of chaos. A Playboi Carti concert isn’t about precision or polish, but audiences don’t care. Whether it makes sense or not, it is a sight to behold. dariusdaughtry2027@u.northwestern.edu
northwestern
Photo courtesy of Gary Krimstein
Rain Check has performed two gigs in Fall Quarter so far, one at a Family Weekend event and the other for Local Mojo’s Good Neighbours concert.
Darius Daughtry/The Daily Northwestern
Playboi Carti daps up fans near the end of his set at United Center.
Photo courtesy of Dagmar Rothschild
The role-playing characters debate whether or not to jump off the end of the Earth.
At Hilbert’s Hotel, there’s always room for trivia
By LAUREN KEE daily senior staffer @laurenhykee
For the past year and a half, Weinberg senior Justin Dynes — or one of his friends — has arrived at Bob’s Pizza at 6 p.m. sharp every Tuesday, ready to snag a table two hours ahead of the now-closed restaurant’s weekly trivia game.
At the end of the night, chances are that players will hear the host announce their team, Hilbert’s Hotel, as one of the top scorers. Just this quarter, the team has come first twice, third twice and fifth three times.
Hilbert’s Hotel began when a group of six Northwestern students, most of whom were rising upperclassmen in the Integrated Science Program at the time, got together for Tuesday night trivia in June 2024. What started as a casual evening hangout turned into a third place finish.
The $10 gift card they received was enough to bring them back week after week as the group stayed in the Chicago area for the summer. By the time the school year started, they “couldn’t live without it,” Dynes said. Since then, they’ve played more than 60 rounds of trivia hosted by Go 4 It Entertainment at Bob’s, Dynes said, skipping only a few weeks because of University breaks. Even after the restaurant closed last month, they’ve followed the trivia to Prairie Moon, with no plans of stopping any time soon.
History of Hilbert’s Hotel
Hilbert’s Hotel’s team name was born out of a conversation about mathematical paradoxes while the group was gearing up for their first game.
“We’re all really big STEM nerds, and we were trying to come up with names. And for some reason, their minds were going towards math ideas, thought experiments and paradoxes,” Dynes said. “The fun part is it’s alliterative, it’s fun to say and it rings off the tongue.”
Hilbert’s paradox of the Grand Hotel is a thought experiment that shows how a fully occupied hotel with infinitely many rooms may still accommodate additional guests.
While the group has grown to include nine regular members, they’ve applied the paradox’s philosophy to welcoming mutual friends as guests with Hilbert’s Hotel.
“We’re very open minded to anybody here,” Dynes said. “There’s always room at Hilbert’s Hotel.”
For members of Hilbert’s Hotel, Tuesday nights are off-limits for anything but trivia.
McCormick senior Arjun Farsaiya said being at trivia is a given, unless he’s physically out of town.
“People will ask for things on Tuesday night,” he said. “And I’m like, ‘Nope, that’s trivia night.’ It’s rarely ever a question of, ‘Am I going to be at trivia?’”
McCormick senior Lucia McConnell said playing trivia every week has helped ISP students in the group form tighter bonds and stay connected even as they’re taking fewer classes together this year.
McConnell said trivia is a designated time for her to socialize with friends in a non-academic setting. She hopes younger students in ISP see that the upperclassmen have balanced lives despite being in tough majors where it’s easy to sequester themselves, she said.
“In ISP specifically, people can have a habit of relishing in the program being hard and we spend so much time doing our problem sets and studying,” McConnell said. “I don’t think it’s productive. It’s good for the younger kids in the program to know that we are close, and the things that we talk about and connect on are not just classwork.”
Even though some members in the group are no longer in ISP or have graduated, they still return to trivia every week.
Jacob Cox (McCormick ’25), a founding member of Hilbert’s Hotel, takes an hourlong roundtrip on the Purple Line train from his home in Chicago to Evanston every week for trivia.
“It’s no lie that I’m not very good at trivia, so I mostly come back to hang out with the amazing members of the team,” Cox said. No matter how competitive a round of trivia might
get, Hilbert’s Hotel knows how to have fun.
During the music round, when teams have to guess a song’s name and artist based on a short clip, Hilbert’s Hotel members will put Cox’s name if they’re blanking on the answer. They even had a competitive water drinking stint where they would try to see how many pitchers they could finish in an evening, which the Bob’s staff put an end to after they stopped giving them refills, Dynes said.
When Dynes first started playing trivia with the team, he would be distraught if something went awry and caused them to place poorly, he said. But this year, his mindset has changed.
“Nowadays, I actually just like the vibes,” Dynes said. “I’ve been having a lot of fun just hanging out with people, and I think that’s mattered more to me recently.”
Unleashing their competitive spirit
As trivia regulars, Hilbert’s Hotel is a well-oiled machine. Members of the group have their distinct roles, Dynes said.
Before every game, Cox writes down the team’s name on each of the answer sheets. During trivia, Dynes is the go-to for literature, movies and pop culture references. Farsaiya is the geography whiz and team scribe who writes down the answers. Weinberg senior Simon Kissel then runs up to the host to hand in their answer sheet.
During the tossup question, which requires teams to estimate a random statistic after a round, McConnell and McCormick senior Isaac Cross will offer a “prophecy number” as the team’s applied math students. They make up a random number before the
host even announces the prompt, which has led them to win the round on occasion by being the closest to the actual statistic, McConnell said.
The team’s stellar performance at Bob’s has qualified the group for Go 4 It Entertainment’s trivia finals two years in a row. After becoming one of the highest scoring teams at Bob’s during the six-week summer trivia playoffs, Hilbert’s Hotel was invited to play against teams from other locations.
The first-place team won a $1,000 cash prize, and Hilbert’s Hotel sent four representatives to face its competition in Aurora, Ill, this year. Despite the pressure, the team performed well before faltering on the final question, Dynes said.
“We got the final question wrong, which brought us down,” Dynes said. “But if we had gotten it right, we would have been, I think, second. So it was a very tough loss — a lot of head-sulking that day, but still really fun.”
Beyond Bob’s
Hilbert’s Hotel found out that Bob’s was shutting its doors when a member sent a Reddit post with the news to its group chat.
Farsaiya said he was in disbelief and in denial, but reality set in when another member shared an article announcing the news.
Hilbert’s Hotel wasted no time in taking its talents to Prairie Moon, where trivia with Go 4 It Entertainment lives on.
While Dynes is excited about a larger menu with more variety at the restaurant, he said Prairie Moon doesn’t have as many shareable food options for the group. He added that the new environment will take some getting used to.
“It’s definitely weird going to somewhere new after a year and a half of the same place,” Dynes said. “Being in a basement with very low lighting definitely didn’t feel bad or good. It just felt weird, a little bit.”
All nine members attended the last night of trivia at Bob’s. Hilbert’s Hotel came in third place, ending its run at Bob’s with the same podium spot it had at the team’s first game together.
Members reflected on their run at Bob’s over a smoked chicken sausage pizza — the pie they most reliably order as a group, especially if they’ve won a gift card from a win in the week prior.
“It may be the death of Bob’s Pizza,” Dynes said. “But it’s not the death of Hilbert’s Hotel.” laurenkee2028@u.northwestern.edu
Lauren Kee/The Daily Northwestern
All nine members attended the last night of trivia at Bob’s Pizza. Hilbert’s Hotel came in third place, ending its run at Bob’s with the same podium spot it had at the team’s first game together.
Stories to empower our community
This fall, Evanston has seen an unprecedented amount of federal immigration enforcement. Simultane- ously, the city has seen its community come together to protest enforcement activity and provide aid and resources to Inneighbors. the last two months, so many reporters — including those who just moved to Evanston in September — have contributed to our coverage. I could not be more proud of the work
we’ve done so far. This special issue is part of that reporting and aims to go a step fur- ther than our traditional coverage. In forming the idea for our Know Your Rights issue, my goal was to provide our entire community — in the city and on campus — with legal and com- munity resources available to them. The issue includes guidance for what to do if there’s federal immigration activity on campus and how to best
document incidents you see. There are stories of local school communities coming together after federal immigration enforcement incidents just feet away from classrooms meant forInlearning. a time when no one knows what could happen next, this issue is meant to serve as a tool for those who need it and a reminder that you are not alone.
—
Anavi Prakash, City Editor
What do you do if you are approached by an ICE agent?
Espinoza subdivided his recommendations based on individuals’ legal status in the U.S. or lack thereof. He recommended that individuals without legal status exercise their constitutional right to remain silent, no ma er the circumstance.
“ e more information you’re providing to them, you’re giving them more ammunition to create a case against you,” Espinoza said. He made the distinction that individuals are not given a court-appointed a orney in immigration court. Instead, they should have a plan to talk to an a orney when transferred to a detention facility.
For those who have legal status, Espinoza said to immediately identify yourself as a legal permanent resident or a U.S. citizen. By law, U.S. permanent residents must carry their Permanent Resident Cards, or Green Cards, with them at all times, lest they be charged with a ne, which happened this month in Chicago.
In contrast, citizens by birth or naturalization are not required to carry their documents — including birth certi cates, certi cates of naturalization or passports — with them.
“By law, it’s not needed,” Espinoza said. “If it makes you feel more safe, be my guest.”
What if you are handed a warrant?
Espinoza also emphasized the difference between an administrative and judicial warrant. Administrative warrants are issued by ICE, while a judicial warrant is an o cial court order signed by a judge that gives o cers the right to enter private property, whether that be a business or a home. A judicial warrant is more di cult to obtain.
“Your house is your sanctuary,” Espinoza said. “It’s private property. If you’re a business owner, business is your sanctuary. You decide who comes in and who comes out.”
ICE has a empted to use administrative warrants to enter private spaces, Espinoza said, so it is critical that the individual asks to see the warrant to verify that it has a judge’s signature. He stressed that residents should ask agents to slide the warrant under the door or show it through a window. If the agents don’t have a judicial warrant, they can legally be denied access to the property.
