The Daily Northwestern — April 20, 2023

The Daily Northwestern

AUDIO/NU Declassified: Helicon National Poetry Month with NU literary magazine

Remembering Jacquis Irby

18-year-old Irby, a loving father and brother, died in the Clark Street Beach shooting on April 12

By AVIVA BECHKY and AVANI KALRA daily senior staffers @avivabechky / @avanidkalra

Content warning: This article contains mentions of gun violence and death.

Jacquis Irby was always willing to

protect his three siblings, his younger brother Yaris Irby said.

“He was a family person and (all) about his brothers,” Yaris Irby said.

“He was a good person to be around, very encouraging and always knew how to make somebody happy.”

Jacquis Irby, 18, died from a fatal gunshot wound on April 12,

Locals engage in budget program

and students to study the process and contribute to the community.

following a shooting at Clark Street Beach that left two of his brothers injured. A Skokie resident, he was born and raised in Evanston. He leaves behind a one-year-old son. His uncle Daris Tinch said Jacquis Irby often asked him questions about parenting, since Tinch was a single parent.

“He was always inquisitive and trying to make sure that he was doing it right,” Tinch said. “And always there to love on (his son).”

Jacquis Irby also loved basketball and lived “vicariously” through Yaris Irby, an award-winning high school player, Tinch said. He served as a coach and an “at-home motivator” for his younger

brother, always offering pointers on how he could improve his game.

Tinch said Jacquis Irby was his brother’s number one fan.

“He was there at every game cheering him on, coaching him,” Tinch said. “They have their little thing

» See IRBY, page 6

Students protest policing on campus

By PAVAN ACHARYA and RUSSELL LEUNG daily senior staffers @pavanacharya02 / @rjleung7

By CASEY HE the daily northwestern @caseeey_he

Evanston received $43 million from the American Rescue Plan Act in 2021 and 2022 to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. Hoping to identify areas of need, the city put $3 million toward a novel solution: participatory budgeting.

The program allows residents, with the support of city staff and volunteers, to submit their ideas for funding allocation to the city and develop some of them into policy proposals for citywide consideration on the ballot.

When SESP Prof. Matt Easterday heard about Evanston’s participatory budgeting, he thought the program would be the perfect opportunity for Northwestern researchers

Easterday said his team of researchers submitted an application to the city, which contracted them to help develop the program.

Sixth-year learning sciences Ph.D. candidate Kristine Lu, a researcher on Easterday’s team, studies democratic deliberation –– the process groups use to work on a shared political problem.

Lu said Evanston’s participatory budgeting allowed her to study the real-world applications of democratizing deliberation through designing and facilitating in-person meetings with residents.

“It has helped me see a lot of things that most people aren’t able to see, whether it’s researchers taking traditional political science methods or teachers who are trying to teach civic knowledge,” Lu said.

More than 200 students protested Northwestern’s policing of Black community members and presented a set of demands for Black student safety and support at a Tuesday demonstration at The Rock.

Students chanted phrases including “No justice, no peace” and “Money for students, not police.” The event’s co-organizers condemned the University’s response to the Clark Street Beach shooting on April 12, both during and after the emergency, in addition to the school’s failure to meet some of the demands Black students presented during the 1968 Bursar’s Office Takeover. Medill freshman Atarah Israel then read a poem about racial justice she originally wrote in 2020 but that she said “still has a lot of resonance today.”

Some attendees said the

protest was also prompted by recent changes in policy enforcement at the Black House. According to SESP and Weinberg sophomore Micaiah Ligon, a protest co-organizer, Multicultural Student Affairs recently announced a University representative will make students leave the space at midnight Saturday through Thursday and 10 p.m. on Fridays. Previously, students said, the University would not enforce a closing time at the Black House.

Several attendees, including event co-organizer and Medill senior Onyeka Chigbogwu, said Black students should have been consulted about the decision.

“This is one of those small forms of policing,” Chigbogwu, a former Daily staffer, said. “People think of police just as the squad cars (or) how many literal physical cops are hired by Evanston or by the University on each corner. But policing is also an action we do in so many spaces.”

Weinberg sophomore

Dylan Carey attended Tuesday’s protest. He said he sees police officers all across campus and that their presence makes him “uncomfortable.”

