The Daily Northwestern — April 29, 2021 by The Daily Northwestern

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NU to pay $1 million to use Robert Crown Agreement passes City Council, to last until 2026 By JASON BEEFERMAN

daily senior staffer @jasonbeeferman

Illustration by Yunkyo Kim

While the CDC has continued to revise its safety guidelines for fully vaccinated individuals, Northwestern has not yet announced any rule changes for vaccinated students or a vaccine mandate for the upcoming school year.

What you can do when vaccinated

Here are University and CDC guidelines for fully vaccinated students By MAIA PANDEY

the daily northwestern @maiapandey

As of mid-April, Illinois residents over 16 are eligible

Residents selected for city committee City Council approved four community members to serve on Evanston’s Reparations Committee Monday. Of the over 30 people who applied, four were chosen: Dementia-Friendly Evanston Initiative member Bonnie Lockhart, Elder Law & Wellness Initiative Executive Director Claire McFarland Barber, outgoing Ald. Robin Rue Simmons (5th) and retired teacher Carlis Sutton. The four committee members were recommended by Mayor Steve Hagerty, who received input from Mayorelect Daniel Biss. Ald. Peter Braithwaite (2nd), Bobby

for the COVID-19 vaccine, and Northwestern is prioritizing students for firstdose appointments. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has also revised guidelines for fully Burns and Devon Reid will also serve on the committee once the next council is seated in May. The Reparations Committee will continue the work of the Reparations Subcommittee, which is being dissolved. In March, City Council passed the Restorative Housing Program, which will dedicate the first $400,000 of the reparations fund the city established in November of 2019 to housing grants and assistance. The city is expected to open applications for the program this summer, allowing eligible residents to apply for grants of $25,000 to purchase a home, pay off a mortgage or pay for housing repair. The program will

» See REPARATIONS, page 6

vaccinated individuals on masking, social distancing and quarantining. NU has not revised its COVID-19 guidelines for fully vaccinated students nor has it announced a

» See FULLY VAXXED, page 6

» See ROBERT CROWN, page 6

ASG centralizes student resources ASG compiles campus and local resources in spreadsheet for students

By YUNKYO KIM

daily senior staffer @yunkyomoonk

Students looking for all sorts of assistance can probably look to Associated Student Government’s master list for Northwestern and local resources. Resources range from a link that leads to a form to change name and gender on campus document and a link to Purple Pantry, a free groceries program for students experiencing food insecurity. The spreadsheet, which was made public at the beginning

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vaccination requirement for Fall 2021. The University does, however, recommend students disclose their vaccination status to help inform

Northwestern will pay $1 million in exchange for the University’s use of the Robert Crown Community Center, an agreement City Council voted to approve Monday. The agreement, which will last until 2026, allows NU to use Robert Crown’s ice rink for the University’s Men’s Club Hockey team and Synchronized Skating team. Northwestern will also rent out classroom space for Northwestern programs. Northwestern announced plans to contribute $1 million to the community center in 2017. The council’s 2-7 vote on Monday finally approved the contribution. The money will be given to Friends of Robert Crown, a nonprofit group that formed to raise money for Robert Crown when plans around renovations first started to develop. Though the agreement said Northwestern can rent up to “$1 million worth” of Robert Crown facilities, City Manager Erika Storlie said it isn’t “practical” that NU will use the entirety of the agreed-upon $1 million by 2026.

Historically, she said, the University has used about $75,000 worth of services each year. Storlie said she expects there to be leftover money from the agreement, which will be disbursed to the city and Robert Crown. Ald. Peter Braithwaite (2nd), who voted in favor of the agreement, said Evanston residents should not expect the center to be overrun with NU students. He added that currently, NU students tend to use facilities in the early morning or late evening. “I don’t go to Robert Crown for the ice, but I don’t think I’ve ever been there and I’ve run into a Northwestern ice hockey player,” Braithwaite said. “If the concern is that all of a sudden we’re going to see purple and white students running through Crown all sorts of hours of the day, that is not the fact I have come to understand.” Storlie said the city already received about $300,000 of the $1 million from Northwestern and Friends of Robert Crown ahead of Monday’s vote. Ald. Thomas Suffredin (6th), who voted against the agreement, took issue with a 2017 letter from the Friends of Robert Crown, which Suffredin said indicated that the money NU pledged was not for fees and services, but instead a contribution to the city.

of March, currently catalogs more than 200 institutions and departments. Each tab is organized by eight dimensions of ASG’s wellness types: social, emotional, occupational, intellectual, physical, sexual, financial, spiritual and environmental. On top of names of resources, the guide includes locations, brief descriptions and contact information for each. Through the catalog, the ASG aims to alert students to resources available to them in campus and local spheres,

» See RESOURCE, page 6

Graphic by Yunkyo Kim

On top of names of resources, the guide includes locations, brief descriptions and contact information for each.

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THURSDAY, APRIL 29, 2021

AROUND TOWN

Environmental goals need more funding, advocates say By WILLIAM CLARK

the daily northwestern @willsclark01

As deadlines set in the Climate Action and Resilience Plan approach, some advocates are questioning whether Evanston is allocating enough funding and resources to the Office of Sustainability. CARP plans for carbon neutrality by 2050, but it also sets smaller, more specific benchmarks to ensure Evanston stays on track over the next few decades. Some of these goals are quickly approaching. By 2025, CARP aims for all vehicle fleets operating in Evanston, including school buses, to transition to 50 percent electric vehicles. It also aims for the city to divert 50 percent of waste out of landfills from 2017 levels through increased recycling, reuse and composting, and for 75 percent of Evanston electricity to be supplied by renewables by 2025. But some advocates are concerned about whether these goals are attainable with the current amount of funding and resources the city government is putting into CARP implementation. The Office of Sustainability operates under the City Manager’s Office, which comprises six percent of the city’s 2021 budget — in comparison, Evanston Police Department comprises 36 percent of the city’s 2021 budget. In 2021, $61,919 was set aside for the Office of Sustainability. On top of the Office of Sustainability, there are two main other city bodies overseeing environmental policy in Evanston: the Environment Board and the Utilities Commission. However, while groups of volunteers appointed by the mayor operate the Environment Board and Utilities Board, the Office of Sustainability currently has one paid staff member: Kumar Jensen. “There needs to be further staffing in order to really compile some better policy when it comes to environmental protection and climate action,” former mayoral candidate Sebastian Nalls said. During the 2021 mayoral race, Mayor-elect Daniel Biss told The Daily he supported increasing the Office of Sustainability’s funding in order to improve CARP

