Evanston released its 2026 proposed budget with a projected expenditure totalling $403,987,896, including operating transfers out, an anticipated 2.1% increase in spending Monday.
The spending increase will amount to $8,499,478 more than the city’s 2025 expenses. The city attributed increased revenues and expenditures from fiscal year 2025 to fiscal year 2026 to bond issuance for “capital improvement projects and related spending,” in the proposal.
The city operates at a deficit each year, but this year the deficit dropped by almost $20 million in the proposed budget.
FY 2026 will see a 13.7% increase to the city’s portion of the property tax levy, which has been flat for the last five years. The city
previously avoided levies through the use of reserve funds that built up from funding avenues, including one-time permits and federal stimulus funding.
The proposed budget projects a $6.5 million increase to the tax levy to support human services programming, pension contributions and recreational parks.
According to the city, operating expenses have increased by $2.8 million, but other operating costs have decreased by 2% after excluding City Hall rent payments and the tri-annual tree inoculation program in calculations.
The city and Evanston Public Library’s combined portion of the levy is set to increase by 12.9%, following the library’s September vote to recommend raising the library’s share by 10%. The news release also indicated a 25% increase in the Consumer Price Index, a measure of inflation in the city, since property taxes had last been raised, suggesting that the changes come at the heels of consistent growth in the cost of living.
Starting in FY 2026, the
» See BUDGET, page 9
Faculty weigh potential Trump deal Research funding and federal oversight dominate agreement speculation
By ASHLEY WEI daily senior staffer
As Northwestern faculty continue to grapple with the
consequences of the $790 million federal funding freeze, the Trump administration still has yet to publicly announce what concessions would help the University recover this
NU hate crimes, sexual assaults spike
Annual Security and Fire Safety Report reveals campus safety trends
By RYAN OTTIGNON
Northwestern saw spikes in hate crimes and sexual assault reports as well as zero fire reports on its Evanston campus, according to its Annual Security and Fire Safety Report released in a Sept. 25 email.
NU has been required to release annual reports disclosing crime statistics on all six of its locations since 1992 under the Jeanne Clery Campus Safety Act, which requires universities that receive federal funding to publish the data. The University has also disclosed fire safety statistics in similar accordance with the 2008 Higher Education Opportunity Act.
Data collected from more than a decade of the yearly reports reveal a sharp increase in hate crimes, with nine reported cases on the Evanston campus compared to one the previous year. The report cited two thefts, two assaults and one vandalism
tied to prejudice against national origin.
Prior to 2024, no campuses reported any hate crimes characterized by national origin. Communication freshman Yushu Wu, an international student from China, said the sharp rise made him more alert.
“How should I position myself as an international student?” he said. “Should I present myself more directly as a foreigner?”
Wu added that political tensions between the United States and China influenced his choice to stay vigilant.
Another uptick occurred in fondling, the non-consensual touching of a person’s private body parts, on the Evanston campus. Reported cases jumped from two in 2023 to 12 in 2024.
Other forms of sexual assault, including rape, did not see an increase in reported cases.
Weinberg senior Sahil Desai, director of Sexual Health and Assault Peer Educators, said they were cautious to interpret this rise
Ryan Ottignon/The Daily Northwestern
The University Compliance O ice, sitting on the fourth floor of 2020 Ridge Ave., released its Annual Security and Fire Safety Report on Sept. 25.
as a simple increase in sexual assaults.
“The vast majority of interpersonal violence, so that includes sexual assault and harassment, goes unreported,” Desai said. “Maybe
people were more familiar with the reporting process, more open to reporting and they were more educated about it.”
» See REPORT, page 9
funding. In July, the University was in active talks with the Trump administration over potential settlements, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Since then, talks have slowed, according to the New York Times in September. NU committed to
» See DEAL , page 9
Locals bike 4,100 miles for cause
Campaign served McGaw YMCA Men’s Residence
By REGAN HUIZENGA daily senior staffer @ reganmichele215
Evanston resident Mark Metz has been doing long-distance bicycle tours for over a decade. But his latest ride has a special purpose.
Metz and his wife, Noreen Edwards, set off on 4,100 miles of the TransAmerica Trail in August to raise awareness about the capital campaign to renovate McGaw YMCA Men’s Residence.
The couple is about halfway through their journey — Edwards’ first long distance biking trip — and the McGaw YMCA campaign has reached half of its $22.5 million goal. The two chose the TransAmerica Trail for their awareness campaign because it was the longest, Edwards said. They proposed the idea for the trip to the team at McGaw
YMCA because they wanted to raise awareness about issues related to affordable housing in their community, Metz said. Not many community members — even those that are very involved in the city — know about McGaw YMCA’s residency program, he added. McGaw YMCA was founded in 1885 and since the beginning, its primary goal was to serve as a place of residence for men, according to McGaw YMCA President and CEO Monique Parsons. The current Men’s Residence building was built in 1930 and has never been notably renovated.
Today, McGaw YMCA is one of the last remaining single room occupancy YMCA facilities in the nation, as other YMCA locations have made the decision to focus on other programs instead. Each branch makes the choice based on the needs of their community, Parsons said.
“Because we have served our community for as long as
» See BIKE
Illustration by Siri Reddy
Talks of a deal with the Trump administration have slowed, according to The New York Times in September.
U.S. Senate hopefuls split over Israel-Hamas war
By MARISA GUERRA ECHEVERRIA and ALLISON KUESTER the daily northwestern @marisa_g_ech / @allisonrkuester
With Illinois and Chicago under the national microscope amid immigration enforcement and an impending U.S. National Guard deployment, nine Democratic candidates vying for U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin’s seat (D-Ill.) proposed plans for winning campaigns in the primary election.
The nine Democrats provided alternative policy solutions to progressive causes such as reallocating military funding to education and affordable housing solutions. They largely aligned in declaring healthcare “a human right” and decrying the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s recent crackdowns in the Chicago area.
However, more established Democrats and political newcomers began to diverge when it came to approaches to the Israel-Hamas war.
Anusha okatura, Executive Director of Citizen Action/Illinois and moderator for the forum, said it provided an opportunity for candidates and voters to touch base on the most vital issues in their daily lives.
“ e most important thing that we can do at this time, where we have so many open primary races in Illinois, is to be learning about candidate stances and pushing candidates on stances that we may not agree with, because at the end of the day, one of them will be representing us in (Washington) D.C.,” okatura said.
e forum, hosted by Citizen Action/Illinois in partnership with 25 co-hosting organizations, was the rst in a series of six candidate forums previewing Democratic primaries for multiple Illinois congressional districts and the Illinois comptroller.
According to organizers, an audience of about 300 gathered in the seats of Chicago State University’s Breakey eatre and joined via livestream for the event. A slate of nine candidates, including three elected o cials — Illinois Lt. Gov. Juliana Stra on, U.S. Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Schaumburg) and U.S. Rep. Robin Kelly (D-Ma eson) — spoke at the forum.
All the Democratic candidates reached a qualifying threshold of 100 individual donors or $25,000 in fundraising.
Midway through the forum, candidates were asked about Congress’ role in supporting peace between Israel and the Palestinian territories.
Several candidates rallied to call the conflict in Gaza a “genocide” and some proposed a complete military and economic embargo against Israel.
Stra on, however, was the only one to mention the upcoming two-year anniversary of Hamas’ surprise a ack against the country on Oct. 7. She added that, as a mother, she has remained “horri ed by the devastation” every single day since the 2023 a ack. She called for a “lasting, permanent cease re” and a solution that prioritized humanitarian aid to Gaza and the return of Israeli hostages.
Stra on, alongside candidates Christopher Swann and Adam Delgado, agreed on the need for a two-state solution.
“Gaza is not a real estate project. It’s people, their history, their lives, and they deserve to remain in place. We need a two-state solution,” Delgado said.
e contentious topic was brought up again by former CSU student trustee and senior Allison Bolden as the nal question posed to the candidates. Bolden asked the panel two questions.
e rst was about preserving federal funding for minority serving institutions like CSU, and the second asked for a yes or no response to whether candidates could guarantee that they have not or will not continue to accept funds from the American Israeli Public A airs Commi ee.
okatura said the second part of the question was not part of the planned list of questions, but candidates could use their allo ed 45 second response time however they liked.
Kelly, the first candidate to respond, answered “Yes” to Bolden’s second question. Aside from Stratton and Krishnamoorthi — who refrained from answering the question — the rest of the candidates pledged not to take AIPAC donations.
Forum a endee and Chicago resident Michael Aaron said his impressions of the forum hinged
on the discussion of the con ict in Gaza. While he said he generally supports the race’s established Democrats on many issues, their responses in the forum gave him pause.
“I can’t support them because I’m not hearing a severe pushback against Israel that I need to hear to vote for someone for Senate,” Aaron said.
While the candidates diverged on the IsraelHamas war, all fundamentally decried the Trump administration’s actions and argued the race was not solely about a Senate seat, but the future of the Democratic Party.
John Engle, Vice President of Operations for the League of Women Voters Chicago, noted that Illinois voters will have a momentous opportunity to elect a new pillar of Democratic leadership following Durbin’s nearly 30 years in the Senate. “ ere’s a real choice to be made, and their vote ma ers in making that choice because senators, when they get in, rarely leave,” Engle said. “It’s making a choice, potentially for a very long time.”
The nine Democratic candidates for Senate convened Monday night ahead of the March primary.
Medill, NPEP produce award-winning film
By CAYLA LABGOLD-CARROLL
daily senior staffer
@caylalc
In a Medill School of Journalism course that pairs journalism students with incarcerated peers, two seniors produced an award-winning documentary entitled “Hey Hugo.”
