The Daily Northwestern — Oct. 4, 2021 by The Daily Northwestern

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The Daily Northwestern Monday, October 4, 2021

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8 SPORTS/Football

3 CAMPUS/Safety

4 OPINION/The Spectrum

Wildcat defense falls short against Nebraska

Community Safety Advisory Board recommends use of counselors, unarmed civilians in safety calls

NU is complicit in anti-Asian racism

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Moratoriums expire, leave renters at risk After about a year and a half of extensions, Gov. J.B. Pritzker did not renew Illinois’ eviction moratorium before it expired on Oct. 3, once again leaving residents at risk of eviction if they are unable to pay rent. The moratorium prevented landlords from evicting residents who failed to meet rent payments due to COVID-19’s financial impacts. However, it didn’t forgive the missed rent payments. That means tenants who couldn’t meet rent over the past year and a half could be vulnerable to eviction orders from landlords. The moratorium intended to curb COVID-19’s spread by enabling residents to follow stay-at-home orders even as financial insecurity rose during the pandemic. Pritzker extended the moratorium numerous times, most recently from Sept. 18 and Aug. 31. The end of the Illinois moratorium coincides with a similar rent moratorium established by the Centers for Disease Control, which also saw multiple extensions before ending on Oct. 3. In September 2020, Evanston City Council discussed creating a local moratorium on evictions that would protect Evanston tenants beyond the end of state and CDC

» See EVICTION, page 6

Madison Smith/Daily Senior Staffer

Students have worn buttons to show support for campus workers throughout the week.

Compass delays dining worker negotiations NU response to Friday gratitude action at Kellogg frustrates graduate students By ISABEL FUNK and WAVERLY LONG

the daily northwestern @isabeldfunk, @waverly_long

Compass Group delayed Friday’s negotiations with dining workers, according to

an organizer from the union representing Compass workers, UNITE HERE Local 1. Compass notified workers of the delay Thursday night. The decision comes just over a week after Northwestern dining and services workers

voted to authorize a strike from Compass. Compass w i l l soon reschedule the meeting for the coming weeks, Compass Group District Marketing Manager Sophia Bamiatzis said in an email to The Daily.

Compass didn’t answer The Daily’s requests as to why they rescheduled the meeting. Leading up to negotiations, Students Organizing for Labor Rights and Northwestern University Graduate Workers have continued

advocating for NU dining and services workers. NU Graduate Workers organized a demonstration at the Kellogg School of Management Friday morning in

» See DINING, page 6

ETHS freshman wins service award Teachers, students Ohlson distributed hygiene kits during height of the pandemic

Some safety calls up to profs. under looser NU health policies

By OLIVIA ALEXANDER

daily senior staffer @oliviagalex

For 14 year-old Evanston resident Olivia Ohlson, community service has always been a central part of life. Conversations with other residents ground Ohlson’s work. She doesn’t focus on one cause in particular. Instead, she watches the news and jumps to fill any gap she sees, according to her mother Gini Ohlson. When COVID19 hit, Ohlson noticed organizers setting up food pantries and clothing drives, but didn’t see anyone stepping up to distribute hygiene items like soap, shampoo, toothbrushes, razors. She knew what to do. “It started at my house, with donations from friends, family and classmates, and income in cash,” Ohlson said. “Once we got enough cash donations, we made our first batch of kits and gave them away at Vineyard (Church), and then we slowly moved on to other nonprofits and other

Recycle Me

talk in-person class By IRIS SWARTHOUT

the daily northwestern @swarthout_iris

Wendy Klunk/Daily Senior Staffer

Olivia Ohlson received the Future of Evanston award for her work assembling hygiene kits throughout the pandemic. The city honored three winners Wednesday night.

organizations.” Wednesday evening, the city presented Ohlson with the “Future of Evanston Award.” The award was given out by the City, the Evanston Chamber of Commerce and Northwestern University as

part of the annual MashUp event celebrating partnerships between the groups. Ohlson was one of three winners this year. Ohlson partnered with Chicago non-profits, school districts and Evanston

businesses to find drop-off locations for the kits. C&W Market, Connections for the Homeless and My Block, My Hood, My City, a Chicago nonprofit, were among

» See OHLSON, page 6

Weinberg Prof. Pamela Bannos, who teaches Introduction to Photography, said fitting 15 students into a hands-on lab involving photographic chemicals was one of many variables that made her anxious for the upcoming school year. “I was very freaked out the first week,” Bannos said. “I also bought an amplifier that I used with a microphone (to help with projection through masks).” In-person classes started in September, following 18 months of virtual learning that Bannos was used to doing from home. Northwestern is still actively enforcing precautions, such as the indoor mask mandate, against the spread of COVID-19. However, the University has loosened restrictions that were in place last year, leaving many decisions up to professors. Some faculty members have found their

own ways to minimize the spread of COVID-19 in their classes. Bannos said students have been diligent about masking requirements in her classes so far. She added that the University required her to decrease the class enrollment size by one as a COVID-19 distancing precaution. However, proper social distancing is impossible due to the size of the class relative to the classroom, she said. Other professors, like Weinberg Prof. Allison Wade, have used seating charts to make contact tracing easier in the event of a COVID-19 diagnosis. Wade said she keeps a mask on during class and does not allow food or water bottles without straws. In the event of a COVID-19 outbreak in the classroom, Wade said transitioning to an online platform would be an option, though it isn’t ideal. She said she’s concerned a lack of resources and art space might contribute to the courses being less accessible virtually. “If there was significant potential for health risk for the class as a whole, I would consider moving classes online,” Wade said. “(In that

» See IN PERSON, page 6

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

THE DAILY NORTHWESTERN

MONDAY, OCTOBER 4, 2021

AROUND TOWN

Local organizations celebrate Hispanic identities By KATRINA PHAM

daily senior staffer @katrinapham_

Evanston residents and community members celebrated among the vibrant reds, yellows and greens of traditional Mexican clothing and papel picados for Sunday’s Celebración de la Herencia Hispana at James Park. The event celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month was organized by Latinos en Evanston North Shore and the Latinx Business Alliance. LENS vice president Fabiola Alfonso said uniting the local Latine population is one of her organization’s key missions. “We are trying to make a community,” Alfonso said. “We want Latinos to proudly celebrate their heritage.” Alfonso said hosting the celebration and sharing elements of culture like food, song and dance is part of another LENS goal: cultural celebration. The celebration is not limited to Mexican culture, but is meant to honor the traditions of a variety of Hispanic backgrounds, reflecting the board that is made up of members from Mexico, Peru and Honduras. Roughly 40 attendees ate free tamales and champurrado while they listened to local solo mariachi singer Arnulfo Cardenas perform live music. They also took pictures with Latine members of Evanston’s Police Department, who allowed attendees to look inside their squad car. Attendees also had the opportunity to play the lotería (lottery) and the sortero (a giveaway). Some even sported cultural clothing for the best tipal outfit

