The Daily Northwestern Friday, April 7, 2017
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ASG gathers input on Title IX process By CLAIRE HANSEN
daily senior staffer @clairechansen
Allie Goulding/Daily Senior Staffer
Edzo’s Burger Shop, 1571 Sherman Ave. Edzo’s is one of two Evanston-based restaurants that have signed onto a national movement denouncing discrimination and establishing safe spaces.
Restaurants become sanctuaries Edzo’s, Amazing Kale Burger join national sanctuary movement By VICTORIA CABALES
the daily northwestern
Two Evanston-based restaurants have signed onto a national restaurant movement denouncing discrimination and establishing safe spaces for workers and customers following President Donald Trump’s election.
Edzo’s Burger Shop and The Amazing Kale Burger have signed onto a movement started by two advocacy organizations — Restaurant Opportunities Centers United and Presente.org — that emphasizes human dignity and hospitality. Since its inception in late December, the movement has attracted more than 400 restaurant members, 30 of which are
based in Chicago, affiliate director of ROC’s Chicago branch Felipe Tendick-Matesanz said. “A sanctuary restaurant is (a place) at which regardless of a person’s identity, they are treated the same way as the rest,” Edzo’s owner Eddie Larkin said. Though much of the feedback has been positive, restaurant owners have experienced some
backlash, Tendick-Matesanz said, and even vandalism in some cases. Larkin said Edzo’s has also received criticism since becoming a sanctuary restaurant in late January. “There’s some negative PR,” he said. “Some people say they’ll boycott us or that we’re hiring ‘illegal » See SANCTUARY, page 7
Associated Student Government released a survey March 31 to gather student feedback on the sexual misconduct complaint resolution process. ASG President Christina Cilento said the responses will be incorporated in a report to administrators to provide recommendations to change the reporting process. The survey — conceived by Macs Vinson, ASG executive vice president — was launched one day after the University announced it would not take disciplinary action against Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity and another, unnamed fraternity after reports of alleged druggings and sexual assaults at the two houses. ASG included the survey in a statement condemning the University’s decision, and also sent the link in Thursday’s Campus Loop newsletter. Cilento, a SESP senior, said the survey and future report are not direct responses to the University’s decision. During and after the University’s investigation, she said, students felt prompted to share their stories and frustrations about the reporting process with ASG members. “We wanted to make sure that students felt like those frustrations had been heard,” Cilento said. “It can be really difficult to go to someone with the University
and say, ‘Hey, I’ve already had this incredibly difficult experience with a sexual assault, and the people who were supposed to help me with it didn’t do what I perceived to be the (right) job.’” The anonymous survey asks students “who have had experience with Title IX, the Sexual (Harassment) Prevention Office, CARE, or Student Conduct related to a sexual misconduct” about their experiences and how the reporting process can be improved. Joan Slavin, Title IX coordinator and director of the Sexual Harassment Prevention Office, said she looks forward to reading the survey responses and the report. “Our office encourages feedback from students on how the sexual misconduct complaint resolution process could be improved, and we will carefully consider any recommendations that ASG provides to us,” Slavin told The Daily in an email. Colin Clayton, who is part of the communications committee for Sexual Health and Assault Peer Educators, said the ASG survey is a positive step in addressing issues related to Title IX reporting and sexual assault. Clayton, a Weinberg junior, said survivors’ stories can get the University’s attention. “Really having that survivorcentered way of addressing the administration is the most powerful because it really puts the emphasis (on the fact that) that » See REPORT, page 7
Cafe to leave Metra stop By SYD STONE
the daily northwestern @sydstone16
For the first time in more than 30 years, Evanston’s Central Street Metra station will be without a cafe to provide early morning commuters with their daily dose of caffeine. In early May, the owners of Upstairs Cafe will have to vacate the property, five years after taking over from Mary Lou Smith, who ran the cafe’s first iteration, Top of the Tracks. Owners Elizabeth Hubbard, Gail Doeff and Shelley Patterson took over for Smith when she retired in 2012. Housed in the 100-year-old station, the cafe is open on weekdays from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. — prime time for commuters from Chicago’s northern suburbs on their way downtown. Union Pacific railroad, the company that runs the Central Street station, and Upstairs Cafe could not come to an agreement on terms of a lease. Evanston owned the cafe’s space until its lease ended in July 2016, at which point Upstairs Cafe sought
to negotiate a new lease with Union Pacific directly. “We’re really sad about the end of an era in Evanston at the expense of all these (customers) just because Union Pacific is trying to maximize revenue,” Hubbard said. In a statement provided to The Daily, Union Pacific spokeswoman Jae Miller said the railroad company had a long-term lease with Evanston. Upstairs Cafe operated under a sublease with the city, Miller said, not through an agreement with Union Pacific. Union Pacific began discussions with Evanston in mid2016 regarding the expiring depot lease, Miller said. The lease ended last July, but Upstairs Cafe was allowed to remain in business for several months while terms of a new lease were discussed. Miller said an agreement could not be reached. During the months of negotiation and discussion, Miller said Union Pacific did not seek compensation from Upstairs Cafe. However, Hubbard said she and her co-owners had minimal communication with the railroad company and were
Serving the University and Evanston since 1881
not made aware of how to go about paying rent during the time they did not have a lease. Eventually, she said, she reached out to Union Pacific to clarify the situation only to hear that the company didn’t want to extend in a lease with the cafe. “I was shocked,” she said. “We weren’t looking to be there for 24 years like Mary Lou, but we were certainly hoping for a five-year lease.” Hubbard said she and her co-owners spoke with a lawyer and decided they “legally did not have a leg to stand on,” at which point they began to tell customers about the impending closure. Miller said Union Pacific is in the process of identifying “the most effective use of the space at Central Street station.” She added the company was looking for something that would “complement and enhance local economic development.” Evanston resident Paul McMahon said he’s been going to the cafe for about 20 years and calls his mornings there » See UPSTAIRS, page 7
Colin Boyle/Daily Senior Staffer
Ellen Cushing, chair of the Housing, Homelessness and Human Relations Commission, speaks at a Thursday meeting. The commission voted to renew a grant to a landlord-tenant mediation group.
City renews group funding
Financing offers services for tenants, landlords By RYAN WANGMAN
the daily northwestern @ryanwangman
The city voted unanimously Thursday to renew a grant to an organization that mediates local landlord-tenant disagreements at a meeting of the Housing,
Homelessness and Human Relations Commission. Open Communities, a group that provides counseling on issues raised by landlords and tenants, will receive a $40,500 grant from the city to fund the organization through Dec. 31. Last year alone, the group handled 414 Evanston calls and cases, or an average of
more than 35 cases per month, according to city documents. Laura Kochevar, manager of communications and development for Open Communities, said at the meeting the group is a “value-add” to Evanston, since all landlord-tenant issues are » See FUNDING, page 7
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