Pregame

Susan Phillips is a professor of late medieval and early modern literature and culture at Northwestern who studies Chaucer, Shakespeare and everything in between. When she’s not working on her upcoming book on 15th to 17th century phrasebooks, she is building Legos with her 5-year-old son.

“I think that there’s so much pressure on students, imposed by society, imposed by parents, imposed by themselves, to maximize their time here by doing as many extracurriculars as they can and getting as many certificates or minors or majors as they can. I understand that pressure. But I would encourage students to think differently about maximizing their time here. I don’t think it’s about credentialing. Maximizing your time can be pursuing a major and doing that very well, or it can be dabbling, pursuing a range of interests, digging deep into a field rather than trying to do everything, or just giving yourself the time to think—to think. College is four years. It’s the only time in your whole life when your job is to think—to take courses, to explore ideas, to have your mind blown on a kind of daily basis by the ideas you come into contact with, whether that’s in the classroom or in conversations in the dorm or with friends elsewhere…So just breathe. Pursue things in depth. You’re never gonna get the chance to do this again.”

Each quarter at Northwestern takes years off each of our lives. The academics are no joke and stress is not a foreign feeling to students on this campus. Sure, we all love this place dearly (just me? okay, cool), but for the sake of sanity, letting loose every once in a while is a must—enter the Primal Scream.

At 9 p.m. on the dot the Sunday before fi nals week screams can be heard across campus. One of Northwestern’s long-standing traditions, the Primal Scream is one last-ditch attempt to blow off steam before we willingly allow fi nals to once again consume our lives. The tradition was originally introduced by Communications Residential College, also known as East Fairchild or CRC, in 1982 and took place in the old Library Plaza.

“[Northwestern’s traditions] are a great way to make it through even some of the toughest time on campus. It shows how strong our campus culture is,” says Noah Star, president of Northwestern’s Associated Student Government. While the idea behind the Primal Scream sounds glorious, many students at go-to study locations on

campus are reluctant to partake (not so #PurplePride). After all, it can be a little awkward belting out your feelings in the middle of a silent library. On the other hand, some locations put their all into the Primal Scream and those who wish to participate always congregate to the Rock, Norris, Willard and other campus dorms.

Louisa Wyatt, Medill sophomore, joined in on the tradition beginning with the Fall Quarter of her freshman year. Wyatt went with two seniors at the time, Kayla Hammersmith and Peter Cleary, who had been documenting each scream for the entirety of their Northwestern experience. Following their graduation, these two seniors passed their project along to a handful of underclassmen, including Wyatt. “We usually just sit in Core and fi lm ourselves on Photo Booth,” Wyatt says. “We never take part in the scream, but rather sit and take it all in with our viewers—we post the video on Facebook.”

Although Wyatt documents participation in the Primal Scream, Core was hesitant to partake in the Primal scream at fi rst. “There’s always a delay as people work up the courage to start screaming,” says Wyatt. “No one wants to break the ice and end up screaming alone. There’s definitely a group mentality to it that we, as documentarians, never have to deal with.”

Senior David Cohen has always been a huge fan of the Primal Scream. So much so, in fact, that he almost got arrested for it in periodicals the Winter Quarter of his junior year. “At 9 p.m. I shouted as loud as I could, expecting all of my friends to be doing it with me, but they left me out to dry,” Cohen says. Minutes later, a librarian came over and threatened to call the police, having never heard of the tradition. After researching the Primal Scream, she let Cohen off with a warning. He plans to never partake in the scream again. “It was my understanding that this is supposed to be an entire community event,” says Cohen. “Clearly this isn’t the case, and I was punished for trying to maintain a dying ritual. In my ideal Northwestern, at 9 p.m. each Sunday of reading week all of the building and outdoor spaces of Northwestern’s campus will be fi lled with the screams of Northwestern students.”

Screamin’ since 1982.

BY LELA JOHNSON

BY MIA ZANZUCCHI

Despite all the hard work, most decide where they attend school by looking at proximity or distance from home, finances, or the availability of a particular degree. There is one thing most prospective Northwestern students don’t have to think about — professor parents. For those who do, having someone who once changed your diapers also teach at a top-tier university you attend can lead to some delightfully unique situations.

Lucia Godinez, Communication sophomore Professor Henry Godinez

“Nick Offerman and my dad were really good friends in the ‘90s,” Godinez says. “They did shows together, they were roommates. So when Nick came here, he asked the whole crowd, ‘Does Henry Godinez still work here?’ Then he said something along the lines of, ‘Is he still ripped? Because that dude almost turned me gay!’”

“Freshman year and entering into college, I thought it was going to be a hindrance and really annoying [to go to her dad’s school],” Jona says. “But over the last four years, it’s really become such a source of strength and comfort and it’s been amazing having my family so close.”

Tali Jona, Weinberg senior Professor Kemi Jona

We broke it all down for you.