The documentary was created in “Documenting Carceral Injustice,” a class Medill Prof. Brent Huffman began in 2023. In each iteration, the course brings 10 students into a prison where they collaborate with incarcerated students in the Northwestern Prison Education Program to make a short documentary about their life and current situations.
“Hey Hugo” was a product of the Fall 2024 class at Sheridan Correctional Center and focuses on Hugo Ocon and his family’s experience of loss during his incarceration as he waits for his sentence to be overturned.
Alumni Annie Xia (Medill ’25) and Ysa Quiballo (Medill ’25) teamed up with three Sheridan students to produce the film over the span of the quarter.
“(Ocon) had a really clear vision for how he wanted the film to be, and unlike our other Sheridan students who sort of had an idea of what their story would look like, he had a really clear focus of grief and what it’s like to grieve as an incarcerated person, and that was really unique to his story,” Quiballo said.
Quiballo and Xia worked with Ocon and his family to tell the story. They said that out of all the members of the group, his story stood out to them the most.
“At first, I was overwhelmed, not sure of how I would tell my story and how I would be perceived,” Ocon wrote in a message to The Daily. “Ysa and Annie heard my story and believed it and me. Taking away my apprehensions, offering a glimmer of hope.”
Outside of the prison, the pair interviewed Ocon’s family members and discussed their connection with the Sheridan student and how much they miss him.
NPEP students are fully involved in the production of the documentaries produced in the class. Xia said their other Sheridan classmates, Taki Peacock and Kobie Singleton, gave them “fantastic” notes on how to make the film the best that it could be.
“It was truly a group effort and made me comfortable immediately in what could be a very uncomfortable
situation,” Ocon said. “I honestly feel much better today about my chances, and my life has been improved by them being in it and what we accomplished.”
Quiballo said she believes what makes the film great is the relationship between Ocon and his family and how much they care about him.
She also spoke to the difficulty of building meaningful connections with Ocon and his relatives and delving into deep, sensitive topics while only having a quarter to create the film.
“They were telling us their stories because they cared so much about Hugo, because he was part of the storytelling process,” Quiballo said.
Huffman said his students often say their experience in his class, including being able to meet and work with the incarcerated students, is “the most incredible experience they’ve ever had.”
He praised Quiballo and Xia’s openness when approaching the class and Ocon’s story.
“Not only are Ysa and Annie doing this incredible job inside the prison and working to tell this story with empathy and care, but also they became close with Hugo’s family and gained that trust,” Huffman said.
At the end of the school year, NPEP held a student recognition day, during which students nominated peers for awards.
Quiballo and Xia’s Sheridan group members nominated them for “excellent directors” and presented them with a handmade award.
Xia said that Ocon pulled an all-nighter the night
before the ceremony, making it out of paper and painting it. “It’s hard to keep hope alive in here; they renewed that hope. What started as a random assignment turned into a friendship that I could only hope can last a lifetime,” Ocon said.
Ocon’s award was not the last award Quiballo and Xia would win. Over the past year, the film has been shown at various film festivals.
The short film played at the Academy Awardqualifying American Documentary Film Festival in Palm Springs, California, and at the Middlebury New Filmmakers Festival 2025. “Hey Hugo” also received the Best Documentary Award at the 2025 CineYouth Film Festival.
Looking back on the class and the screenings over the past year, Xia spoke about the last day of the class at Sheridan, when they all showed their films to the Sheridan students.
“I feel like that will always be the most impactful screening,” Xia said. “Just being in that room with them and seeing them find it such a gift that they’re able to see these films get made.”
“Hey Hugo” will be shown at the Chicago International Film Festival on Oct. 25 as part of the Best of CineYouth 2025 shorts program.
As they continue to screen the film at festivals and it is seen by larger audiences, Xia said that she wants audiences to take something away from watching it.
c.labgold-carroll@dailynorthwestern.com
Photo courtesy of Annie Xia and Ysa Quiballo
“Hey Hugo” will screen at CineYouth Chicago festival on October 25th.
By RUBY DOWLING the daily northwestern @rubywright0
Content Warning: This story contains mentions of violence and suicide.
Eager to witness the first musical of the school year, audiences lined up an hour in advance outside of Shanley Pavilion in hopes of getting a ticket to Arts Alliance’s Garden Party production of Stephen Schwartz’s “Pippin.”
The musical, which originally debuted on Broadway in 1972, had a notable revival in 2013. The show centers on a fantastical circus troupe facilitating the journey of Pippin, played by McCormick and Communication senior Aidan McCoy, the young son of Charlemagne, who has ambitious goals to live a completely fulfilled life. It’s a metatheatric story, breaking the fourth wall frequently to remind those in the audience that they, too, are part of the cyclical spectacle. McCoy demonstrated acting and vocal range in his performance, portraying Pippin’s descent from
exuberance into disillusionment with precision while never sacrificing energy for powerful tunes like “Corner of the Sky.” The production was ambitious in scale — especially for the small venue — but the actors pulled off the impressive show with a flourish.
The student production of the musical ran four times throughout Friday and Saturday. Arts Alliance took a darker approach to the circus themes, setting the troupe in an unexplained apocalyptic setting. Costumes and bold makeup signified alliances between characters and the audience, which subtly traced Pippin’s journey through his various phases — soldier, lover, king, artist, believer — in search of purpose.
“Pippin” set a high bar as the first musical of the year. The show’s runtime stretched just over two hours and included demanding choreography for the entire ensemble, especially McCoy. Some songs, like “Glory,” featured original Bob Fosse choreography, like the famous marionettelike Manson Trio dance over a gory battle scene. Other dances incorporated more contemporary jazz movements.
“This show is definitely the most intense
choreography I think I’ve ever put onstage and also I think some of the most intense choreography for student theater at Northwestern,” said Communication junior Myah Shelton, the show’s choreographer. “Most shows are not this dance heavy.”
Communication senior Emerson Steady’s direction tactfully balanced the darker elements of the story — like violence, lust and mentions of suicide — with humor and pockets of upbeat choreography.
While the musical itself doesn’t have many specific allegorical elements, the show is considered by some to be commentary on the Vietnam War.
Steady said she was inspired by concerns about Northwestern’s relationship with the Trump Administration.
“We realized that the story that the troupe wants to tell is actually a very dangerous story,” she said. “It’s a very nihilistic story, and I think that’s exactly, to me, the sort of framework where Northwestern’s administration is coming from.”
Steady is one of fewer than three dozen students at risk of losing student status for boycotting the University’s mandated bias training. Before the
performances, she issued a call to action, urging attendees to “not comply.”
“Pippin” is a story that comes together as it unfolds, tugging the audience along until they are immersed within the narrative of the Leading Player, played by Communication senior Marcella Tracy. The show builds to a chaotic frenzy punctuated by moments of striking clarity, driven home by impressive vocal performances from the ensemble cast.
“Your fate is never set in stone,” Tracy said on the show’s message. “And even though you may picture one thing for yourself, even though you may picture the most extraordinary life, or you have this vision, it may not work out like that. And you may be just as happy, if not even more happy.”
Editor’s Note: Curtain Call is the new name for The Daily’s theater reviews. Similar to ‘Reel Thoughts’ and ‘Liner Notes,’ Curtain Call will provide commentary on local theatre productions, including those put on by the Northwestern community.
rubydowling2028@u.northwestern.edu
‘The Living Room’ offers informal setting for reflection
By CLARE KIRWAN daily senior staffer
Nursing a fresh-brewed cup of coffee, one can sit down in the lower gallery of the Block Museum of Art, furnished with soft, burnt orange couches, and enjoy one piece of art at a time.
The Block is piloting “The Living Room,” a new drop-in space that opened Sept. 8, this fall and winter.
Erin Northington, associate director of campus and community education and engagement at the Block Museum, said the new space highlights one work at a time from the Block’s permanent collection in a less formal setting.
“It’s a space that we hope will encourage close looking and deeper reflection and certainly to spark conversation,” Northington said.
With roughly 6,000 works in the permanent collection, Northington said the team at Block had to choose just six works to display over the course of the two quarters.
They prioritized choosing works that utilize a variety of backgrounds and mediums, but that are also fairly new to the collection and have never been exhibited before, she said.
“We really wanted to have works from the collection that invited a different sense of openness, lots of possible interpretations (and) a lot of different directions that people could take their thinking and ask many sorts of questions,” Northington said.
From Sept. 8 to Oct. 5, the space featured a sculpture piece from South African artist Igshaan Adams.
As of Oct. 8, Ken Fandell’s “The Sky Above My Home” is on display in the space.
The pieces are accompanied by prompts written by Block Museum Student Associates, inviting visitors to reflect on the piece using cards that are then posted on the boards that line the walls.
Weinberg senior Ethan Bledsoe, programs and tours coordinator at the Block, did looking exercises and activities with many of the other Block Associates to deeply analyze and consider the piece and craft the prompts.
Bledsoe said the student associates’ main goal was
to make it so everyone would have a good experience in the space without a tour guide or specific labels.
Art museums can often feel like formal or intimidating spaces with rules on the distances you have to stand or how to interpret pieces, Bledsoe said. “The Living Room” seeks to welcome anyone to the space.
“I think that this space is so important, especially at a university, because it really just opens dialogue,” Bledsoe said. “It’s like an entry point for the museum. And I think that’s what is so important about the living room, is it could be a really good first impression.”
Isabella Ko, engagement coordinator and educator at Block Museum, said there are no wall labels, QR codes or framed pieces on display. There are no security guards in the space, either, because they want the room to foster comfort.
