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The Daily Northwestern Thursday, May 20, 2021
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Ethnic studies students, professors continue years-long advocacy for departmentalization
Illustration by Hank Yang
By WAVERLY LONG
daily senior staffer @waverly_long
Since students led a 23-day hunger strike in 1995 to institute the Asian American Studies Program, the demands of activists have continued to be linked to ethnic studies at Northwestern. Starting in 2006, students and faculty advocated for the creation of the Latina and Latino Studies Program, which began around 2008, according to LLSP Director and Prof. Geraldo Cadava. After the programs were established, students continued to push for the expansion of ethnic studies through events, discussions with faculty and administrators and numerous petitions. Student advocacy has been central to creating AASP and LLSP majors and minors, expanding the curriculum and
increasing hiring in ethnic studies, according to AASP Director and Prof. Nitasha Sharma. Despite this progress, the push to turn AASP and LLSP into recognized departments continues. Arianna Hermosillo (Medill ‘10), the first student to major in Latina and Latino Studies at NU, said the sustained fight for departmentalization is personal — the lack of department status highlights a longtime national issue of people in power depriving marginalized communities of resources. Expanding ethnic studies is vital, she said, as it would create an inclusive community on campus and ensure students are receiving a holistic education. “Racial discrimination… (and) people feeling uncomfortable on campus because of who they are and their identity is very much tied to a lack of ethnic studies and access to education about where different people are coming from and what their experiences are,”
Hermosillo said. “We can’t say in one breath that students from ‘diverse backgrounds’ are important to us, but their histories aren’t.”
Current limitations to ethnic studies
In 2018, AASP and LLSP were granted the ability to hire and tenure faculty with the creation of the Council for Race and Ethnic Studies, a unit that includes AASP and LLSP. However, Cadava and Sharma said CRES hasn’t solved all the obstacles ethnic studies professors face. Prior to the creation of CRES, all professors in AASP and LLSP were required to be part of a department in addition to their programs. Sharma said this resulted in ethnic studies professors being responsible for twice the amount of committee and service work. CRES allowed AASP and LLSP to hire their first tenure track professors without a connection to another department. But
Cadava said applying this change to current professors requires them to move their tenure track into the purview of new departments, which isn’t an easy transition. Sharma added that CRES gave current ethnic studies professors additional responsibilities, including attending quarterly meetings and reviewing fellowship and tenure applications. She said it’s a significant amount of extra work for which there is no built-in support in terms of course releases, time off or funding. Furthermore, AASP and LLSP are still classified as programs rather than departments. This leads to high faculty turnover, Sharma said, which means faculty are less available to students and can’t provide steady course offerings. “In departments, you don’t have that turnover because you have enough tenure track faculty (who are) compensated well, who love
» See DEPARTMENTALIZATION, page 6
Fully vaccinated residents Students put on hybrid Black do not have to wear masks Formal after pandemic hiatus City relaxes face covering guidelines for most settings By DELANEY NELSON
daily senior staffer @delaneygnelson
Evanston will no longer require fully vaccinated individuals to wear face coverings or practice social distancing in most indoor and outdoor settings, following guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Illinois Department of Public Health, according to a Wednesday news release. “Vaccines have been proven to be safe and highly effective at preventing severe illness and
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complications from COVID19,” Ike Ogbo, director of health and human services, said in the release. “Relaxing face covering requirements for fully vaccinated individuals brings us one step closer to normal, but it’s important to remember that we are still in a pandemic.” Individuals who are not fully vaccinated will still have to wear a face covering in public settings when social distancing is not possible. Residents, regardless of their vaccination status, are required to wear masks in health care settings, schools and daycare centers, congregate settings and on public transportation.
Individuals are fully vaccinated two weeks after their second dose of the Moderna or Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines, or after a single dose of Johnson & Johnson (Janssen). Community members must also wear face coverings at city facilities, community centers and Evanston Public Library locations. The Health and Human Services Department is encouraging businesses to require face coverings unless they can verify visitors are fully vaccinated. As of Monday, 89,700 vaccine doses have been administered to
» See MASKS, page 6
Annual tradition for NU’s Black community returns By MAIA PANDEY
the daily northwestern @maiapandey
In 2016, Northwestern released a 150-page report of Black students’ experiences of discomfort, isolation or neglect in campus groups and social events. Six Black students were moved to host the first-ever Black Formal just a year later. Since then, Black Formal has become an annual tradition for NU’s Black community, aside from a pandemic-related hiatus last year. Over 130 students took part in this year’s May 15 formal, which combined virtual and in-person
programming and centered around the theme of Homecoming. Black Formal co-chair and Weinberg senior Meron Amariw said the executive board sought to make students feel as welcome as possible in an online format. “You don’t have to be in Greek Life to go to the formal, you don’t have to be in a certain club or major — it’s just really open to all students,” Amariw said. “Our main mission, whether it be in-person or online, is always to create the space of community.” The event included a photoshoot with two student photographers at Norris University Center, where students could have photos
taken in front of a Black Formalthemed backdrop. A student emcee at Norris interviewed students during the event, many of whom were decked out in formal attire. Simultaneously, the event’s executive board gathered off-campus and logged on to the event with a professional DJ. There, they announced winners of giveaway prizes, including gift cards, gadgets and items from Black-owned businesses. Video messages from Medill Prof. Ava Thompson Greenwell and NU alumni, including CNN reporter Omar Jimenez and sports
» See BLACK FORMAL, page 6
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