The Daily Northwestern Friday, November 9, 2018
DAILYNORTHWESTERN.COM 6 GAMEDAY
5 CAMPUS/Research
Wildcats prepare to take on Hawkeyes
Research finds link between dyslexia gene and reduced susceptibility to concussions
Find us online @thedailynu 4 OPINION/Letter to the Editor
It’s time to stop giving SAE chances
High 36 Low 23
Harvard trial resonates at NU Admissions case may affect affirmative action By TROY CLOSSON
daily senior staffer
Colin Boyle/Daily Senior Staffer
Shorefront founder Dino Robinson stands amongst the archives. Since its founding, the center’s collections have gone from three file folders labeled “Color” to more than 250 linear feet of archival material.
Group keeps community archive
Shorefront Legacy Center documents Evanston’s black community By RISHIKA DUGYALA
daily senior staffer @rdugyala822
This story is part of a series of profiles of activist and community groups across Evanston. In 1995, Dino Robinson — anxious to explore the city’s black history — picked apart local archives, hoping to find some records. Any records. He found three sparse file folders labeled “color.” “I thought, ‘Yeah, we can do
this a little better here,’” said Robinson, shaking his head and laughing incredulously at the memory. “So I started doing my own kind of just asking queries. Asking questions.” At first, Evanston’s older black community was wary of Robinson, who — though black himself — was then a “newcomer.” Robinson understood. But the more he spoke with people, the more stories he uncovered and the more names he learned, the more others treated him as if he’d grown up with them. In 2002, Robinson and a team
of other locals established Shorefront Legacy Center: the North Shore’s only community archives for black history. First quartered in Robinson’s home, then in the former Foster School building, the nonprofit center now operates from the basement of Sherman United Methodist Church, 2214 Ridge Ave. The room would be spacious were it not filled with bookshelves and tables, each piled high with volumes of records, photographs and other items. The collections have gone from three file folders labeled “Color”
to more than 250 linear feet of archival material.Still, even with all the work the staff puts in, some community members said Shorefront does not get the respect it deserves city-wide. Yes, the center has recently gained more name recognition: It was involved in the fight for landmark status for the Foster School building and produced the documentary on late ex-mayor Lorraine Morton. But former 5th Ward alderman Delores Holmes said at the very least, Evanston » See SHOREFRONT, page 9
Forty years ago, Regents of the University of California v. Bakke upheld the use of race as a factor in college admissions. And ever since, challenges to the practice have gone unsuccessful, with the court continuing to protect raceconscious admissions policies. With Harvard’s admissions trial coming to a close last Friday, legal analysts predict the lawsuit over the University’s admissions practices could be the next to find its way to the Supreme Court — now a solid conservative majority with the October confirmation of Justice Brett Kavanaugh. The plaintiff, anti-affirmative action advocacy group Students for Fair Admissions, contends the Ivy League school imposes a quota on Asian Americans while admitting less qualified white, black and Latinx applicants. While the judge’s verdict isn’t expected for weeks — or even months — many proponents of affirmative action fear the all-butcertain subsequent series of appeals could jeopardize formerly upheld practices. The benefits of diversity on college campuses, Harvard’s lead counsel Bill Lee said in court,
“couldn’t be more on trial.” During the proceedings, eight current and former Harvard students — all of whom were nonwhite — took the stand on the eleventh day of trial to testify in defense of the University’s raceconscious admissions policies. Nearly all argued the absence of race as a factor in college admissions would hinder their expression of identity, decrease the University’s diversity and thus, damage their own and others’ college experiences. “Race-blind admissions is an act of erasure” Harvard alumna Sarah Cole, who is black, said in court, according to the Harvard Crimson. “To not see my race is to not see me.”
