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The Daily Northwestern Thursday, April 8, 2021

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Black House set to reopen this fall Students reflect on the community lost during renovations By MAIA PANDEY the daily northwestern @maiapandey

Since the Black House first closed for renovations in June 2019, two cohorts of Black students have arrived on campus without ever stepping foot in the space. Most of the underclassmen who used to frequent the building, located on 1914 Sheridan Road, have graduated or will within the next year. After nearly two years of construction as well as COVID-19 delays, administrators announced on March 31 that the renovations would finish by the middle of Spring Quarter. The email said Northwestern hoped to host small, in-person events in early June, giving attendance priority to Black members of the class of 2021. But University

» See BLACK HOUSE, page 6

Nick Francis/Daily Senior Staffer

Campaign signs dot the lawn of the Alice S. Millar Religious Center on election day. On Tuesday, residents cast their votes in the city’s general municipal election.

City could see up to four new alderman

As municipal election results come in, at least three alderman to take the dais in May By JACOB FULTON daily senior staffer @jacobnfulton

After months of campaigning, and a tumultuous final four weeks leading up to the generals, Evanston’s 2021 municipal elections

came to a close Tuesday night. When the dust settled, City Council saw three new aldermen emerge — with a potential fourth leading in a race that remains too close to call. As of Wednesday night, the margin of victory in three races is within 100 votes. Candidates

in the 1st, 2nd and 8th wards are waiting as remaining mail-in ballots trickle in, votes that could decide the race. Approximately 3,000 mail-in ballots were sent out to residents, and those votes can be postmarked as late as April 6, meaning some may still be in transit.

In the 1st Ward, challenger Clare Kelly leads incumbent Ald. Judy Fiske, who has served the ward since 2009. Just 39 votes separate the two, with Kelly at 555 and Fiske at 516. If she’s victorious in the final count, Kelly would be the lone candidate to oust a sitting alderman in the general election.

Asian American students look beyond NU to heal After the Atlanta shootings, Asian American students turn to each other for healing By YUNKYO KIM daily senior staffer @yunkyomoonk

Content warning: This story contains mentions of hate crimes. When news broke of a series of shootings not too far from her family’s new home in Atlanta, Weinberg junior Giboom Park was heartbroken. On top of this, Park said many people she’s interacted with have invalidated her experiences — putting an additional burden on her shoulders. “I feel extreme disgust at people that keep telling me it was not a hate crime against Asian Americans,” Park said. “The fact that we have the responsibility to tell other people to care about what’s happening to us in itself is ridiculous, but also just so traumatizing.” Six of the eight victims of the shooting were Asian American women. Daoyou Feng, Suncha Kim, Hyun Jung Grant, Soon Chung Park, Xiaojie Tan and Yong Ae Yue were all working

Recycle Me

when a man opened fire in three Atlanta-area massage businesses. Paul Andre Michels and Delaina Ashley Yaun, patrons at the spa, were also killed. In the weeks following the March 16 hate crime, Asian American communities across the country have looked inwards to heal from trauma from the events. At Northwestern, students said they are struggling to move forward in a global pandemic during which rates of Asian American hate crimes have sharply increased. Even though she felt cared for by her friends, Park said she did not feel supported by the University. In a March 19 email to the NU community, Robin Means Coleman, chief diversity officer and vice president and associate provost for diversity and inclusion, said the University stands in solidarity with Asian American communities and acknowledged an increase in hate crimes. However, Communication senior Isabella Min said she

Dillo Day performaces to be virtual

“They would be like the last people I go to.”

» See HEALING, page 6

» See DILLO, page 6

Illustration by Meher Yeda

to University-sponsored spaces. “Just in general, I’m very wary of anything the administration puts out,” Min said.

» See ELECTION, page 6

Dillo Day 2021 will include some in-person and virtual programming and will be around the theme POSTMODERN, Mayfest Productions announced in a Wednesday news release. The music festival will be held on May 22. Much like last year’s Digital Dillo, all performances will be held online. “While the past year has undoubtedly brought its challenges, spring quarter remains, as always, Dillo quarter,” the release read. Mayfest is partnering with InkTank to create Dillo Day merchandise, which will also be available for purchase throughout Spring Quarter. Students in Evanston can sign up to receive a gift from the organization closer to the festival date. Updates on the concert’s lineup, logistics and performance times will be shared on the Mayfest app and social media as the festival approaches. During Digital Dillo 2020. Mayfest hosted questionand-answer sessions with the

Weeks after the shootings in Atlanta, Asian American students reported anger and hesitancy to turn to the University for support.

remains wary when it comes to NU’s responses to national accounts of violence, even though she said she never goes

Alds. Don Wilson (4th) and Ann Rainey (8th) were defeated in the city’s Feb. 23 primary. The 1st Ward race was one of the most contested throughout the election cycle, with both candidates coming under fire

INSIDE: Around Town 2 | On Campus 3 | A&E 4 | Classifieds & Puzzles 6 | Sports 8

THURSDAY, APRIL 8, 2021

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AROUND TOWN

Community leaders decry anti-Asian racism in vigil By YIMING FU the daily northwestern @yimingfuu

Maricar Ramos, executive director of Evanston Cradle to Career, donned a bright red jacket as she spoke to over 150 Evanston residents during a Thursday vigil at Lovelace Park. “Too often, racism makes Asian Americans invisible,” Ramos said. The vigil, hosted by state Rep. Jennifer Gong-Gershowitz (D-Glenview) and Metropolitan Water Reclamation District Commissioner Josina Morita, honored the eight victims of the March 16 shootings in Atlanta that targeted Asian-owned spas: Xiaojie Tan, Daoyou Feng, Paul Andre Michels, Elcias R Hernández-Ortiz, Hyun Jung Grant, Soon Chung Park, Suncha Kim, Yong Ae Yue. Six of the people killed were Asian women. The vigil provided the community a space to stand in solidarity with Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders and against White supremacy. Ramos said she frequently speaks out against racism towards Black and brown communities. But as a Filipina woman, she said speaking at Thursday’s vigil was more challenging because she had to make herself vulnerable. All speakers at the vigil emphasized how members of the Asian American community have endured exclusion, fetishization, erasure and invisibility for hundreds of years in America. “In the workplace, I have been patted on the head,

1st Ward race too close to call, Clare Kelly leads over Judy Fiske Clare Kelly currently leads in the 1st Ward aldermanic race, with a 34-vote lead on incumbent Ald. Judy Fiske, according to unofficial election results from the Cook County Clerk’s Office. Kelly received 574 votes in Tuesday’s unofficial count, with all four precincts reporting. However, with such a thin margin between the candidates, results may take some time to be finalized. Mail ballots

Yiming Fu/The Daily Northwestern

Evanston residents gather at a vigil in Lovelace Park Thursday to stand against Asian hate and honor the deaths of eight killed in the March 16 Atlanta shootings.

complimented for my English, and once even asked, ‘How much, baby?’” Ramos said. Ramos later told The Daily “the implication of an Asian woman exchanging sex for money, as another layer of being both harassed and objectified, resonated with many in the audience.” Seven community members spoke at the vigil including Ramos, Morita, Gong-Gershowitz, U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Evanston), Rev. Michael Nabors and Rabbi Andrea London of Beth Emet the Free Synagogue. Rev. Asayo Horibe of the Buddhist Council of the Midwest began the vigil by asking attendees to press their palms together and greet their neighbor.