What if you’re a bystander during an arrest?
Espinoza emphasized that community members
should record immigration operations so that lawyers can determine exactly what occurred during the arrest and identify potential violations commi ed by immigration o cers.
Multiple speakers stressed the importance of recording horizontally to capture as much of the scene as possible, as well as focusing on whether the o cers are masked and have a warrant.
“Remain calm because eventually, when this all comes out (or) where there’s a change of administration, there’s going to be some lawsuits perhaps because we are gathering evidence that is showing that some individuals are violating constitutional rights,” Espinoza said.
It can also be helpful to ask the individual facing arrest their name, age and country of origin while recording. ese identi ers can help loved ones and lawyers track people within the immigration system, Espinoza said. He added that this is especially important because people can be moved to di erent detention centers within a short amount of time.
Evanston resident and Evanston/Skokie School District 65 social worker Allie Harned also advised against posting videos on social media, as that could endanger other family members and be “retraumatizing” to the immigrant community.
Instead, she advised emailing the video to different immigrant rights and legal organizations so lawyers can use the information to communicate with the family and build a case. Such emails should also include the location, time and date of the incident, she said.
What if your family is worried about separation?
Emma Soglin, an immigration-focused legal fellow at the Moran Center, advised families to have a wri en safety plan in place and kept in a safe, secure and accessible location.
She also recommended families with children under the age of 18 ll out an Illinois temporary guardianship form. Neither document requires an a orney to complete.
Soglin’s template family plan begins with choosing an emergency contact, which she said should be someone “who is a entive (and) is likely to pick up their cell phone at any hour of the morning, day or night.” She recommended families have their children memorize their emergency contact’s phone number.
en, she recommended families nd a temporary guardian — a di erent person from the emergency contact — who would be in charge of making day-to-day decisions about the child’s care and well-being. e temporary guardian must ful ll criteria, including being an adult living in Illinois, consenting to the guardianship and preferably
having legal immigration status.
“It should be someone that the family trusts, and ideally, someone that has a relationship with the child,” Soglin said.
Soglin suggested that families should compile key information, including identi cation and medical, nancial and property records. Copies of that information should be shared with an emergency contact and the temporary guardian, she added. Soglin recommended that families keep the originals in a secure location and keep copies accessible, as well as have copies available on their phones.
Although the Moran Center o ers temporary guardianship forms in English and Spanish, only forms in English are legally binding in Illinois, according to Soglin. She added that they must be renewed annually a er the triggering event — like a parent’s detention — and should be led with the child’s schools.
What if you want to be more involved in community support?
Towards the end of the meeting, several community members asked about ways to get more involved with immigrant support services and volunteering groups, including organizations like Sanctuary Evanston and Latino Union.
Espinoza cautioned that even if volunteers are acting within the law, there is always risk involved. Federal enforcement can arrest citizens and legal permanent residents who obstruct immigration operations. Referencing a recent ICE operation in Chicago where two U.S. citizens were detained, Espinoza noted that citizens can also be impacted by the immigration crackdown.
“If you think that this is something that is only impacting immigrants, you’re wrong,” Espinoza said. “ is is impacting the entire community, whether you’re an immigrant or not, whether you’re documented or not.”
Besides reporting ICE activity, some speakers pointed out that community members can donate to pro-immigrant organizations that are in need of nancial support or contribute to mutual aid e orts. roughout the night, there was acknowledgement of the potential risks for legal residents, but speakers also reinforced the value of a strong and connected community.
“Not everyone is at the same risk, and even the ones that are doing the right thing and acting within the boundaries of the law, we are all at risk,” Espinoza said. “But again, if we don’t do it, who is going to do it? It’s quite important that we remember that.”
By REGAN HUIZENGA and TIA BETHKE daily senior staffers @reganmichele215 / @bethketia
e Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights has a rapid response network for alerting community members about federal immigration enforcement activity around the state.
ICIRR was created in 1986 as a response to increased border control, signed into law by President
Ronald Reagan. Since then, the coalition has been commi ed to protecting immigrant and refugee communities’ rights to equal participation in society, according to its website.
ICIRR operates the Illinois “Eyes on ICE” Text Network, an alert system to notify community members of federal immigration agent sightings and activity near their area.
Community members can report sightings or activity by calling ICIRR’s hotline at 855-435-7693.
e hotline can also connect callers with legal providers and other resources and information.
A er federal immigration activity is reported, the coalition’s a liated rapid response teams are sent out to verify it. According to ICIRR’s website, only activity veri ed by the rapid response teams is sent out in an alert. Noti cations are issued as soon as possible, but only if the information is recent enough to be helpful and relevant to local communities.
e coalition is unable to send veri cations for every ICE sighting, according to its website.
e Illinois “Eyes on ICE” Text Network also sends tips and reminders for keeping oneself and neighbors safe, as well as continuous updates with information for individuals to know their rights.
Federal immigration enforcement activity o en unfolds quickly, with community members among the rst on the scene.
For community members responding to federal agent activity, ICIRR has tips on recording ICE and other federal agents to ensure safety and provide evidence that gives the clearest picture of what happened.
e Daily has compiled this list, along with other information, to share how to e ectively record federal immigration enforcement activity.
Know your right to record
e right to record and photograph public servants, such as federal agents and police o cers, in public spaces is protected under the right to free speech in the First Amendment. On private property, the owner may set rules related to photography or video.
Federal agents cannot force you to unlock your device to show them or delete the footage without a warrant, unless it is an immediate emergency situation.
Know your rights on campus
By GEORGE KOUTROUVELIS and THOMAS HURLEY the daily northwestern
e Trump administration rescinded policies that prohibited federal immigration o cers from conducting enforcement actions in places deemed protected areas, such as schools, churches and hospitals, on Jan. 20, the rst day of Trump’s second term. In recent weeks, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other federal immigration agencies have increased their presence in the Evanston area, and multiple community members have been arrested. In response, community leaders have organized protests and community activism events throughout the city.
Still, no reports of federal immigration agents on campus have been con rmed by e Daily. With the help of immigration a orneys, e Daily answered some questions to help students be er understand how to navigate the increase in federal agent activity in Evanston.
What parts of campus do federal agents have access to?
Alen Takhsh, an a orney with Takhsh Law in Evanston, said that federal agents may not enter private buildings, including dorms or other buildings only accessible by Wildcards, without a warrant signed by a judge.
However, federal agents may be present in or around campus for reasons unrelated to enforcement actions, such as reviewing visa records of international students, faculty and sta , according to the Presidents’ Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration. Such actions are legal under federal law and do not require a warrant.
Federal agents are also allowed to access any part of campus that is open to the public, including outdoor spaces.
What should a student do if they are detained by ICE?
Takhsh said he has been ge ing calls from individuals who were recently arrested for allegedly disrupting the duties of o cers near ICE’s processing facility in Broadview. He said that most importantly, individuals need to remain calm and understand their Fi h Amendment right to remain silent.
Stay back
While it is legal to record federal immigration activity, it is illegal to physically interfere with federal agents and their operations. e ICIRR advised that when recording, the individual should stay at least an arm’s length away from o cers. e coalition also advised civilian observers to keep recording and step back if an agent tells them to.
Capture details
e ICIRR advises the individual to lm horizontally to capture as much of the scene as possible. e coalition also recommends focusing on lming the actions of the agents, rather than the surroundings, for clearer footage.
e ICIRR also said it is important to capture as many details from the scene as possible — it is helpful to narrate what is happening in the video.
In its “Know Your Rights” slideshow, the coalition encouraged observers to document the number of agents, names of agents, if the agents carried weapons and if they used them.
Protect the people you film
e ICIRR directed people to refrain from posting any footage of individuals being taken without permission from the detained person, their family or the Family Support Network hotline. e ICIRR also encouraged people with footage to call and talk to an operator at their FSN hotline — 855-435-7693 — about sharing footage so the organization can pass it on to their network of lawyers.
Share footage responsibly
Individuals who have properly recorded ICE or federal interactions have options for what to do with the footage. e ICIRR advised that it should be sent to the coalition before sharing it publicly.
“ ey can tell the (U.S. Customs and Border Protection) or ICE o cer that they would like to speak with their lawyer,” Takhsh said. “Essentially, those are the only words that should come out of their mouth. If they would like to press the issue, they can ask whether they are under arrest. If the o cer says no, they can ask whether they are free to leave. But I err on the side of advising people to remain silent, because any and all information you provide to them can be used against you in the future.”
In an email to e Daily, a University spokesperson suggested calling Northwestern Police at (847) 491-3456 and describing the situation to the dispatcher, who can notify University o cials.
“If you or a University community member you know is engaged by a federal immigration o cer on or o campus, remain calm and do not interfere,” the spokesperson wrote.
What can bystanders do?
Christopher Valentino, an a orney with Freedom Immigration, said that lming federal activity in public is allowed, as long as it doesn’t physically impede or interfere with agents’ duties.
“It’s never advisable for members of the public — civilians — to interfere with o cial duties,” Valentino said. “Whether you agree with them or not, it’s irrelevant. at’s why you record it and you can assist (the person being detained) if they’re being discriminated against, abused or otherwise having their rights violated — but never, ever involve yourself within the interaction. It will only lead to worse problems for both the person you’re trying to help and yourself.”
He added that the government may want a video to be lmed if the individual being detained commits some unlawful act during the detention, and the individual may want it to help prosecute an agent who used excessive force in the detention.
What resources do students have?
For more information, the Illinois O ce of the A orney General and National Immigration Law Center have released guides for rights related to immigration enforcement.
Additionally, the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights has lists of organizations that may be helpful, including some that provide assistance with immigration and citizenship for li le to no price.
