Pritzker opts out from U.S. News Rankings Faculty talk support for interdisciplinary law degree programs

By NICOLE MARKUS daily senior staffer @nicolejmarkus

Northwestern’s Pritzker School of Law announced in November it would no longer participate in the U.S. News and World Report Rankings.

In 2022, the law school ranked 13th from 192 schools. NU cited multiple reasons for withdrawing from the annual report, including the system of self-reporting statistics and NU’s focus on interdisciplinary study.

“Our decision not to participate in the rankings does not change the high-quality legal education that we provide, the longstanding innovative leadership of our law school or the very strong employment and bar passage outcomes that our graduates have,” Pritzker Dean Hari Osofsky said.

Osofsky said NU’s decision was independent of the other schools’ decisions.

Though these law schools will no longer self-report statistics, U.S. News has already announced that it will continue to rank the programs. The publication also announced its greater emphasis on bar passage outcomes and employment rates in their rankings, rather than outsourced assessment surveys. Some have argued that these assessment surveys do not add to the rankings, as those that participate in them do not attend the schools.

“I don’t think we have any idea whether this will affect schools’ placement in the rankings (or) whether refusing to cooperate will hurt a school,” Pritzker Prof. Michael Kang said.

Sociology Prof. David Schieber said that NU’s decision is not surprising.

By LILY CAREY daily senior staffer @lilylcarey

Janet Alexander Davis, an Evanston resident of 80 years, lived much of her life wondering why her neighborhood always seemed to smell.

A few years ago, she discovered the source: the Church Street waste transfer station, a garbage dump in the 5th Ward.

“I finally realized that there was no reason for this garbage dump to be in a neighborhood, in walking distance of businesses, of homes, of the high school,” Davis said. “I started, with a lot of other people, to start picketing and trying to get rid of it.”

But the waste transfer station is still there. Run by garbage disposal company Advanced Disposal, the station has a proven negative

This waste station isn’t the only health injustice Evanston residents are facing. From questions of water contamination to proven disparities in life expectancy, residents of historically redlined neighborhoods such as the 5th Ward have faced disproportionate disadvantages for decades.

In the coming year, city officials hope to address these issues, in part by launching an environmental justice investigation. First proposed in 2020, Mayor Daniel Biss announced in an October press release that the project was coming to fruition after nearly two and a half years of delay.

Though it’s still in the planning phases, Biss said he hopes the data collected from the project will point the city to concrete steps for equitably combating climate change.

“It’s not enough to just do the investigation,” Biss said.

Student workers gathered at The Rock on Friday to advocate for increased resident assistant input in Residential Life decisions and mental health support for RAs.

Residential Life announced during a Wednesday Zoom meeting that RAs will work an additional 15 to 25 hours each quarter without a raise, effective immediately, according to Communication junior and RA Jay Gokhale. He said the increase in work hours was not stipulated in their contracts for this academic year and that RAs were not consulted prior to the announcement.

Currently, RAs have the rooming cost removed from their quarterly Caesar bills and receive $1,500 or $3,000 in additional stipend, depending on whether they are a senior RA.

Weinberg sophomore and RA Aidan Lichamer said Residential Life treats RAs as if they are the “least informed”

ASPA and Kitchen Table Stories Project, said the celebration is a part of a larger effort to increase the visibility and representation of local

NU’s decision came after other highly-ranked law schools also announced they would no longer participate in the ranking, including Harvard Law School, Yale Law School, Georgetown University Law Center and Stanford Law School. However, people to make decisions about themselves.

“The RA role is one of the roles that has the most direct contact with students, yet for some reason, faceless departments throughout the University pass down decisions on how our life and our work is going to be, without ever consulting us,” Lichamer said in a speech during the event.

The demonstrators presented a preliminary list of demands to the people assembled, calling for anti-harassment policies, third-party arbitration and RA representation in Residential Services.

Lichamer said while the demands have not been given to the University yet, many RAs have already spoken with their supervisors to express their frustrations. According to him, the RAs felt these concerns were “not taken seriously.”

“As student workers in general, I think it’s important to acknowledge that we are some of the most vulnerable members of this campus,” Lichamer said. “We’re in this position because this is the only option we have if we want to be able to attend school.”

He also said the University is capitalizing on student workers’ vulnerability by increasing their workload.

Assistant Vice President of Communications Jon Yates wrote in an email to The Daily that the University “appreciates and values” RAs and added that student input is sought after and factored into its decisions. He said the University offers RAs “both training and support.”

According to Schieber, U.S. News has created a “monopoly” over the ranking system. Its high burden of self-reporting for ranking limits a law school’s ability for upward mobility, he said.

“Rankings affect everyone,” Schieber said. “If you’re ranked number one, you want to stay at number one. If you’re ranked number 75, you want to move

Yates also said the Residential Experience team is planning to host more team meetings this quarter to collect feedback from RAs.

Gokhale said he wants to collaborate with Residential Services to create “positive change” and “bridge” the connection between residents and the University.

Speakers at the event also called for improved mental