Sophie Yang, a junior at Evanston Township High School, spoke about her experiences navigating Evanston schools as an Asian American woman. “I wish I could tell my younger self that I don’t need to hide my Asian identity,” Yang said, “because protecting it means standing up for it.” While she is now proud to speak about her and her family’s stories, Yang said growing up, she was mocked for being one of the few Asian students at school. According to the Illinois State Board of Education, Asian Americans make up just 5.8 percent of the ETHS student body. While she was initially hesitant to speak at the vigil,

postmarked as late as midnight Tuesday can still be counted up to two weeks later. Fiske has held office since 2009. She campaigned on her experience — as of Tuesday, she was the second-longest serving alderman running besides Ald. Melissa Wynne (3rd), following 8th Ward Ald. Ann Rainey’s ouster in February — as well as her vocal support of local businesses. Kelly is a long-time activist and Evanston Township High School teacher running for the first time. She campaigned for the city to take more aggressive action on issues of racial equity, affordable housing and town-gown relations. She was one of several challengers endorsed by

the Organization for Positive Action & Leadership, the Community Alliance for Better Government and Reclaim Evanston. Local activists criticized a February Fiske campaign newsletter, saying the newsletter’s “Civility Matters” section contained coded racism targeting local activists. Additionally, City Clerk Devon Reid said a resident who was removed from a February virtual 1st Ward meeting could have a First Amendment claim. Kelly, meanwhile, was subject to attacks by political action committee Evanston Together LLC, which formed last month to oppose several challengers. Mayor Steve Hagerty, who was one of the group’s top donors, also donated $1,500 to Fiske’s campaign.

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Yang said she eventually changed her mind because the event was an opportunity to broadcast her voice to the larger Evanston community. Gong-Gershowitz said the Atlanta shootings represented a tipping point for many Asians and Asian Americans who are fed up with rising incidents of anti-Asian hate speech, violent attacks against Asian American elders and centuries of being silenced. Ramos said White supremacy culture perpetuates harmful rhetoric against Asian Americans and all people of color, even in a liberal and progressive city like Evanston. “I need things to be different,” Ramos said. “I need us to actually change our behavior in our daily lives so that we are no longer causing harm to Black, Indigenous and people of color every single day of their lives.” Gong-Gershowitz stressed the intersection of racism, misogyny and the “epidemic” of gun violence that precipitated the shootings, and said she hosted Thursday’s vigil for the Evanston community to stand together against all forms of hate. As a state representative, Gong-Gershowitz said she has worked to ensure Asians and Asian Americans are no longer invisible. “I feel seen, quite possibly for the first time in my career,” Gong-Gershowitz said in reference to the Atlanta shootings. After a pause, she continued, “What’s heartbreaking is that it took a hate-fueled act of violence for people to finally stop and take notice.” yimingfu2024@u.northwestern.edu Fiske, who was endorsed by Evanston Together, denied any involvement with the group. Evanston Together accused Kelly of disruptive behavior toward community leaders in city meetings and claimed she’d attempted to cover up a 2019 arrest over a traffic stop. Kelly initially denied the accusation, but later confirmed she had been arrested; she told The Daily she was unaware the traffic stop constituted an arrest and had contacted police thinking it was an error. Races in the 2nd and 8th Ward also remained too close to call, according to initial results. — Joshua Irvine

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By JACQUELYNE GERMAIN the daily northwestern @jacquygermain

General Manager Stacia Campbell

As COVID-19 vaccines become available to more Cook County residents, an increasing number of Northwestern community members are getting vaccinated through University and local initiatives. NU has an active clinic in Norris to administer vaccines to community members, according to an email from Luke Figora, former chief risk and compliance officer. Supplies are limited, so onsite vaccination efforts have focused on faculty and staff age 65 and older, as well as on Compass food service employees and students who qualify for the vaccine in Phase 1A or 1B, the email said. “While vaccine supply remains low, we are grateful our partners from the City of Evanston Health and Human Services are continuing to allocate a share of their supply to Northwestern,” Figora wrote in the email. “We have administered every dose of vaccine the city has given us on the day we received it.” Cook County is currently in Phase 1C of vaccine distribution, which includes individuals age 65 and over, healthcare workers, frontline essential workers and people with underlying medical conditions.

Faculty and staff vaccination access

Medill Prof. Karen Springen said she received the Moderna vaccine through the University at a March 25 vaccination event for faculty and staff at Norris, held less than a week after the State of Illinois announced that higher education staff were eligible for the vaccine. Registration for the event was first come, first serve, but future opportunities will be available to those unable to secure an appointment, the University said in an email to faculty and staff. Springen said that when she arrived at Norris for her first-dose appointment, it felt as if campus life was beginning to go back to normal. “I think most people were probably like me, where we’ve been pretty isolated,” she said. “It was about the most people I think I’ve been around since the pandemic happened.”

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Faculty, staff and students across Northwestern are starting to receive COVID-19 vaccines.

Student vaccination access Some NU students have already been vaccinated as part of Phase 1C. Weinberg junior Adina Stefan received the first dose of the Pfizer vaccine and is set to get the second in the coming weeks. But registering for the vaccine has been difficult given the high demand. Stefan said it took three separate tries before they finally secured an appointment through the Cook County COVID-19 Community Vaccination Program. “The last time I tried they released 25,000 appointments, but there were probably 53,000 people waiting in line,” Stefan said. Weinberg junior Alex Turntine said she was eligible to get the vaccine as an essential worker, but transportation posed a barrier since most of the vaccination sites listed on the Community Vaccination Program website are over an hour away from Evanston. “I couldn’t justify spending $70 for an Uber there and back or spending four hours total on the train,” Turntine said. She was eventually able to get the vaccine after coordinating with a friend to book vaccine appointments back to back so they could split the cost of an Uber. For those who are not yet eligible for the COVID19 vaccine, Illinois opens eligibility to all individuals age 16 and older on April 12 as part of Phase 2.