implementation. Jonathan Nieuwsma, the 4th Ward alderman-elect and former president of Citizens’ Greener Evanston, said sustainability initiatives have saved the city money by decreasing energy costs. Still, he said the office will need more resources to meet CARP goals. “I’m hoping we can find funding sources for this work that don’t put the cost impact on members of our community that are least able to afford it,” Nieuwsma said. “We can’t go green at the expense of residents who are already cost-burdened.” Nieuwsma also said the city needs to develop a clearer roadmap when it comes to implementing CARP. As Evanston’s city sustainability coordinator, Jensen coordinates CARP implementation in tandem with other city bodies and within the community. But right now, he said determining whether or not Evanston is on track to meet CARP goals can be complicated, since some goals are easier to track than others. While the city can measure greenhouse gas emissions, the amount of renewable energy that users are purchasing and the rate of waste diversion, Jensen said measuring other goals — like reducing carbon emissions from transportation — requires more work. Joel Freeman was a co-chair of the CARP Working Group, a group that helped draft the plan. Although the working group was dissolved after CARP was approved by City Council in 2018, Freeman said many of its members are still involved with overseeing implementation. “Right now it’s all very piecemeal, so assembling that information is one of the (first) steps,” Freeman said. Although measuring progress can be difficult, Jensen said the city will be releasing a report on Evanston’s CARP progress later this year. He said the city is on track to meet some goals, but not others. Jensen said he thinks Evanston will reach CARP’s renewable energy goals for electricity generation as more and more residents install rooftop solar and opt into the city’s community solar program, which launched in April 2021. The city has sent out postcards announcing the community solar program and partnered with the Chicago-based firm MC Squared Energy Services, LLC., an electricity aggregation program the city

Daily file photo by Evan Robinson-Johnson

The Lakefill. As some CARP deadlines approach, advocates question whether Evanston is on-track and recommend increasing funding and staffing for environmental initiatives.

hopes will help increase renewable energy usage. However, Nalls said there is still work to be done spreading awareness about renewable energy programs throughout the community, especially among low-income residents. “One of the largest barriers is that sometimes residents don’t even know that these programs exist in the first place,” Nalls said. Jensen said the city will need to continue expanding community participation in order to stay on track for renewable energy goals. But when it comes to other CARP goals, Jensen was less optimistic. “We are certainly not on track to meet our zero waste goals, particularly the 50 percent diversion by 2025 (goal),” he said. In 2020, the Zero Waste Working Group within Evanston’s Environment Board reported that 80 percent of waste generated in Evanston ends up in landfills. Thirty percent of that waste is food waste and four percent is yard waste, both of which could be composted. The working group recommended expanding citywide access to composting services, establishing

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mandatory recycling at all properties and commercial buildings and reducing contamination in recycling and compost streams in order to improve diversion rates. Jensen said Evanston is also off track in reducing carbon emissions from the transportation sector. In terms of transportation, CARP’s first recommendation is that the city develops a transportation data collection program that measures vehiclemiles-travelled for multiple modes of transport. That program could then be used to gauge the impact of different policies on citywide transportation emissions. But Jensen said the city hasn’t developed that program yet. Freeman emphasized that having more paid staff at the Office of Sustainability to work toward implementing and measuring CARP’s big, complex goals — as well as other environmental problems CARP doesn’t address — would be beneficial. “The city has a lot on its plate,” Freeman said. “You’re going to need more people if you’re going to advance (CARP) more.” williamclark2024@u.northwestern.edu

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THURSDAY, APRIL 29, 2021

ON CAMPUS

ASG sees an unprecedented election cycle

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By JACOB FULTON

eic@dailynorthwestern.com

daily senior staffer @jacobnfulton

The Associated Student Government presidential election is entering the campaigning phase, and this year’s election is like no other. After a two-week delay in the election cycle and multiple slates dropping out of the race, Northwestern students will have the chance to vote for one of two tickets this weekend. SESP junior Christian Wade and Medill sophomore Adaeze Ogbonna, running for president and vice president, respectively, will face off against McCormick and Communication sophomore Sahibzada Mayed and Bienen and Communication sophomore McKenna Troy. But the two slates currently on the ballot didn’t enter the race until after the election was initially supposed to happen. This year’s voting period was first scheduled to run from April 15 to 17, Election Commission Chair Donovan Cusick told The Daily. ASG Analytics Chair Joe Maino and Chinese Students Association Senator Cindy Shou planned to run as a slate, but dropped out before the campaign period officially began. As a result, early in the cycle, SESP juniors Teresa Vergara Miranda and Daniel Rodriguez ran unopposed. Vergara Miranda and Rodriguez appeared at an April 14 town hall hosted by ASG in conjunction with For Members Only, during which the candidates discussed police abolition, Greek life and equity, among other topics. However, just a day later, Maino and Shou re-entered the race. As a result, ASG called an emergency meeting on April 15, the day voting was supposed to open, to address Maino and Shou’s re-entry. By the end of the meeting, the election cycle was extended by two weeks, and Maino and Shou had dropped out again. The extended deadline also reopened the possibility of new slates joining the race. On April 19, days after the election extension,

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While they agree on many issues, the slates differ in their levels of experience with ASG.

Vergara Miranda and Rodriguez dropped out of the race, leaving a completely open field as none of the original candidates remained. “We have decided to exit the race as a team,” Vergara Miranda told The Daily in an April 20 email. “We wish the best of luck to those stepping up to these positions, and we offer our guidance and time to those who would like to collaborate on ideas and solutions for Northwestern students.” Now, the Wade-Ogbonna and Mayed-Troy slates are the only two left standing, after both decided to enter during the extended filing deadline which passed Friday. Despite the chaos of this election cycle, Cusick said he’s thankful for the candidates in the race, and looks forward to the impact the winners will have on the NU community.

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“There’s something to be said about everything that’s happened in our world in the past 14 months, and I think that that kind of spurred it,” Cusick said. “Everything that has happened has led to people becoming more passionate, becoming more excited. And people want to see good candidates, people want to see excitement, they want good change to happen at Northwestern.” Voting will open Thursday at 7 p.m. through a link sent out to all students by the Election Commission. The form to vote can also be found on Wildcat Connection and the ASG election website, and will close at 7 p.m. on Saturday. Cusick said results will likely be released soon after. fulton@u.northwestern.edu

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THURSDAY, APRIL 29, 2021

A&E arts & entertainment

Courtesy of Erin Northington

Curator Rikki Byrd stands outside the Youth & Opportunity United (YOU) building at 1911 Church Street. Students part of the YOU Leadership Project selected two works for the exhibition “Behold, Be Held.”