Illustration by Sophie Gardiner ICE activity is verified by ICIRR a iliated rapid response teams before alerts are sent.
Families grapple with children’s ICE exposure
By SIDDARTH SIVARAMAN daily senior staffer @sidvaraman
For millions of families across America, weekend mornings start with a familiar ritual: taking the kids to soccer games.
For Walker Elementary School parent Matt Deutschman (Medill ’08), this also means coaching Wild re, his son’s under-10 recreational soccer team. Sports allow him to bond with his children through something they can enjoy together, he said.
“As a community, we need to come together and li one another up so that we can help raise up the next generation,” he said. “It’s all about having fun. You have fun with the kids, and they learn more life lessons than athletic lessons.”
His family’s usual Sunday morning routine was interrupted on Oct. 12 when Immigration and Customs Enforcement o cers were spo ed at the Home Depot on Oakton Street, across from James Park. Wildre was supposed to play there later that day, Walker parent Deanna Deutschman said.
About an hour before kicko , the Evanston division of the American Youth Soccer Organization emailed families of those scheduled to play at James Park and said that the day’s games were cancelled.
“ is is a tough decision for us, but we, as a board, do not want to jeopardize the safety of our community in any way at the expense of playing a soccer game,” the board wrote in the email.
Evanston AYSO Regional Commissioner Clark Alexander declined to comment for this story, citing the nonpro t’s legal obligation to remain apolitical.
Deanna Deutschman said she understood that Evanston AYSO didn’t want children to witness ICE activity. All the same, she found it di cult to explain to her son why his soccer game was canceled. It was “challenging and delicate” to scale the issue down to his level without sugarcoating the real world, she said.
Since then, federal immigration agents have operated near schools in Evanston/Skokie School District 65 and other community spaces that young families frequent — at a street corner next to Dawes Elementary School on Oct. 21, blocks from Willard Elementary School’s playground on Oct. 29 and notably, a confrontation one block from Chute Middle School on Halloween, where Border Patrol agents arrested three U.S. citizens.
Young families across Evanston have said they are struggling to gure out how to have conversations about such incidents with their own children. e increased anxiety has spurred fervent action, as several school communities have developed strategies to protect their most vulnerable members.
Team under-Sharky coach and Washington Elementary School parent Josh Culley-Foster paced the sideline for his team’s last game of the fall season Sunday, encouraging his side onward as the young
players jostled on the pitch. Culley-Foster treated the winners to an end-of-season banquet a er full time, featuring Li le Caesars for the players and a cooler of High Noons for the parents.
Heaping praise on his team, Culley-Foster had li le reason to use the brass coach’s whistle dangling from his neck.
“But, you know, whistles are very versatile these days,” he said.
Culley-Foster helped dra Washington’s Wolfpack program, a walking school bus sta ed by volunteer parents who accompany children to and from school if their parents don’t feel safe walking them. e Wolfpack is one of several similar programs started by parents at local schools in recent weeks.
Parents started planning the program a er the Department of Homeland Security arrested an individual Sept. 10. An abnormally high number of Washington students stayed home from school that day, Culley-Foster said.
Evanston Latinos Executive Director Ricardo Villalobos said some of his organization’s partners are collaborating with District 65 schools to create safety protocols that address immigration enforcement activity. Some schools are open to Villalobos’ partners working inside school grounds, he said. Others are more hesitant to maintain direct ties, instead le ing organizations partner with uno cial parent patrols.
“ ere shouldn’t be a variety (of reactions). is is a human rights issue,” he said. “We all have to stand up equally.”
In recent weeks, District 65 Superintendent Angel Turner has reiterated the district’s Safe Haven Schools policy multiple times. e district does not ask students or parents to disclose their immigration status, according to the 2017 policy.
e policy also prevents the district from collaborating with federal immigration authorities unless compelled by federal, state or local law. e district will also ensure that no one is detained on campus without a criminal warrant, and it will prevent on-campus searches based on immigration status alone, according to the policy.
District 65 schools moved recess indoors on Halloween, Turner wrote in an email to parents, shortly before the confrontation near Chute. She added that there has not been ICE presence on District 65 school grounds, but recent activity near several schools has led to heightened concerns in the district community.
“Our schools are and will remain safe and welcoming spaces for all, regardless of immigration status,” Turner wrote.
e increased federal immigration activity coincides with District 65’s controversial plan to close schools and consolidate programs. Washington and Dawes were at risk when the board considered closing three schools, and Willard’s Two-Way Immersion strand would close under every scenario recommended by district administration.
Willard TWI parent Bevin Seifert said she thought
closing programs used by Spanish-speaking students or schools with signi cant Hispanic populations would send a “horrible” message. e board ipped to considering two school closures on Oct. 27, under which Kingsley Elementary School and either Willard or Lincolnwood Elementary School would close.
“It’s just awful that the Dawes community, the Washington community and our TWI community (were) all in this position when there’s already an assault on our Hispanic community,” Seifert said.
Villalobos emphasized that immigration raids across Chicago are not new for the Latino community, referencing his own experience as a child. Raids in the 1980s and ’90s made him question his identity as a young Latino man, he said.
Young people now have access to potentially traumatizing videos of immigration enforcement through social media, creating multigenerational fear, Villalobos said.
“Before, most of the time, it was just the parents worrying about it, and now you’ve got whole households who are freaking out,” he said. “You’ve got kids who are traumatized … and this feeling of isolation is, I think, what we’re most worried about.”
at isolation is extremely di cult to repair, he said, so Evanston Latinos is working to help vulnerable families cover expenses and establish safe spaces.
Still, the nonpro t largely has to organize quietly because of the risks associated with being visible and Latino. Some individuals decide to stay home from work or school because it’s what is best for them, he said. If they do, Evanston Latinos aims to help them meet their needs.
Villalobos emphasized that federal immigration activity increasingly infringes on previously safe spaces, forcing vulnerable families to think twice before a ending public events, going to the park with friends and more.
“I can’t guarantee that if I send my kid to a basketball game at the local park district, that it’s going to be a safe space for him because we haven’t organized with them,” he said. “It’s that level of detail that we are trying
to organize so that we can let families know, when you go here, we’ve got folks watching.”
A Chute parent, who requested anonymity because of his work with the school’s parent patrol, said he joined the group to protect his child and their friends.
Children are being “terrorized” by immigration enforcement who don’t “give a damn” about the local community or its children, he said.
“When I patrol during recess, I can hear the kids. ey’re all playing ‘Run from ICE’ games,” he said. “ ey’re trying to nd a way to deal with this trauma through play. It’s obscene.”
An Oakton Elementary School parent, who requested to remain anonymous because of her Mexican identity, said she has a ended youth soccer games with her extended family for almost her entire life. She hasn’t thought twice about going to soccer games, adding that she felt safe enough to not need a parent transport group for her child to a end school. However, legal status doesn’t seem to ma er to federal immigration agents in encounters with people who look like them, she said.
Even though she tries to explain it, she said her children don’t understand why people are picked up and taken away solely for their appearance. Still, her children’s sense of normalcy is gone now, she said.
“I really hope they don’t think this is normal,” she said. “Because they shouldn’t.”
At Team under-Sharky’s nal feast, Culley-Foster encouraged his players to continue kicking a ball through the winter months — before amending his statement to exclude any areas of the house that their parents deemed o -limits.
Culley-Foster emphasized that the more stress he has felt in the community, the more he has seen people advocate for each other.
“It feels like people are ready to ght for things they believe in and are loving the opportunities they get to be active members in the community,” he said. “ is is galvanizing people in an electric sort of way.”
s.sivaraman@dailynorthwestern.com
Evanston businesses stand up to ICE enforcement
By YONG-YU HUANG daily senior staffer @yong_yuhuang
When an Evanston restaurant owner rst heard about Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents coming to the Chicago area, she hoped to provide reassurance for her employees. She printed out posters — downloaded pages outlining people’s rights and how to respond to federal agents — to hang in the kitchen and put up signs prohibiting entrance into private areas.
“In the beginning, I was naive enough to think like this was actually going to help protect them,” said the owner, who requested anonymity for fear of pu ing her business and employees at risk.
As reports of escalation spread, containing details of federal agents acting without warrants and people being detained based on their appearance, she began to realize that her preparation wasn’t enough.
With increased ICE activity in Evanston and surrounding areas, city residents have mobilized in various ways to support vulnerable community members.
In October, City Council adopted a resolution prohibiting the use of city property in federal civil immigration operations. e resolution also calls for city sta to print and disseminate signage to mark areas of private property as o -limits to civil immigration enforcement activities.
Now that Evanston has declared itself an ‘ICE-free zone,’ local businesses are deciding how to respond — and what support looks like.
For Valerie Kahan, founder of Art Makers Outpost, visible solidarity is only one part of a broader push to prepare businesses and residents alike for potential immigration crackdowns.
Kahan recently hosted a WhistleMania workshop, where volunteers assembled whistle kits with information about how to respond to federal immigration agent sightings.
“I’m certainly encouraging every business, especially restaurants, right now to do a KYR (Know Your Rights) o cial training for their entire sta to ensure that they
do have a plan,” Kahan said.
Kahan also organized a video featuring local business and faith leaders speaking out against ICE activity. More than two dozen people from local businesses, non-pro ts and faith communities convened in James Park last Tuesday morning to participate.
Evanston’s European Wax Center has a sign on its door that reads “No Kings. No ICE. No fear. Immigrants are welcome here.”
“We do have a few guests that come from an immigrant background, and they do feel safe to know that we do have that poster there,” Melissa Dominguez, the center’s sales director, said.
According to Dominguez, the center’s employees have taken notes from customers and other businesses on how to keep both employees and customers safe. A customer recently came in and gave the store a whistle, Dominguez said, and the business is utilizing a “buddy system” for its employees to make sure they don’t leave the center alone.