In contrast to the rest of the Block’s galleries, which require you to leave your things in cubbies downstairs, you can walk into “The Living Room” exactly as you are.
“Not only can you be with a work of art, but you can also come and study and just decompress,” Ko said.
Within the first two days, Northington said, 131
people visited “The Living Room.”
After just one month, the response boards are overflowing, and the number of prompt cards available have dwindled. Northington said the Block staff is very happy with the response from students and community members so far.
“It’s really incredible to see how people have been responding to the work on view and what’s been coming up for them,” Northington said. “It’s just been a joy to see folks getting to know the collection in this way, and then also really a joy to just see folks having meetings in the space and doing homework and taking a break.”
There is free coffee and tea on Wednesdays from 3 to 5 p.m. at the entrance of the Block Museum, which can be taken into “The Living Room” (with a closed lid, of course).
The Student Associates are holding an “Art Talks!” tour on Oct. 19 from 2 to 3 p.m. to analyze the current work in the “The Living Room,” “The Sky Above My Home.”
c.kirwan@dailynorthwestern.com
Liner Notes: Taylor Swift’s ‘The Life of a Showgirl’ dazzles
By MAYA WONG daily senior staffer @mayaw0ng
e haters gonna hate, hate, hate, hate, hate. Taylor Swi ’s latest album, “ e Life of a Showgirl,” is a pop triumph.
Released on Friday, “ e Life of a Showgirl” is Swi ’s 12th studio album. e project comes less than a year a er the singer-songwriter concluded her two-year-long Eras Tour and is a glance behind the curtain of Swi ’s life beyond the glitz and glamour of touring — or showgirl — life.
Instead of the wistful introspection that graced her past four albums from “folklore” to “ e Tortured Poets Department,” Swi instead serves up joyful gushing. And rightfully so — She’s in love!
Produced alongside Max Martin and Shellback, the minds behind hits like “Blank Space” and “I Knew You Were Trouble,” “ e Life of a Showgirl” marks Swi ’s welcome return to pure radio pop. And a er half a decade of subdued production, Swi nally has bass and drums backing up her vocals, emphasizing her masterful writing and lilting melodies.
Compared to “ e Tortured Poets Department,” “ e Life of a Showgirl” is more concise and to the point. It features only 12 tracks and one of Swi ’s shortest album runtimes — second only to her debut project. Yet, the brevity is what makes this album shine. Max Martin and Shellback’s touches can be seen throughout. By
doubling down on more comprehensible melody arrangements and simpler verses, Swi is certainly back in her mid-2010s pop era.
For perhaps the rst time, Swi selected one of her album’s best tracks to be the lead single (note the mediocre “Shake It O ” and “ME!”), the romantic and Shakespearean song “ e Fate of Ophelia.” Supported by what might be Swi ’s best music video since “cardigan” — “ e Fate of Ophelia” rewrites the story of the heroine Ophelia from “Hamlet” as Swi is saved from drowning by her lover. e song’s head-bopping drum lines and breathy vocals work together to create a beautiful tune. A crescendo in the song’s nal chorus is the cherry on top.
Touches of inspiration from showgirl and music eras of the past can be found across the project, most obviously in “Opalite,” where swinging iterations of “oh-oh-oh-oh” recall ’50s girl groups, adding a fun and catchy air.
“Father Figure” interpolates George Michael’s song of the same name, turning the father gure into one of power rather than love. e production of “Actually Romantic” is reminiscent of Avril Lavigne and 2000s rock girl albums.
A Taylor Swi album would not be complete without lyrics that make you think harder, and “ e Life of a Showgirl” is no outlier. “I’d cry my eyes violet” from the song “Elizabeth Taylor” and “I pay the check before it kisses the mahogany grain” from “Father Figure” exemplify Swi ’s unique lyricism. Swi also dives deeper into country-style
writing in “Ruin e Friendship” and “ e Life of a Showgirl (feat. Sabrina Carpenter).” e cheeky “Wood” is an adorable (and slightly scandalous) ode to breaking superstitions and, ahem, sex. NFL tight end Travis Kelce has certainly made his mark on Swi ’s music — yet instead of football puns, we now have … well, just listen to the lyrics and deduce the message yourself.
With a Jackson 5-inspired guitar backing and clever turns on common phrases, “Wood” is tongue-in-cheek, playful and full of pure joy. It’s made to be sung along with and danced to while doing your makeup.
And maybe that’s the point of “ e Life of a Showgirl.” Beyond the hours spent performing, there’s other things in life that will make you want to continue to dance o stage.
Despite all of its strengths, “ e Life of a Showgirl” is by no means Swi ’s lyricism magnum opus. Categorized by Swi ies as “gli er gel pen” songs, the album’s lyrics are signi cantly less complex and not as metaphoric. e “Eldest Daughter” lyrics “But I’m not a bad b***h / is isn’t savage” do serve a purpose in using online slang, but don’t quite hit the mark. In a heartfelt song about brave facades and le ing one’s guard down when in love, there must be a be er way for Swi to convey her message.
e infectious production of “CANCELLED!” is reminiscent of Swi ’s “Reputation” era, but some lyrics feel a bit inept for a 35-year-old. “Welcome to my underworld” would have t when
Swi ’s image was intentionally angsty, but now, it’s a bit odd.
Regardless, “ e Life of a Showgirl” shines in more places than not. Perhaps an in ux of negative online comments is in uencing others to think poorly of this project.
e album’s nal and titular track, “ e Life of a Showgirl (feat. Sabrina Carpenter),” includes Swi and Carpenter in conversation with a ctional showgirl named Ki y. e singers are in awe of Ki y and aspire to live a life similar to hers, but Ki y warns the two of the hardships of being a showgirl, telling them: “You don’t know the life of a showgirl, babe / And you’re never gonna wanna.”
It’s no secret that Swi and Carpenter are world-class showgirls now. Despite pursuing the showgirl path themselves, through this song, Swi indirectly tells listeners that life in the spotlight is no easy feat.
People expected “ e Life of a Showgirl” to be ashy and grandiose, and maybe Swi ’s photoshoots and marketing campaign for the album pointed towards that, but she was trying to tell us something bigger.
Maybe it’s what happens behind the scenes — the love, the nostalgia, the drama, the mundane, the common happenings of everyday life — that truly ma er.
Maybe that’s what the life of a showgirl is all about.
m.wong@dailynorthwestern.com
Swifties flock to AMC for behind-the-scenes album look
By MIGUEL TSANG daily senior staffer
@migtsang
Two years a er her smash-hit “Eras Tour” movie dropped, Taylor Swi is back on the silver screen to promote her new album, “ e Life of a Showgirl,” with a movie obviously titled “ e O cial Release Party of a Showgirl.”
A er Swi ’s album was released at 11 p.m. CST on ursday, the lm showed Friday a ernoon to Sunday night almost hourly in AMC theaters nationwide, including AMC Evanston 12.
“It was basically an extended behind-thescenes of this main music video that she directed and produced, and it showed the music at the
very end,” Weinberg senior Julia Scha ner said. e movie billed itself as a set of “neverbefore-seen personal re ections” on songs from her latest record.
e run time included showings of lyric videos interspersed with song explanations, as well as the premiere of a music video (that was released on YouTube Sunday night) and its behind-the-scenes ou akes.
Weinberg senior Carleigh O’Marra was already familiar with “ e Life of a Showgirl,” having listened to the album prior to seeing the movie. She appreciated the chance to give its songs another go while ge ing a peek behind the creative curtain.
“I like that she kind of explained what some of the songs are about,” O’Marra said. “It’s fun to see her interpretation versus what you thought
of (the music) the rst time you listened to it.”
While there were many highlights, it was hard for O’Marra and Scha ner to land on a personal favorite track from the dozen released. ey agreed that lead single “ e Fate of Ophelia” was the most memorable song, which had its music video premiere during the movie.
McCormick sophomore Alp Ertürk met up with his friends at e Arch around ten minutes before the start of his movie at 7 p.m. on Friday. In an atypical move for a movie, “Release Party” started sharply at the posted showtime, bypassing the trailers completely. is required audiences to arrive sharply on time to get the full picture.
“We barely made it in time,” Ertürk said. Ertürk had also listened to the album before making the trip to Evanston’s AMC. His most
anticipated aspect of the movie was ge ing to gain “a new perspective” on the songs thanks to the short explanation of what inspired them. With showtimes running on the hour on Friday evening, the one-weekend-only event brought in more people beyond just students. Jessica Fisch (Communication M.A.’15) was grateful for an opportunity to spend the a ernoon with her eight-year-old daughter. Both Fisch and her daughter were most impressed by the wire-based choreography in the one-take scenes of “ e Fate of Ophelia” music video. “We counted down the days ‘til it came (out), and we’re just excited at a new Taylor Swi album,” Fisch said. “I think it’s amazing to get to listen to it on that sound system.”
migueltsang2028@u.northwestern.edu
Wirtz Chicago explores digital art tools at symposium
By DOROTHY ZHANG the daily northwestern @dorothy8zhang
is weekend, Wirtz Center Chicago transformed into an immersive laboratory where theater and technology converged in a series of immersive digital art installations.
e three-day “Finding New Forms: Technology and Live Performance” symposium invited artists, academics and audiences to rethink how digital tools — virtual and augmented reality, AI and projection mapping — can expand live storytelling.
Communication Assistant Dean and Executive Artistic Director Tanya Palmer and American playwright-director Seth Bockley co-curated the event, which combined open gallery pieces with conversation panels from artists working at the frontier of mixed-reality art.