To assess how much of the campus community has been vaccinated, NU has opened a voluntary vaccine disclosure form for students, faculty and staff who become fully vaccinated outside of the University. The form asks community members to disclose the type of vaccine received and dates of vaccination.

Looking ahead

With more community members receiving vaccines, students and faculty are looking forward to a sense of normalcy and more in-person programming across the University. Turntine, who transferred to NU this school year, said she has never had an in-person class. She is also in the a cappella group Soul4Real and said she hopes to eventually rehearse in person. Springen said although most people are used to remote learning environments by now, she misses teaching in-person classes. She said she used to make cookies and bring them into her classroom or office and hopes to chat with faculty and students again as they munch on the baked goods. “I’ve actually been so pleasantly surprised at how well people have adapted,” Springen said. “But I can’t wait to see everyone in person. I can’t wait to bake my cookies.” jacquelynegermain2023@u.northwestern.edu

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A&E arts & entertainment

Photo courtesy of Goodley Productions

Chicago-based rapper Keenan The First. His song “WET” will be featured on the soundtrack of NBA 2K21.

Keenan The First’s track to be featured on NBA 2K21 By DIEGO RAMOS-BECHARA the daily northwestern @d_ramos42

Chicago-based rapper Keenan The First’s latest track, “WET,” will be featured on NBA 2K21’s soundtrack. The song was selected as part of the 2K Beats: The Search contest, which invited songwriters to submit songs for the soundtrack. Keenan The First worked alongside six-time Grammy-nominated producer Sak Pase to create the track. Steve Stoute, founder and CEO of UnitedMasters record company, and Jayson Tatum, forward for the Boston Celtics, praised Keenan’s record in a celebratory Instagram post. “Seeing two people who I respect and know give the song a stamp of approval is priceless,” Keenan said. “I spent that whole day just smiling, chilling, drinking Pepsi and having a good time.”

After listening to the song for the first time, Weinberg freshman Finn Wintz immediately said it’s a song he would work out to. “The song has incredible beats, and it definitely gets you in the mood to work out and be active,” Wintz said. Keenan’s trajectory is indicative of his hopes to be an up-and-coming rapper, but he said it took time to realize that creating music was his passion. After getting a scholarship to play football for the University of Wyoming, Keenan set his sights on playing for the NFL. But all that changed after a series of concussions ended his football career. At that time, music, something he “always did on the side,” felt like a potential career avenue to explore. “Everyone was saying, ‘Hey, you’re a guy who has high grades, and you have musical abilities. You’re in a position where you can transition out of football gracefully.’ And that’s when I considered giving football up,” Keenan said. Shortly after graduating college, Keenan and his

parents relocated to Los Angeles. There, Keenan learned about the music industry’s commercial and financial facets, all of which would eventually give him the skills necessary to produce songs that propelled his career. Keenan said his formula for songwriting is simple: emotional resonance and relatability. “My songwriting philosophy is based on the rule of threes, which is that if something happens to me in three different ways, then the event is relatable enough for it to have happened to different groups of people, which makes it a song worth commercializing,” Keenan said. “That’s how I craft my music — it’s always based out of reality and experiences that I have or that are tangent to me.” This philosophy of threes, which Keenan developed during his time in Los Angeles, was an approach he incorporated into “WET.” Keenan was introduced to Pase, his current producer, as he was relocating to Chicago. They worked

on “WET” for over two years, and after realizing it had potential, both decided to submit it to various contests. Although they said they weren’t expecting much, they were ecstatic to hear back from 2K Beats. While Keenan does not know where he’ll be five to ten years from now, he does recognize that the music industry is constantly evolving — and he wants to be at the forefront of that evolution. He said he wants to use his platform to usher in the next generation of rap artistry. Reks Mouk, Keenan’s project manager and business architect, is confident in Keenan’s talent and potential to be successful in the industry. “Once you meet Keenan, you can feel his energy and charisma. He has a certain way of drawing you in because he articulates his vision so eloquently through his words, using music and art as his canvas,” Mouk said. “I’m happy to call him my brother and my friend.” diegoramos-bechara2024@u.northwestern.edu

Ayla’s Originals boutique owner talks pandemic pivots By LAYA NEELAKANDAN daily senior staffer @laya_neel

Ayla’s Originals is a bead and jewelry boutique which offers a variety of crystals, beads, glass and other arts and crafts items. Located at 1511 Sherman Ave., the shop also repairs broken jewelry, provides private lessons and hosts jewelry-making parties. The Daily sat down with Joe Pizzo, co-owner of Ayla’s Originals, to talk about how COVID-19 has affected the shop and what the path forward looks like. This interview has been edited for clarity and brevity. The Daily: A year into the pandemic, how has the boutique adjusted? Pizzo: Because of the safety protocol, there are less hours and less days that we’re open, and that has been a major blow. Also, the fact that a lot of our employees were older meant that they could not or would not be able to come back to work, so those two things alone severely affected how we could do business. One of the things that we’re doing since the pandemic is selling through Facebook Live — that’s really one of the things that kept us going. What we do is we sell one item, like gemstones or silver beads, and we put it on a Facebook Live. That process has really helped us. We’ve been able to sell thousands of things. The Daily: How has the Evanston community

come together to support local businesses during COVID-19? Pizzo: There is a group called Support Evanston Shops, Salons & Studios, which has driven a lot of business toward us. Downtown Evanston has also helped our store quite a bit. Through Facebook, there’s also a group of bead store

owners, and that’s been helpful for suggestions for what to do in certain situations. The Daily: What’s usually popular at Ayla’s Originals, and how has customer interest changed since the start of the pandemic? Pizzo: Gemstones seem to be a very popular

Photo courtesy of Joe Pizzo

Ayla’s Originals, 1511 Sherman Ave. The boutique, which sells jewelry and beads, has had to adjust its services this past year due to the pandemic.