The Block Museum exhibition explores self-care By OLIVIA ALEXANDER

the daily northwestern @oliviagalex

A new outdoor exhibition explores themes of selfcare, self-authorship and community with reproductions of works from The Block Museum’s collection. The “Behold, Be Held” exhibition will be exhibited at three locations around Evanston through August 22: facades of The Block, the Ethel M. Barber Theater and the Youth and Opportunity United building on Church Street. Curator Rikki Byrd is a third-year Ph.D. candidate in the department of African American studies at Northwestern. Her research interests include Black studies, performance studies, fashion history and theory, as well as the art history of visual culture. Byrd developed “Behold, Be Held” during her time as the 2020-2021 Block Museum of Art Interdisciplinary Graduate Fellow. She said the exhibition invites viewers to reflect, meditate and ask themselves what they need right now. Drawing inspiration from the song “Plastic” by

Moses Sumney, Byrd explored the idea of wanting something but not being able to have it. She said many people have experienced this feeling throughout the pandemic. “I was really interested in subtle gestures,” Byrd said. “We’ve missed moments like hugging people, or we’ve missed gathering in groups with people, but what are the subtleties of that? That’s what I really wanted to explore.” One work, entitled “Gossip” by Elizabeth Catlett, exemplifies this focus on small gestures by depicting two figures sitting close together. Byrd said something as subtle as whispering to others in public, for example, is now impossible because of the pandemic. In light of all the loss from the pandemic, Byrd said self-care has been encouraged more than ever. But taking care of oneself can be difficult in isolation, she said. Even in works with just one subject, Byrd became interested in thinking of the ways those figures make space for themselves. “The works… were helping me reflect and meditate at home on the subtle things that sometimes we can’t even put a word to or we don’t even know

how to articulate, but we’ve missed a lot in the past year,” Byrd said. The exhibition is partnered with Evanston organization Youth & Opportunity United, whose mission is connecting with the community and uplifting the voices of young people. The organization works specifically to close the opportunity gap among young people through services like afterschool programs, clinical counseling and family engagement. The Block has joined them in online programming throughout the pandemic, and during this curatorial project, has engaged in conversation on the group’s theme this semester: the school to prison pipeline. Olivia Tsotsos, YOU’’s leadership program leader, said art museums have historically been inaccessible for a lot of people. They said the partnership with Block connects the community to Northwestern’s private collection. Students learned through the partnership they have the power to make their voices heard as artists, as youth and as leaders, Tostsos said. “In the fall we were discussing fatphobia and colorism and hairism and European beauty standards,

so (The Block) introduced to us a really great artist, Deborah Roberts, who focuses on all that in her art,” Tsotsos said. “It’s great to have that connection for our students to learn more about artists.” Students selected two works for the exhibition, “Mother and Child” by Romare Bearden and “Two Worlds” by Margaret Burroughs. Both are available to view on the windows of the YOU building in Evanston. Erin Northington is the Susan and Stephen Wilson associate director of campus and community education and engagement at The Block, said during the museum’s first curatorial project with a community partner, students looked at Byrd’s vision of gestures of care alongside their program’s theme of the school to prison pipeline. “What they did so beautifully was to look at works from the collection that spoke to both of these ideas of care and where we look for support,” Northington said. “But then put that in dialogue with the school to prison pipeline and perhaps what it feels like when those resources aren’t there for you.” oliviaalexander2024@u.northwestern.edu

Bienen hosts first in-person performance in over a year By HALEY FULLER and LAYA NEELAKANDAN

daily senior staffers @haley_fuller_, @laya_neel

When Bienen Prof. Donald Nally and Kevin Vondrak (Bienen ’17) set out to compose a piece for Northwestern students during the COVID-19 pandemic, they knew Lake Michigan would be a crucial element. “Every time you walk up, right there, you have that view of the city down the shoreline. And it’s a different view every single day,” Vondrak said. “That’s an omnipresent part of the experience here at Northwestern… it’s this catalyst for introspection, and that’s somewhat what the piece is about.” “Eclipse,” Bienen’s first live, ticketed performance in nearly 14 months, premiered Sunday and Monday. The performance was a socially-distanced, walk-through concert on the Lakefill under the full moon. Nally and Vondrak composed the music using text from a poem by Northwestern alumna and Illinois Poet Laureate Angela Jackson (Weinberg ‘77). About 70 performers from the Bienen Contemporary/Early Vocal Ensemble, University Chorale and University Singers performed the piece, spaced at least 20 feet apart on the Lakefill. They used large megaphones circled with lights to project the sound and add to the visuals, so people could hear it across the quarter-mile expanse. “The music is a part of it, the visual is a part of it and

the lake itself is a part of it,” Vondrak said. You’re never going to compete with the sound of the waves or the sound of the planes going overhead… the score says ‘Eclipse, for many voices, large lake and full moon.’” Some singers had to Zoom into the performance. Students who were away from campus or did not want to sing live performed on iPads that rested on music stands interspersed throughout the Lakefill. Vondrak said the mix of in-person and virtual performers encapsulated the current moment and the creation of art in a pandemic. “Every once in a while, you’ll catch a digital sound,”

he said. “It’s a really touching artifact of the time.” Priya Krishnaswamy, a Bienen freshman and live performer, said she appreciated how the performance brought the community together — a sharp contrast to the isolation of the pandemic. “The whole premise of this is to evoke hope in people,” Krishnaswamy said. “It was really inspiring to see people come together and make the most out of the situation.” Krishnaswamy said the performance was difficult to coordinate over Zoom rehearsals, even though there wasn’t much music to memorize.

Haley Fuller/Daily Senior Staffer

Singers use megaphones to amplify the sound during “Eclipse.” It was Bienen’s first in-person performance since March 2019.