Palmer said the symposium grew out of crossdisciplinary conversations among colleagues in the School of Communication. For Bockley, the event’s central theme was equally collaborative.
“It’s designed as a meeting place … bringing together thinkers and makers who are interested in how performance and technology are a ecting one another in elds of theater, gaming, art (and) installation,” Bockley said.
Bockley said the symposium explored questions of how new technologies inform performance practices and how theater artists feel challenged or empowered by them.
Across the Wirtz Center’s multi- oored galleries, visitors encountered a range of works. “Particle Ink” by Jo Ca ell revealed a hidden realm that surrounds the viewer in a projection mapping
augmented reality. “Virtual Parkway Forest Park” by Toaster Lab exhibited a web app gallery of a community space.
In “My Data Body,” a collaboration between sound artist Stephan Moore and Canadian artist Marilène Oliver, participants wore a virtual reality headset and used controls to interact in a digital body built from Oliver’s MRI scans, social media, biometric, banking and health data, with passwords owing through arteries and Google data composing the muscle.
Suspended in midair within the virtual space, participants heard a cacophony of human and mechanical sounds as they dissected the digital corpus.
“In addition to our physical bodies, we have this world of data that kind of ows around, follows us around through our internet lives. And I think that the brilliance of this piece is that it tries to make that more tangible,” Moore said.
“Sweet Dreams: Delicious Lies Within,” which is by the London-based collective Marshmallow Laser Feast, transformed a gallery room into the ctional Real Good Chicken Company, where a cheerful mascot named Chicky Ricky presides over golden sculptures and nostalgic paintings. e atmosphere was playful and sugary yet unsettling, as it was a satirical take on how advertising manufactures appetite while concealing disturbing aspects of consumption.
Participants sat in beanbag chairs before a oor-to-ceiling projection as they followed Chicky Ricky into a journey through trypophobia-inducing bread and grotesquely surreal mukbang imagery.
Nearby, Özge Samanci’s “You Are the Ocean” invited participants to control a simulated seascape with their own brainwaves tracked from an EEG
headset. rough concentration and relaxation, the subject could control the water, sky and weather conditions. e piece acted as a reminder that humanity’s existence and ways of thinking directly shape the interconnected planet.
For Bockley, such pieces exemplify theater’s instinct to experiment.
“We’re sort of eternally curious, kind of like Magpie artists,” Bockley said. “Early adopters of technologies of all kinds, including lighting (and) architectural practices … (gather) all the shiny objects to make our nests.”
Finally, Ian Garre ’s “AI Camp re” used articial intelligence to reimagine Sco ish storytelling through the voice of an AI narrator, Symbiolene, to channel stories of Selkies, Kelpies and other shapeshi ing spirits rooted in Sco ish culture.
Garre , who directs Toronto’s Toasterlab collective, said his work is about building relationships with AI rather than resisting it.
Both organizers and artists also acknowledged the tensions that come with these tools in terms of their cost and accessibility, dystopian surveillance, environmental concerns and hidden biases.
Garre explained that data infrastructure covers
speci c areas, creating barriers to access. Rural regions and sovereign land outside of jurisdiction o en have fewer levels of participation, leaving these communities behind in an increasingly virtual world. Additionally, he noted that AI’s objectivity is a myth.
“People think that it’s neutral, but it is biased by its creators and its training,” Garre said.
Bockley also reminded viewers that there is a delineation between human creativity and AI output. He said that artwork is about expression — a computer thinking in response to a question, no ma er how much thinking is happening, it’s not part of an exchange with an audience in an authentic way.
Ultimately, “Finding New Forms” truly found fresh forms. Photographer Justin Barbin (Communication ’11) said he was struck by the engagement of the pieces.
“You’re not just a bystander in the art that surrounds you, but you’re actively engaged in what’s happening,” Barbin said. “It’s what the next step in art looks like.”
dorothyzhang2028@u.northwestern.edu
Rice: Focus protests toward Trump, not Northwestern
We are currently in the biggest era of protest since the 1960s. at we need to protest is depressing, that it too o en misses the point is ne lesome. Perhaps I am old fashioned or just impatient, but I am not happy with the ways and means of student and faculty protest. Sadly, the targets are o en missed or they don’t meet the proper ones. e argument over the online anti-bias training is a serious one. Stated clearly, I am opposed to this video which seems to be aimed at middle school students. Its history is simplistic, and it too closely re ects the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance tendency to equate criticism of Israel with Antisemitism. It was created to nd antisemitism in places where it isn’t. How should we think about protesting it? e war in Gaza is not Northwestern’s fault; the denial of funding is on Donald Trump. What we do know is that the training was given because the federal government ordered it — to refuse to take it compromises NU’s collective future.
Students protesting not only jeopardize their status as students, but also NU’s ability to regain and retain government funding — funding we
must get back. As we’ve seen in recent years, demonstrations like these are how local issues become national ones. We must respond locally.
Ask yourself whether your protest only puts your own life at risk. In which case, ne. But today you risk the present and future of NU as a producer of knowledge, much of which is lifesaving. Do you want to contribute to Trump closing down this university?
As the United States government continues on an ugly path, we could ask questions about our foreign policy, limitations of freedom and immigrants at risk. We should be protesting these policies; our streets should be lled with demonstrations.
We must protect medicine through science, freedom of inquiry, free speech and many other critical realities (which are being taken away or run in a non-rational manner). ese are critical local issues that a ect the population writ large.
Instead, this past week, there were posters advertising a training session on Tech Plaza, and like many of the recent protests, NU seems to be the target. We are responsible for complying with federal orders and protesting the nature of these videos is a reasonable issue. But non-compliance strikes me as a dangerous means of protest.
During the Vietnam War, the le on campus learned that while we wished our campus was non-complicit with the war, Lyndon B. Johnson and the government were the enemy, not
then-NU President Rocky Miller. e 1968 sit-in at the Bursar’s o ce over issues of race successfully negotiated a more enlightened policy on race for our campus to be sure. at was a local issue.
During the War, our local issue concerned NROTC, about which I have some regrets. e occupation of Deering Meadow and Sheridan Road was resolved, as was the 1968 sit-in, through negotiation (despite the National Guard bivouacked at the Central Street ‘L’ station). President Miller did not want to see bloodshed on campus like Kent State. I believe former President Michael Schill did not want that, either. Some graduate students and faculty are fully into protesting the University and Schill for Gaza as if NU has any say in it. I would support the demonstrations (depending on the slogans), but I beg the protesters to more carefully choose their targets.
I expect to be a acked for being all kinds of things, from being pro-Israel (which I am most certainly not at this point), anti-free-speech (a total insult) and betraying the le (try it, go for it). But what I am asking for is a more nuanced decision on who is a acked and how to build a larger audience. Alas, it seems to me that some recent columns and pamphlets directed at Schill miss the point. None of us know what happens when you face Congress (yes, I read all 150 pages of testimony) and what Mike had to do to save
the University. What would you do?
Bluntly, I am asking our protest community to act more maturely, to articulate the real sources of evil power and design their protests accordingly.
Build your movement through discourse and reason and watch your targets and your slogans. We learned that lesson the hard way when we occupied both Deering Meadow and Sheridan Road in 1970, shouting “Hey Hey LBJ, how many kids did you kill today?” not “President Miller is evil!”
We gained whatever legitimacy we could through careful rhetoric and straight-forward arguments. I wish I saw more of that on campus today. When punishment is personal, protesting is an existential choice. When it is directed at a large entity such as a university, punishment is collective both within the University and outside.
I know this sucks. But ultimately, blame Trump and the Republicans, not President Schill and the Board of Trustees.
Je Rice (WCAS ’72) is a senior lecturer in political science and A ican Studies. He can be contacted at j-rice2@northwestern.edu. If you would like to respond publicly to this op-ed, send a Le er to the Editor to opinion@dailynorthwestern.com. e views expressed in this piece do not necessarily re ect the views of all sta members of e Daily Northwestern.
Winiarsky: Completing the bias training is imperative
TALIA WINIARSKY
COLUMNIST
Up to three dozen students who have refused to complete the mandatory “Building a Community of Respect and Breaking Down Bias” training may soon no longer be my classmates.
To try to understand why someone would choose to not watch the hour-long series of videos, even if it meant losing their standing at the University, I rewatched it this week.
While the training is imperfect, its bene ts outweigh its aws. Boyco ing it accomplishes nothing besides demonstrating its necessity.
First, I do not claim to represent any Jewish person other than myself. Famously, we are a people with many di erent opinions.
I believe that Northwestern needs an antisemitism training. It should be viewed the same way as other mandatory trainings on sexual harassment or on social justice and inclusion, which I completed before I even started college.
If you need more convincing, here’s an illuminating statistic: As of April 2025, nearly twothirds of Jewish students reported antisemitism as a somewhat serious or very serious problem, according to a Daily poll. Only a third of students overall agreed. ese numbers — and this gap — justify the training.
Many Northwestern students come from places where there aren’t many Jews, and they might need some basic facts before they arrive on campus. It’s possible that the only
LTE: Students should hold the line, resist the politicized bias training
e Daily recently reported that Northwestern’s administration is threatening to cut students o from nancial aid, on-campus housing and a liation with the University unless they complete a training module presenting a distorted and partisan version of the history of Israel and Palestine. Created by the Jewish United Fund speci cally for NU, the antisemitism module advances as fact a deeply contested political narrative.