Nick Francis/Daily Senior Staffer

Community members gathered at James Park to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month at the Celebración de la Herencia Hispana event on Sunday.

competition. Evanston resident Ana Cruz was dressed head to toe in traditional Mexican clothing, wearing a sombrero and a china poblana, a traditional Mexican dress. Cruz, who is from Mexico City, said she was

excited to attend and participate in the event. “I really appreciate the traditions of Mexico,” Cruz said. “I love the culture, singing and dancing.” The opportunity to connect with the local community was also exciting for Mercedes Fernández,

in August 2020 after repairs to replace aging playground equipment. According to the city, McCulloch Park was not in compliance with Americans with Disabilities Act code and playground safety standards. However, financial and equipment supply constraints related to COVID-19 halted progress. Evanston residents have a newly reopened park to The park was named in 1975 after Evanston suffragist Catharine Waugh McCulloch, who died in 1945. enjoy this fall. McCulloch Park in northwest Evanston is now open McCulloch graduated from the Pritzker School of Law to the public after over a year of COVID-19-related – known as the Union College of Law at the time – in renovation delays. 1886 and went on to1start9/30/21 her own law firm with the Nanouche Wilmette 10 09 21 DailyNorthwestern for print.pdf 7:03 PM The 1.7 acre park was originally scheduled to reopen support of the Equity Club, the country’s first female

association of lawyers. Twenty-three years before the 19th Amendment’s ratification, McCulloch led a whistle-stop train tour throughout Illinois to support a “statutory suffrage” bill that would allow Illinois women to vote in presidential elections. She was the first vice president of the National American Woman Suffrage Association, which became the League of Women Voters in 1920. Saturday’s park unveiling in the 7th Ward featured the institution of a National Votes for Women Trail marker at the park, one of only four in Illinois. McCulloch Park is not the only local park named

McCulloch Park reopens after year of pandemicrelated renovation delays

president of LENS. “We don’t care if it’s 20, 30, 50 (people),” Fernández said. “The people who came are enjoying music, costumes, and this is really what makes today spectacular.” Residents of all ages came to the event. City clerk Stephanie Mendoza said she was happy to see the event was hosted completely in Spanish, since that meant she could bring her grandparents and in-laws as well as her husband and kids. For Mendoza, it was important her children attended. Growing up, Mendoza said she didn’t have the opportunity to connect with her heritage or celebrate her culture, and now she wants to expose her kids to opportunities she didn’t have. Mendoza said although the event specifically celebrated Hispanic Heritage Month, she hopes Evanston residents will have more formal opportunities to celebrate the Latine community in the future. “I don’t stop being Latino tomorrow or at the 15th of October,” Mendoza said. “It’s nice to be able to go somewhere and see myself reflected in the community events.” Alongside LENS members, community volunteers helped serve dishes and run booths at the event. Evanston resident and event volunteer Rocio Mancero said connecting with others of a similar background is important. “Because we are brothers and brothers, sisters and sisters, it’s very important to (be together) hand in hand,” Mancero said. katrinapham2024@u.northwestern.edu after influential women. Harbert Payne Park honors women’s suffragist advocate Elizabeth Boynton Harbert and neighborhood activist Betty Jean Payne. Butler Park is named after Isabella Garnett Butler, founder of the Evanston Sanitarium, which provided care to Black Evanston residents when Evanston Hospital was segregated. “It’s a really well-used park,” Ald. Eleanor Revelle (7th) told Evanston RoundTable regarding McCulloch Park. “It’s a focus for the neighborhood, really the heart of the whole community.” — Jorja Siemons

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TUESDAY, JANUARY 19, 2021

THE DAILY NORTHWESTERN

ON CAMPUS

Angélica Casas receives Cecilia Vaisman Award By CATHERINE ODOM

the daily northwestern

Angélica Casas, a senior video journalist at BBC News, was recognized with Medill’s Cecilia Vaisman Award for Latine and Hispanic multimedia journalists Thursday. The award, which is co-sponsored by the National Association of Hispanic Journalists, recognizes Hispanic and Latine audio and video journalists who cover their own communities. Casas won the award for her sensitive coverage of Latine communities in the U.S. and Latin America. Gary Marx, Vaisman’s widower and an award-winning journalist himself, spoke about the work of Casas and his wife at the award ceremony. “Like (Vaisman), you often get out of the way and let subjects tell their own stories,” Marx said to Casas during the ceremony. “By doing that, you nurture a trust and intimacy between subject and viewer.” Casas, a native of San Antonio, Texas, was raised by a single mother in a family of immigrants from Zacatecas, Mexico. She said her family’s story inspires her work. She has produced a wide range of stories about Latine communities. During the pandemic, she has reported on the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on Latine families. Her work has also included breaking news coverage. Casas said one of the most challenging and impactful

CSAB: NU should use unarmed personnel, counselors for safety Northwestern’s Community Safety Advisory Board recommended the University send licensed counselors and unarmed civilian personnel to address the majority of campus safety and mental health situations in an email Friday. Armed personnel like NUPD should be dispatched only when absolutely necessary, the board concluded. New mental health initiatives included building a

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Graphic by Meher Yeda

Angélica Casas, a video journalist for BBC News, won the 2021 Cecilia Vaisman Award.

stories she has covered was the El Paso shooting in 2019. While she was in El Paso reporting, Casas said she attended vigils, met victims’ families and spoke with community members. “It was a struggle to cover that, and it was very emotional,” Casas said. “I think that I’m still healing from having covered that, even now.” Casas said her Latina identity shapes how she approaches reporting. Her background has made her better able to connect with her sources and help them

tell their stories, she said. She added the recent shift toward more transparency in journalism allows her to inform her work with her experiences and identity. “I’m very much in favor of people using their identity and telling stories in journalism,” Casas said. “I think it’s something that maybe two decades ago wouldn’t have been accepted… but I think now because of the racial reckoning that we’re going through, I think transparency in journalism is using our identity to cover stories.”