thing for us. Pearls are also a speciality of Ayla’s Originals. We also do jewelry repair. That’s been another area that’s growing for us and helping us. One area we’ve lost in revenue is we’re no longer teaching or having classes or parties for social distancing reasons. We offered teaching over Zoom, but nobody took us up on it. The Daily: What are your future plans for the boutique as restrictions begin to lift? Pizzo: We’re working on creating an e-commerce site. That’s the biggest one. Another thing that we’re doing on Facebook — and we’re going to bring it into YouTube — is “Tuesday Tips at 2,” where I show a certain procedure or make something. We will probably never go back to being open six days a week or have the kind of hours we did, and I don’t see us opening the store completely. Right now, we keep the door locked so we can manage who comes in and make sure they’re wearing their face mask. We have hand sanitizer at the door, so as soon as people come in, we ask them to take care of that. We’ve got the sneeze guards everywhere. We also have this big beautiful table in the middle of the store. Before, we were easily able to have half a dozen people join us and sit around, but we just aren’t able to do this at this time. I don’t know if we’ll ever get to the point where we’ll be comfortable enough to do that again. laya@u.northwestern.edu

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Professors highlight a need to study Black art songs By LAYA NEELAKANDAN and DIEGO RAMOS the daily northwestern @laya_neel and @d_ramos42

Because Black composers did not get the opportunities to publish or record their songs, many people today are unaware of their music and don’t perform it, panelists said in a Wednesday event, highlighting the need to educate on and promote Black art songs. In the event, moderated by the Bienen School of Music Dean Toni-Marie Montgomery, panelists Dr. Louise Toppin and Dr. Willis Patterson spoke about the importance of studying and performing African-American art songs, the barriers that prevent the spread of knowledge and the ways teachers and students can advocate for these composers and their music. Toppin, a professor of voice at the University of Michigan’s School of Music, Theatre & Dance, started the event by asking the viewers to think about the number of composers they could list off the top of their head. Then she asked how many of those composers were Black, as a way to emphasize the lack of education and recognition surrounding Black composers. To further illustrate this point, Patterson, the former associate dean of University of Michigan’s School of Music, Theatre & Dance, talked about how important it is to increase one’s knowledge of music of other identities. “There is that tendency to feel some amount of awkwardness on the part of other ethnicities in this country because they don’t know the traditions,” Patterson said. “If you’ve developed

a feeling of comfort with Italian art songs and German art songs… then we should feel less awkwardness about learning African-American art songs.” Additionally, they spoke about the lack of accessibility to African-American art songs as a direct result of people of color not having the same opportunities to publish their work as their White counterparts. Because these composers were unable to get their scores published, the songs were not taught or played in concert halls, Patterson and Toppin explained, which prevented the songs from being heard and promoted. Toppin also spoke about Black people’s hesitation to embrace their “Blackness” through studying African-American art songs because “they were trying to find their way in a society that was oppressive to them.” “So you now are in a situation of no one taking ownership of this music because no wanted to own the fact that they could learn and present this music,” Toppin said. “It wasn’t until later periods that they started to embrace… the thought of, ‘I need to be proud of myself as a Black American to White America.’” Toppin and Patterson then played excerpts from art songs by early and contemporary Black composers, including Harry T. Burleigh, R. Nathaniel Dett, William Grant Still and Chicago native Margaret Bonds (Bienen ‘33, ‘34). The event concluded with a question and answer section, in which both Toppin and Patterson emphasized the need to increase awareness of and appreciation for African-American art songs. “I am very hopeful of the future study of African-American art primarily because I’ve seen the

Laya Neelakandan/The Daily Northwestern

Guest speakers Dr. Louise Toppin and Willis Patterson discussed the importance of Black art songs at a Bienen event Wednesday night.

evidence, and we have such wonderful young composers,” Patterson said. “These people are going to make wonderful performances.” To further advocate for the promotion and performance of African-American composed songs, Toppin highlighted a database she created where anyone can find songs from the diaspora. Ultimately, she said it’s most important for students to show interest in these songs and ask their teachers to study and perform them.

Dean Montgomery ended the event by thanking the two speakers and encouraging viewers to heed their advice and “take on the mantle.” “This was a personal, memorable event for me,” Montgomery said. “I’m so enthusiastic about (this) presentation, and it’s more than we could have dreamed of.” laya@u.northwestern.edu diegoramos-bechara2024@u.northwestern.edu

Evanston Made launches first Little Free Art Gallery By OLIVIA ALEXANDER the daily northwestern @oliviagalex

In late February, Ben Schapiro — owner of the Everyday Cycles and Motion bike shop — and local artist Staci Page collaborated with Evanston Made to create the city’s first Little Free Art Gallery. “This is art for everyone, by everyone,” Page said. The gallery, which functions similarly to a free library pop-up and is located at 1127 Dewey Ave, does not require an even exchange of art — anyone can leave or take works as they wish. The pieces, which must be under five by seven inches in size, are of all different types of mediums and are original work by local art lovers of all ages. Although Licky Lab & Alpaca Gallery is the first of its kind in Evanston, it is not the last. The gallery, and another on Hinman Avenue, are both part of a movement inspired by Little Free Art Galleries that began in Seattle. Evanston Made Founder and Executive Director Lisa Degliantoni said she was inspired to advocate for the movement’s arrival in Evanston after seeing one in St. Louis on Facebook. She said the galleries will welcome art from children and adults alike, as well as from experienced artists. But most importantly, the galleries will feature those showing their work for the first time. Degliantoni said she likes the idea of Little Free Art Galleries popping up in all of Evanston’s wards and acting as

“neighborhood glues.” “I’m seeing a lot of the artists live in proximity to the little free art galleries, and a lot of the people who are adding art to it are also little kids,” Degliantoni said. Schapiro, a close friend of Page’s, spearheaded the creation of the gallery after seeing Degliantoni’s Facebook post searching for a builder. After looking

through the designs of other Little Free Art Galleries, Schapiro took inspiration from one in Seattle, but made it his own by incorporating forced perspective, which uses an optical illusion to make the art seem larger, and a large glass front to fill the space with light. “What you get is a nice, light-filled space on a cloudy day, instead of a dark box,” Schapiro said. “Anything you put in there looks really good, it’s visible,

Courtesy of Staci Page

The Licky Lab & Alpaca Gallery, 1127 Dewey Ave between Crain and Greenleaf. The gallery is designed to look like a mid-century modern space with an angled roof and sides.