In addition to in-person rehearsals, the group rehearsed over video calls. Each rehearsal, Krishnaswamy said, provided clarity around the logistics of the performance. “Singing over Zoom individually versus singing together is a different feel,” she said. “People prefer singing together, they miss that, so it was exciting but also challenging to coordinate everything.” Another performer, Stephanie Chee, echoed Krishnaswamy’s sentiments around the challenges of putting on a socially-distanced walk-through performance. The preparation ahead of the performance was different from any of her other choral performances because of the different types of rehearsals and the social distancing during the actual event, she said. Chee said it was strange for her to be singing at a distance from her peers with megaphones on the Lakefill. Unlike usual performances in which it’s easy for her to hear the people next to her, Chee said she could only hear her section during the entirety of the performance. Regardless, Chee said she enjoyed singing in-person again with other people, something she has not been able to do in over a year. “It was very much an immersive, emotional-based experience,” Chee said. “It feels really good to collaborate and make music again in-person… it felt different, but powerful.” haleyfuller2022@u.northwestern.edu laya@u.northwestern.edu

THE DAILY NORTHWESTERN

THURSDAY, APRIL 29, 2021

Northwestern Medical Orchestra hosts spring concert By REBECCA AIZIN

daily senior staffer @rebecca_aizin

On a cool spring evening in May 2018, the patients of the Shirley Ryan AbilityLab in Chicago gathered on the conference room floor, eager for a night of classical music as the sun set over Lake Michigan. Performing that night were members of the Northwestern Medical Orchestra, founded in 2018 by Feinberg fourth-years Michael Wang and Bettina Cheung. The orchestra is hosting their Spring Concert on Friday over a live Zoom webinar featuring pieces by Mozart, Piazzolla and more. After attending Yale University together where they participated in a student-run orchestra, Wang and Cheung founded the orchestra at NU to give fellow medical students and staff a creative outlet to make music. “We came to Northwestern with the perfect combination of interest, intent and the know-how to put something like this together,” Wang said. “Seeing that there were musicians such as ourselves who would want to participate in something like this inspired us to embark on this journey.” The most special moment for Wang came when he had the opportunity to perform in front of the patients at the Shirley Ryan AbilityLab, a physical rehabilitation

center. He said he watched the patients close their eyes and tap their feet to the music. In that moment, he knew they were doing something worthwhile. “It was the proof that there were all these musicians who were going to take two hours out of their busy week to rehearse with us and put on this great thing,” Wang said. “The atmosphere in the room was electric.” When COVID-19 hit, NMO had to reimagine their rehearsals and performances. Despite some of the musicians working frontline over the course of the pandemic, many stayed dedicated to the orchestra, and the group even added new members over the past year. Feinberg sixth-year Sophia Li has played the violin since third grade. She said the flexibility of the new rehearsal process allowed more people to join. In recent months, small chamber groups of less than four have been able to rehearse together, masked, while woodwind players have continued to rehearse remotely. Now more than ever, Li said the medical staff and students have turned to music as an outlet to deal with the stress of their everyday lives. “The pandemic has made us realize how valuable this opportunity is to make music with other people and be able to share it,” she said. “For all of us, music is something that helps uplift us and keeps us hopeful.” Friday’s performance will feature vocalists for the first time, in addition to duets, string quartets and some newer music, like tracks from Studio Ghibli.

While the string quartets will be performed live, the woodwind performances will be prerecorded. At NMO’s last Zoom concert in December, some tuned in from Europe and Asia. “It’s been quite an adventure restructuring this entire program. This group is built on a lot of individuals’

passion for music and willingness to fill in different spots,” Cheung said. “We’ve had to learn how to become livestreamers, so we have learned a lot and are excited to make this possible.” rebeccaaizin2023@u.northwestern.edu

Photo courtesy of Bettina Cheung

Feinberg fourth-years Bettina Cheung and Michael Wang. The two pose with the new technology they have set up for this Friday’s concert.

Local artist Shruti Vijay teaches urban sketching classes By NICK FRANCIS

daily senior staffer @nick24francis

When Shruti Vijay’s husband started studying at Northwestern, she took up urban sketching in Evanston as a hobby. Now, Vijay’s artwork has become a staple of the community, and she has been teaching urban sketching classes with Evanston Made for many of the five years she’s lived in the city. As a teacher, she has cultivated her skills and built a community following of amateur artists expanding their eye for drawing and watercoloring the area. “I discovered the Evanston art community years ago,” Vijay said. “The journey began when I was able to meet other artists and that made me think a little more seriously about the art that I was doing.” An accountant by profession, Vijay said she took a step back to focus on other parts of her life when she had her daughter. Now, she’s gained a zest for finding new sketch-able scenes around town every day. In sharing her love for sketching within the community through teaching, Vijay has the ability to pass this spark along to those breaking into the art form, too. “She is very aware of the art-phobias that everybody gets inoculated with,” said Hilda Raisner, a student of Vijay’s. “Her positioning is that everyone is an artist … and (she wants) to remove this layer that everything has to be exactly representational to get in touch with the scene.” Under Vijay’s instruction, Raisner has virtually sketched places like Tokyo, Umbria and cathedrals of Italy since the pandemic’s onset. Raisner, a retired Evanston Township High School teacher, said she has learned a myriad of techniques, many of which helped

demystify, for example, the daunting nature of sketching the human form. Residents of all ages are welcome to Vijay’s classes, and entire families often attend. Vijay’s approach, Raisner said, provides ample room for seasoned artists to explore technique, while simultaneously removing any barriers newcomers face when trying to brush up their skills. “What she does in this class,” Raisner said, “is she celebrates the surroundings. She’s encouraging people

to see and relish and celebrate the environment by keeping a little book handy at all times and a little water brush.” Evanston Made’s Founder and Executive Director Lisa Degliantoni said Vijay’s enthusiasm and gratitude for her artists shines through in her style of teaching. Through that approach, Vijay encourages expansive thinking, Degliantoni said, breaking the norms of what normal art is assumed to be. Her students, then, become more apt for exploration of their own style.

Photo courtesy of Evanston Made

A collage of sketches from local artist Shruti Vijay’s urban sketching classes. Vijay said teaching classes have fostered a vibrant, welcoming remote community.