About two weeks ago, the wife of a former dishwasher at the aforementioned local restaurant was taken by ICE from a Chicago laundromat, according to the anonymous owner.
e owner also voiced concern about whether hanging signs in their establishment’s windows would draw unwanted a ention from federal law enforcement.
“Are we drawing a ention? Are ICE going to drive by in Evanston and say, ‘Let’s start targeting them. ey have immigrants. eir kitchen’s full of people that may be undocumented?’” she said. “So it’s walking that ne line of saying, ‘I want to be here in support, but I’m not going to make a statement because I’m not going to use my name.”
Local businesses have begun using Signal, a secure messaging platform, to keep each other in the loop about ICE sightings in the area, she said.
Every time there’s an update in the Signal group, the restaurant owner shares the update with her employees. She has also established a system where more vulnerable employees are paired with coworkers to coordinate errands, school pick-ups and other daily needs, she added.
“We cannot be silent,” the owner said. “It’s not fear of repercussions for myself. It’s fear of repercussions for my people… I’m not gonna live in fear in that capacity for myself, but I do live in fear that I don’t want my actions to call a ention to them and cause a raid.”
Not all businesses have been directly a ected by ICE operations, but anxiety is widespread even for those that remain untouched.
One business owner, who also asked not to be named out of fear of drawing a ention to his community, said other Evanston business owners they know have seen signi cant impacts — especially those in the food service industry.
According to him, the losses have forced some business owners to focus their a ention on lling sta ng gaps in the kitchen.
He explained that although the city’s customer base has largely remained insulated from ICE activity, many workers are more vulnerable. He added that many vulnerable Evanston employees are based in surrounding municipalities, making it di cult for them “to come and go peacefully without thinking about the route.”
He also noted that given Evanston’s demographics of mostly students and older residents, it is more di cult to nd workers than in other cities.
A-1 Tailor owner Luis Puma said two of his employees are anxious and on high alert, despite having work permits. One of them constantly watches the door when customers enter, he said.
“If I lose one of those employees, it’s going to be tough for me to keep in business,” Puma said.
A neighbor o ered Puma a sign that reads, “Federal agents do not have consent to enter.” He said he agreed to put it up because ICE is looking for “(his) color, (his) skin.”
He added that recent immigration enforcement activity may a ect larger businesses too, since many people who have been detained and deported play a role in the economy.
“I’m thinking not only about small business, but also big business,” Puma said. “Most of those people have loans… they have houses… and banks, of course, are involved in this problem.”
Kelly Mack, the owner of Mack’s Bikes and Goods, said she hasn’t seen the metal scrappers who usually come by for spare parts lately. Her store provides Know Your Rights cards at the register, as well as stickers with the SALUTE acronym in both English and Spanish, according to Mack, as well as signage on the front door. She’s received mixed reactions from some customers about these decisions.
“We’re open to having conversations with everybody and just welcoming that dialogue, but remaining rm on what’s happening right now is wrong,” she said. For other businesses, the emphasis has been on providing exibility to their customers where they can.
Link Physical erapy is trying to help “people feel safe at home” by o ering virtual appointments and being as exible as possible, according to owner Dr. Suzanne Badillo.
“We come from immigrants as well, and we feel like we’re at risk. And so we see our family a ected. We see our community members a ected, our neighbors,” Badillo said. “A lot of our patients come, live and work in the community, and they come in with a lot of stress, a lot of fear.”
Badillo said she has discussed response plans both with her employees and her family in the event of an escalated encounter with federal agents.
With anksgiving around the corner, the restaurant owner recently heard one of her employees express anxiety about shopping for holiday groceries. She said this is where she can step in to help.
Similar small acts of support have become methods for managing uncertainty.
For Dominguez, the fear is personal, too. She said she now carries her passport with her, along with her children’s birth certi cates and IDs. ese precautions have become part of her daily routine.
“It’s just kind of always walking out the door just saying, ‘Okay, we’re gonna just take this one day at a time,’” Dominguez said. “It’s a scary time right now… just about hoping this all goes away, but taking it day by day.”
Siddarth Sivaraman/The Daily Northwestern
In between shouts of encouragement, Evanston parents spoke about their worries for their children’s safety.
List: Resources for undocumented communities
By XUAN DAY TRAN and SAMI MCKENNEY the daily northwestern
As federal immigration enforcement in Evanston has increased since September, Northwestern students and staff are confronted with the detainments of their neighbors.
On Friday, ve Mexican immigrants who the Department of Homeland Security said lacked permanent status were arrested in Evanston, a DHS spokesperson wrote in an email to e Daily. As immigration enforcement raids increase around the country, many are left to grapple with anxiety. The Daily compiled a list of resources that community members can turn to for legal support, information and solidarity.
Advancement for the Undocumented Community
NU’s Advancement for the Undocumented Community o ers “resources and support for undocumented students and students with undocumented family members,” according to its website. rough events, workshops and collaborations with local and national organizations, its members work to create a voice for their community. More information about meetings can be found on AUC’s Instagram.
The Presidents’ Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration
The Presidents’ Alliance provides a database
of resources for undocumented students, international students, as well as refugee and displaced students. Additionally, it provides resources for navigating the federal administration’s impact on immigrants in higher education.
Resource topics include legal help for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals status renewal or employment-based immigration, explainers on campus safety with immigration enforcement presence and checklists for crosscampus support initiatives.
See their website, presidentsalliance.org, for more information.
Northern Illinois Justice For Our Neighbors
Northern Illinois Justice for Our Neighbors is a United Methodist Church organization that provides free legal services to immigrants of all faiths and backgrounds. Services include assistance with legal consultations, paperwork and free child care. Additionally, the organization provides volunteer opportunities for other students to be allies for undocumented immigrants.
NIJFON provides the following services: family-based petitions, DACA, U-Visa, T-Visa (for victims of trafficking), removal defense, asylum, withholding of removal, Temporary Protected Status, Adjustment of Status, naturalization and citizenship, Violence Against Women Act protection, religious worker visas, Nicaraguan Adjustment and Central American
Relief Act and Special Immigrant Juvenile status.
Please note, NIJFON is not able to take on employment-based visa cases.
At your appointment, you will be able to speak to an intake volunteer who can document your
questions, needs and concerns before speaking with a clinic a orney. To schedule an appointment, visit their website, nijfon.org, or call 773-609-4401.
xuantran2028@u.northwestern.edu
samimckenney2029@u.northwestern.edu
ETHS community reacts to Halloween ICE arrests
By LIAM BARRETT and TAARIQ AHMED the daily northwestern @lf_barre
Halloween is a holiday usually characterized by candy, creative costumes and fun. is year, the fear many Evanston residents felt on Oct. 31 didn’t t the mold.
An Evanston Township High School parent, who requested anonymity for fear of retribution by federal immigration agents, was concerned about his son going out for Halloween. He recognized it was an important social event, but federal immigration activity throughout the city on Friday le him feeling uneasy.
“I don’t know what I’m supposed to do,” the parent said at the time. “I feel powerless.”
A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson con rmed that the U.S. Border Patrol conducted immigration enforcement operations in Evanston and Skokie on Friday, in an emailed statement to e Daily. e spokesperson said the operations culminated in the arrest of at least eight individuals, including both protesting citizens and those they said lacked legal status.
e activity led to ETHS enacting a closed campus protocol around 11:45 a.m., Superintendent Marcus Campbell wrote in an email to parents. e email stated that students were required to remain on
campus during lunch and free periods. Campbell emphasized there was no federal enforcement activity occurring on campus. However, the parent said the federal presence felt more threatening because of its proximity to local schools.
“When I found out about my son’s school, I got ercely angry because I’m like, ‘Oh no, no, no, you’re not f–king with my kid,’” the parent said. “I knew what was going on, but now it’s my kids.”
ETHS parent Jennifer Bellis said the school asked parents to get out of their cars to pick up their students that day and to actively “be a presence.”
In a second Friday email to parents, Campbell said families’ presence at dismissal would “support the sense of safety for all students.”
Bellis said her morning began with sights of helicopters hovering over her house and three black SUVs parked on the street. According to a video she provided to e Daily, federal immigration agents detained two workers — who she said were xing her neighbor’s sprinkler system — put them into the cars and drove o . “It literally looked like a kidnapping,” Bellis said. “ eir phones were on the ground, their van doors were open, the sprinklers were still going. What was so upse ing is there’s no communication. It’s just nd them, tackle them and then put them in the SUV.”
As the day progressed, the fear and confusion spread to ETHS.
Bellis said her daughter texted her as the high school enacted its closed campus protocol.
“She’s like, ‘Mom, we’re on lockdown. What is happening? We hear helicopters all over,’” Bellis said. “I said, ‘ICE is in the area. ey’re just full on a acking Evanston. You’re safe inside. Just go about your day, and then I’ll pick you up when it’s time.’”
ETHS has sent out several emails over the past few weeks, keeping parents updated on what’s happening in the community and how the school is preparing for federal activity near or on campus.
Despite these e orts, Miten Patel, an AP U.S. Government and Politics teacher at ETHS, said that many students and sta are “on edge” because of federal immigration agents’ presence in the city.
“ ere is genuine fear about what is going to happen next and how that is going to impact them, their neighbors, their community,” Patel said. “We’re afraid.” Patel said that he’s been incorporating lessons about federal immigration enforcement and other national events into his classes, seeking to encourage discussions and teach students to “talk about these very timely issues properly.”
He emphasized that while he believes democracy will prevail, he’s deeply concerned over what he termed its “erosion” by ICE’s actions.
“It’s unfortunate that I can say we don’t have to go too far from 1600 Dodge to see ICE activity play out in real life, to see the violations of civil liberties and
OPINION
LETTER FROM THE EDITOR
civil rights play out in real life,” Patel said.