it’s natural.” In the gallery, Schapiro and Page “every now and then” have labrador and alpaca figurines roaming the gallery. Page said they chose the gallery name because of both Schapiro’s pet labrador retriever and the figurines, but ultimately because it’s “different, it’s joyful and it makes both of (them) smile.” Page said she looks forward to seeing the ways in which the gallery, a “public art experiment in progress,” and others like it can create community in Evanston. In the future, she hopes the park near the gallery will also be a place people can come to sit down and make some art. “I’m always delighted to see people using and enjoying the gallery as much as I do,” Page said. “We can all benefit from more creativity in our lives.” Schapiro said Licky Lab & Alpaca Gallery fits with his idea of what Evanston is about — a sense of interaction with others in a way that helps people to “improve, feel better or have a moment of joy.” He said he ultimately hopes the art gallery will encourage community members to try to show their art. Schapiro added that the organizers especially want to see original work from local artists of all kinds. “I really want the message to be ‘come try this out,’” Schapiro said. “Give yourself a little boost by putting your art on public display. It’ll go someplace, and somebody will appreciate it for a while.” oliviaalexander2024@u.northwestern.edu

American Music Theatre Project to host student musicals By DIEGO RAMOS-BECHARA the daily northwestern @d_ramos42

Writing a musical involves countless hours of writing, scoring and planning, sometimes taking years to perfect — but a few Communication students completed that process in a matter of months. Select students enrolled in the Theatre Department’s Creating the Musical module will showcase

Graphic by Carly Schulman

The three student-produced musicals showcased by the American Music Theatre Project premiered April 1.

original musicals in an online exhibition premiering April 1, hosted by the American Music Theatre Project. According to the Creating the Musical module’s website, students explore the art of book writing, lyric writing and composition, while also developing collaboration skills. Students finish the module with a capstone project, which involves creating an hour-long musical from scratch. “You can take a lot of classes focused on music direction and orchestration, as well as classes focused on songwriting and how a song fits into musical theater,” said Communication senior Ruchir Khazanchi, a student in the module. Khazanchi is one of seven writers whose work will be showcased in the AMTP exhibition. He cowrote a musical entitled “A Bridge to the Moon,” which portrays the struggles of two siblings expected to work in service of their island nation while grieving the loss of their mother. The team decided early on they did not want to stage the show over Zoom. Because the three writers were in a COVID-19 pod, they filmed the musical in-person. “The three writers self-performed, self-accompanied and played multiple characters so that we could film the show and present it as a filmed product as opposed to a virtual show,” Khazanchi said. Other students in the module decided on a different modality for their musicals. Lorenzo

Pipino, a Bienen senior and writer for the show “Change My Mind,” had actors record their scenes at home on their phones. He then edited and mixed the scenes and music into the final product. The show follows a young woman working for a doctor who developed a procedure allowing anyone to change a physical or emotional aspect about themselves. “It felt like trying to film six different movies at the same time and making sure that they all look and feel the same, which is never an easy task,” Pipino said. “All of this goes before looking at line delivery, lighting and score composition, which never happens in regular films — yet it was a huge component of our process.” Pipino said he draws inspiration from what he feels in the moment, instead of sticking to a writing formula. Communication junior Samara Malik, the director of the show and a Daily reporter, said she was grateful to be involved in “Change My Mind” and praised Pipino’s leadership. “(Pipino) would let us read the script and let us figure it out ourselves,” Malik said. “If he saw something in our performance that he didn’t see before, he would modify the script to preserve the actor’s interpretation.” Communication senior John Ertman — a writer for “Alone,” a show about the fallout of a teenage pregnancy — said he had to put in more effort in

a campus theatre production than usual. The virtual format, Ertman said, challenged him more than an in-person experience, which allowed him to grow as a writer. He said his goal was to make the plot so engaging it distracted the audience from the performance being a virtual one instead of live. “It’s disappointing that we can’t have a cast in the same room and talk to everybody,” Ertman said. “At the same time, what this allowed us to do was really focus on the musical storytelling.” diegoramos-bechara2024@u.northwestern.edu

arts & entertainment Editor Laya Neelakandan Assistant Editors Olivia Alexander Diego Ramos-Bechara Designer Emma Ruck

6 THE DAILY NORTHWESTERN

THURSDAY, APRIL 8, 2021

ELECTION

BLACK HOUSE

throughout the campaign. A February newsletter from Fiske contained language which local activists described as coded racism, and Kelly was criticized by Evanston Together LLC, a political committee whose list of top contributors included Mayor Steve Hagerty. Across the city in the 2nd Ward, Ald. Peter Braithwaite has an 88-vote lead over challenger Darlene Cannon. Braithwaite was appointed to his seat in 2011, and ran uncontested in 2013 and 2017. His competition with Cannon was also the subject of mailers from Evanston Together, which endorsed him and opposed Cannon. Cannon, a board member of the Democratic Party of Evanston, announced Wednesday she has no plan to admit defeat while ballot counting is still underway. “Dearest community, you have held this campaign high and with conviction; we are not conceding,” she wrote in a statement. Meanwhile, two aldermanic newcomers squared off in the 8th Ward on Tuesday: City Clerk Devon Reid went up against Ridgeville Park District Commissioner Matthew Mitchell. As of Wednesday, Reid was up by 46 votes. Mitchell told The Daily on Wednesday morning he didn’t expect outstanding mail-in ballots to change the result of the race, and said he looks forward to seeing changes in the 8th Ward in the coming years. New City Council members were also elected in the 4th and 5th wards, and those results appear to be more concrete. After Wilson’s primary defeat, longtime climate organizer Jonathan Niewusma emerged victorious over community volunteer and small business advocate Diane Goldring in the 4th Ward. Similarly, a vacancy in the 5th Ward pitted community organizer Bobby Burns against gun control activist Carolyn Murray, after Ald. Robin Rue Simmons decided not to run for reelection. Burns came out on top. Nieuwsma and Burns will join at least four incumbent aldermen on the dais in May, as Alds. Melissa Wynne (3rd), Thomas Suffredin (6th), Eleanor Revelle (7th) and Cicely Fleming (9th), appear to have all won re-election to their seats. As final votes are tallied in the coming days, only time will tell who will officially fill the last three spots on the council.

spokesperson Rochelle Ritchie told The Daily that in-person events held before commencement will be limited to tours of the space. A grand reopening will likely occur during Reunion Weekend 2021, which is scheduled for Oct. 14 to 17, Ritchie told The Daily. “We intend to align reopening of the Black House with the University’s plans for Fall Quarter,” Ritchie added. “COVID and other safety precautions will be (an) integral part of the reopening plan.” The Black House’s closure in 2019 meant Black student organizations like For Members Only and Soul4Real had to relocate their meetings to a temporary location on 1856 Orrington Ave. After the pandemic hit, all activities transitioned to Zoom. Sophia Simon, FMO publicity and media chair and Soul4Real president, said the original Black House used to be a “regular stop” for her. Outside of student group meetings, the Communication junior said she visited the house between classes. It’s also where she met some of her closest friends