“She’s never like, ‘oh, maybe you should try this different color.’ She’s like, ‘that’s a beautiful interpretation of the use of that color,’” Degliantoni said. “She really finds the silver lining and the positive in what the student is doing.” Degliantoni said she was apprehensive about taking up art herself but Vijay made it look “so fun and doable.” Degliantoni said she will be attending the next class as a student, not an onlooker. Vijay’s tendencies to think outside the box and liven up everyday life, though, are not just artifacts of her class — they’re the life she lives each day. During the pandemic, Vijay said the limited opportunities for bouncing around in public spaces didn’t inhibit her growth, but rather fostered a new perspective on what her art can be. “I realized that even though there are small things that you don’t notice so much in life, I enjoyed sketching them more during the pandemic,” Vijay said, referring to scenes like shopping lines outside grocery stores and items like garbage cans. “If I’m alone, I always have my sketchbook and pen with me. I just sit, and sketch.” And while many things have been lost during the pandemic, Vijay’s inclination toward sketching is not the only thing that has blossomed — a sense of community has also sprouted. Her classes have brought a sense of solace, she said, and brought people together, forming relationships during a time when they are physically apart. “I would have not believed it but now, after doing this for a year, I can see the connection among even my participants,” she said. “We don’t realize how the time flies when we’re sitting, chit-chatting, and sketching and then learning a new skill by having fun.” nickfrancis2024@u.northwestern.edu

TBD performance group brings neo-futurism to the present By JORDAN MANGI

daily senior staffer @jordanrose718

What is performance if you’re only allowed to play yourself? This is a question members of TBD, Northwestern’s neo-futurism-inspired performance group, grapple with every time they create art together. Following the tradition of the Neo-Futurists,

Photo courtesy of Taylor Feld

TBD’s promotional poster. TBD is Northwestern’s neofuturism-inspired performance group.

an experimental performance group founded in Chicago in 1988, TBD shows consist of a series of short plays, performed in a random order, in which ensemble members play themselves in real-time. The plays are all written, produced and performed by the ensemble. Over the past year, the group has adapted to Zoom through a virtual speed dating special event, online shows and inspiration from the original NeoFuturist Theater itself. Communication senior Taylor Feld, an ensemble member in TBD, said the three pillars of the group’s form of neo-futurism are brevity, honesty and chance. When playing themselves, TBD members never lie — if someone gets slapped in a play, the person is actually slapped rather than staging a slap. But sometimes, the ensemble will bend the rules and exaggerate their personalities or circumstances. “When there’s friction between what a play wants to be and what the form is, I think we tend to bend the form for the play,” Feld said. SESP sophomore Cormac Callanan is the producer for TBD, a role which entails organizing props for each play and coordinating marketing for the shows. He explained that what TBD does isn’t quite theatre because there’s no fourth wall. But it is storytelling. “We create art about ourselves and tell it to people,” Callanan said. “It is extremely vulnerable. It can be really funny and it can be really painful, for

audience members and for actors alike — but it is the honest truth that no one’s ever heard.” During Fall Quarter, the TBD ensemble saw a digital show by the Chicago Neo-Futurists. Instead of performing live, audience members chose the order in which they viewed pre-made plays, most of which were in video format. Bienen senior and TBD stage manager Emma Breen said seeing the Neo-Futurists work in the digital space was inspiring for TBD’s ensemble members. “It was so cool because they were still making art, they were still portraying a message, but still keeping it in the neo-futurist style,” Breen said. “And so we got absolutely inspired by that… we came out of that meeting and we were all like, ‘we have to do this next quarter!’” And come Winter Quarter, they did produce an online show. Because it was over Zoom, Breen said the cast was able to expand beyond the limitations of in-person performances. Some of the plays featured ensemble members’ homes, or locations miles away from the Evanston campus, which is impossible when a show is in Fisk Hall. The group is planning on creating another show, potentially with an in-person element, this spring. Besides making art — about everything from baby formula to nicotine addiction — TBD also spends time forming friendships and making community, which Feld said is one of their favorite parts of the group.

“(TBD members) are my favorite people at Northwestern, maybe in the world,” Feld said. “I really don’t know who I would be artistically if it wasn’t for TBD. I see neo-futurism seeping into everything else I do as an artist.” jordanmangi2023@u.northwestern.edu

arts & entertainment Editor Laya Neelakandan Assistant Editors Diego Ramos-Bechara Olivia Alexander Designers Emma Ruck Meher Yeda Staff Haley Fuller Jordan Mangi Nick Francis Rebecca Aizin

6 THE DAILY NORTHWESTERN

THURSDAY, APRIL 29, 2021

FULLY VAXXED From page 1

ongoing rule changes, according to an April 16 email from Vice President for Operations Luke Figora. “By disclosing your vaccination status, you are helping us...be prepared to respond to changing public health guidelines associated with vaccination status,” Figora wrote in the email. Here’s a guide on what you can do according to CDC guidelines after you’re fully vaccinated — and what you still can’t under University rules.

Masking and social distancing

The CDC announced yesterday that fully vaccinated individuals no longer need to mask outdoors, unless in crowded settings. They can also gather indoors, maskless and nondistanced with other fully vaccinated people as well as unvaccinated but low-risk individuals. NU requires everyone on campus to mask

up, indoors and outdoors, and recommends double masking. Private offices, personal residences and residence hall rooms are the only exceptions to the mask mandate. While NU does not allow maskless gatherings outside of eating areas, fully vaccinated students should feel safe eating together in the dining halls.

Testing and quarantining

According to CDC guidelines, fully vaccinated individuals do not have to test or quarantine after known exposure to the virus, provided they remain asymptomatic. They also don’t have to undergo routine testing and can travel domestically without testing or selfquarantining. These individuals may travel internationally without quarantining upon return to the United States and without testing before departure, unless the destination country requires people to do so. However, NU still requires all students exposed to the virus to quarantine for at least a week at Foster-Walker Complex and test negative twice before returning to their dorms.

ROBERT CROWN

REPARATIONS

“I want to get the money into the city, but we’re getting the money in by selling ice time, not by receiving a contribution from Northwestern,” Suffredin said. “That’s not a small distinction.” Ald. Donald Wilson (4th) argued that holding off from a vote based on Suffredin’s concerns could jeopardize the agreement as a whole. He accused Suffredin’s aim to push back the vote as “acting irrationally.” “You’ll feel really good when Northwestern calls us next Thursday and says, ‘You know what, we want our $330,000 back.’ How are you gonna explain that to the taxpayers?” Wilson told Suffredin. Storlie said the bulk of the payment will be paid off by the end of next year.

provide assistance to around 16 households throughout Evanston. The committee will be responsible for implementing the program and recommending future funding allocations for housing and economic development initiatives. “I’m grateful to all those who’ve contributed to our City’s first bold steps towards acknowledging, addressing and repairing the damage done to generations of Evanston families by systemic racism and White supremacy,” Biss said in the release. “I look forward to working with the Reparations Committee, the City Council and our community to chart a successful path forward.”

jasonbeeferman@u.northwestern.edu

— Delaney Nelson

From page 1

Students also had to quarantine under Wildcat Wellness at the beginning of Winter and Spring Quarter, regardless of vaccination status. Weinberg freshman Finn Wintz spent a week this quarter at Plex after exposure to the virus, despite receiving his first dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine two weeks before exposure. While he was not yet fully vaccinated, Wintz said the University’s quarantine order was a little frustrating because Pfizer guarantees 80 percent immunity two weeks after the first dose, compared to approximately 66 percent immunity from the singular Johnson & Johnson dose. “That seemed a little weird, that I still had to go through the full (quarantine) period,” Wintz said. “But then again, I do understand that it’s somewhat of a slippery slope, and the guidelines are constantly changing.”