As faculty charged with the education of our students, we denounce this requirement as a violation of the University’s professed commitment to free expression and the free exchange of ideas. By imposing a politicized curriculum, the administration has overstepped its role and usurped faculty authority over teaching. e module amounts to
information about Jews that someone knows before they come here is from the news and the internet — this training o ers a fuller picture.
I doubt that the video in its current form will be able to greatly lower those gures of antisemitism or provide enough information for students to feel comfortable speaking about Israel on its own. But having it gives students a common foundation to discuss, which is be er than none at all. is foundation needs a building to stand on it. Further programming and ample class o erings on the subject are available to students, and they should eagerly seek these out. e training is not the entire conversation, but it is a start.
Moreover, if it were up to me, the training would have been created with input from professors and been treated with more scholarly rigor — I was le wanting to know more about some of the quotes and gures they cited.
Still, I nd it appropriate that a Jewish organization like the Jewish United Fund weighed in. Jews should be able to de ne what discrimination against us looks like.
In a le er that some boyco ers wrote to the University, they took issue with the fact that the video was created by an organization “whose partiality and alignment with Israeli State policy is unquestioned.” To this I’d say that many American Jewish organizations are Zionist because it is an accurate re ection of the fact that most American Jews are emotionally a ached to the state.
While polling numbers di er, in 2020, Pew found that eight in ten American Jews said that caring about Israel was an important part of what being Jewish meant to them. In 2024, the American Jewish Commi ee found that 85% of
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
propaganda, conveying that certain actions of the state of Israel cannot be opposed, delegitimizing dissent and chilling debate.
Faculty were o ered a di erent anti-bias curriculum and only learned of the student training through alarmed students. e student module contains serious errors of commission and omission that faculty with relevant expertise reject. Presenting such partisan material without space for questioning is antithetical to the critical inquiry we cultivate.
Two examples illustrate the problems. e claim that “Jews are from Israel” erases centuries of Jewish life around the world and plays into antisemitic stereotypes that diaspora Jews are disloyal, while the accompanying map erases Palestinians. Equally disturbing, the module con ates criticism of Israel with antisemitism, equating “anti-Israel activists” with a former Ku Klux Klan leader and suggesting that criticism of Israel will not be tolerated.
NU should not outsource education to a partisan political organization, nor threaten students
American Jewish adults believed it was important for the U.S. to support Israel a er October 7. e le er also states that the video features a “harmful con ation” of Zionism with Judaism. But to deny this con ation would be to deny reality: Nearly half of all Jews live in Israel, and it is the only country in which Jews make up more than two percent of the population.
I do share the le er writers’ hope that the next iteration of training includes the history of Palestinians in the region in a similar way to how it treats the history of Jews. My Jewish ancestors longed to return to Israel a er millennia of exile. It would be unfair to suggest that Palestinians would not share a similar longing less than a century a er hundreds of thousands of them were displaced. ey, too, deserve to have their a achment to the land placed in historical context.
Another worry, expressed by Je Rice in his column Wednesday, regards the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance de nition of antisemitism. I approach this with the experience of having worked with Jewish organizations, some of which work to implement this de nition. ough I personally mostly agree with IH ’s de nition, I worry using it will have a chilling e ect on speech, particularly for those who wish to criticize Israel’s policies. I suspect that it might dissuade rewarding conversations from beginning in the rst place.
e inclusion of the IH de nition, however, isn’t within Northwestern’s control. As the training writes, the adoption of the de nition was consistent with a January 2025 executive order.
Despite these shortcomings, I implore my fellow students to complete the training. Having to
with loss of aid or housing to enforce it. e administration must withdraw the module and replace it with accurate and unbiased education about antisemitism.
To our students: your resistance ma ers. You are right to refuse this training, and we stand with you in demanding a university worthy of your commitment to truth and justice.
— Michael Peshkin and Elizabeth Shakman Hurd
Michael Peshkin is a professor of mechanical engineering at the McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. He can be reached at peshkin@ northwestern.edu. Elizabeth Shakman Hurd is a professor of religious studies and political science at the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences. She can be contacted at eshurd@northwestern.edu. If you would like to respond publicly to this op-ed, send a Le er to the Editor to opinion@dailynorthwestern.com. e views expressed in this piece do not necessarily re ect the views of all sta members of e Daily Northwestern.
sit through a 17-minute video called “Antisemitism: Here/Now” that expresses a mainstream Jewish position isn’t worth losing your status as a college student over. e fact that some students are willing to do so proves that the training is necessary in the rst place. I believe in few things as much as I believe in the power of learning as a way to build understanding. Learning doesn’t necessitate agreement. But it can build a sense of understanding, which, to me, ma ers more than agreement. e rst step is a willingness to try.
Talia Winiarsky is a Weinberg senior and author of “Talia’s Take.” She can be contacted at TaliaWiniarsky2026@u.northwestern.edu. If you would like to respond publicly to this op-ed, send a Le er to the Editor to opinion@dailynorthwestern. com. e views expressed in this piece do not necessarily re ect the views of all sta members of e Daily Northwestern.
The Daily Northwestern Volume 150, Issue 4
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Ducks Dan and Dave: Musings on Love
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
Dan and Dave and is not associated with Northwestern. e views expressed in this piece do not necessarily re ect the views of all sta members of e Daily Northwestern. Nathaniel Foster is a student at the School of Professional Studies and writer of Ducks Dan and Dave. He can be contacted at
or @duckscomics. Lia Kim is the illustrator for
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page 1
supporting research directly impacted by the freeze one week after the initial announcement. On Oct. 1, the University extended its promise to continue this financial support until at least the end of the calendar year.
Faculty members are divided on whether the University should negotiate with the Trump administration in an attempt to reclaim federal funding.
McCormick Prof. Justin Notestein said he supports the University striking an agreement with the Trump administration because research cannot continue without federal funding. Notestein said he anticipates severe consequences if NU’s research support runs dry.
“(If) the research at Northwestern collapses entirely, we shut down as a research institution,” Notestein said.
The University is supporting researchers by continuing to fund projects, Notestein said, but it cannot afford to fund research indefinitely.
For him, being able to conduct research is more than just a career.
“Being a researcher at the University is an inextricable part of the identity of the people that are researchers at universities,” he said. “And so it’s more than a job for most faculty,
BUDGET
From page 1
city will establish a separate Parks and Recreation Fund, moving those operations out of the General Fund. The new fund will cover the city’s parks, recreation centers, programs and community amenities. The fund’s projected revenues and expenses are even at $16,260,202. As a result, the General Fund — which remains the city’s primary operating fund for public safety, transportation and general administration — will show lower revenues and expenditures than in previous years.
Evanston’s contribution to public safety
REPORT
From page 1
The Department of Justice estimated that 76% of sexual assaults in the U.S. in 2024 went unreported, and on college campuses, earlier DOJ studies indicated that the percentage is likely much higher.
Desai noted that the Office of Civil Rights and Title IX Compliance, which responds to on-campus sexual misconduct, has recently expanded efforts to both educate on sexual assault and provide secondary report-resolution pathways.
One of those pathways, what the office calls “alternative resolution,” was implemented in September 2023.
“You don’t necessarily have to go through a traditional justice process, and you can come to an agreement with the respondent on how to move forward,” Desai said.
NU campuses outside the Chicago area reported no crimes throughout 2024,
BIKE
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we have, our goal has always been how do we provide services and strengthen the community that we serve,” Parsons said. “For us, affordable housing has maintained its position as a priority in Evanston.”
McGaw YMCA serves up to 156 men at a time, and the residence currently has a waitlist, Jesse Chatz, the chief of staff and strategy, said. The facility has undergone minor updates, but never any major upgrades, Chatz added.
As Board Chair at McGaw YMCA, Metz has been deeply involved in the capital campaign. Since beginning the bike journey with his wife, he estimated that they have raised about $20,000 for the campaign.
“The awareness part of this is crucial,” Metz said.
Each day, the couple blogs about their journey for those following along. Although Metz was used to journaling prior to the adventure, he said knowing that so many people are watching his and Edwards’ journey adds a bit of extra pressure.
Parsons said she wishes Evanston’s housing situation didn’t warrant the McGaw YMCA residency program. She added that regardless of that, she believes in doing it the “right” way for the men that do need it.
“If we have to continue to do this, which we do, then they should be given a space that is dignified, that is upgraded, that allows them to have a peace of mind as they’re making decisions about their next steps,” Parsons said.
Current residents have been involved in the process since the beginning and have offered
and I’ll certainly say this on my own part. It is part of my identity.”
Taking a deal will not come without repercussions, Notestein said, as the Trump administration has “enormous leverage” over the University. He said he understands why a lot of NU faculty would be upset with a deal given its potential stipulations.
Notestein said these researchers might end up “voting with their feet,” leaving the University for outside opportunities.
“I’m positive we’ll be dealing with some members of the staff that will choose to no longer work at the University,” Notestein said.
For Spanish and Portuguese Prof. Jorge Coronado, coming to an agreement with the Trump administration goes beyond just “getting the money back.”
By withholding funds already promised to the University, Coronado said the administration is “extorting” the institution in order to shape its image. He said the University would be “negotiating away its autonomy.”
Though NU is funding research projects impacted by the freeze, Coronado said in the event the University runs out of sufficient funds and has not reached a deal, the Board of Trustees should also use the endowment to “fulfill the mission of education and research” and continue to sustain the University’s research.
pensions will increase by $10.3 million in FY 2026 for a total of $30.3 million. $3 million will come from an increase in the pension levy of the property tax. The remainder will be drawn from other sources, including the General Fund’s reserves.
