The Daily Northwestern Monday, February 12, 2018
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Department status petition meets goal More than 1,000 sign on to support ethnic studies By ALEXIS WHITE
the daily northwestern @alexisfwhite
A petition to make the Latina and Latino Studies Program and the Asian American Studies Program departments has exceeded its goal of 1,000 signatures, after students and Associated Student Government showed their support on social media. MEChA de Northwestern and the Asian Pacific American Coalition have been working together as the Latinx Asian American Collective to gain signatures. As of Friday, the petition had over 1,000 signatures, said Weinberg junior Monica Garcia. Garcia said even though 1,000 signatures was their goal, the Collective still welcomes more support. “Our plan was to present the signatures to the administration just to show them how many people support our campaign, and then to see what our campaign will look like from there,” Garcia said. “We just wanted to show the administrators that we have support.” ASG published a statement Thursday in support of the Latinx Asian American Collective as it continues to garner
support for the creation of the two departments. ASG vice president of academics Sky Patterson said the ASG executive board signed the petition as one unit, and she also signed it as an individual. Patterson, a Weinberg junior, said the petition was shared among committees within ASG, and that she has spoken with faculty about the issue. “The time is right to finally make these programs departments,” Patterson said. “They (would be) important departments at Northwestern. They serve a lot of students.” The ASG statement said departmental status would give these programs more “resources, autonomy, and experienced and specialized faculty.” In addition to those benefits, Garcia said departmental status would allow these studies to hold more office space and offer more classes. She said the two student groups have been considering asking for new status for some time. However, Garcia said the issue became more urgent in May, after an Immigrations and Customs Enforcement public relations officer visited campus and was met by student protestors. “ The ICE protest was a catalyst, like, this is necessar y,” Garcia said. » See PETITION, page 6
Colin Boyle/Daily Senior Staffer
Brock Colyar. The Medill sophomore created the Queer Reader, an LGBTQ and radical feminist magazine, after frustrations with what he calls a lack of unity in the queer community.
Queer magazine begins at NU
Founder hopes to unite LGBTQ voices through Queer Reader By GABBY BIRENBAUM
the daily northwestern @birenbomb
Brock Colyar was frustrated. The Medill sophomore was disheartened by the lack of a strong queer community at Northwestern. The “lazy activism” of Northwestern students disappointed him, he said.
Colyar told his friend, fellow Medill sophomore Gabrielle Bienasz, that he felt student publications did not have space for LGBTQ voices, she said. “I was like, ‘Well Brock, why don’t you start your own publication?’” Bienasz said. Colyar did just that. He said he had inklings of wanting to start an LGBTQ
Organizers talk activism strategies
Black panelists share experiences after speech by Provost Holloway By ALAN PEREZ
daily senior staffer @_perezalan_
After the fatal shooting of Michael Brown in 2014, Sarah Oberholtzer (Communication ’17) said she wanted a space for black students to express grief and anger. So she organized a demonstration as a “space to breathe, cry and be enraged together as black students, as concerned students.” “I didn’t see a space for me to feel rage adequately and publicly that was supported by the University,” Oberholtzer said at a Friday event. She said after that demonstration “it just made more and more sense to get involved in organizing efforts.” Oberholtzer, a co-founder of Black Lives Matter NU, was among a group of panelists from several colleges — including Columbia University and the University of Missouri — who shared their knowledge and stories about on-campus organizing. The
Daily file photo by Colin Boyle
Provost Jonathan Holloway in his office in November. Holloway, a scholar in African American history, discussed in his speech the history of black student activism and his role as a professor and dean.
event was hosted by the Center for African American History, the Department of African American Studies and Campus Inclusion and Community. Speakers and panelists related
Serving the University and Evanston since 1881
the recent rise of black student activism to movements in the 1960s, including the 1968 takeover of the Bursar’s Office at NU. Though some of the student
activists had organized before the 2014 protests, they said their work escalated as the rest of the nation reacted in protest. » See ACTIVISM, page 6
publication over the summer, but he began seriously pursuing it during Fall Quarter. Associated Student Government approved his student group in the fall, and what had started as vague dissatisfaction became the Queer Reader, a magazine Colyar said he is branding as both queer and radically feminist. He anticipates the first
Recent ETHS grad dies after shooting on Thursday
Evanston police are searching for the suspect in a Thursday night shooting that left a Chicago man dead, the department announced in a news release. On Thursday at 11:38 p.m., officers were dispatched to the 1800 block of Hovland Court to respond to a call of shots fired. Upon arrival, police located the 20-year-old man, Yakez Semark, who had been shot in the chest following a physical altercation, Evanston police Cmdr. Ryan Glew said in the release. Glew said that after the altercation, the offender fled on foot. The man was transported to Evanston Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. A GoFundMe page to support Semark’s family has raised $18,000 as of the time of publication. The money will go toward funeral costs and closing Semark’s personal affairs, and any remaining money will create a fund
issue will come out in fall 2018. He said the first meeting was last week and that he is currently in the recruitment stage. Colyar said his vision for the magazine is for it to resemble a zine: “fun, playful, manic and colorful.” He said the magazine will » See MAGAZINE, page 6
in Semark’s name to support Evanston youth, according to the page. Semark was an Evanston native who graduated from Evanston Township High School in 2015. According to a GoFundMe post, Semark had just moved into his first apartment after landing his first full-time job at Shake Shack in the Westfield Old Orchard Mall. “Yakez was living that life with incredible resilience and strength, navigating adversity, racism and the day-to-day challenges that all young people face,” the page said. “There are truly no words to describe the void this community will feel without Yakez’s presence.” According to the GoFundMe, Semark was an aspiring photographer and dreamed of living in California with his grandfather. The GoFundMe post said Yakez Semark loved his mother, Evangeline Semark, “more than anything in the world.” EPD detectives, along with members of the North Regional Major Crimes Task Force, are currently investigating the incident. — Ryan Wangman
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