From page 1

fulton@u.northwestern.edu

NU Declassified: Joseph Medill, Chicago’s first influencer There are names all over Northwestern’s campus, adorning everything from schools and stadiums to auditoriums and endowed chairs. But who are the people behind these buildings and programs? Listen to NU Declassified’s new series, Names You Need to Know for the answers

HEALING From page 1

Min, who is pursuing a minor in Asian American Studies, said the program’s March statement offering healing spaces temporarily offered a more comforting consolation. Now, Min said she just feels numb. Min said she is considering taking virtual selfdefense classes now that safety may have become a bigger issue. At the same time, she said she has been conversing with mutuals on social media, which she considers as a part of healing. “It’s cathartic for me, just having those conversations and having those spaces to talk about (the Atlanta shootings) with people who I never thought I would ever even talk about these things,” Min said.” For Medill sophomore Ryan Kim, the shootings in Atlanta and a more recent attack in New York “hit close to home” because there are undocumented people in his life, he said. Kim, who grew up in a predominantly Asian neighborhood in New York, said he has strong ties within his Asian American community. to your burning questions. For this first episode, we learned about Joseph Medill, namesake of the Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications. Not only was he a publisher of the Chicago Tribune, but he was also the mayor of Chicago and an abolitionist—he might even be the reason Abraham Lincoln won the 1860 election. Listen to learn more about Medill and his impact.

at NU, she added. “Coming to Northwestern, I was specifically looking for Black community,” Simon said. “I found out there was a space centered around Black students, I was like, ‘Okay, this is where I’m going to be, this is where I’m going to meet people.’ ” Simon said she knows many students who relied on the house for the community are missing this resource now. She said the earlier the house could reopen, the better. However, Simon added, she wouldn’t mind a latefall reopening if that meant students could safely gather in large groups and the University could organize a meaningful celebration. “It’s such a big deal having the Black House renovated, especially since it’s been inactive for so many years,” Simon said. “I would like to see some sort of a decent commemoration.” Black House renovations were originally set to conclude in Fall Quarter 2020. As a prospective student before the pandemic, Medill freshman Elisabeth Betts said she was specifically looking forward to using the space during her first year on campus.

Betts and other Black freshmen have tried to coordinate meet-ups at Norris University Center and other open buildings on campus, but she said it’s been difficult not having a space designated as theirs. “We feel left out at times because there’s a lot of things that upperclassmen say used to happen in the Black House that we didn’t get to experience this year,” she said. Organizations like FMO have helped fill this gap, Betts added, especially in terms of meeting other Black students on campus. Betts is a member of the FMO freshmen executive board, which was reinstated this winter to help plan events specifically for Black freshmen. While these events have facilitated a community of Black freshmen, Betts said she has met very few Black upperclassmen during her first two quarters at NU. “I still feel disconnected from the larger Black community (at NU),” she said, “and I feel like the Black House might have helped with that.”

“It’s really sad to me that such tragedies need to occur in the first place for some people to kind of come to the light and realize that anti-Asian sentiment is a real thing (and) is fairly institutional in this nation,” he said. Kim said he was able to process how he felt through personal and casual conversations with friends, including his suitemates. It helped him grapple with the severity of the tragedy than in a more formal setting, he said. In addition to having conversations, Kim attended a virtual performance and fundraiser by Refresh Dance Crew, which collected donations for Kan-Win, a Chicago-based organization that serves Asian American survivors of genderbased violence. Before COVID-19, Ph.D. student Erique Zhang said they felt safe in New York City as an Asian American. But since COVID-19 hit, they have been “on edge” when going to crowded places such as airports, and now carry pepper spray. “When I first started hearing early on in the pandemic (about) attacks of Asians people, it started getting my guard up,” they said. “The

shootings in Atlanta were really a moment that made me be like, ‘This is real.’” Zhang added that they are not an immigrant nor a woman, but that they are perceived by people as an Asian woman. Park, who recently published a book on the fetishization of Asian women, said she finds parallels between her research and the shootings in the “worst possible ways,” in that both entailed the hypersexualization and homogeneity of Asian women and Asian culture. Park said she hasn’t prioritized her own wellbeing in the aftermath of the hate crimes. She said she went on a television interview with the BBC, during which she was asked what she felt about the characterization that the shooter in Atlanta was “having a bad day.” “We all deserve breaks and time to heal but I just can’t get myself to sit down,” Park said. “We should prioritize ourselves, but at the same time, I just don’t think I’ll be able to forgive myself if I let this moment just be a moment and not a movement.”

maiapandey@u.northwestern.edu

yunkyokim2022@u.northwestern.edu

DILLO

From page 1

Scan the QR code with your camera to listen to this episode of NU Declassified and learn more about Medill’s past and the legacy he left behind.

artists who performed, including Jai Wolf and Rico Nasty, after their performances. Mayfest has not yet shared whether this year’s festival will follow a similar format. “We hope that our spring programming and dayof performances will provide you all with a sense of community and enjoyment,” the release added.

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— Alex Perry

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DAILY CROSSWORD

THURSDAY, APRIL 8, 2021

THE DAILY NORTHWESTERN

In her new role, CDO Coleman talks vision for equity And at my previous institution, there was a significant investment.

By YUNKYO KIM daily senior staffer @yunkyomoonk

In late March, members of The Daily’s editorial board sat down with Robin Means Coleman, chief diversity officer and vice president and associate provost for diversity and inclusion. Coleman talked through Northwestern’s plans for equity and inclusion, police abolition and student demands. A University spokesperson was not present. This interview has been edited for clarity and brevity. The Daily: In your previous position at Texas A&M University, you implemented the university’s Diversity Plan. Do you have any similar plans for Northwestern? Coleman: In fact, that is probably the number one priority, which is to develop a university strategic plan. The thing about Northwestern is that diversity, equity and inclusion lives in every corner of the institution. And so, Northwestern in some ways is a national leader in that regard. What’s terrific about what my job will be is to really help coordinate all of the wonderful efforts that are going on here at Northwestern. And in some cases, it will be better highlighting and showcasing some of the terrific things that are happening in the unit, particularly as it pertains to recruitment, retention, improved climate and belonging. The Daily: What are your goals for diversity in hiring? Coleman: The possibility here is to start a faculty hiring pipeline program called Idea, Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Accountability. We like acronyms.