The news release touted budget expansions for Crisis Alternative Response Evanston, “an innovative initiative aimed at providing a non-police response to certain low-risk service calls,” a new Community Benefits Agreement with Northwestern and a freeze on previously rising water price rates.
The proposed budget allocates approximately $90 million across twelve funds for
continuing no-crime streaks of four years in Miami and of two years in San Francisco, Qatar and Washington, D.C.
For the first time since the University began publishing fire safety data in 2008, the Evanston campus reported zero fires in residential buildings in 2024, following four back-to-back years with one fire.
William Muno, Evanston Fire Department’s deputy chief of operations, told The Daily in February that the department responded to more than 200 false fire alarms during 2024. Even though fire alarms may scare some students, Bienen freshman Erin Lee said she isn’t concerned.
Lee evacuated Willard Residential College just before 1 a.m. on Oct. 2 following one false alarm, which radio dispatches said was caused by a “faulty hood.”
“I do feel safe on campus because of how Willard RAs and all the upperclassmen helped us through it,” Lee said.
x5x4l1@u.northwestern.edu
feedback on planned upgrades, which will include private shower rooms, food preparation space on each floor and improved lounge spaces. The capital campaign will allow McGaw YMCA to become a more “dignified” and “livable” space, according to Chatz.
Once construction starts, current residents will be moved to a new facility for about a year, Chatz explained. This secondary location has not yet been identified, although there are facilities under consideration, he said. The goal is to start construction in 2026, when the capital campaign will hopefully have reached 80% of its goal, Parsons said.
Metz and Edwards expect to finish their bike journey in November. Not all details of the trip can be planned out ahead of time, Metz said, because they have to adjust their routes based on weather predictions and their energy levels.
The couple typically bikes between six and eight hours a day, Metz said. They have taken a few days and half-days off to rest in towns along the trail and tour national parks like Yellowstone.
Edwards has also kept a record of “bad things” that have happened during the journey, including hours of nonstop rain, high winds and a struggle to body weight due to a lack of nutrition.
Still, Metz and Edwards have loved being immersed in places they wouldn’t have otherwise been, Metz said. And, more importantly, their goal of raising awareness motivates them.
“Affordable housing is a crisis, and it’s not just in Evanston,” Metz said. “It’s a crisis nationwide.”
r.huizenga@dailynorthwestern.com
“The idea that the Board of Trustees would not want to touch the endowment at this moment is mind-boggling,” Coronado said. “This is an emergency. This is all hands on deck, and we should be dipping into the endowment to fund ourselves going forward.”
The contingencies on academic freedom that may come with a deal worry McCormick Prof. Sossina Haile. Specifically, Haile expressed concern over restrictions on syllabus topics and even topics she said do not relate to education, such as gender expression.
Haile said she is not confident the federal administration’s demands would end there, based on the Trump administration’s increased demands for Columbia University after an initial deal.
“Even if there’s a deal struck, I have no trust in this particular administration that they wouldn’t come back demanding more,” Haile said.
Haile said a federal grant for her own research in sustainable energy technologies was cut in September after she waited months for money to clear on the previously approved grant. Haile said these cuts are a loss for the U.S., jeopardizing the country’s ability to remain a global leader in innovation.
“The federal government views this as some favor that they’re doing to the universities, but
the city’s Capital Improvement Plan, which is budgeted for a total of more than $500 million over the next five years. Notably, the Capital Improvements Fund — which includes construction and consultation on various city projects — and the Water Fund — which accounts for activity relating to the city’s water infrastructure — will each receive about $37 million in funding. In the proposal, city staff also expressed concerns over the potential loss of federal grants in the wake of recent spending cuts within the federal government and evolving supply chain disruptions due to tariffs. In the past, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has provided $2.2
it’s not,” Haile said. “This is what allows the U.S. to be competitive and leading the world. They’re shooting themselves in the foot.”
History Prof. Helen Tilley said the premise of restricting funding is unlawful and undermines the integrity of the University.
By deliberately creating a financial crisis, Tilley said the Trump administration is trying to “extort” an agreement that waives fundamental rights, including the rights to assembly, dissent, due process and data protection.
Any agreement that compromises academic freedoms only “gives autocrats more power,” Tilley said.
Tilley criticized the Board of Trustees’ secrecy surrounding the Trump administration’s threats to the “basic rights” of individuals at the University, nor are they enlisting the help of experts here at NU. She said it requires staff and students to take risks to defend fundamental principles that the Board of Trustees should be fighting for.
“If (trustees) don’t understand that the core mission of a University includes academic freedom, if (they’re) willing to sign away academic freedom in exchange to keep the money flowing, (they) are already signing away the integrity of the University,” Tilley said.
ashleywei2028@u.northwestern.edu
million in new annual entitlement grants for “local housing and support programs,” in addition to $1.7 million in carryover funds, according to the proposed budget. Loss of these grants would either require concessions or additional revenue from other sources in order to maintain these programs, the proposal stated.
The proposed budget will be discussed at both the City Council meeting on Oct. 13 and the Finance & Budget Committee meeting on Oct. 14, before the Budget Public Hearing on Oct. 27 at City Council.
An article published in Wednesday’s paper titled “Public library weighs split with city” inaccurately stated the year the Evanston Public Library moved to 1703 Orrington Ave. EPL moved locations in 1908, not 1903. e Daily regrets the error.
Gameday
By ANDREW LITTLE daily senior staffer @little_andrew_3
happy valley ShowDowN
Braun: ‘Comfort is our enemy’ as Northwestern hits the road for first time in a month
Riding a two-game winning streak, Northwestern will venture into enemy territory for the first time since Week 1 as it travels to Penn State on Saturday.
The Wildcats (3-2, 1-1 Big Ten) fell into a rhythm against Louisiana-Monroe, pulling away for a 42-7 victory. Ahead of the upcoming matchup with Penn State (3-2, 0-2 Big Ten), coach David Braun echoed the same sentiment at his weekly press conference Monday as he did immediately after his team’s last win: “Comfort is our enemy.”
“Just ’cause we’ve found a little bit of success doesn’t mean we are where we need to be,” Braun told reporters.
When NU enters Beaver Stadium, the secondlargest stadium in the country, it will be greeted by over 100,000 roaring fans. To prepare for the atmosphere, Braun and the coaching staff have ramped up the crowd noise and added surprises to the team’s practice structure this week.
“We’re going into a hostile environment,” Braun said. “This team, specifically in 2025, has not experienced an environment like we’ll experience at Penn State. It’s an awesome challenge for this football team, and a challenge that our team’s looking forward to.”
While the ’Cats and Nittany Lions currently share a 3-2 record, Penn State is recovering from consecutive Big Ten losses to then-No. 6 Oregon and UCLA. NU split its two matchups earlier in the season with those shared opponents, losing to the Ducks 34-14 on Sept. 13.
Entering last weekend, Penn State was ranked
STAT LEADERS NU versuS PeNn State
PASSING
Preston Stone
83-of-135, 918 yards
6.8 YPA, 7 TD, 6 INT Dallas
Drew Allar
90-of-139, 963 yards
6.9 YPA, 8 TD, 2 INT Medina, Ohio
RUSHING
Caleb Komolafe
76 carries, 344 yards
4.5 YPC, 4 TD Katy, Texas
Kaytron Allen
54 carries, 377 yards
7 YPC, 6 TD Norfolk, Virginia
No. 7 in the country after an overtime loss to Oregon. Following a loss to the previously winless Bruins, the Nittany Lions dropped out of the AP Top 25 entirely. Braun said UCLA’s upset win Saturday epitomized the reality of the expanded 18-team Big Ten, while still crediting Penn State as one of the strongest teams in the country.
“The Big Ten is a totally different animal right now than what it’s been in the past,” Braun said. “And not that it wasn’t a great conference before, but this is so much more like the NFL than it’s ever been. And what I mean by that is, it’s ‘Any Given Sunday’ in the NFL. In the Big Ten, it’s ‘Any Given Saturday’.”
The Nittany Lions have an experienced roster led by senior running backs Kaytron Allen and Nicholas Singleton. Both were 2023 All-Big Ten selections and have over 3,000 career rushing yards. Allen currently leads Penn State with 377 rushing yards and six touchdowns, both sixth-best in the Big Ten.
The ’Cats gave up 87 rushing yards Saturday to the Warhawks, an improvement over their season average of 146.8 yards allowed per game. NU’s run defense currently ranks fifth-worst in the Big Ten, an area Braun said has to be better against the Nittany Lions.
“If we want to win in the Big Ten, we’ve got to find ways to effectively stop the run,” Braun said. “We’re facing two of the best backs in the country this weekend.”
Both the ’Cats and Nittany Lions have had success slowing down air attacks this season, each with top-six pass defenses in the conference, allowing under 170 passing yards per game.
Graduate student quarterback Preston Stone is coming off a season-best performance against ULM, throwing for 262 yards and three
touchdowns with no interceptions. Penn State struggled to contain UCLA quarterback Nico Iamaleava’s dual-threat ability Saturday, as he rushed for 128 yards and three touchdowns to lead the Bruins to victory. Stone rushed for a season-high 49 yards against ULM, including a 30-yard scramble. Braun said that the team does not expect to use Stone as a designed runner often against Penn State, but has confidence in his ability to make plays with his mobility against a tough defense.
“(Stone has) proven over the course of the last couple weeks that he can utilize his legs to be a threat and be a weapon,” Braun said. “That’s something that needs to continue. I don’t think Preston is anyone that we’re ever going to go into a game plan saying that we’re going to intentionally carry him a bunch, but he definitely can utilize his athleticism to be efficient and keep us ahead of the chains.”