Another local parent, who requested anonymity for fear of retribution by federal immigration agents, encouraged other parents to give their kids Know Your Rights Cards, which detail how to handle interactions with ICE agents.
Several residents said that the federal operations on Halloween sparked fear and anxiety, for both their kids and themselves.
As a result of the Oct. 31 arrests, an Evanston resident who identi es herself as “brown” said that she now feels less comfortable being alone in her community.
“I haven’t really done morning walks,” she said. “It’s irrational because I don’t think ICE is going to be in the park where I walk, but I just feel scared. Really, really scared.”
She a ended a community vigil on Saturday, an event that drew over 250 residents, to protest the Oct. 31 arrests.
She emphasized that every community member, regardless of background, needs to be involved.
“You need to be aware,” she said. “Whether you want to do something about it or not, don’t put your head in the sand and pretend like it’s not really that bad, because that’s how it slips out of our hands.”
Editorial: Our immigration coverage cannot be passive
Evanston has experienced an in ux of activity from federal immigration agencies, with several community members taken by agents in September and October.
On Halloween, the Department of Homeland Security made at least eight arrests — including protesting citizens and those it said lacked legal status — across Evanston and Skokie, a DHS spokesperson con rmed to e Daily.
At the same time, the community has come together to protect one another. Residents blow whistles and honk car horns to alert the surrounding community of federal agent presence. e city has created ‘ICE free zones,’ and the Evanston Police Department built its response strategy to reported incidents. Groups are hosting Know Your Rights workshops and organizing protests against federal agents’ presence in Evanston.
At e Daily, we strive to be present at such events to capture them for those unable to a end. It is our utmost priority to do our part to keep everyone informed of what is happening in the city we call home.
On Oct. 21, e Daily published a live update thread to inform the Evanston and Northwestern community about credible reports of federal immigration enforcement in the city. On Oct. 27, we
launched an interactive map alongside it. ese pages are updated as activity is con rmed by o cial local, state and federal government sources as well as through veri ed text alerts from the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights. According to ICIRR’s website, alerts are only issued when sightings are veri ed by an a liated rapid response team.
We also work to verify videos and social media posts claiming ICE and U.S. Border Patrol activity in the city. We will also grant anonymity to community sources con rming these sightings when they request it.
In the spirit of transparency, we want to acknowledge that moving forward, our coverage may include more anonymous sources to ensure inclusive coverage of those who fear being targeted by federal agents. We are commi ed to keeping our community and our reporters safe as we navigate our coverage.
Our live reporting — providing only accurate, timely and veri ed reports on immigration enforcement — is part of our civic responsibility to our readers and fellow Evanston residents in these uncertain times. At the time of this editorial’s publication, there have been no credible reports of federal immigration activity on campus.
We know that many of our peers at NU do not follow Evanston news closely. We hope our ICE coverage helps bridge that gap.
At e Daily, we are students and we are journalists. But, above all, we are members of this community. We are commi ed to helping tell the city’s story as it navigates enforcement from federal immigration agencies and mobilizes in response. We are also commi ed to providing guidance to our readers about the legal resources and community initiatives available to them.
When the city rst announced that federal immigration agents would arrive in Evanston in early September, we did something we’ve rarely done before: hyperlink external resources from the city in the body of our story. We continued doing so in subsequent coverage and listed the ICIRR Hotline number — 855-435-7693 — which individuals should call if they see federal immigration enforcement activity.
We cannot be passive in our coverage or report on these resources without empowering the community with the tools to access them. In light of this, we have put together a “Know Your Rights” special issue for our Nov. 5 print paper.
More than 20 Daily sta ers have played a role in pu ing this collection of stories together.
Included in this issue is information on your rights as it pertains to interactions with federal law enforcement, how to best lm enforcement activity and resources for undocumented students. We also highlight how the Evanston community united in response to several incidents of immigration enforcement near Evanston/Skokie School District 65 schools.
e Daily has always been commi ed to detailed coverage. But now, we are giving our readers the tools to protect themselves and move forward.
If you have something you would like to share with e Daily regarding federal immigration activity or the community’s response, please reach out to our City Desk at city@dailynorthwestern.com.
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Illustration by Alexandra Ingvoldstad
The monarch butterfly is the symbol for undocumented immigrants.
NU invests over $1 million in lobbying before October
By ASHLEY WEI
daily northwestern
Northwestern’s lobbying e orts have totaled $1.14 million in the rst nine months of 2025, its highest investment in the past two decades. e third quarter — July through September — accounts for $230,000 of the expenditure, according to reports led Oct. 17-20. Expenditures in the third quarter are the lowest of the year, compared to $306,000 in the second quarter, April through June, and $607,000 in the rst quarter, January through March.
“Like many of our peer institutions, as scrutiny of higher education has increased on Capitol Hill we have increased our lobbying e orts to address legislative issues that could impact University research and operations,” a University spokesperson wrote in a statement to e Daily.
Lobbying topics have recurred across multiple
quarterly lobbying reports this year, primarily in response to Trump administration policies. Issues included higher education taxation in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, student visa and immigration and “General issues related to oversight of Institutions of Higher Education.”
NU invested additional lobbying in issues including the National Institutes of Health’s facilities and administrative cost caps, as well as federally funded research. “Issues pertaining to combating antisemitism” was listed in the third quarter’s ling, with other quarters describing similar e orts.
The University lobbied on government appropriations in numerous sectors, including defense, the environment and health. Additional lobbying e orts focused on name, image and likeness deals in college athletics and “issues pertaining to Human-Robotic Teaming Research” in the National Defense Authorization Act.
Only in the second quarter did NU lobby on the OBBBA’s endowment tax, student loan
and Pell Grant changes and “institutional risk sharing models.”
NU enlisted a total of nine lobbyists from Harbinger Strategies and Miller Strategies this year, both right-leaning lobbying rms. e University rst hired Harbinger Strategies in 2024 and added Miller Strategies in 2025.
Of the nine lobbyists, ve are revolving door lobbyists, de ned as having previously held federal government positions before entering the private sector, which means that they are lobbying former colleagues. All ve previously worked for Republican members or leadership o ces in Congress.
Notably, three of four co-founders at Harbinger Strategies lobbied for NU. Steve Stombres lobbied for NU and was the chief of sta of former House Majority Leader Eric Cantor. Kyle Nevins also worked for Cantor as deputy chief
of sta . Manny Rossman served as a top aide to Senate Republican Leadership.
Harbinger Strategies Partner Jonathan Slemrod was a top advisor at the O ce of Management and Budget, as well as for Senate Republican Leadership and House and Senate Republicans.
Je Miller, founder of Miller Strategies, was previously an adviser to Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and co- nance chair of the Republican Governors Association.
In comparison to other universities in the top 10 spots of the 2026 U.S. News & World Report’s annual National Universities rankings, NU has spent the second-most on lobbying between January and September 2026. Johns Hopkins University’s expense is the highest at $1,320,000. ashleywei2028@u.northwestern.edu
29 years in the making
By ALEX B OYKO daily senior staffer @aboyko_nu
After joining the Big Ten last season, USC will host Northwestern for the first time as conference foes, with the Trojans (6-2, 4-1 Big Ten) fresh off a 21-17 victory over Nebraska.
Despite the novelty of the Wildcats’ (5-3, 3-2 Big Ten) first trip to California since 2019, many of the game’s major storylines are rooted much deeper in college football’s past. Beyond the stat sheet and the team’s performances this year, here are three big-picture ideas to keep an eye on ahead of Friday night’s game.
Revisiting the Rose Bowl
Nearly 30 years ago, the ’Cats capped their illustrious 1995 Rose Bowl season with a matchup against the Trojans in Pasadena. The two teams haven’t met since, that is, until Friday.
NU honored its legendary squad earlier this year during a shutout of Purdue with an on-field commemoration where many members from that team returned to campus, including then-coach Gary Barnett, former running back Darnell Autry, and former linebacker and coach Pat Fitzgerald.
Although the ’Cats ultimately lost 41-32, the trip to the Rose Bowl revitalized NU and has become a symbolic high-water mark for the program since. After three decades, the ’Cats get their first opportunity for revenge.
When NU and USC face off later this week, it won’t be a rematch. Neither team rosters a player who was alive to watch the New Year’s Day game. The two teams will face off at a different stadium and as Big Ten opponents rather than as playoff adversaries in Pasadena.
Still, the ’Cats return to California to face the Trojans will likely carry extra meaning for some members of the NU faithful.
Snap the streak
After three tough tests at Tulane, Penn State and Nebraska to open its road slate, the ’Cats fourth away game this season presents yet another daunting home-field advantage.
While NU’s first trip to the Coliseum since 1969 won’t end the ’Cats streak of hostile road environments this season, it does provide an opportunity for the program to snap an even longer streak.
NU has only played one team at least five times and never won a game — USC.
Coming out on top versus the Trojans is never easy, and historically the task has been even taller for the ’Cats in Los Angeles.
Through their five matchups, NU and USC have each played two games at home.
Although the Trojans came to Evanston with a top-10 ranking in each game, the ’Cats held them to an average of just 18 points. At the Coliseum, though, they were outscored 79-6.
Two weeks ago, coach David Braun made a point of highlighting the impact that Nebraska’s home crowd could play in determining the outcome of that game. In preparing for USC, he remarked that the team would approach the situation in a similar manner.
“Each environment has its own uniqueness to it, but this week looks very similar in terms of our prep that we had for Penn State and for Nebraska,” Braun said.
While he concluded his opening remarks Monday morning by remarking on the “scary operation” that USC has run this year, he also told reporters that it was a challenge his group was looking forward to.
Rest dynamics
Heading into the Trojans’ first Friday night game of the season, the two teams enter the evening with a large rest disparity.