D65, D202 elect new school boards; D202 to appoint a candidate Unofficial results show voters re-elected Joey Hailpern, Soo La Kim and Elisabeth “Biz” LindsayRyan, the board’s current vice president, to serve on the Evanston/Skokie School District 65 board. Newcomer Donna Wang Su is also projected to win a seat in the race, though Marquise Weatherspoon trails her by 46 votes. Kim has over 20 years of teaching and

The Daily: How do you view your role as the new chief diversity officer amid the ongoing student protests that claim the University is failing in Black students? Coleman: It’s not for debate. We absolutely should be engaging with every corner of our community and saying that we play a role not only in making the lives of our students better within these walls but we are also the researchers and policymakers for what happens locally And then the state as well. And so these conversations, this activism, absolutely has to happen. The Daily: How do you see the NU Community Not Cops protests informing national discourse around police abolition? Coleman: What I do like about this movement, both at Northwestern and around the country, is that it’s continuing to shine a light on the ways in which our country has failed us and its investments, in pulling back from social programs and hyper investing — it turned our community safety officers into a kind of militarized force. And I think there’s a third piece here, the police themselves, because they were oddly enough facing budget cuts and defunding — they were forced to walk through that door. So I think that’s what’s important about the movement and I think there’s a lot of moving parts about the ways in which police sought and secured funding and the ways in which social programs were defunded. And then the ways in which we can redirect those funds to better support our communities outside of a police response.

Graphic by Yunkyo Kim

Robin Means Coleman, chief diversity officer and vice president and associate provost for diversity and inclusion. The Daily spoke to Coleman about Northwestern’s plans for diversity and equity in hiring and response to police abolition protests.

us for leadership around the ways in which we inform diversity, equity and inclusion. And I think we have an opportunity to step into that role powerfully, decisively in shared commitment and responsibility. So it isn’t just within these walls, but we have a way of informing the national if not international discourse.

The Daily: Is there anything else you want to

communicate to the Northwestern community? Coleman: I am just really proud of this community. I talked a lot about activism, revolutionary acts and the ways in which that happens in higher education. And I’m proud that Northwestern is sort of leading in those areas. I think that there are other great numbers of not only our peer institutions but institutions of higher education across the country that can look to

administrative experience in higher education, and is currently the assistant dean of graduate programs in the School of Professional Studies at Northwestern. She is a founding member of Lincoln Elementary School’s equity committee and has been on the board since filling a vacancy in April 2020. Hailpern, a resident in the Walker Elementary school community, is a school principal in Lake County and the father of four children. He has served on the board since 2017 and is the chair of the finance committee. Lindsay-Ryan is an equity, diversity and inclusion consultant and professor. She is a leader of the PTA Equity Project, which reallocates funds from the

highest revenue D65 PTAs to other D65 schools. She was originally appointed to the board in August 2019. Su is the associate director of operations/program manager and an adjunct lecturer for the Farley Center at NU. Within the district, Su is the district’s PTA Council president and serves on the PTA Equity Project enrichment committee. Days before Tuesday’s election, District 65 parents of color led a march and rally Saturday, encouraging community members to vote for these four elected candidates, whom they characterized as the candidates most committed to equity. With four positions open, District 202 reelected

current board members Gretchen Livingston, Patricia Savage-Williams and Patricia Maunsell, who were the only candidates on the ballot. The board will need to appoint a member to fill the fourth open seat. Livingston, a former attorney and a parent of two Evanston Township High School graduates, will be serving her fourth term. Savage-Williams, also a parent of two ETHS graduates, is a long-time Evanston resident with nearly 40 years of experience as an educator. Maunsell has worked in education for 30 years and is the parent of one current ETHS student and one ETHS graduate.

yunkyokim2022@u.northwestern.edu

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SPORTS

Thursday, April 8, 2021

@DailyNU_Sports

BASEBALL

NU baseball swept with Maryland, splits with Michigan By JOHN RIKER daily senior staffer @john__riker

Daily file photo by Evan Robinson-Johnson

With Northwestern up 4-1 in the top of the ninth against No. 25 Michigan on Sunday, graduate closer Sam Lawrence allowed the inning’s first three batters to reach base, threatening what had become a comfortable lead. Coach Spencer Allen elected to keep Lawrence in, and the lefty delivered. Lawrence induced a pair of fly outs and picked up a strikeout to seal the win. “The 25th, 26th and 27th outs are the toughest and (Lawrence is) our guy,” Allen said. “Ever since his freshman year he’s been in those situations, so he stays composed and continues to make those pitches.” Competing against the Wolverines (13-5) and Maryland (8-10) in a pair of two-game series in College Park, the Wildcats (10-8) took on two of its most difficult tests of the season. NU suffered its first series loss, but maintained its winning record. NU upsetting Michigan — the Big Ten’s top ranked team — on Sunday provided some consolation in a weekend that saw the Cats drop three straight and surrendering leads in each of those contests, Allen said. “ We actually played pretty good baseball and we were pretty

FENCING

consistent,” Allen said. “We were probably just a play or two away or a hit or two away from really having a good weekend.” The Cats’ offense, which entered the weekend leading in the Big Ten in home runs and batting average, broke open immediately on Friday against the Terrapins. NU loaded the bases in the first inning and scored off a walk and an error. Reigning Big Ten Player of the Week junior shortstop Shawn Goosenberg tacked onto the lead in the second inning, blasting a solo shot to extend the Cats’ lead to 3-0. “We have a lot of confident hitters at the plate,” Goosenberg said. “When you see other guys having success in the lineup, it gives (us) even more confidence because we all hit with each other every day.” NU managed just three hits over the rest of the game, and Maryland’s runs in the fourth, seventh and eighth innings allowed the Terrapins to edge the Cats 4-3. Both games in Saturday’s doubleheader followed similar scripts, though rallies by Maryland and the Wolverines turned into blowouts against the Cats. In Saturday’s game against Maryland, the Cats hit three home runs to take a lead in the sixth, but then allowed the Terrapins to score five runs across their last three frames to win 8-4. A pair of sixth inning home

runs by freshman outfielder Ethan O’Donnell and junior first baseman Anthony Calarco in the next matchup gave NU a 2-1 advantage over Michigan, only for the Wolverines to mash a go-ahead three-run home run in the seventh for a 5-2 victory. “There was no panic out of us,” Goosenberg said. “We think we’ve got a good bullpen that can get outs for us. The first couple of games, we just didn’t make those winning plays at the end.” Senior pitcher Quinn Lavelle controlled the weekend’s finale against the Wolverines, allowing just one run in his fourth win of the season. NU’s offense gave Lavelle a cushion early with three runs through the first four innings before Lawrence finished off the Wolverines to earn the save. NU will return from the east coast to host Rutgers from April 9 through 11. The series will mark the first time the Cats play in Rocky and Berenice Miller Park since May 18, 2019. “The thing the guys have seen is that the margin for error is pretty small,” Allen said. “Every team that we play is going to have a good pitcher on Friday night and some pretty good closers. We have to make winning plays when they present themselves.” johnriker2023@u.northwestern.edu