Penn State’s defense excels at forcing turnovers, with four interceptions and five forced fumbles this season. Stone struggled with turnovers early in the year, and his six interceptions are tied for seventhmost in the country.
He has cleaned things up in recent games, with no turnovers in his last two outings, which has helped propel NU’s offense. Against the Nittany Lions, the ’Cats will need Stone to continue to operate the offense efficiently. Braun said Stone is playing his best football as of late, an identity that the team will lean on for the rest of the season.
“When you ask our offense, ‘Who are we?’, one of those bullet points is we got a winner at quarterback, and he’s playing winning football right now,” Braun said following Saturday’s win. andrewlittle2028@u.northwestern.edu
has taken
an
RECEIVING
Griffin Wilde
25 receptions, 375 yards 15 YPR, 2 TD Sioux Falls, South Dakota
Kyron Hudson
18 receptions, 208 yards
11.6 YPR, 2 TD Duarte, California
TACKLE
Robert Fitzgerald
28 solo, 14 atk
42 tot tackles Dallas
Amare Campbell
29 solo, 18 atk
47 tot tackles Manassas, Virginia
Andrew Goldman/The Daily Northwestern Redshirt junior tight end Chris Petrucci walks off the field following Northwestern’s win over Louisiana-Monroe on Saturday.
Dov Weinstein Elul/The Daily Northwestern Redshirt sophomore running back Caleb Komolafe rushed for two touchdowns against Louisiana-Monroe. He
on
elevated role following Cam Porter’s season-ending injury.
By ANNA WATSON daily senior staffer @adub_sports
A point of pride in the Northwestern defensive unit is its ability to stop the run, and, through ve games, that skill has proven to be a work in progress, culminating in holding Louisiana-Monroe to just 87 yards on the ground Saturday.
“We’re ge ing be er every week,” defensive coordinator Tim McGarigle told e Daily on Tuesday. “ at’s the rally cry right now. One day be er, one week be er.”
However, the Wildcats’ (3-2, 1-1 Big Ten) progress will be tested Saturday by Penn State’s two-headed monster in its back eld. With the added pressure of lling graduate student linebacker Yannis Karla is’ spot a er he went down with an injury against ULM, this weekend will prove revealing.
Nicholas Singleton and Kaytron Allen are the motors of the Ni any Lion (3-2, 0-2 Big Ten) ground a ack. Both Singleton and Allen ran for over 1,000 yards last season, gures that placed them in the top 10 of the Big Ten. e pair is back to its usual antics in 2025. Singleton and Allen have already combined to score 11 touchdowns on the ground. Additionally,
Allen currently averages 6.98 yards per carry and leads the team with 377 rushing yards.
“We pride ourselves on stopping the run, and we got a great opportunity and a great test this week,” defensive coordinator Tim McGarigle said. “We’re gonna have our work cut out for us, but I think our guys are ready.”
McGarigle will have to tackle this challenge with a defense that allows the fourth-most rushing yards per game in the Big Ten and an alternative option at linebacker.
At his weekly press conference Monday, coach David Braun called Karla is’ injury “a long-term deal.” Karla is played in each of NU’s rst ve games and earned his rst start of the season against ULM.
Braun said that his impact will be missed in more ways than one.
“Yannis was here for three weeks, and you thought Yannis had been here for three years,” coach David Braun said. “ e way that he integrated in this team, the energy that he brings, the passion for the game of football that he has.”
McGarigle, who also handles the linebacker coaching duties, told the Daily he expects junior Jack Sadowsky V, redshirt sophomore Payton Roth and redshirt sophomore Nigel Glover could see elevated roles at linebacker.
Sadowsky possesses the most experience of the
bunch. e Iowa State transfer started all 13 games at linebacker in his 2023 freshman season. Last year, he played in all 13 games, making four starts.
Braun and McGarigle, though, lauded how Roth and Glover have contributed in other ways.
“ ose guys are playing really fast and making plays on special teams,” McGarigle said. “ at is encouraging for when they get the chance to play on defense. ey’ll be ready to go.”
Ultimately, the ’Cats still have their two anchors at the linebacker position in graduate student linebacker Mac Uihlein and redshirt junior linebacker Braydon Brus.
Uihlein has started all ve games in 2025, and his 35 total tackles only trail redshirt junior safety Robert Fitzgerald. e linebacker has also nabbed two interceptions, making him the rst NU linebacker to have multiple interceptions in a season since 2023.
Last season, Uihlein earned an All-Big Ten Honorable Mention. is season, he has earned himself what McGarigle called the biggest honor in the program: team captaincy.
“He’s a unique person in a good way and has a chance to lead these guys, and they rally around them,” McGarigle said. “We love having him in the middle.”
In NU’s rst ve games, McGarigle noted the way Uihlein has made strides in open eld
tackling, driving people back and racking up takeaways.
e ’Cats will also lean on Brus, who has also started every game this season. With 2025 being his rst year stepping into a starting role, McGarigle has been impressed by his continuous improvement.
“(Brus is) playing fast,” McGarigle said. “He’s been a guy that has been ready for a while… He’s ge ing be er every week as a full-time starter.”
Whoever the ’Cats trot out, Braun’s philosophy on weekly improvement has been evident on the defensive side of the ball.
To McGarigle, it’s been the tackling and run stopping ability of his defense that has grown stronger.
NU opened its season against Tulane, where the defense allowed 269 yards on the ground. While ULM is not the same caliber of team, allowing less than 100 rushing yards was a welcome change for McGarigle.
With the group of guys in the linebacker room, McGarigle has con dence heading into this weekend.
“I think the guys are ready,” McGarigle said. “Mac Uihlein is our defensive leader, and he’s going to lead the charge.”
annawatson2027@u.northwestern.edu
By ALEX BOYKO daily senior staffer
@alexboyko_nu
Northwestern’s dominant performance against Louisiana-Monroe brought with it ashes in the passing game, but the glitz and glamour shouldn’t overshadow the performance of its most productive unit this season: the o ensive line.
Against the Warhawks, the Wildcats’ (3-2, 1-1 Big Ten) mob of maulers set the tone with their best statistical performance to date. e NU line kept graduate student quarterback Preston Stone
upright throughout the game, and the unit allowed just two tackles for loss, tied for the lowest mark during coach David Braun’s tenure. With the front ve ring on all cylinders, NU’s ground game thrived against ULM to the tune of nearly 250 yards on over six a carry, and with time to sit back in the pocket and break from it on his own terms, Stone delivered his best performance of the season as well.
e ’Cats’ o ense will need another strong performance from its line as a daunting matchup at Penn State (3-2, 0-2 Big Ten) awaits. Despite a surprising loss to UCLA last week, the Ni any Lions’ defense showed how pesky it can be, forcing
nine tackles for loss and notching three sacks.
Against ULM, one second-quarter play showed how a strong performance in the trenches can turn potential into production for the ’Cats’ o ense.
On 2nd-and-10 from its own 38-yard line, NU’s o ense looked to rebound with a quick-hi ing play a er a long incompletion to junior wide receiver Gri n Wilde set it back behind the sticks.
e Warhawks sent ve rushers at the snap, and another linebacker crashed down soon a er to contain any potential run. With Stone’s read covered on the run-pass option, the veteran signal-caller decided to keep it himself as the line around him handled the blitz with ease.
against ULM.
His head coach only needed a single word to explain the progress Carsello has made during his time in Evanston: “tremendous.”
Carsello became a full-time starter midway through last season a er three years of limited playtime, and the center has become the latest in a line of many great ’Cats to make the most of their opportunity when their number’s been called.
Redshirt junior running back Joseph Himon II picked up the free rusher o the edge, and Stone made a run for it. With some help from graduate student center Jackson Carsello, he made it past the last defender standing in his way and broke free. irty yards and a sti -arm later, NU’s quarterback was chirping at a defender mid-play and showing o an intensity he wouldn’t relinquish until Braun opted to rest him in the fourth quarter, with the ’Cats already nursing a four-possession lead.
For Stone and the rest of NU’s rushing a ack, that play shows up in the stat sheet. But the opportunity never arises without the players on the line excelling in their roles — especially the team’s star center.
Performances like last week’s from Stone and the emergence of redshirt sophomore running back Caleb Komolafe go hand-in-hand with Carsello’s own development this season. When one plays well, it makes it that much easier for the others to shine.
e homegrown talent from Northbrook has garnered some national recognition as of late, being named to PFF’s Big Ten Team of the Week a er each of his past three games and receiving a seasonbest 80.6 run blocking grade for his performance
“ e progression that we saw over the course of the season last year out of Jackson was really encouraging, but to see him take it up just a whole other level this season — the leadership element that he brings to that room, the consistency that he brings to that room — that’s a young man that should be really, really proud of himself,” Braun said in his weekly press conference on Monday. Carsello and fellow graduate student lineman Caleb Tiernan joined the ’Cats o ensive line room ahead of the 2021 season. Four years later, the two have emerged as its leaders and are headlining a group operating at its best. In the span of a single year, the ’Cats’ ability to hit on chunk plays in the run game went from bo om-15 in the FBS to top-15. e team’s 13% jump this season ranks second in year-over-year di erence, matched only by Cincinnati.
NU is also hi ing on explosive runs at its highest rate and negative runs at its third-lowest rate in the past 10 years.
Penn State will be the rst team NU faces ranked higher than 70th in tackles for loss in the FBS this season, but it is far from the last. In their remaining seven games, the ’Cats face ve teams currently ranked in the top 25.