team of three to five trained mental health counselors who can respond to crisis events, particularly with students. This will almost always remove campus security from direct involvement in a mental health crisis situation, the email said. The University anticipates allocating an additional $300,000-$500,000 to hire and implement this team, according to the email. The board was created in fall 2020 to rethink policing on campus and advise University leadership on community safety and well-being. It formed in response to student organizers’ demands to remove police from campus. Students, post-docs, staff, alumni and faculty make up the board, which is co-chaired by Feinberg Prof. Clyde Yancy and Associate Provost of Diversity and

Inclusion Robin Means Coleman. The board invited all students and staff to confidentially provide thoughts on its progress and findings in the email. The board encouraged community members to complete the feedback form by Friday, Oct. 15. In winter 2021, the board investigated results of an external review of the Department of Safety and Security. It then spent the spring in four groups discussing issues related to campus safety and devising actionable recommendations. The University has already begun to implement the board’s recommendations. The email, which detailed the new changes, highlighted four main categories: mental health, safety and security, handling

One of the most important aspects of Casas’ journalism is the personal angle of her stories, she said. She added she focuses on building trust and relationships with her sources. Casas said she uses video to focus on the people she is featuring. She utilizes techniques like limiting narration and having interviewees look directly into the camera to make her coverage more personal. The award honors the late Cecilia Vaisman, a Medill professor and award-winning audio journalist who passed away in 2015 at age 54. 2021 marks the third year Medill has presented this award. “Cecilia Vaisman was an amazingly thoughtful and talented journalist, a dedicated and inspirational teacher and a beloved member of the Medill family,” Medill Dean Charles Whitaker said during the award ceremony. Vaisman was a champion of Latine communities and covered issues facing these groups in the United States and abroad. She also helped found Homelands Productions, an outlet that covers Latin America and the Caribbean. Casas said empathy is a crucial part of not only the journalistic process, but also the purpose of journalism. “I think we become better humans when we understand the experiences of other people,” Casas said. “If we forget that portion in journalism, then I don’t really know what the mission of what we’re doing is.” catherineodom2024@u.northwestern.edu of complaints and racial identifiers in crime notices. Safety and security updates mostly concerned transitioning to unarmed civilian leadership responses to campus safety issues. The board will also adopt a more holistic approach to safety, including environmental safety like fire prevention and indoor air quality. The email also noted that complaints about safety and security will now go to University Compliance, a non-police-led review board, rather than the University’s Safety and Security department. Campus crime notices are also transitioning to using racial identifiers sparingly as a result of the board’s recommendations. — Jordan Mangi

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4 THE DAILY NORTHWESTERN

MONDAY, OCTOBER 4, 2021

OPINION

Join the online conversation at www.dailynorthwestern.com

Yuh: NU fails to address internal anti-Asian racism JI-YEON YUH

OP-ED CONTRIBUTOR

Asian American and Asian international students, welcome to Northwestern. The University leadership may not see you, but the Asian American Studies Program sees you and salutes you. We are here for you to learn your collective histories, share experiences and remind each other that we are not invisible. The problem is that other Americans do not see us. In their blindness, they perpetuate anti-Asian racism. The University’s top leaders, for example, have demonstrated time and again that they do not see Asian Americans. Their blindness is illustrated by word and deed. When the Office of Institutional Diversity and Inclusion held its first appreciation event for staff of color, it failed to invite Asian American staff. When Asian American staff protested, leaders at the OIDI told them that there wasn’t a venue big enough, or enough funds, to host all the staff of color, so the Asian Americans were left out. They also said that Asian Americans are not underrepresented minorities, so including them didn’t seem necessary. This same explanation was given to Asian American faculty, including this author, who supported the staff protest. This year, the University’s leaders demonstrated their blindness in the Fall Welcome letter. In a paragraph boasting about increased diversity among incoming students, they conspicuously said nothing about Asian American students. The list of students they deemed “diverse” included Black, Hispanic and Latinx, Native American, Native Hawaiian or Indigenous students, first-generation college students, Pell Grant recipients and Chicago Public Schools graduates. Not on the list were three groups

that the Office of Undergraduate Admissions counts internally: Asian American, White and international. For the all-white leadership team of University President Morton Schapiro, Provost Kathleen Hagerty and Senior Vice President for Business and Finance Craig Johnson, diversity seems to be about lack. Racial minorities and socioeconomic groups deemed underprivileged and thus lacking are included in their list of “diverse” students, while those deemed a model minority (Asian Americans), the majority (Whites) or foreign (international students) are not. Their list of “diversity” reinforces harmful stereotypes about benevolent institutions “including” students despite their “lack” and providing opportunities for them to gain whatever it is these students are supposedly lacking. So what are they supposedly lacking? Middle class educated Whiteness, or its international equivalent. The University Strategic Planning committee published a white paper in 2010 titled “Diversity and Inclusion” which called on the University to create a culture of diversity rather than merely maintain a rhetoric focused on the inclusion of underrepresented and underprivileged peoples. But the University continues to conflate difference — especially racial difference -— with “lack.” The rhetorical violence can damage our very souls if we internalize the message that we are lacking and therefore need institutions like NU to include us and rescue us from our state of lack. For Asian Americans — and by extension Asian international students — the message that we are not among those deemed lacking and therefore not included in diversity initiatives is equally damaging because it promotes the lie that anti-Asian racism doesn’t exist. That is, it promotes the lie that Asian Americans and Asians are just like White people. The pandemic revealed the lie. Asian

Americans and Asians around the country were subjected to a wave of racist violence spurred by yet another lie linking COVID-19 to China and to Asians generally. University leadership issued a Feb. 23 letter proclaiming “Solidarity with Asian and Asian American Communities,” and another letter on March 10 denouncing “This week’s Tragic Events in Georgia.” But that is the extent of the University’s acknowledgement of Asian Americans. Of the 68 University announcements posted under “Leadership Notes,” only these two had anything to say about Asian Americans.

”

Only when we can be depicted as victims, does the University see us.

- JI-YEON YUH, Op-Ed Contributor

The other 66 announcements — including announcements about diversity and the University’s plans for social and racial justice — made no mention of Asian Americans. This failure to see Asian Americans outside of nationally recognized acts of anti-Asian violence demonstrates that the University sees diversity and racial difference as “lack.” Only when we can be depicted as victims, does the University see us. Yet the University’s blindness is also situational. This year, NU applied for and received a Higher Education Excellence in Diversity Award for diversity in higher education. The application asks for statistics on student and faculty diversity, including Asian Americans. So, the University sees us when it benefits them.