Diversity’s benefits on trial
Over the summer, Obamaera guidelines that encouraged the consideration of race in college admissions were revoked by the Trump administration to effectively restore more restrictive Bush-era instructions. In response, Northwestern announced it wouldn’t change its admissions practices. The move came as hard-liners in the Justice and Education departments pushed back against the use of race as a reflection and measurement of diversity among colleges and universities’ student bodies. » See HARVARD, page 9
Meeting lengths Residents protest Sessions departure frustrate aldermen Indivisible Evanston leads rally after Attorney General resignation Late nights lead to short tempers, less discussion time By KRISTINA KARISCH, NORA SHELLY daily senior staffers @kristinakarisch, @noracshelly
Mondays tend to be a late night for Evanston’s aldermen and city officials. It’s not Monday Night Football or an impending dread of the rest of the work week that keeps them awake, but council meetings that start in the evening and sometimes stretch into the early hours of the next morning. “It’s insane. They just go on forever,” Ald. Tom Suffredin (6th) said. “Everyone talks for a very long time, and nobody really listens, and then either we plow through or everyone’s like: ‘Oh, it’s too late, we can’t talk about anything more.’ It’s nuts.” Suffredin has only been on council for about a year and a half, but he’s right: In 2016, city council meetings averaged just over 90 minutes. For
a similar timeframe so far this year, they’ve averaged over an hour longer. Of an eight-meeting stretch ending in August, three meetings were over four hours, and four meetings were longer than three hours. All but two were longer than two hours. Add onto that slightly longer average times for the two committees that often meet before council, and the whole night is just over an hour and a half longer on average. The weeks council meets for executive session after the public meeting is over are 30 minutes to an hour longer. For those residents (and reporters) hoping to stay till the end, the late nights are a nuisance at best. And when the building has to stay open past 11 p.m., the Civic Center’s night janitor has to work overtime hours, said city manager Wally Bobkiewicz. For the aldermen, though, the hours-long meetings can diminish their ability to complete their duties. “I don’t think people are at their best when it’s midnight and you’re debating issues » See MEETINGS, page 11
Serving the University and Evanston since 1881
By MADDY DAUM
the daily northwestern
Over 900 people marched through Evanston on Thursday in protest of President Donald Trump’s firing of Jeff Sessions, who on Wednesday resigned as Attorney General. The rally, which was held Thursday evening and organized by Indivisible Evanston, came in direct response to Sessions’ firing. Organizers emphasized the importance of supporting the ongoing investigation by special counsel Robert Mueller into Trump’s ties to Russia, from which Sessions had recused himself. The current Acting Attorney General, Matthew Whitaker, has previously criticized the investigation, leading many to wonder about the future of the inquiry. The organization hosted a ”rapid response” meeting in Raymond Park, which was open to members of the group and all Evanston residents, before marching along Chicago Avenue. Attendees listened to eight speakers, including Mayor Steve
Isabel Gitten/The Daily Northwestern
Protestors hold signs at a rally in downtown Evanston. Over 900 people marched through the city in protest of President Donald Trump’s firing of Jeff Sessions.
Hagerty and U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Evanston), who discussed constitutional values and the importance of holding all citizens to the law. Schakowsky said Trump has not maintained his responsibilities as president by criticizing and possibly interfering with the Mueller probe, and that she will be proposing legislation and bipartisan meetings to fight for change. “I believe that one of the
reasons that the Democrats took the House (of Representatives) back is that Americans care about the Constitution and the role of law,” Schakowsky said. “(The constitution) has no party stamp on it. This is about the rule of law. It is very clear that Donald Trump crossed a red line when he fired his attorney general.” Other speakers — including Andrea London, rabbi at Beth Emet the Free Synagogue and Grace Imathiu, senior pastor at
First United Methodist Church — spoke about how their faith supports standing up for democracy. Linda Tate (Weinberg ’76), the co-leader of Indivisible Evanston, said she and the other members of the organization’s leadership team had asked these speakers to come to Evanston months earlier, in the event that Trump would at some point “get rid of Sessions.” » See INDIVISIBLE, page 11
INSIDE: Around Town 2 | On Campus 5 | Opinion 4 | Classifieds & Puzzles 9 | Sports 12