The ’Cats make the trip to Southern California on a week’s rest following their loss to Nebraska. Come kickoff, NU will have gone 13 days without playing a game. On the other hand, USC played that same Huskers team Saturday — and is returning to the Coliseum for a short week of practice.
For Braun, the added time brings up mixed feelings.
“Sometimes it’s like ‘Oh great, we got to come off a bye week.’ But sometimes you can acquire rust throughout the bye week,” Braun said during Monday’s press conference.
So far this season, the numbers back up that sentiment, as FBS teams are a combined 91-93 following a bye week.
For USC coach Lincoln Riley, the shortened week also presents its unique set of challenges.
“Coming back from another time zone and a late kick just kind of resets the entire week,” Riley said on Trojans Live. “We’ve had to mend the schedule. The middle will be fairly normal to what we do, and then certainly the end will be a lot different when you’re doing it on one less complete day.”
Since 2020, the ’Cats and Trojans have both performed marginally better in short weeks, with 3-1 and 4-2 records, respectively, compared to 7-7 and 9-5 records after more than a week’s worth of time off.
For NU, the trip also means a long flight west — its third into the Pacific Time Zone in as many years. Friday’s game won’t answer any questions about the impact of rest time, but both coaches are preparing their team with factors outside the white lines in mind.
alexboyko2026@u.northwestern.edu
Daily file photo by Alex Boyko
Daily file photo by Alex Boyko
CALIFORNIA MEN TO FACE HOME-GROWN FOE
By ANNA WATSON daily senior staffer @adub_sports
Sophomore wide receiver Hayden Eligon II did not know much about Northwestern when the program rst started to recruit him. But everything changed when wide receivers coach Armon Binns came into the fold.
Once Eligon — a Lakewood, California native — and Binns — a Pasadena, California native — got to talking, the two formed a special connection aided by their roots.
“Just from our conversations on the phone and in person, I could tell he was really the coach who wanted to develop me to my fullest potential,” Eligon told e Daily on Monday. “I knew if I wanted to be in a spot where I have a chance at making it to the league, that coach Binns was the coach to get me there.”
On Friday, Eligon and Binns will play in front of their hometown crowd when the Wildcats (5-3, 3-2 Big Ten) face USC.
Eligon said he is trying to treat the matchup with the Trojans (6-2, 4-1 Big Ten) as a regular game, but did admit it is exciting to play in California for the rst time in around two years. While he did not grow up a fan of USC, he did go to a lot of the games, since he had family friends on the team.
“It was de nitely a good experience as a kid, just growing up, being in the Coliseum (and) watching the games,” Eligon said. “I never would have thought I’d be playing in the Coliseum, so it’s truly a blessing.”
e occasion calls for a similar nostalgia from Binns, who grew up watching USC and playing games around that area.
But the pair’s connection runs deeper than hometown ties. e now-NU wide receivers coach was once a star receiver at Cincinnati who enjoyed an NFL career. During the recruiting process, Binns saw a lot of himself in Eligon.
In his senior season with the Bearcats, Binns was listed at 6-foot-3 and 204 pounds. is season, Eligon is listed at 6-foot-4 and 210 pounds. at similar frame gives way to a similar tool kit.
Binns said that was a big part of the selling pitch
for Eligon, and it’s continued to help him in the development of his players.
“I joke with guys all the time; it’s a lot easier to teach someone how to run a route when you’ve ran the route yourself before,” Binns said. “It allows the kid to have con dence in the things that you’re saying, the techniques you are trying to teach them.”
Considering Eligon’s jump from his freshman season last year, the connection has worked well. e sophomore appeared in nine games a year ago, hauling in four passes for 83 yards. Binns said that there was that elephant in the room with his redshirt being burned, but it was never a conversation with Eligon. When he was needed, he went on the eld and competed.
In 2025, his role has elevated to becoming a reliable option for graduate student quarterback Preston Stone. Eligon has caught 15 passes for 206 yards and two touchdowns, while making gamechanging plays.
Notably, during his career-high four catch performance against Nebraska, Eligon contributed a 30-yard reception and a critical fourth down conversion on the ’Cats’ rst touchdown drive. He
also capped o the second touchdown drive with a two-point conversion grab.
Eligon said understanding and reading defenses be er are the biggest improvements to his game this season. Having the opportunity to play his freshman year is also key to his development.
“I’ll always remember my very rst college game, being thrown in,” Eligon said. “I was just so nervous, all the nerves running. Now, anytime I go in, it’s common habit. It clicks easy for me.”
Playing in his home state Friday night will come with some extra nerves and excitement, but Eligon does not want it to distract him.
In order to play well in front of his grandmother, family and friends that he has not seen in years, Eligon is focused on locking in and executing. Binns will also have a lot of family in the Coliseum, adding extra incentive for a good performance.
“It’ll be a really special opportunity to go out there and coach my heart out for these guys back in my hometown,” Binns said. “Hopefully we can go out there, do our job and get a win.”
annawatson2027@u.northwestern.edu
‘SCARY OPERATION’ COULD TEST ’cats
Braun: Northwestern needs to win rushing ba le to keep USC om jamming out in Los Angeles
By ANNA WATSON daily senior staffer
e nal stretch of Northwestern’s 2025 season has arrived. A er enjoying his nal bye week, coach David Braun has four games to capture a win and bowl eligibility.
e Wildcats’ (5-3, 3-2 Big Ten) late thrust begins in Los Angeles to take on USC. Last week, the Trojans (6-2, 4-1 Big Ten) beat the Cornhuskers in Lincoln, Nebraska, a feat NU struggled to
achieve the previous Saturday.
“ e way that USC went into a hostile environment at Nebraska and found a way to win a football game, I think, is re ective of where Coach (Lincoln) Riley has this team,” Braun said at his weekly press conference Monday.
Here are three storylines to keep in mind from Braun’s press conference ahead of Friday’s bout with the Trojans:
Preparing for a tough USC squad
e Trojans present a real challenge for the ’Cats
in all phases of the game. Braun called them a balanced team that can run the ball e ectively and throw the ball at a high level.
“It’s a scary operation,” Braun said. “If they’re able to nd rhythm, watch out.”
For Braun, it is not a question of if USC will nd rhythm. Rather, the question is when it does nd rhythm, how can NU knock the hosts out of it?
To slow down USC, the ’Cats will need to win the rushing ba le and prevent their foes from possessing the football, according to Braun.
Last week, Nebraska even provided a bit of a blueprint for slowing down a USC passing a ack that averages the most yards through the air in the Big Ten.
Trojan quarterback Jayden Maiava only completed nine of his 23 pass a empts for 135 yards and an interception.
“ ere’s always opportunities as you evaluate lm and evaluate what other people have done,” Braun said. “Taking context and taking information on things that we can utilize.”
and ne-tune the engine. In terms of health, Braun said he is hopeful redshirt sophomore defensive back Damon Walters, redshirt sophomore defensive back Josh Fussell and graduate student defensive back Ore Adeyi will be available for Friday. On the other hand, having dealt with a short week heading into Western Illinois earlier this season, the NU sta knows what it is like to be in USC’s shoes.
“Sometimes a short week can also almost be a good thing,” Braun said. “You don’t overthink it and you get out there and you get your guys prepared to play.”
Navigating new coaching landscape of college football
2025 has been a di cult year for college football head coaches around the country. Just this fall, top programs such as Penn State, LSU, Auburn and Florida have made midseason coaching changes. According to Braun, college football is more of a business than it’s ever been before, and he just hopes that people holding head coaching positions are in it for the right reasons.
Traveling to play in the Coliseum also means NU will face another hostile environment. e ’Cats’ loss to Nebraska shed light on some things that Braun wants his team to improve on in Los Angeles, such as limiting false start penalties and starting the second half on the right foot.
Braun said that the team’s prep in terms of crowd noise is similar to that of their matchups against Penn State and the Cornhuskers, though he is throwing in some curveballs to force his squad to respond.
’Cats come o a bye week, Trojans come o a short week
While it seems NU has the upper hand having more time to prepare, Braun talked about the rust a bye week can bring and the advantages of a short week.
However, Braun said he was proud of the way his group handled last week’s game-break. e challenge for the team was to move on from Nebraska
“Our ultimate task in charge is to help young men develop into men,” Braun said. “When you get a person that has that in mind… you hope that they have the time and the runway to do that.” Braun said that the situation is typically a progression, and he referenced former North Dakota State coach Craig Bohl as a ing example. Braun also said that as people go through the hiring process, he hopes they look for someone who is going to build it the right way and give the program time to do that. Braun named Mark Jackson as someone who understands this progression in football.
Recently, Braun and NU have taken steps to grow, such as hiring Christian Sarkisian. He said that the program is not where they need to be, but there have been improvements.
annawatson2027@u.northwestern.edu
1-5 3-5,
Ducks Dan and Dave: Webbed Feet
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 or @duckscomics. Lia Kim is the illustrator for Ducks Dan and Dave and is not associated with Northwestern. The views expressed in this piece do not necessarily reflect the views of all staff members of The Daily Northwestern.
State legislators pass ICE protection bill
After weeks of heightened federal immigration enforcement in the greater Chicago area, the Illinois General Assembly approved House Bill 1312 on Oct. 31, strengthening immigration enforcement protections. Notably, the bill creates the Illinois Bivens Act, which allows individuals to sue over civil immigration enforcement actions that violate state or federal constitutional rights.
Defendants may be liable for civil damages for false imprisonment, including statutory damages of $10,000, the bill states. These damages can increase based on
various factors in the defendant’s conduct, including the use of facial coverings, crowd control measures like tear gas, vehicles with a non-Illinois license plate or no license plate at all and body cameras.
Having cleared the Senate with a 40-18 vote and the House with a 75-32 vote, HB 1312, sponsored by Senate President Don Harmon (D-Oak Park), now awaits Gov. JB Pritzker’s approval. The bill also received support from State Sen. Laura Fine (D-Glenview), State Sen. Mike Simmons (D-Chicago) and State Rep. Hoan Huynh (D-Chicago).