The University’s inability to really see Asian Americans demonstrates the limits of “diversity and inclusion” in a society still dominated by White nationalism. We are not included in diversity initiatives because we are not deemed victims. Instead we are perceived to be a “model minority” that outperforms White Americans and therefore are a threat. The implication is that other racial minorities are included in diversity initiatives because they are seen as victims. That too is part of the racist blindness exhibited by both NU and our society at large. Yet as the award shows, Asian Americans are included in the stats when it can put a nice shine on the University’s image. They both use us and ignore us. The reality is that racial minorities are neither model nor victims, and we are not available to be used and ignored. We are people forced to deal with racism, and the problem is not us. The problem is White-dominated institutions like NU that perpetuate racism by not seeing us — whether we are Asian American or Indigenous, Black or Latinx, Native American or Native Hawaiian — even as they use us to tout their “diversity and inclusion.” If you’re fed up with such racist nonsense, however you define your racial and ethnic identities, come to Asian American Studies. Take one of our classes. Attend one of our events. Learn for yourself what a culture of diversity can really look like. Join us in raising your voices and telling our University and American society: Stop your racist blindness and see us for who we are. History Prof. Ji-Yeon Yuh is the Director of the Asian American Studies Program. If you would like to respond publicly to this op-ed, send a Letter to the Editor to opinion@dailynorthwestern.com. The views expressed in this piece do not necessarily reflect the views of all staff members of The Daily Northwestern.

Yang: On racism against Evanston’s Asian communities JENNIFER YANG

OP-ED CONTRIBUTOR

Last Saturday, a UPS Store employee in downtown Evanston told me he would call the police unless I left their premises. This incident, combined with the non-reactions of the bystanders, caused me to reflect on how Asians are often left out of the conversations around racial justice — how we are simultaneously not seen as “people of color” but also reminded, through general indifference to our maltreatment, that we are not White. The indifference I speak of has been demonstrated through the steady rise of anti-Asian violence during COVID-19, with hate crimes against Asians jumping from 174 in 2018 to 335 in 2020 per FBI’s Crime Data Reporter. Even though 8 in 10 Asians Americans say that violence against them is increasing, only 32% of Asians said they felt support for their race or ethnicity since the start of the pandemic , as compared to 49% of Black adults. When we feel unsafe, we are often made to feel that racism is not the obvious cause, as expressed by Atlanta’s Police Chief after the shooting at three Asian spas in March 2021. My personal ordeal began when I went to the store to print my U.S. passport renewal application. The self-printing kiosk was broken, and an employee instructed me to email my application to an in-store Gmail account. After the printing was completed, the employee deleted my email at my request, but declined my second request to ensure its full deletion from Gmail Trash. What ensued felt like a nightmare. The employee exited the counter, approached me and threatened to shred my printed documents. He also told me it was my fault for sharing my personal information with their system, and that I was not welcome back at the store. When I asked him to contact the store manager, he picked up the phone, told me I was making a scene and threatened to

call the police. After UPS Corporate Customer Service reviewed the in-store camera footage, they acknowledged that at no point had I escalated the situation by behaving inappropriately. I wore my mask, kept physical distance, maintained civility and even let other customers approach the counter. They also said the employee deleted my email of his own accord after I left the store, which meant he understood my request. Poor customer service and data privacy issues aside, what alarmed me the most was the employee’s blasé, almost casual attitude, when he threatened to call the police. It was as though the racial justice movements of the last year and a half had not occurred, and it was fine to escalate the potential harm in the situation by bringing in lethal force. What

”

What could have been amicably resolved in less than five minutes became a fearful encounter for me that should have never happened.

- JENNIFER YANG, Op-Ed Contributor

could have been amicably resolved in less than five minutes became a fearful encounter for me that should have never happened. A new study by medical journal, The Lancet, shows fatal police violence has been on the rise, with an increase of 38.4% since the 1980s. Analysis shows police mortality against Black people is 3.5 times higher than non-Hispanic White people, while Hispanic people face police mortality rates 1.8 times higher than non-Hispanic White people. Comparatively, non-Hispanic people of

other races (excluding non-Hispanic Indigenous people), face police mortality rates 0.11 times lower than non-Hispanic White people. Does this mean it is ok to call the police on Asians, since we are less likely to die from police violence than other minority groups? I pondered this as I reflected on the behavior of the two middle-aged, white customers who witnessed the encounter. The woman gave me a look of sympathy but remained silent. The man told me not to appeal to him, and that I was making the employee uncomfortable. When I most needed allyship was when I felt most abandoned, and the experience reminded me that even in the “liberal” city of Evanston, dominant voices marginalize the voices of non-dominant groups and tell us we are not welcome — that we should shut up and leave. In a way, this attitude doesn’t surprise me. As a female immigrant of East Asian descent, I’ve spent most of my life trying to blend in and “play nice.” It’s been drilled into me by my own culture to not make trouble, and perhaps this plays into the dominant unconscious stereotype that researchers have found to describe Asian people — that we are “submissive” and seen as “lacking in social skills.” I couldn’t help but wonder if the employee would have treated me differently had I been a different gender or race. However, when I raised this issue on LinkedIn, one commentator responded that I was “jumping to conclusion[s]” when I suggested race as the reason for my treatment. In my discussions with UPS Corporate, I reiterated that I did not want the employee from this encounter to be terminated. I shared that I would like the company to step up and do better. I suggested they clearly establish procedures for handling customer concerns, and that they educate their employees on police violence. I also requested improved training for customer data disposal. At present, UPS Corporate is unable to disclose what steps will be taken. It is my hope that no one has to go through what I went through in the future. Even though Asians may not be centered in

the conversation around racial justice, we too experience racism, which we are often denied from naming and claiming. By sharing my experience, I also hope Evanston residents can understand the unconscious biases against Asians and truly engage in allyship behaviors for all marginalized groups. Jennifer Yang is a graduate student at the School of Social Policy and Education at Northwestern University. If you would like to respond publicly to this op-ed, send a Letter to the Editor to opinion@dailynorthwestern.com. The views expressed in this piece do not necessarily reflect the views of all staff members of The Daily Northwestern.

The Daily Northwestern Volume 143, Issue 06 Opinion Editor Alex Perry

Assistant Opinion Editors Annika Hiredesai Lily Nevo

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR may be sent to 1999 Campus Drive, Evanston, IL 60208, via fax at 847-491-9905, via e-mail to opinion@ dailynorthwestern.com or by dropping a letter in the box outside The Daily office. Letters have the following requirements: • Should be typed and double-spaced • Should include the author’s name, signature, school, class and phone number. • Should be fewer than 300 words They will be checked for authenticity and may be edited for length, clarity, style and grammar. Letters, columns and cartoons contain the opinion of the authors, not Students Publishing Co. Inc. Submissions signed by more than three people must include at least one and no more than three names designated to represent the group. Editorials reflect the majority opinion of The Daily’s student editorial board and not the opinions of either Northwestern University or Students Publishing Co. Inc.