To keep its momentum rolling through a gauntlet of Big Ten defenses, NU will need its o ensive line to continue to operate at its best.
alexboyko2026@u.northwestern.edu
Wednesday, October 8, 2025
FIELD HOCKEY
Fuchs nabs 250th victory in 3-1 takedown of Iowa
By JONAH MCCLURE daily senior staffer @jemccl125
e legend of coach Tracey Fuchs grows with each passing win.
ree-time national champion, once as a player and twice as a coach. USA Field Hockey Hall of Fame electee. Winningest coach in school history. And with No. 1 Northwestern’s 3-1 defeat of No. 10 Iowa Friday, Fuchs earned her 250th win as a coach.
e contest marked the Wildcats’ (10-0, 2-0 Big Ten) fourth ranked win of the season and third top-10 win. NU has won six of its last seven matchups against Iowa.
A er playing their rst home game of the season last weekend, the ’Cats headed back on the road to face the Hawkeyes (7-2, 1-1 Big Ten).
e rst quarter marked an unorthodox start for NU, as it was outshot 3-0 in the rst 11 minutes. One of those shots found the back of the net o the stick of mid elder Dionne van Aaslum. Coming
into this weekend, van Aaslum led the nation in goals per game.
e ’Cats notched their rst shot a empt before the end of the quarter, but Iowa still held a 1-0 lead through 15 minutes of play.
In the second quarter, NU a empted three shots and two penalty corners but were unable to sneak anything past Iowa goalkeeper Mia Magno a.
Still trailing 1-0 into the third quarter, the ’Cats looked to capitalize on an early penalty corner from junior forward Ashley Sessa. She passed the ball to junior forward Olivia Bent-Cole, se ing up junior defender Ilse Tromp for a shot that found the back of the goal. Tromp has scored in ve straight games.
Each team a empted two shots during the remainder of the quarter, but neither could convert for a score.
With the game knotted at 1-1, both teams ba led for the lead with multiple scoring chances early in the fourth quarter. Just over four minutes into the nal frame, deja vu struck as Sessa took another penalty corner. She
CROSS COUNTRY
found Bent-Cole, who stopped the ball for Tromp, and Tromp again snuck it narrowly past the keeper.
Later in the quarter, Sessa took the ball down the right side of the eld and outpaced her defender. As she approached the goal, she drew the Iowa goalkeeper away and sent a pass to junior forward Piper Borz. Borz took advantage of the open net and scored. It was her fourth goal of the season. e ’Cats’ defense allowed just two shots during the remainder of the match and held on to claim a 3-1 victory.
Redshirt freshman goalkeeper Juliana Boon tallied ve saves and allowed one goal, just the third goal she’s conceded this season. Tromp notched her fourth game of the season with at least two goals. Sessa tallied at least one assist for the h straight game and her second with three assists. Bent-Cole logged her second consecutive game with two assists.
NU returns home to face o against Penn State Friday at 5 p.m. jonahmcclure2028@u.northwestern.edu
NU ascends to historic ranking following gri y Loyola race
By DOV WEINSTEIN ELUL daily senior staffer
@dov_w_elul
No. 26 Northwestern stunned its high-caliber opposition at the Tom Cooney Women’s 6K Championship at the Loyola Lakefront Invitational Friday, earning 2nd overall over top ranked teams including No. 7 Providence and No. 11 Washington. NU scored 59 points, nishing only behind No. 2 NC State with 34.
On the heels of a dominant performance, the Wildcats climbed to their highest national ranking in program history Tuesday, checking in at No. 18. Graduate student Ava Earl, graduate student Holly Smith and redshirtsophomore Ava Criniti all nished in the top 10. Earl was the rst Wildcat to nish the race with a time of 19:51.02, pu ing her 4th overall in the race. Smith and Criniti finished in 19:55.25 and 19:58.59, respectively. Both posted personal records in the 6K, with Criniti even besting her 5K PR in the 5K split during the race.
e race took place just under eight miles south of campus at Sydney R. Marovitz Golf Course, bringing school spirit to cheer the racers on. Former teammates and other student athletes joined them on the spirit bus and cheered them on throughout the race, Smith said.
Smith said staying focused on keeping pace the entire race helped the team nish quickly. She outran her previous 6K PR by more than 25 seconds.
“We know that we’re capable and we were meant to the place there today, so it was good to see,” Smith said.
Criniti said that managing the races in a straightforward manner — as helped by the race’s organization into three 2K loops — has helped with the team’s recent success.
“Deep down we all know we’re very capable and t this season, so there isn’t too much to overthink,” Criniti said. “Our big thing is simplifying everything that we can, so we just kept it simple today and used our tness to go out there.”
Seventh-year coach Jill Miller said the team had just come o of a heavy block of training including strength,
WOMEN’S SOCCER
’Cats notch 2nd Big Ten win since 2023
By ELI K RONENBERG daily senior staffer @elikronenberg
A er ve matches of frustration, Northwestern has li o in Big Ten play. e Wildcats (5-2-6, 1-1-4 Big Ten) cruised to a 3-0 victory over Nebraska on Sunday a ernoon, doubling their goal tally in conference play and claiming only their second Big Ten win in the last two seasons.
NU scored all three of its goals from open play a er managing just one in its opening ve Big Ten encounters. Senior mid elder Caterina Regazzoni and junior winger Sarah O’Donnell gave the ’Cats a 2-0 lead to defend heading into hal ime, and sophomore forward Kennedy Roesch put the icing on the cake as the game wound down.
“I thought we did a much be er job today ge ing be er numbers into the box, keeping our shots on target, ge ing second chances,” coach Michael Moynihan said post-match.
aerobic and threshold development training, making the runner-up nish all the more inspiring.
Miller said that emphasizing teamwork has been a core component of this year’s strategy and early success.
“ ey really believe in each other, and they believe in themselves,” she said. “When you look at our lineup, every single person down to our ninth runner contributed to that team score.”
e strong nish carries on NU’s hot start to the season, a er it placed rst at the Big Ten Preview last month. Miller said the strong performances early on are exciting, but that the team would stay focused on the postseason.
Still, Miller said the race was a good opportunity for the team to showcase its ability to the world.
“We’ve been talking a lot about wearing a li le chip on our shoulders and the weight of the chip can’t be too heavy, that it weighs you down, but there’s a lot of external folks that don’t think we’re that good,” Miller said. “And it’s like, well, let’s be excited about going to prove them wrong.”
dovelul2028@u.northwestern.edu
A er a cagey opening 20 minutes in which neither side created any golden opportunities, the ’Cats broke the deadlock in the 24th minute, ignited by a piece of individual brilliance from junior winger Megan Norke . Norke recovered the ball in the le corner and skipped past two Nebraska defenders in a ash, before picking her head up and nding Roesch at the edge of the area. Roesch struck it towards the bo om-right corner with her le foot, but Cornhusker (5-3-5, 0-3-3 Big Ten) le back Jo Sees lurched to stab it o the line.
However, her o -balance clearance went straight across goal, where Regazzoni was waiting to tap in from three yards out.
“It’s kind of an easy goal, because I feel like my teammates kind of do the work for me,” Regazzoni said. “My job is just to be ready in the box and get on those balls.”
Regazzoni nearly had a brace nine minutes later when a deep NU free kick awkwardly de ected o the head of Nebraska defender Lauryn Anglim and looped o the crossbar, eventually falling into Regazzoni’s path around eight yards out. e Wildcat captain hit it low and hard with her le -foot, but Cornhusker goalkeeper Cece Villa
was able to react with a re ex kick save.
NU again found joy down the le wing in the 41st minute, but this time it was the substitute O’Donnell who dashed into space, played through by freshman mid elder Keira Kemmerley. O’Donnell latched on to Kemmerley’s bouncing pass and caught it early, sending a le -footed nish past the outstretched arms of Villa.
It was O’Donnell’s rst goal of her college career a er three years that have been riddled with injuries.
“It kind of just felt like a reward for all the work I’ve put in, especially through pain and adversity, to nally get that goal,” O’Donnell said. “It was pre y special.”
e ’Cats outshot Nebraska 8-2 in the rst half and put ve shots on target to the Huskers’ zero. ey also controlled 59% possession.
Despite the statistical superiority, Moynihan said he wasn’t entirely pleased with the team’s first-half performance.
“It’s funny because we were up 2-0, and we didn’t feel like we were playing very well — and I don’t think we played particularly well in the second half,” Moynihan said. “But if we get three goals and don’t play great, I’m pre y happy with that.”
Nebraska found more of an a acking groove in the second half, creating more clear-cut chances. e best of the bunch came via forward Ava Makovicka, whose back-post header crashed o the crossbar.
NU put the result beyond all doubt in the 85th minute when junior winger Keira Wagner set Roesch free and the ’Cats’ leading scorer slo ed it past Villa with her right foot.
e win moves NU up to 12th in the Big Ten table, level on seven points with Purdue. e ’Cats will have an opportunity to climb further in a ursday road trip to Indiana, which is winless in six Big Ten matches.
“I think we’ve been playing really well in a lot of our games and just haven’t been ge ing the results,” Regazzoni said. “I think it’s really good momentum going forward with the rest of our games to come o of a win, so it gives us momentum for the next game to hopefully get another.”
elikronenberg2027@u.northwestern.edu
Dov Weinstein Elul/The Daily Northwestern
Ava Earl and Holly Smith finished in fourth and fi h Place.
Daily file photo by Jonah McClure
Junior forward Olivia Bent-Cole runs toward the ball against Indiana earlier this season. She recorded two assists in Friday’s game.