Ongoing precautions

Despite large numbers of people getting their shots, the CDC still advises fully vaccinated

people to wear masks in public indoor spaces and when interacting with unvaccinated, highrisk people. Fully vaccinated individuals should also wear a mask if gathering with unvaccinated people from multiple households and avoid large, in-person events. If they experience symptoms of COVID-19, vaccinated people should still get tested. NU also has the above guidelines in place for students, vaccinated or unvaccinated. Weinberg freshman Lily Ng, who received the Pfizer vaccine through the University, was contact traced after her first dose this quarter. Most of her friends are at least partially vaccinated, Ng said. Despite her exposure this month, Ng said she feels protected from the virus now, especially with her second dose scheduled. “There’s always some risk involved, but I trust my friends, and I think they stay relatively safe,” Ng said. “I just hope that next year things will be a lot different.” maiapandey@u.northwestern.edu

From page 1

RESOURCE From page 1

health and wellness chair and SESP sophomore Mikenzie Roberts, said. “With COVID happening last year, we really wanted to make sure that there were online or national resources that people could use,” Roberts said. The University typically lists Counseling and Psychological Service as the first resource where students can seek help, Roberts said. She said ASG wanted to publicize resources available to members of the NU community beyond CAPS. But the project started before she became

chair, Roberts said. Under her leadership, the Health and Wellness Committee updated and fleshed out the list to cater to students scattered around the globe from the pandemic as well as those nearby on campus. Revika Singh (Weinberg ‘21), a former Health and Wellness Committee chair, said the project started in 2017, a year before she joined ASG. It responded to concerns that knowledge of University resources were not in a central location, she said. Singh said there were resources in Evanston and Chicago she did not know about until she became an upperclassmen, such as Howard Brown Health Center, a Chicago organization that offers access to gender-affirming

Daily file illustration by Emma Ruck

City Council approved four members to serve on the Reparations Committee, which will continue the work of the Reparations Subcommittee, Monday.

healthcare. “If people have learned about certain resources, or certain funds or scholarships or things like that earlier during their time at Northwestern, it could literally prevent so much damage and harm,” Singh said. In her time at ASG, Singh said she talked to Senate members, who reminded her how important it was for the University to make resources clear and in the open for people to access. Because of this, Medill Senator Julia Karten said that the committee is working to get as many University websites and student groups to link the spreadsheet. “Spreading the word about it is the fastest way to help as many people as possible,” the

sophomore said. Looking ahead, Roberts said she wants the list to extend beyond ASG. Even though many people are returning to campus and getting vaccinated, a huge need for a centralized resource guide remains, she said. On top of periodically updating resources, Roberts said she wants to get additional input from any students with suggestions on what to include. “Having one place to find these resources is important for people who are struggling and like need some sort of help in some area,” Roberts said. We want (there) to be as little work as possible.” yunkyokim2022@u.northwestern.edu

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DAILY CROSSWORD

THURSDAY, APRIL 29, 2021

THE DAILY NORTHWESTERN

D65 set to complete updated curriculum by July By OLIVIA ALEXANDER

the daily northwestern @oliviagalex

Evanston/Skokie School District 65’s revised social studies curriculum, which aims to increase focus on marginalized communities, is set to be mostly complete by this summer. The curriculum will involve nine equity components informed by the Illinois State Board of Education’s Culturally Responsive Teaching and Leading Standards — including interrogating systems of oppression, leveraging student activism, orienting toward social justice and prioritizing historically marginalized students. Jamila Dillard, the district’s director of social sciences and instructional technology integration, said the district’s goal is to have most of the curriculum completed and written by the end of July. Dillard said the curriculum is intended to be racially inclusive and include the histories of marginalized communities, including the contributions of the LGBTQ+ and disabled communities. “We want to make sure that this curriculum touches on a little bit of everything, so everyone is seen and heard and visible in this curriculum,” Dillard said. Currently, the district is reviewing units of instruction, or topics to be included within the curriculum. Throughout the process, Dillard has been meeting with teams of educators, community members and educational consultants.

NU spinoff company receives grant to produce single-swab PCR test Northwestern spinoff company Minute Molecular Diagnostics was awarded a $21.3 million grant from National Institutes of Health to produce pilot cartridges for a COVID-19 test that takes a single swab, according to a Monday University news release. The technology, called Diagnostic Analyzer

District 65 is also working alongside Northwestern professor Megan Bang and educational consulting firm Learning Dimensions to finalize units of instruction. “It’s not just myself sitting in an office setting units,” Dillard said. “We’re trying to make sure that we have the voice of all stakeholders involved in getting these potential units static.” Once the curriculum is complete, District 65 Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum and Instruction Stacy Beardsley said teachers will receive professional learning to support its implementation. Beardsley expects the district to roll out the curriculum starting in August 2022. Beardsley said instruction will be very inquiry-based and ensure students are critically engaging with materials. To Beardsley, critical thinking is a major aspect of the new social studies instruction. “We’re working on creating a social studies curriculum that is going to shift away from a heavily Eurocentric perspective,” Beardsley said. “(It will) elevate the opportunity for students to be able to critically interrogate events in our current day, as well as historical presence from multiple perspectives.” Furthermore, Dillard said the district aims to create a “community-relevant” curriculum in which students will read about local events and organizing. Dillard said she hopes to uplift Evanston voices because of the great things and people in the city. “Oftentimes, we in social studies read about places far off that don’t necessarily pertain to