5 THE DAILY NORTHWESTERN

MONDAY, OCTOBER 4, 2021

OPINION

Join the online conversation at www.dailynorthwestern.com

Ortiz: Multicultural Greek Council is the future STERLING ORTIZ

COLUMNIST

My name is Sterling Ortiz, the president of the Multicultural Greek Council, and I’m proud of my heritage. When I first arrived in Evanston in fall 2018, one of my goals was to connect with my Puerto Rican heritage. I am a Hungarian in every way and was raised on traditions. On the other hand, I bear a Puerto Rican’s last name, Ortiz, but not the knowledge and heritage I craved. My father’s family was Puerto Rican, but I didn’t know him well. I

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...my multicultural fraternity, Omega Delta Phi, and the Multicultural Greek Council at Northwestern empowered me to become the man I am today.

- STERLING ORTIZ, Columnist

was young when he died, and the heritage he lived and loved remained inaccessible to me. Three years later, I can finally say that I feel Puerto Rican. Materially, I’ve begun to

learn Spanish, read about my people’s history, and learned how to make coquito and other historic Puerto Rican foods. When recalling my journey to this point, I can confidently say that my multicultural fraternity, Omega Delta Phi, and the Multicultural Greek Council at Northwestern empowered me to become the man I am today. Meeting other Latinos in the council from all different backgrounds — from Mexicans to Salvadorans to, of course, other Puerto Ricans — reminded me that I’m not alone in my desire for ethnic pride in a world where we are minorities. When you join a chapter in the Multicultural Greek Council, whether that be a Latine-interest or Asian-interest chapter, you join a growing and vibrant community, now more so than ever. Our branches continued to fight and advocate for our communities through the pandemic, while other similar organizations on campus hid under the tables. We are the only Greek council here to have every chapter initiate new members during the past school year, and we frequently add new branches to our tree. Every councilmember knows that each of us does better when we all do better. We also know that the best years for the council are ahead of us, and we invite you to be part of our future. You can know us as members, but each person has a proud life, where we do great things and are great people. There are alumni of my chapter, the Alpha Alpha chapter of Omega Delta Phi, who work as lawyers and civil servants, doctors, teachers and other noble professions. Our alumni around the country serve as senators, mayors, City Council members, and judges. Chicago’s Aarón Ortíz, one of my brothers from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, proudly represents the 1st District in the Illinois House of Representatives and leads the Illinois Legislative

Latino Caucus. This level of excellence is what our chapters produce around the country. NU’s Multicultural Greek Council promises you our commitment to elevating heritages that represent every corner of the globe. The days of NU being a haven for White Americans buying their degrees are over, thank the Lord. The class of 2024, the

”

Our branches continued to fight and advocate for our communities through the pandemic, while other similar organizations on campus hid under the tables.

- STERLING ORTIZ, Columnist

latest undergraduate class we have demographics for, is 26.1% Asian, 10% Black and 15.6% Hispanic or Latine. Those numbers would terrify NU leaders in the 1900s, but we in the council revel in this diversity and seek to elevate our peers by giving them a voice and putting them in positions to succeed. I would be remiss not to address the nationwide movement to abolish Interfraternity Council and Panhellenic Association chapters. While activists at NU have, in large part, excused MGC chapters from their watchful eye, the council and I know

that being Multicultural Greek is not akin to sainthood. We constantly strive to improve ourselves and have had several community dialogues regarding essential topics like racism and sexual violence. We hold new organizations attempting to join the council in high standards by asking them to undergo training regarding the many issues that IFC and PHA perpetuated and enabled for so long. These are some of the same issues that affect us. My chapter of Omega Delta Phi worked with our council advisor and the Center for Awareness, Response and Education over the past year to craft a social justice curriculum — one mandated for all prospective members and active brothers once a year and tackles sexual violence, racism, and classism. I know my chapter and the council prioritizes trying to stay modernly educated. While the Abolish Greek Life movement at NU hasn’t directly impacted us, it has made us reflect on ways to better ourselves, and change our recruitment designs to ensure we’re not perpetuating or enabling any discrimination. If you read this communication and agree with the Multicultural Greek Council’s values, I invite you to research us on the school’s website or Instagram. If you are an existing member, then I’m glad to have you in the realm, and I know we can work together towards a better campus. We have a mandate, as a Multicultural Greek Council at a top 10 university, to lead by example and bring the future now. Let us go forth in peace. Sterling Ortiz is a SESP senior. You can contact him at sterlingortiz2022@u.northwestern.edu. If you would like to respond publicly to this column, send a Letter to the Editor to opinion@ dailynorthwestern.com. The views expressed in this piece do not necessarily reflect the views of all staff members of The Daily Northwestern.

The Daily Northwestern Fall 2021 | An independent voice since 1923 | Evanston, Illinois EDITOR IN CHIEF | Isabelle Sarraf PRINT MANAGING EDITORS | Rebecca Aizin, Jacob Fulton, Maia Spoto DIGITAL MANAGING EDITORS | Samantha Boas, Alex Chun ___________________ DIVERSITY & INCLUSION CHAIRS | Ilana Arougheti, Janea Wilson ___________________ WEB EDITORS | Samantha Anderer, Diego RamosBechara, Natalie Wu SOCIAL MEDIA EDITOR | Grace Wu AUDIENCE ENGAGEMENT EDITOR | Jorja Siemons ___________________ CAMPUS EDITOR | Waverly Long ASSISTANT EDITORS | Hannah Feuer, Isabel Funk, Joshua Perry ___________________ CITY EDITOR | Max Lubbers ASSISTANT EDITORS | Ilana Arougheti, Katrina Pham, Jorja Siemons

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6 THE DAILY NORTHWESTERN

MONDAY, OCTOBER 4, 2021

DINING

From page 1

support of campus workers. At the action, around a dozen graduate students were met with officers from Allied Universal, a security company contracted by the University. The officers attempted to prevent the students from entering the building, according to a fourthyear Ph.D. student who wished to remain anonymous. According to the graduate student, administrators said they worried the demonstration posed a “threat” to Kellogg and could disrupt examinations should the students move inside the building. The graduate student expressed skepticism toward the claim, considering it is the second week of the quarter. “(Security officers) said only Kellogg students can go in there… (but) they just looked at students that came and said they were not Kellogg students without checking any ID, because they were wearing the buttons that said ‘I love campus