HB 1312 also prohibits employers from taking retaliatory actions against employees for “disclosing or threatening to disclose in good faith a violation of the Illinois Bivens Act,” amending the Whistleblower Act.
According to the bill, retaliation includes contacting — or threatening to contact — immigration authorities, or reporting an employee’s or their family member’s immigration or citizenship status to any federal, state or local agency, the bill states.
Lawmakers included additional legislation prohibiting civil immigration arrests in and around state courthouses, with a 1,000-foot safe zone that includes parking facilities and nearby streets. This protects good-faith attendees of court proceedings, with violators liable for civil damages for false imprisonment, including actual damages and $10,000 in statutory damages.
Hospitals, schools and licensed daycare centers must adopt and submit policies regulating law enforcement interactions and protecting patient information under
The Daily Northwestern
And the Tony Award goes to...
Weekly Crossword: And the Tony Award goes to...
By Kate Pollot
By Games Editor
ACROSS
crossword & games
Editor Miguel Tsang
Assistant Editor Kate Pollot
SCAN FOR ANSWERS
1 A classic Broadway hit with a two-part movie adaptation
7 Broadway show written and starred in by Lin Manuel Miranda
14 “I'm shocked, shocked to find that gambling is going on __ ____!”; a famous line from “Casablanca”
15 Number that identifies books for libraries and booksellers; abbr
16 Also known as; abbr
17 Guides, as with a car
18 Grade point averages
19 Timezone for states like California and Washington; abbr
20 Shoes that make their wearers taller
21 “___ Used to Be Mine,” a song from the Broadway musical “Waitress”
22 To make a mistake
23 Oregano or thyme, e.g.
25 Nordic god of thunder
28 Opposite of cardinal directions NSWN
30 Character in “Hadestown,” a musical adaptation of the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice
32 Used to store photos from a camera
34 Came out
35 Streaming platform that hosts “Euphoria” and “The White Lotus”
36 ‘A,’ in French
37 A handheld Nintendo console, or a song by girl-group Katseye
41 Size up or evaluate
44 Latin phrase that means a first impression
46 Actor ____ LaBeouf
48 Two people in agreement are on the same ____
49 A fake
50 A ticket to a Broadway show may cost an ___ and a leg, hyperbolically 51 Devices used to watch movies, shows and more; abbr
City in Arizona
A woman committed to religious service
Dystopian series “The ____ Runner”
______ tunnel syndrome, a condition that can cause wrist pain
60 Chef ___ Garten
61 Something great may be said to be top-____
62 “___, ___, mon ami, je m’appelle Lafayette!” A famous line from 7Across
63 A popular dinner for college students
64 Cole ______, creator and star
DOWN
the new legislation. This includes designating a point of contact to be notified of “all law enforcement presence or information requests” at hospitals, according to the bill.
HB 1312 states that schools should develop procedures for attempted campus entry by law enforcement agents and provide information on how community members should respond on school websites by Jan. 1, 2026.
The bill also includes a severability clause — if any one part is invalidated, the rest remains valid. Once signed by Pritzker, HB 1312 would immediately apply these new standards across Illinois.
— Yong-Yu Huang
Phillips joined two lawsuits to attempt to fight his grants’ terminations.
He joined 15 other plaintiffs in the Gay and Lesbian Medical Association’s lawsuit, filed on May 20, against the NIH, where Phillips said he signed his name as a resident of Chicago, not in his University capacity. On Aug. 1, a U.S. district court judge blocked the NIH from terminating research grants that funded essential research addressing the health of sexual and gender minorities, including critical HIV research.
In May, Phillips joined another lawsuit led by the American Public Health Association, adding his two terminated grants to a large list of grant terminations a judge ruled illegal and ordered NIH to reinstate.
By Sept. 17, Phillips’ grants had been reinstated. However, the funding return was contingent on fundamental changes to Phillip’s research.
“The title of the grant, the aims of the grant, the abstract of the grant, all of those were told to change, to make it more aligned with governmental priorities,” he said.
Phillips said his research is no longer able to target specific populations within the LGBTQ+ community, because he can no longer ask for information about gay or transgender individuals.
Phillips’ research relies on the Youth Risk Behavior Survey, a biennial questionnaire run by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that asks millions of high school students about health behaviors, including drinking, smoking tobacco and engaging in sexual activity. In the early months of the Trump administration, the survey was removed from the CDC website, before being reinstated with a disclaimer condemning “gender ideology.” Phillips said he is unsure whether he will receive this year’s survey results.
8,000 unique visitors to an online link showing the event’s shopping list, according to Valerie Kahan, one of its organizers.
“It looked like a bunch of people coming together saying, ‘We have to do something. Okay, let’s make a flyer.’ And then pushing it out and inviting our community to help us,” she said. “And this is what it looks like when the community shows up for one another.”
Food, household supplies and gift cards were available for pickup during the event and will now be distributed to families through local schools and food pantries.
“The loss of data that target attacks on specific populations (is) just going to exacerbate the problem of mental health, of substance use, all these things that we know are higher among LGBTQ populations,” Phillips said.
Bea Floresca, who previously worked on Phillips’ team, said the data tells a story and is used for policymaking in addition to research.
Phillips informed Floresca that their job might be at risk before the University terminated their position. They added that multiple colleagues also lost their jobs.
Floresca said there used to be around 10 researchers working under Phillips; now there are only two.
“It’s just hard to see a lot of people I know who work in this space, including myself, just not be able to do the work that we know is helping keep our community strong at a time we know our communities are really hurting,” she said. “It’s just disappointment and exhaustion more than anything.”
Floresca was later able to secure a new position as a research project coordinator within the Feinberg School of Medicine.
Because of the hiring freeze, Phillips said it is difficult for him to hire more researchers, leaving him as the sole researcher on the project and responsible for running all data analysis.
“We’re not able to do the rigorous evidence-based science we are supposed to be doing as researchers,” Phillips said. “It’s not feasible anymore.”
Feinberg Prof. Minoli Perera studies pharmacogenomics, using a patient’s genome to predict drug response.
Perera called her NIH funding a “hard science grant” and was surprised when the grant funding her research on epigenomic drivers of drug responses in partnership with the University of Puerto Rico was terminated in March.
Deanna Lesht and Lauren Thomas West, who comanage Evanston Community Fridges, a mutual aid network of three refrigerators and pantries stocked with free food throughout the city, said instability around receiving SNAP benefits will worsen food insecurity in the area.
Thomas West said she has noticed rising demand for the fridges recently and expects it to grow as stricter eligibility and work requirements outlined in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act take effect in December. Policy changes, she explained, are directly affecting how families put food on the table each day.
“A lot of the narrative that I’ve been hearing is that moms and parents, but especially moms, who were stretching and maybe not eating dinner or not eating
“People like me, whose grants have been terminated because they were ‘DEI,’ there is no relief for us,” she said.
Perera said she spent a lot of time appealing the grant’s termination, which was worth a total of $745,930, through NU’s legal counsel, and met with an NIH officer to ask why her research was considered DEI.
The NIH officer told her that using words such as “disparities and outcomes” or stating “that Puerto Ricans are a group of people that are defined as an ethnicity, but are actually composed of many different ancestries” led her grant to be flagged and “terminated at its highest level,” Perera said.
The NIH did not respond to The Daily’s request for comment by the time of publication.
Her work involved recruitment out of the University of Puerto Rico’s Hospital for patients taking clopidogrel, a drug used to treat coronary artery disease.
Perera said she “sanitized” the language in the grant to try to get the funding back.
She added that in her letter to the NIH director who terminated the grant, she highlighted that because her research is in the genome, it “transcends” the group it is found in and benefits more than just that population.
Perera’s appeal failed, and her funding has yet to be restored. The project had to be stopped in the middle of the year after patients had been recruited, she said.
She said it has been difficult to continue the project because they can no longer pay employees or recruit patients, but Perera is trying to utilize the samples that have already been collected, although she noted that there is not much data. Once the NIH rejected her appeal, Perera said the only other way to get the funding back is to join a lawsuit.
Perera said she does not know how to start thinking of taking legal action against the federal government to reinstate her funding. She described the idea of a lawsuit as “daunting.”
lunch, are now thinking, ‘Well, I’ll just eat every other day so that my kids can have food,’” Thomas West said. Sunday’s food drive managed to restock several of the group’s fridges around Evanston.
Lesht added that community organizing is essential amid “overlapping concerns” about increased ICE and U.S. Border Patrol enforcement in Evanston. Specifically, Lesht said many families feel unsafe taking their children to school, especially after federal immigration enforcement activity near several Evanston/ Skokie District 65 schools in the last month.
“What does that look like if kids are potentially relying on those school meals and not receiving them either?” Lesht said. “The community — and that includes Northwestern — needs to step up and figure
“I feel a little lost in my ability. I needed somebody bigger than me to advocate or help guide that process,” Perera said.
Feinberg Prof. Melissa Simon expressed similar frustrations over a lack of support in their efforts to reinstate their NIH funding.
Simon was the principal investigator and project leader for a $16 million five-year NIH grant to fund the hiring of 15 new tenure-track faculty from historically underrepresented populations in the areas of cancer, cardiovascular, and brain and behavioral sciences.
The initiative, called the NU Recruitment to Transform UnderRepresentation and Achieve Equity program, was one of only 11 such awards nationwide. The grant was terminated April 8 because it was deemed to be “harmful to the health of Americans” because of “illegal DEI activities,” Simon said.
She said NU did not allow her to appeal the termination or pursue legal action. A University spokesperson did not respond directly to a request for comment about Simon’s situation.
