The Daily Northwestern Tuesday, February 4, 2020
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Post-backlash, NUQ band event moved Anti-LGBTQ pushback led to “safety concerns” By TROY CLOSSON
daily senior staffer @troy_closson
Northwestern University in Qatar canceled an event over the weekend featuring a prominent Lebanese band whose lead singer is openly gay, following online backlash to their appearance. Members of the indie rock band Mashrou’ Leila were set to take part in a discussion about “media revolutions in the Middle East” at the campus on Tuesday. The group was scheduled to speak as part of a talk entitled “Language and the Rhythm of the Street” hosted by NU-Q’s Media Majlis, a museum that examines and leads discussions on content of media, journalism and communication. Over the past week, backlash to the band’s Doha event increased on social media as some users began tweeting an Arabic hashtag stating “we refuse Mashrou’ Leila’s discussion,” demanding the band — whose repertoire includes songs addressing homophobia, gender equality
and sectarianism — not be allowed to speak. “This is against our cultural standards and societal norms,” one Twitter account posted. NU spokesperson Jon Yates said the University and band “mutually agreed” on the decision to cancel the Qatar campus event. The talk is planned to be rescheduled on the Evanston campus. Yates added that the decision to relocate was made “out of abundance of caution due to several factors, including safety concerns for the band and our community.” “We hope that event will facilitate a larger discussion around the ideas that drive the band’s art and music,” the statement read, “and about aspects of civil liberties and freedom of expression that are not always open to such discussions in all parts of the world.” The event’s cancellation in Doha led to a number of NU-Q students and faculty members expressing their disappointment on social media. Others also began using a separate hashtag roughly translating to “we welcome Mashrou’ Leila” in response. “Hosting the event in Evanston isn’t the same as » See NU-Q, page 6
Caroline Megerian/Daily Senior Staffer
Weinberg sophomore John Magloire argues that the trial for President Trump’s removal was not a waste of time. Political Union sided with Magloire in an 8-16 vote.
PU: Is Trump trial waste of time? Political Union attendees voted no 8-16 with one abstention Monday By EMILY SAKAI
the daily northwestern
Northwestern University Political Union debated whether the trial for President Donald Trump’s removal is a “waste of
time” at its Monday session. Meeting attendees voted against the resolution 8-16 with one abstention, deciding that the trial was not a waste of time. The vote comes after House managers and the president’s legal team closed arguments
on Monday. The Senate is set to vote on his removal on Wednesday. Since the Senate voted against calling witnesses last Friday, Trump’s acquittal has been all but certain, leaving it up for debate with some whether the trial was a waste of time.
Prior to arguments, seven participants voted for the resolution and eight voted against it, while seven abstained. The meeting began with four-minute opening speeches from the » See POLITICAL UNION, page 6
FreeSpeechNU seeks to ease issues Robert Crown ASG-formed task force to facilitate talks on political demonstrations By YUNKYO KIM
the daily northwestern @yunkyomoonk
The Associated Student Government has formed a task force titled FreeSpeechNU, meant to facilitate talks between students and administrators on policies surrounding political demonstrations. FreeSpeechNU was founded last quarter as the response to the repainting of The Rock over Homecoming weekend, Henry Molnar, the founder of the initiative, said. Molnar, who is also ASG’s chief of staff, said he wanted to create a united space to guarantee protection on anonymous demonstrations and political speech regarding The Rock. Last quarter, The Rock was painted with phrases including “F--k John Evans,” criticizing the University’s recent refusal to remove Evans’ namesake from certain campus buildings. The message was later painted over by the University, citing profanity. “After seeing some concerns with the whole rock cover-up, I felt like there wasn’t a sufficient enough response from the student body, from ASG or from the
nears completion 18 months after breaking ground, center’s almost open By JACOB FULTON
the daily northwestern @jacobnfulton1
Daily file photo by Joshua Hoffman
Passersby view the Rock, which was painted Homecoming weekend and criticized Northwestern’s inaction following student demands to remove University founder John Evans’ name from campus buildings.
administration,” Molnar said. “I just want to do something about it and as we started to dive more into it, just more and more free speech issues started to come up.” The Weinberg senior also told
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The Daily that the task force is in the process of meeting with the administrators to ensure students’ rights to speech are being maintained and that there are specific policies in place to support them.
One problem with demonstration policies at NU, Molnar said, is that they are too broad. While The Rock is commonly » See FREE SPEECH, page 6
After breaking ground nearly 18 months ago, the Robert Crown Community Center is nearing completion. Introduced in January 2017, the project was intended to replace the original center due to high maintenance costs and deteriorating facilities. The city initially budgeted renovations at $17 million, with plans for two fully functioning ice rinks, a new library branch and a number of baseball fields. However, in the years since, the project’s costs have ballooned, increasing from a later projection of $30 million to a final price tag of over $53 million. A nonprofit organization called Friends of the Robert Crown Center pledged a portion of the funding, but Evanston residents have expressed concerns about the increase, saying they don’t want to pay more in taxes because of the price change.
Despite fiscal controversies, the city has almost finished construction on the center, with both ice rinks already open for public use. The building housing public meeting spaces, athletic facilities and an Evanston Public Library branch is slated to open near the end of February. Once the new facilities open, John Devaney, the project manager for the center, said the old building will be demolished to make way for soccer fields and a new parking lot. “After we get through next spring, we’ll have these wonderful fields and scoreboards, and the tennis courts are probably under 10 years old and we’ll have this wonderful new building,” Devaney said. “There’s just so much the center will offer for the community.” Devaney said the new buildings are a much-needed update from the previous location, with expanded technology in library facilities and more seating in both rinks. Library board president Shawn Iles said he doesn’t foresee a hard opening for the center; instead, the library will host multiple events to appeal to the community. » See ROBERT, page 6
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