OHLSON

From page 1

Ohlson’s kit drop-off locations. In the past, Ohlson has served with other community organizations in the Chicago area. One such organization was the Honeycomb Project, which focuses on family volunteer work and allowing young people to volunteer. Once the pandemic started, Ohlson also became involved in digital outreach. On her Youtube channel, she read books and filmed math tutorials for students who could not access in-person classrooms during the pandemic. She also tutored local

workers,’” the graduate student said. In a statement to The Daily, NUGW CoChair Ph.D. candidate Julie Ming Liang said the security guards let other people in through the front entrance who did not scan in as Kellogg students. The graduate students expressed they only wanted to speak with campus workers and show appreciation, Liang said, and after 20 minutes of negotiation, administrators and security escorted the students to the cafeteria in Kellogg through a back door. The students had lunch and spoke with campus workers to express their support before leaving. The fourth-year Ph.D. student said he felt the action was overall successful. “The campus workers felt appreciated when we showed up, and that was the main goal,” he said. “We hope they succeed in their negotiations and get the raise that they deserve.” After the lunch, Liang said, a security guard attempted to physically stop the students from exiting out of the front entrance before ultimately

letting them leave. Liang said she felt the way the administrators and security officers treated the students discourages student activism. “We are disappointed that Northwestern leadership would take such an aggressive stance toward their own students who wanted to eat lunch and support Compass service workers,” Liang wrote to The Daily. “This event reveals a concerning desire on the part of Northwestern to suppress grassroots labor movements and underlines the importance of standing with service workers in their demands.” She added that NUGW had a similar event to show solidarity with campus workers at Norris on Wednesday. Though this action was also publicized, no security personnel were present. Students across campus have been advocating for campus workers throughout the week as well. On Wednesday, when dining workers began wearing buttons that read “I don’t want to strike, but I will,” SOLR distributed buttons to students that read “I <3 CAMPUS WORKERS.”

“All of the workers that saw students wearing them were so uplifted — they felt very supported by the student body with that visible sign of support, and it meant a lot to the workers,” SESP junior and SOLR member Neva Legallet said. SOLR received 2,400 buttons from the UNITE HERE Local 1, around 2,000 of which they distributed to undergraduate students on the Evanston campus, according to Legallet. Volunteers took the remaining buttons to the Chicago campus and to graduate students. In the coming weeks, SOLR will continue supporting dining workers, taking direction from the union, Legallet said. “SOLR is going to do whatever workers need us to do,” Legallet said. “We work in solidarity with them, and we take our lead from whatever workers need from us. It’s not our movement to direct, it’s our movement to support and organize with (them).”

students in math as she read about students falling behind while out from school. Ohlson hopes to join the Community Service Club and the Emerge Leadership Program. She aspires to be a medical doctor and biomedical engineer. Gini Ohlson said she’ll encourage her daughter, who she said is “interested in almost everything,” to consider all of the possibilities a career path can hold. “When she gets something on her mind, she goes after it, and I mean I think it started with like the lemonade stand, that was her first project…” Gini Ohlson said. “Even at 10 years old, (she) did 85% to 90% of the work. She just always has

to keep her mind going. She always likes to help people.” Earlier this year, singer-songwriter Jenn Hartmann Luck wrote a song in honor of Ohlson’s many acts of service. “Lemonade,” which Hartmann Luck released in September, will be one track on an upcoming album of songs about youth advocates. Minnesota-based author Stacy C. Bauer will also include Ohlson’s story in her series of childrens’ books about kids making a difference. After her mother was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2017, then 10-year-old Ohlson started up a series of pink lemonade and cookie stands.

She donated all of the proceeds to NorthShore Kellogg Cancer Center, where her mother received treatment. Hartmann Luck said the way young people model the adults in their life and how they treat people is special. Ohlson and her mother together have created a pathway to giving back, she said. “(It’s) this idea of taking lemons and turning them into lemonade kind of mentality,” Hartmann Luck said. “Olivia looks at our community and says, ‘Where can I help? Where is there need, and how can I step into it?’”

EVICTION

IN PERSON

moratoriums. However, the legislation was tabled due to conflict between the various moratoriums. Aldermen expressed concern it could lead tenants to enter into unnecessary deals with landlords under a perceived but false threat of eviction. Though the moratorium is over, residents can still take advantage of various rent relief programs from the city, county and state, including the Cook County Emergency Rental Assistance Program. The funding for the program comes from another round of funding from the American Rescue Plan, this time in the amount of $75 million. Residents looking for assistance in completing applications to the Program or hoping for help with landlord-tenant mediation as eviction becomes a possibility again can reach out to local aid organizations including fair housing nonprofit, Open Communities.

event) I would definitely seek counsel from my department chair.” The University has also changed guidelines for dealing with contact tracing from last year. McCormick senior Aldo Aguilar said one of his professors is following NU’s directive. “(My professor said) you don’t have to quarantine after you come in contact with somebody (who tested positive) if you’re vaccinated,” Aguilar said. NU has also released new masking guidelines for professors, allowing them to lecture without masks when staying six feet away from students. Weinberg sophomore Preston Johnson said he feels comfortable going to class, though his political science professor does not wear a mask while lecturing. His professor does wear a mask while answering students’ questions after the lecture, however. Despite the small spike in COVID-19 cases last week with 51 new positives, Bannos said she is happy with how in-person classes have gone so far. She said she has faith that those she comes in contact with

From page 1

isabelfunk2024@u.northwestern.edu waverlylong@u.northwestern.edu

oliviaalexander2024@u.northwestern.edu

From page 1

— Ilana Arougheti

Daily file photo by Catherine Buchaniec

Northwestern students are back on campus for classes and are expected to adhere to COVID-19 guidelines.

on campus are wearing a mask and are vaccinated. “I have a pretty good feeling that we’re in it and it’s going to stay this way,” Bannos said. “I’m

feeling pretty optimistic.” irisswarthout2023@u.northwestern.edu

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DAILY CROSSWORD Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Lewis

ACROSS 1 Card that loses to a trey 6 Equine control 10 Dazzled 14 Boo-boo 15 Besides that 16 Waterslide cry 17 *Yellow tomato with red swirls 19 Dismiss from work 20 __ coffee: cool drink 21 Anonymous Jane 22 One-on-one teacher 23 Mortarboard hanger 25 Flier’s seat choice 27 *“Our group doesn’t agree” 31 Heed, with “by” 35 Couple’s pronoun 36 Currency for 19 states 38 Dull movie, say 39 “Spider-Man” actress Kirsten 40 Staircase part 41 Fish that complains a lot? 42 One less than nona43 Liability offset on a balance sheet 44 *Phillie Phanatic, notably 47 Environmentally friendly 48 Highway divider 53 Opposite of old age 55 Long, long time 57 About, on a memo 58 Inuit word for “house” 59 Concludes with no clear winner ... and what each answer to a starred clue does? 62 Bosc or Anjou 63 Snail __: letter carrier’s burden 64 Golfer Sam 65 Arid 66 “Do __ others ... ” 67 Singer __ Rae Jepsen DOWN 1 Ledger entry

Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis

10/4/21

By Chris Gross

2 “Fear of Flying” author Jong 3 Impulses 4 Firewood units 5 Victorian or Elizabethan 6 Janet __, attorney general after Barr 7 Hamburg’s river 8 Prefix with metric 9 Never been used 10 Terrible quality 11 Low-visibility snow events 12 Gateway Arch designer Saarinen 13 Bucks in a forest 18 Doing nothing 22 “For shame!” 24 Meadow mom 25 Respiratory cavity 26 MIT’s “I”: Abbr. 28 Froot Loops mascot __ Sam 29 Fox-and-hounds pursuits 30 Shade provider 31 Alphabet sequence symbolizing ease 32 Word with row or sail

Friday’s Puzzle Solved Saturday’s Puzzle Solved

33 Imperfect, as sale goods 34 Arrival’s opposite 37 Choose (to) 39 Capitol feature 43 Absorbed, as a cost 45 [Yawn] 46 Upscale hotel 49 Ross or Rigg 50 Prefix meaning “between”

10/4/21

51 Sans-serif font 52 Impoverished 53 Golfer’s putting jitters, with “the” 54 Curved molding 55 Do some prosetightening 56 Nobel Peace Prize city 59 Big Aussie bird 60 Indian bread 61 Pres. advisory group

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2021

THE DAILY NORTHWESTERN

”

“My body, my choice.” Angeli Mittal/Daily Senior Staffer

”

“Abortion is healthcare, healthcare is a right.”

‘ABORTION JUSTICE NOW’ Thousands of supporters of reproductive rights and activist organizations assembled for the March to Defend Abortion Access Saturday in Daley Plaza to protest Texas’ new law restricting abortion access and procedures. The event began

with activists and speakers sharing anecdotes from their experiences needing an abortion and ended with a march in downtown Chicago. — Angeli Mittal

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SPORTS

Monday, October 4, 2021

@DailyNU_Sports

FOOTBALL

NU’s defense falls apart in loss against Cornhuskers By PATRICK ANDRES

daily senior staffer @pandres2001

Sometimes, numbers tell the whole story. Against Nebraska Saturday evening, Northwestern rushed for 37 yards. The Wildcats allowed the Cornhuskers to rush for 434. NU amassed just 275 yards total. Nebraska churned out 664. The Cornhuskers’ gaudy totals, taken together, spelled out a defensive disaster without peer in coach Pat Fitzgerald’s 16-year tenure as the Cats’ head coach. NU’s 56-7 loss represented a suboptimal start to divisional play and left the Cats searching for answers. “The first thing we need to do when we all get home tonight is to take a look in the mirror,” junior cornerback AJ Hampton said after recording a team-high five solo tackles. “[You need to] look at yourself in the mirror, saying ‘What could I have done to win this rep?’” Nebraska (3-3, 1-2 Big Ten) won the game’s first three reps, as quarterback Adrian Martinez husked NU’s (2-3, 0-2 Big Ten) defense on the game’s first play from scrimmage with a 70-yard strike to wide receiver Samori Toure that immediately put the Cornhuskers in the Cats’ red zone. Two plays later, Martinez was in the end zone with the first of Nebraska’s seven

rushing touchdowns. A game eerily similar in character to NU’s season-opening loss to Michigan State gradually unfolded. In that game, the Spartans also punched the Cats in the mouth on the game’s first scrimmage play as running back Kenneth Walker III broke off a 75-yard touchdown run. Its opponents’ robust performances on the ground, however, are what truly sealed NU’s fate in both games. “That’s two teams that have really tried a major attack on our boundary,” Fitzgerald said of the Cats’ first and most recent opponents. “We gotta get some things shored up, because we should be able to have enough hats over there.” Cornhuskers coach Scott Frost — once a national championship-winning option quarterback at Nebraska under the legendary Tom Osborne — repeatedly dialed up option plays with his college coach in attendance. Martinez’s penchant for pitching the ball kept NU’s defense on its toes and paved the way for the quarterback to rack up 57 rushing yards and three touchdowns. Meanwhile, a sterling showing from the Cornhuskers’ offensive line opened holes for running back Jaquez Yant, who rolled up 127 yards on just 13 carries, and wide receiver Zavier Betts, whose only carry resulted in an 83-yard rushing touchdown. Only two Cats — graduate student defensive lineman Samdup Miller and senior linebacker Peter

McIntyre — recorded a tackle for loss. “It starts with us as coaches,” Fitzgerald said. “We thought we knew exactly what they were doing, but obviously we didn’t do a good enough job coaching it, and teaching it, and adjusting it in game to be able to take away the triple option to the boundary.” Nebraska’s 35-7 halftime lead — earned after a 30-minute period in which the Cornhuskers averaged 9.2 yards per play — blossomed into its largest point total in any game since 2013, and its largest point total in a conference game since a 56-28 win over Kansas State in 2008. For NU, the loss represented its largest margin of defeat since it lost 52-3 to Ohio State in 2019. Hampton, who played in that loss two seasons ago, stressed that a positive, introspective approach would benefit the Cats’ defense as it enters a bye week and looks ahead to a showdown with an improved Rutgers team. “Bringing all that negativity in, that’s not something you need to do,” he said. “You point your finger at yourself first, and see what you can get corrected. Then you go talk to your teammates in a nice way, because all that negativity just brings the team down from the inside. That’s one of the first and most important things we gotta do. Joshua Hoffman/Daily Senior Staffer

patrickandres2023@u.northwestern.edu

FOOTBALL

VOLLEYBALL

Northwestern loses in Lincoln NU edges out Rutgers, By LAWRENCE PRICE

the daily northwestern @lpiii_tres

LINCOLN, NE – Night games haven’t been kind to Northwestern this season. With 34,248 fans at Ryan Field,the Wildcats were ready for the beginning of a new season after an impressive 2020 campaign. However, the Wildcats’ special night was stifled by Michigan State’s rushing attack that finished the game with 326 yards on the ground and helped take a victory back to East Lansing. Four weeks later in Memorial Stadium, the Cats returned under the lights with 87,364 fans in attendance. Once again, the Wildcats faced adversity. NU (2-3, 0-2 Big Ten) struggled to find momentum on both sides of the ball, suffering its second conference loss of the season — a 56-7 rout at the hands of Nebraska (3-3, 1-2 Big Ten). The contest marked the most points the Cats have surrendered since giving up 70 to Wisconsin in 2010. “I am the guy that’s responsible for the way we play,” coach Pat Fitzgerald