our communities,” Dillard said.”To be able to bring this curriculum full circle and have students, educators and community members see their own community and themselves within the curriculum, I think it’s going to be great for us.” School board president Anya Tanyavutti said the board’s role in the process is to provide direction for the work by listening and giving feedback on the curriculum’s focus and scope. The board last received curriculum development updates at a March 8 meeting, where Dillard emphasized the importance of discussing the histories of communities of color outside of colonization and oppression. Dillard said the team is focusing on weaving movements such as Black Lives Matter into the curriculum so students will encounter social justice movements regularly, rather than occasionally. Earlier this month, District 65 celebrated its second LGBTQ+ Equity Week with the purpose of exploring topics such as stereotyping, family structures and gender identity. The Equity Week’s creation came after Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed a 2019 bill mandating the teaching of LGBTQ+ history in all public schools by 2020. Just a month prior, Park School teacher Ren Heckathorne spoke at a school board meeting, criticizing the district’s inaction in response to the harassment they faced after coming out as transgender. Heckathorne worked with D65’s Gender and Sexuality Educators Alliance to create the weeklong LGBTQ+ curriculum to be taught to students throughout Equity Week. District 65 parent Kristen White said she believes the district is working to create a more comprehensive curriculum that better captures

the experiences of those who make up this country — something she strongly supports. White said this more integrated curriculum is important for students who might feel singled out by individualized programming centered around identities they hold. Her fifth-grader, who “has two moms,” experienced challenges during the first District 65 LGBTQ+ Equity Week in 2019, she said. “It was the first time since she’s been at school where there were kids openly in class, who were sharing opinions that challenged the existence of her family, or the right of transgender students to exist,” White said. Once the district fully implements the curriculum, Beardsley said the existing equity weeks related to distinct identities, like LGBTQ+ Equity Week, Latinx Heritage Week and Black Lives Matter at School Week of Action, will likely be phased out. Tanyavutti said the district currently offers programs like the African Centered Curriculum program, which has bolstered “incredible” outcomes for Black students. However, to truly create a space of belonging, Tanyavutti believes this type of instruction must be represented in the curriculum offered to every student. “I don’t necessarily see (the new curriculum) as separate. I see it as a more full expression. We’ve had racial equity focused weeks that were focused on Black Lives Matter, Latine, and Hispanic heritage, and LGBTQ+,” Tanyavutti said. “However, that content really needs to be woven throughout the curriculum.”

for Specific Hybridization, was developed at the Center for Innovation in Global Health Technologies, where McCormick Prof. David Kelso and Director of Research Sally McFall co-led device development. In addition to its easy application, DASH makes positive or negative test results available in 15 minutes. Users can perform a nasal swab, enclose the swab in a cartridge and insert it into a testing unit. Minute Molecular Diagnostics will use the NIH grant to produce up to 1 million cartridges per month, the release stated. “DASH performs point-of-care (polymerase

chain reaction) testing for COVID-19 in approximately 15 minutes, providing an important, new tool for safely reopening K-12 schools, universities and workplaces,” Kelso said. DASH can also be utilized at athletic events, international airline passengers and hospital admissions, the release stated. The release also stated that DASH distribution is dependent on the receipt of Emergency Use Authorization from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, which has also been granted to COVID-19 vaccines. While it was intended to address the COVID-19

pandemic, Minute Molecular Diagnostics is working on expanding DASH technology to other infections, including flu, HIV, hepatitis C and several sexually transmitted infections. “DASH enables non-laboratory personnel to insert a nasal swab specimen directly into our test cartridge and then load the cartridge into the DASH instrument, providing an accurate result in about 15 minutes,” McFall said. “The simplicity of the DASH test allows PCR testing to go where antigen tests go now.”

oliviaalexander2024@u.northwestern.edu

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— Yunkyo Kim

SPORTS

Thursday, April 29, 2021

@DailyNU_Sports

BASEBALL

Northwestern drops four to Iowa and Maryland By LAWRENCE PRICE

the daily northwestern @lpiii_tres

Northwestern baseball struggled against Big Ten foes over the weekend, dropping four contests and extending their losing streak to five. The Wildcats (12-16, 12-16 Big Ten) couldn’t secure a victory against Maryland and Iowa, losing two games to the Terrapins (16-13, 16-13 Big Ten) and two against the Hawkeyes (18-11, 18-11 Big Ten). “You gotta give it to both Iowa and Maryland,” sophomore pitcher Jack Dyke said. “They came out and they strung a good nine innings together. I think both teams were able to wait up there and pick the pitches they wanted to hit.” Friday’s meeting was a pitcher’s duel between junior pitcher Mike Doherty and Maryland pitcher Logan Ott. But the two have experienced drastically different seasons thus far. Doherty, who as a freshman appeared in 13 games, has thrown the most innings for the Cats, while Ott, a freshman, took the mound for the first time this season Friday. NU struck first on Friday when freshman center fielder Ethan O’Donnell doubled in the second inning, allowing graduate right fielder Leo Kaplan to score. This gave the Cats a 1-0 lead entering the third — but they couldn’t hold on to it for long.

Maryland stormed back with a rally of its own and put two runs on the board. “Physical errors are going to happen,” coach Spencer Allen said. “Unfortunately, this weekend we had a couple mental lapses, and those just led to bigger innings that ultimately did not allow us to win.” After the third inning, no one was able to cross the plate for the rest of the game, even though NU runners were in scoring position in the eighth and ninth. The final score stayed 2-1. Saturday’s matchup involved more scoring for the two teams, but it still ended in a 9-7 loss for the Cats. NU out-hit Maryland 12-9, led by Kaplan and junior shortstop Shawn Goosenberg three hits each, alongside O’Donnell full-count home run. Despite this effort, the Terrapins’ three-run first and fifth innings pushed them over the top. O’Donnell said he spent a lot of time with coach Charlie Tilson going over his approach in preparation for the weekend. He said having someone “fresh out of the big leagues” like Tilson was helpful for his game. The freshman finished with his best weekend of the season to date, hitting .385 with three home runs and six RBIs. O’Donnell credited teammates like Goosenberg and Kaplan for helping him find his groove. “Those guys have stepped up big,” O’Donnell said. “They pick me up when I am down so it is definitely a big bonus to have experience surrounding

me.” The Cats did not have a strong outing against Iowa on Sunday. The Hawkeyes came ready to play, collecting 18 hits over 15 runs. Although he threw a scoreless, hitless first inning, senior pitcher Quinn Lavelle struggled to find his rhythm the rest of the game, ultimately allowing nine earned runs. Unlike Sunday’s game, NU came out hot on Monday, jumping to a 3-0 lead in the second inning. However, Iowa started climbing back as the inning closed, leading to a back and forth battle between the two squads. This went all the way to the top of the ninth, when Goosenberg hit a single and junior first baseman Anthony Calarco scored to give the Cats the lead 9-8. The Hawkeyes responded, however, with a three-run walk off home run to put the nail in the coffin for the Cats. NU hosts Michigan and Illinois next week, two teams they faced earlier in the season, and look at it as their chance to get back on track, O’Donnell said. “We felt like we should have come out of there with two wins (against Michigan), and same for Illinois,” O’Donnell said. “We thought we could have swept there as well. Everyone is looking forward to this series, to proving something and just getting back on the right page.”