“It feels as if every (primary investigator) is being left to fend for themselves, and that’s not how we get our funds turned back on,” Simon said. “That’s not how we get more grants. Right now, when you feel like an island amidst a vast ocean of no help as an investigator, or a faculty member here at this institution, it’s extremely disheartening, unsettling and scary.”
As a faculty scientist and an NU professor of almost 20 years, Simon said the lack of University support has been frustrating.
“Science is not just for today, tomorrow, next month or through December,” Simon said. “Science is a long journey that requires some commitment and investment.”
catebouvet2028@u.northwestern.edu
out how folks are getting the things they need in a safe and accessible way.”
Chicago resident Londan Booth, a social worker at Lincoln Elementary School, volunteered at the event and said that many children are “very scared,” making recent school pick-up and drop-offs “a nightmare.” But rather than focusing on the negative impacts of increased ICE enforcement, they said community members should emphasize “how quickly the community has come together to take care of (its) own.”
“When it comes to making sure somebody has a meal, there’s no stopping community,” Booth said. “This is a really great demonstration of that.”
j.baker@dailynorthwestern.com
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NU upsets No. 17 Indiana at home, drops penultimate match at Wisconsin
By JONAH MCCLURE
daily senior staffer @jemccl125
Northwestern was always going to have its hands full when it took on No. 17 Indiana at Martin Stadium Friday night. But the Wildcats (7-5-3, 2-4-2 Big Ten) held their own throughout the first half, and in the 59th minute, they broke the stalemate.
Following a corner kick, senior forward Alejandro Martinez Santamaria received a header and knocked the ball into the goal with a header of his own. NU tacked on another goal just a few minutes later and hunkered down on defense, clinching a 2-0 upset victory over the Hoosiers (11-5-1, 4-5-0 Big Ten). It was the ’Cats’ first ranked win since defeating No. 18 Michigan late last season.
NU came into the match with just one conference win, looking to nab a big result before the end of the regular season. The first half saw little action, with both teams attempting just one shot on target. Indiana outshot the ’Cats 6-3 and won four more corners than its opponent, but NU’s defense held strong and
the match remained 0-0 at halftime.
The ’Cats got off to an aggressive start in the second half, attempting three shots in the first six minutes, two of which were saved by Hoosier graduate student goalkeeper Holden Brown. At the end of the 58th minute, NU earned a corner and looked to break the tie.
Graduate student midfielder Joe Suchecki took the corner, finding junior defenseman Bryant Mayer on the right side of the goal. Mayer headed the ball to Martinez Santamaria, who glanced
a header past two defenders for the match’s first goal. Having taken a 1-0 lead, the ’Cats controlled the match and looked to add to their advantage. After an offside call, senior goalkeeper Rafael Ponce de León sent a goal kick deep into the opposition half. Junior midfielder Peter Riesz headed the ball toward the goal, where freshman forward Aaron O’Reilly took possession in stride. He fired a powerful shot into the bottom right corner of the goal, beating the diving goalkeeper for the goal. NU wasn’t done yet, and less than a
minute later, Suchecki gained possession after an Indiana clear attempt. He sent in a strike from just outside the penalty box that hit the bottom of the crossbar, just inches from the ’Cats’ third goal. The referees reviewed the play and confirmed it had not crossed the goal line.
Throughout the remainder of the match, the Hoosiers attempted 11 shots but were unable to get back into the game. Ponce de León made a save with 18 seconds remaining, and, from there, the clock ticked down to the end of the match, with NU taking down its ranked foe 2-0.
Ponce de León didn’t concede a single goal and recorded six saves, his second-most in a game this season. Riesz recorded an assist and O’Reilly scored — just as they have in now consecutive games. Martinez Santamaria’s goal was his second of the season.
Four days removed from their upset victory, the ’Cats traveled to Wisconsin and fell 1-0. Following 85 minutes of bend-don’t-break defensive play, the Badgers dealt the contest’s lone blow, handing NU a loss in its final road game of the season Tuesday evening.
jonahmcclure2028@u.northwestern.edu
CROSS COUNTRY
Wildcats place 3rd at Big Ten champs
3 runners earn allconference honors
By AVANTIKA SINGH daily senior staffer
No. 8 Northwestern rounded out the podium at the Big Ten Championship in East Lansing, Michigan on Friday. The Wildcats’ combined 96 points was bested only by No. 12 Penn State (78 points) and No. 4 Oregon (18 points), achieving their best team result at the conference meet since 1986.
Three ’Cats ran their way to All-Big Ten honors. Graduate student Ava Earl was named to the Second Team All-Big Ten for the second year in a row after placing 13th in the women’s 6k with a time of 20:24.5.
Redshirt sophomore Ava Criniti finished less than a second after Earl, clocking a 20:25.4 and receiving Second Team All-Big Ten honors for the first time. Senior Maddy Whitman’s 6k was a season-best 20:29.9, earning her the first Second Team All-Big Ten nod of her career.
Graduate students Holly Smith and Anna Hightower closed out NU’s top five performers. Smith placed 24th with a 20:34.1, and Hightower finished 28th with a 20:39.4.
This result marks NU’s fourth top-3 finish of the season. The ’Cats placed first at the Cowboy Preview in Stillwater, Oklahoma and the Big Ten Preview in East Lansing, Michigan, as well as second at the Loyola Lakefront Invitational in Chicago. NU’s only result outside of the top three was a fifth-place finish at the Nuttycombe Invitational in Madison, Wisconsin.
The ’Cats will continue their postseason with a meet in Stillwater, Oklahoma for the NCAA Midwest Regional on Friday, Nov. 14. The meet begins at 10:30 a.m.
avantikasingh2028@u.northwestern.edu
Windham a spark in ’Cats’ dominant season-opening win
By KAMRAN NIA
senior staffer
It took over six minutes for sophomore guard K.J. Windham to be brought off the bench Monday evening.
Yet, after being Northwestern’s eighth player to check in, he was the spark for the Wildcats (1-0, 0-0 Big Ten), who displayed their willingness to ride the hot hand in their 70-47 win over the Lakers (0-1, 0-0 NEC) Monday evening.
After a somewhat sluggish first half, taking an 11-point lead into the break, Windham sank a three-pointer before making a leaping steal and converting another triple on the other end to open a 48-29 lead.
His influence was rewarded with 21 total minutes as he dropped in 11 points — nine of which came on three pointers — and logged seven rebounds.
Windham’s contributions, combined with the typical impact of senior
forward Nick Martinelli, who looked his usual self after leading the Big Ten in scoring last season, helped the ’Cats secure a blowout victory on a night they entered as 25.5-point favorites.
“His ability to shoot the ball can break games open,” said coach Chris Collins of Windham postgame. “He’s always ready. I’ve kind of asked him right now to be that energy guy off the bench. And, he played starter’s minutes.”
Martinelli steered NU to an early double-digit lead by scoring nine of its first 16 points and 15 first-half points on his 17-point night.
But as Mercyhurst chipped away at Northwestern’s 10-point first-half lead Monday evening, closing the gap to five points, Windham stepped up by splashing a closely contested three-pointer and making a transition layup in just over the final three minutes of the half. Soon after, Martinelli dropped in a spinning bucket to take the team’s largest lead of the game into halftime.
Collins said before the season that
he expects Martinelli to deliver most nights, but the following contributions might rely on hot hands in the deep rotation that includes many of the team’s eight newcomers.
NU made 26 lineup changes as nine players played double-digit minutes.
Junior transfer Arrinten Page, who averaged around 10 minutes at his previous stops, Cincinnati and USC, was an inefficient 4-of-10 from the field, but he scored a team-leading 18 points thanks to six trips to the charity stripe. He also added 12 rebounds, six of which came on the offensive glass in his 23 minutes.
As the only center expected to play a meaningful role, the ’Cats regularly turned to small-ball lineups without Page on the floor. Page said that Collins’ belief in his talents — and the rest of the team — is the most significant difference between NU and his former teams.
“We need size around the basket for altering shots and defensive rebounding,” Collins said of Page. “We need his presence out there.”
In the second half, Martinelli took a backseat to the newcomers as he added just two points while the ’Cats held a comfortable lead.
Freshman guard Jake West, a threestar recruit from Philadelphia, chipped in with defensive prowess, but looked to be a work in progress on the offensive end. This trait was evident from his first moments, when he stayed in front of a Mercyhurst guard before forcing a pass out to a late shot-clock miss. But offensively, on his first touch, he tried to find a cutting Martinelli, only to turn the ball over.
While the early results have been optimistic for a revamped NU squad, the slow start followed a similar trajectory to the Illinois State game, which the ’Cats only led by seven points at the break before winning by 35 points.
Collins pointed to how the ’Cats attempted too many “home run plays,” leading to 12 turnovers.
“We’re obviously a work in progress,” Collins said. “We did a lot of good
things, and there were some things we got to really clean up.”
On Monday, NU was without sophomore Guard Angelo Ciaravino, who scored 11 points as a starter against Illinois State, who was ruled out on the pregame injury report. Junior guard Jordan Clayton replaced him in the starting lineup, but failed to score on four attempts.
Collins said Ciaravino’s absence affected the team’s rotations, but that the team had players who stepped up. He added that he hopes the Chicago native could return as soon as Friday after missing Monday’s contests following a hard fall during the team’s final exhibition match.
“(Ciaravino’s) getting better every day,” Collins said. “He’s moving a lot today. Got a workout in. I just wanted to err on the side of caution with him.”
The ’Cats will return to the court again against Boston University on Friday. kamrannia2027@u.northwestern.edu
Photos by Bryan Boanoh/The Daily Northwestern
Junior defender Fritz Volmar, senior goalkeeper Rafael Ponce de León and senior forward Alejandro Martinez Santamaria embrace after the full-time whistle.
Junior midfielder Peter Riesz battles for a header in the box as Northwestern pushes to break the deadlock.