said. “I’ve got great confidence in our defense staff and our defensive players, and we have just got to get them going.” The electricity booming in Lincoln began on the first play of the game. Quarterback Adrian Martinez found wide receiver Samori Toure deep across the middle for a 70-yard reception, leading to a Nebraska score 50 seconds of the game. Unlike the Cornhuskers, the Wildcats first drive was filled with a penalty, a completed pass for negative yards and a third down sack to end the offense’s momentum. Nebraska followed this up with a 64-yard run by Jacquez Yant, leading Martinez’s second score of the game. Nebraska continued to apply pressure in the first quarter on both sides of the ball. Stopping NU’s offense once again, Martinez and the Cornhuskers picked up another rushing touchdown, his third of the night, before the Cats’ found the end zone for the first time. The unit marched down the field in seven plays for 82 yards, highlighted by back-to-back receptions from graduate wideout Stephon Robinson Jr. for 32 yards and a 28-yarder to put them on the scoreboard.

Joshua Hoffman/Daily Senior Staffer

Brandon Joseph and Chris Bergin stand on the Memorial Stadium field. Northwestern’s defense gave up 56 points to Nebraska.

Despite the Cats cutting the lead down to 14, the first and second quarters were still all about Nebraska. The group gained 246 total yards in the first, averaging 10.3 yards per play and 9.8 on the ground. Adding 159 yards in the second, the team stayed with the run game, rushing for two more touchdowns. By the end of the game,Northwestern gave up 664 yards — its most allowed in a game under Fitzgerald. “Number one we have to look at what we are doing fundamentally, to me, that’s how you win games consistently,” Fitzgerald said. “Block destruction, fitting gaps right, having the right communication to make sure we are all on the same page in the right spot at the right time, and just winning on plays.” Northwestern was unable to halt Nebraska’s momentum until late in the second quarter. However , NU couldn’t capitalize on its opportunities. The possession before, Northwestern journeyed down the field to the 1-yard line. However, a muffed read option between sophomore quarterback Ryan Hilinski and sophomore running back Evan Hull gave Nebraska the ball back. It was the last time the Cats’ traveled into the red zone. A large factor to the struggles derived from the strength and pressure Nebraska applied, securing four sacks and seven tackles for losses, but other factors played a role as well. Throughout the game, NU lost four offensive linemen to injuries — senior Sam Gerak, sophomore Josh Priebe, junior Conrad Rowley and junior Ben Wrather. “Having all those guys go down just means that we fought to the end,” Hilinski said. “Those guys are sacrificing their bodies for me, for the running backs, it makes me proud and it stinks of course.” As Nebraska added 259 yards and 21 points in the second half, NU returns to Evanston for its bye week before facing Rutgers. “(The) first thing I said to my teammates when we were in the locker room was ‘I love y’all boys,” junior cornerback A.J. Hampton Jr. said. “This is something that we can get fixed.” lawrenceprice2024@u.northwestern.edu

can’t stop Minnesota By JOHN RIKER

daily senior staffer @john__riker

Northwestern junior outside hitter Temi Thomas-Ailara enjoyed a first set for the ages to start Friday’s matchup against visiting Rutgers, registering nine kills — including four of the team’s final five points — as the Wildcats cruised to a 25-19 first set win. Even with the relative ease of the first set, the match hardly had the makings of an NU rout. Just six days earlier against Illinois, NU allowed the Fighting Illini to storm back and take the match in five sets, keeping the Cats winless in Big Ten play. But on this night, NU couldn’t be stopped. The Cats (6-9, 1-3 Big Ten) staved off the Scarlet Knights (8-7, 0-4) by 25-23 scores in each of the next two sets to seal a sweep and their first Big Ten victory. Thomas-Ailara, who finished the night with a game-high 16 kills — nine more than the next-closest player — and added 11 digs and seven blocks, stayed in the zone from start to finish. “Other than the numbers (Temi) was putting up, I looked over and she was playing free and had a big smile on her face,” senior outside hitter Ella Grbac said. “It was fun playing with her tonight because she was doing what she does best.” While coach Shane Davis praised Thomas-Ailara’s judgment, her performance was so dominant that he didn’t bat an eye when she aimed for high-risk attacks. “Temi just took some really good swings and she’s just being really smart about the choices she was making up there as an attacker,” Davis said. “There’s a few extreme examples that she tried a little bit and I’m okay with that.” The Cats felt they weren’t at their best but still found ways to adjust and overcome their shortcomings. Davis cited NU’s passing struggles

as an area that made Thomas-Ailara’s job more difficult and prevented the Cats from spreading out the Rutgers double block. Redshirt junior outside hitter Hanna Lesiak, a breakout performer in NU’s conference opener against Nebraska, struggled on the offensive end but kept her composure and scored the final kill of the match. “It’s something that we’ve been working on the past three weeks, just trying to find a way to play consistently and play together for three sets in a row,” Thomas-Ailara said on Friday. “Tonight was a showing of what we’ve been working on.” NU continued its momentum into its Saturday match against No. 7 Minnesota (8-4, 3-1 Big Ten) by winning the first two sets, but surrendered the last three to split the weekend’s games. The Cats played the favored Golden Gophers tightly from the start, sealing a 26-24 opening set on an Grbac block. NU then jumped out to a 5-2 lead and maintained control of the second set, eventually winning 25-19 to get on the brink of its first win against a top-ten opponent since 2015. After Minnesota took the third set, the Cats had prime opportunities in the fourth set to win another match in front of their home crowd. Instead, NU couldn’t connect on any of its four match points in a frenzied set finale and lost 31-29, then dropped the decisive fifth set 15-7. The Cats will follow up this weekend’s homestand with a four-game stretch on the road against Big Ten rivals Maryland, Penn State, Minnesota and Iowa. NU was inches away from a perfect weekend and still have a losing record in conference play, but the Cats’ progress through the past couple of weeks is evident. “Mentally, there’s definitely area for growth, that intensity and confidence between all of us,” Grbac said. “There’s always growth, but I’m happy with where we are.” johnriker2023@u.northwestern.edu