LACROSSE

Cats make history at NU, OSU to face off Thursday NCAA championships By CARLOS STINSON-MAAS the daily northwestern @thepresidito

In his five years as head coach at Northwestern, Zach Moss propelled the Wildcats to nationally ranked relevance. The Wildcats have become a fixture in the NCAA Top 10. After a sixth place national finish in the 2019 campaign, the Cats looked to perform even better. NU (17-9, 0-0 Big Ten) surpassed its ranking from two years ago — making history at the same time by achieving an all-time best third-place finish. “I’m really proud of our team,” Moss said. “Previous to this, we’d only ever finished sixth, so this is a really big jump for our program.” The Wildcats saw six fencers—the second time in program history— qualify for the NCAA championships, the maximum allowed to represent one school. Of the six, three finished as AllAmericans: freshman saber Sky Miller, senior foil Justine Banbury, and sophomore foil Anna Biasco. Biasco and Banbury finished seventh and eighth in foil, respectively. Miller finished second overall in saber, the best individual finish in program history. “It felt really unreal,” Miller said. “It’s not every day that I do that well.” Miller had a stellar season to start her college career, posting winning records nearly every weekend and turning out a dominant 3-0 performance in the Cats’ second meeting with Notre Dame. With three years left on the team, Moss said he thinks the freshman from Durham, N.C. has the potential to be the team’s first ever individual champion. NU’s other three competitors all finished in the top 15 for their

respective weapons. Sophomore Ilsa Hoffman finished 14th in saber, while junior epee Julia Falinska finished 13th and sophomore epee Blodwen Bindas finished 15th. The Cats’ success on a national stage was a product of a tumultuous season. With much of the season cancelled due to COVID-19, NU played less than half of a season’s usual matches. The Wildcats struggled early on, going 2-4 in the season’s first invitational. However, the team steadily improved, losing only one match to teams not named Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish (16-0) finished with a perfect record this season, placing first in the NCAA championships. NU played the last matches of the season in Columbus, facing off against Ohio State and Denison in two matches apiece. With much of the schedule in flux, these final matches were not on the team’s initial calendar. “It was a late add to our schedule, so we weren’t really planning for it,” Moss said. “But it was a great opportunity to get some more experience and help us get primed for NCAA championships.” The Cats had their best weekend of the year at Ohio State, sweeping both Denison and the Buckeyes to clinch a share of the Central Collegiate Fencing Conference title. “We always want to be a conference champion,” Moss said. “So it’s really meaningful. I’m really happy that the team was able to accomplish that.” NU’s momentum carried into the NCAA championships, and Miller said she hopes to carry that momentum into next season as well. “This is our best performance and we were not working with our full capacity,” she said. “So I see it going very far in the future.” carlosstinson-maas2023@u.northwestern.edu

By CHARLOTTE VARNES the daily northwestern @charvarnes11

No. 2 Northwestern (9-0, 9-0 Big Ten) will face No. 19 Ohio State (3-7, 3-7 Big Ten) on Thursday, a repeat of the Wildcats’ season-opener in February. The matchup, scheduled on Monday, will replace the Cats’ postponed game against Michigan. NU delivered a dominant performance during its Feb. 14 game against Ohio State, winning 23-7 behind nine goals from junior attacker Izzy Scane and six goals from senior attacker Lauren Gilbert. Scane’s nine goals tied the Cats’ then-single game goal record — which she went on to break by scoring ten goals against Rutgers on March 19. The purple-and-white also dominated off the draw, winning 19 to Ohio State’s 11. Coach Kelly Amonte Hiller was especially impressed with NU’s draw performance following the seasonopener, and said she thought the Cats did a great job on the circle, particularly in the first half when the team won 13 draws to Ohio State’s two. Since its last matchup against the Buckeyes, NU has rolled through the Big Ten. The Cats have since defeated every conference team at least once except for Michigan, who they have yet to play due to COVID-19 issues within the Wolverines’ program. NU has won nine straight games for their best start since 2012 — the last year they won a national championship — and clinched the Big Ten regular season title for the first time in program history. Graduate student attacker Sammy Mueller said clinching the regular season title was an “awesome accomplishment” that will only further motivate the team to succeed in the postseason. The Cats have seen success on the national level, too. NU opened the season ranked No. 5 and rose to No. 2, their highest ranking of the season, in this week’s IWLCA coaches’ poll following former No. 2 Syracuse’s loss to

Joshua Hoffman/Daily Senior Staffer

Graduate student attacker Sammy Mueller dodges her defender. Mueller, a transfer this season, ranks third on the team with 22 goals this season.

No. 1 UNC last weekend. Scane leads the country in goals per game, averaging 6.22 a contest, and Gilbert is close behind, ranked third with an average of 4.78 goals. NU also has the top scoring offense in the country with an average of 20.78 goals per game. Gilbert said the Cats’ No. 2 ranking is exciting, especially since it is their highest rank since she has played for the team. However, she said rankings can change at any time, so she and the team are working to “keep improving and take things one day at a time.” “As a leader of this team, I’m really proud of the sacrifices everyone’s making to get us to this point,” Gilbert said. “What we’re doing isn’t easy, and my team this year is a special group.” The Buckeyes have had an uneven season so far, dropping out of the top 25 for three straight weeks during March and only winning three games. However, all three wins came over top 10-ranked teams. Graduate student attacker Liza Hernandez, who put up

four goals against the Cats in February, leads the team with 26 goals this season. Scane leads NU with 56 goals and Gilbert is close behind her with 43. Just as in February, the duo will likely pose a serious challenge to Ohio State’s defense. To stop the Cats’ top ranked offense, Buckeyes graduate student goalkeeper Jillian Rizzo — who only made two saves during the season-opener — will need to come up big. According to Gilbert, the Buckeyes have “grown a lot as a team” since the season-opener. As a result, she appreciated having more time to prepare before playing them again. “What makes (this game) a really cool opportunity is that it’s something different than these past few series we’ve been playing in terms of it’s not a 48-hour turnaround,” Gilbert said. “We have time to study how they improved and I’m sure they’re studying us.” charlottevarnes2024@u.northwestern.edu