SWIMMING

WOMEN’S GOLF

Olympian talks swimming career By JOHN RIKER

daily senior staffer @john__riker

At his first Olympic Games in 2016, Jordan Wilimovsky (Weinberg ‘17) placed in the top five of both the 1,500-meter and 10K events — and his time as a Northwestern athlete wasn’t even complete. A few years later, Wilimovsky was the first man to qualify for the U.S. Olympic team for the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo. However, he’s experienced choppier waters this time around, marked by the Games’ postponement last March and a nationwide shutdown because of the COVID-19 pandemic. While in Evanston, Wilimovsky earned All-American honors in three of his four seasons, using an Olympic redshirt year during the 2015-16 season. The Malibu, Calif. native also holds the distinction of being the first American to race in both the open water and pool events at the Olympics. Already a qualifier in the free water 10K, Wilimovsky is looking to add to his event list this June at the U.S. Olympic Trials. The Daily spoke with Wilimovsky about his storied career and his perspective on the unprecedented cycle for the Tokyo Olympics. This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity. The Daily: As a California kid, what inspired you to come to Chicago and Northwestern to continue your swimming career? Wilimovsky: Obviously it’s an incredible school with great academics — one of the schools that was on my radar my senior year. I love the team, love the campus and just the atmosphere of the school, and I was pretty happy with my decision. The Daily: In retrospect, what about your time at Northwestern stands out to you, and how do you feel it helped you develop your career? Wilimovsky: Being able to compete at the NCAA level is pretty unique. It’s super

Daily file photo by Melody Song

Jordan Wilimovsky (Weinberg ‘17) competes in freestyle. Wilimovsky was the first American man to qualify for the 2020 Olympic Games.

fun to be on a team like that where you’re living together, training together, and you go to school together. Taking your swimming to the next step by being able to do that for four years definitely helped. You definitely have to lift your game when you get to college and put more time and effort into being competitive. The Daily: How did it feel to qualify for the Olympics your second time around, especially so early on in the process? Wilimovsky: It was awesome to get that out of the way. Four or five years ago now, I was very excited to represent the U.S. and get that first qualification, but now, with the perspective of going into Trials this year having made the team already, I definitely appreciate it a lot more. I want to add some events at the Olympic Trials in June, but if I don’t, I’m already on the team, so there’s a lot of pressure off from that. The Daily: After the pandemic hit, how did you adapt your training and mentality over the course of that summer? Wilimovsky: I took about a month off, which is the longest time I probably spent out of the pool in, like, 10 years. Over the summer and even through the fall, training was pretty difficult trying to find consistent space, just because everything was open one week, closed the next. We’ve been able to get more consistent training and better pool space, and right now, it’s just head down, focusing on the next two months

Daily file photo by Joshua Hoffman

lawrenceprice2024@u.northwestern.edu

before Trial. The Daily: You’ve had both the normal Olympic cycle in 2016 as well as the abnormal buildups of both 2020 and 2021. What have you experienced as the challenges of building back up after last spring’s false start? Wilimovsky: You get to reset and be like, “What are some things I can use this year to improve on and some things in my training where I felt like I was lacking in certain areas. You get to have a second shot at it, but at the same time, it’s also pretty frustrating because everything was closed. As the Olympics got closer and closer, the reset date got closer and closer, and you’re kind of like, “Hey, I need to get back in the pool, hopefully stuff opens up soon.” The Daily: You’ve been to the Olympics before and had that Olympic experience — what do you hope to get out of this year’s Games? Wilimovsky: Anytime you get to represent the U.S. is obviously super cool, and just being able to put up some fast times. I don’t really know what to expect this time around — it’s going to be different from any kind of World Championships or Olympic Games just because of limited spectators and social distancing. I’m trying to go in with it with an open mind and be prepared for whatever they throw at us. johnriker2023@u.northwestern.edu

Northwestern headed to NCAA Regional For the eleventh straight time, Northwestern is headed to the NCAA Regional. On May 10, the No. 20 Wildcats will travel to Stanford Golf Course in Palo Alto, Calif. to compete at the Stanford Regional. NU looks to build on its strong regular season that featured four top-five team finishes and a win over Ohio State during a January dual. However, the team will need to regain momentum following a fifth place finish at the Big Ten Championship with a score of +867. The Cats are led by sophomore Irene Kim, who was named Big Ten Golfer of the Year Wednesday. Kim, the 2020 Big Ten Freshman of the Year, placed in the top-five at four matches this season, including a runner-up finish at the Big Ten Women’s Golf Championships. She capped off the regular season with a 71.81 stroke average and was also named to the AllBig Ten first team. In addition to Kim, NU has support from several other strong players, including junior Kelly Sim, graduate student Brooke Riley and freshman Jennifer Cai, all of whom recorded

top-25 finishes at the Big Ten Championship. Sim was also named to the All-Big Ten Second Team and Riley received a Big Ten Sportsmanship Award from the conference Wednesday. Kim, Riley and Sim rank among the top-250 players in DI women’s golf, as Kim leads the Cats with a No. 18 ranking. NU has historically been successful in the postseason, reaching the NCAA Championship in seven consecutive years and capturing a runner-up finish in 2017. The squad also won the NCAA Regional at Shoal Creek in 2016. Players have frequently received postseason honors as well. Kim is the fourth Cats’ golfer to be named Big Ten Golfer of the Year in the past seven years and the first to do so since Stephanie Lau received the honor in 2019. The Cats will return to the NCAA Championship for the eighth time in a row, but they will need to overcome a challenging line-up of teams at Stanford first. The Regional features three teams ranked in the top-eight of the latest WGCA Coaches Poll such as Wake Forest, Oklahoma State and the University of Southern California, posing a significant test for the purple-and-white. — Charlotte Varnes

Daily file photo by Alison Albeda

Irene Kim watches her swing. Kim was named the Big Ten Golfer of the Year Wednesday.