He added University Police’s response to the Clark Street Beach shooting showed the force’s inadequacy in keeping community members safe –– despite its size and presence.

“I feel like I see them everywhere. And for me, I don’t do anything wrong, but yet I still get a visceral reaction,” Carey said. “I just think that for the amount of money that we spend on them, they don’t do enough.”

Student organizers referenced a statement they

» See DEMANDS, page 6

Kimberly Espinosa/Daily Senior Staffer The Rock. Students painted it black with phrases such as “Stop policing Black spaces” and “#BLM” after the protest Tuesday.

Photos courtesy of Marquise Weatherspoon

Lumberjacks of Canal Shores find nature, community

By COLE REYNOLDS the daily northwestern @charcole27

Blake Miller stepped up to the 12th tee at Canal Shores Golf Course, the tops of the trees swaying above him in the soft Saturday morning breeze. Standing about 250 yards in front of him was a group of people gathered around two bonfires, the smell of smoke drifting back to the tee box.

“They’re right in the if-it-doesn’t-cut spot,” Miller joked to his golfmates. As his ball soared into the sapphire sky, it didn’t cut. Even through the buzz of chainsaws, one could make out the thud of the ball hitting Grant Bailey, one of the people standing around the bonfires.

Bailey is a member of the Lumberjacks of Canal Shores, a group that’s formal enough to distribute custom-printed caps to its members but informal enough to pass around Polar beers while its members work.

The group is more than 150 strong, and about 80 showed up to celebrate Earth Week on Saturday. It’s largely made up of neighbors who chop down invasive species, like buckthorn and non-native vines, along the shores of the canal every weekend. The Lumberjacks of Canal Shores also built about 1.7 miles of hiking trail along the course. And, according to many, lumberjacking is a way to reclaim space in their community.

“It’s like guerilla ecology,” Bailey said, tossing a branch into the fire.

‘Get the buck out’

Hang around the lumberjacks long enough, and you’ll hear their rallying cry.

“Get the buck out!” cheered Joanna Nachman (SPS ’17). Saturday was her first time with the lumberjacks, but she already learned the call.

The slogan refers to buckthorn, an invasive species of small tree that snakes up the banks of the canal. It’s so thick in some places, especially next to invasive vines, that the workers can barely see the water.

“These vines will just choke out everything in these little woods … they’re like snakes,” said Patrick Hughes Jr., the de facto leader of the lumberjacks though he shies away from that label both in

concept and in practice.

This iteration of lumberjacks started mobilizing early during the pandemic when Hughes Jr. called a handful of neighbors to help remove a downed tree on the 11th hole. But, the original lumberjacks aren’t his creation; Hughes Jr. said he learned from friends who had cut down invasives for years before he joined.

And though Hughes Jr. took the mic to inaugurate this year’s Earth Week event, many different people are involved in the work. Over time, they’ve developed their own specialties.

Bailey, Scott Nelson and Ross McLean came with thick clothes to lead the group feeding fires to dispose of buckthorn on Saturday.

And one weekend, Drury Davis found himself splitting firewood. He’s stayed at the splitting machine almost every weekend since.

“Don’t get in between Drury and his log splitter,” Hughes Jr. joked to the crowd.

Others spent the entire day watering a nursery of native plants the lumberjacks started a couple years ago. The group is ready to replant the natives in the place where buckthorn used to dominate.

The lumberjacks don’t need a leader, Hughes Jr. said. They’re working towards a common goal. For Hughes Jr., the goal is birds and butterflies diving in between native trees on the canal shore. And, of course, people there to enjoy them.

“Just sort of the community engaging, appreciating a better natural setting than what’s here today,” he said.

A Niche for Everyone

There’s a set of unwritten rules at Canal Shores, said Mike O’Connor, who sat on its board for over a decade. Golfers play from the first hole to the 18th. Dogwalkers move from the 18th to the first. That way, walkers can avoid errant shots.

Canal Shores is a place in constant negotiation, where different people use the space for different uses, each needing to look out for one another.

“It’s like a delicate dance,” Hughes Jr. said.

O’Connor doesn’t remember Canal Shores as the golf course of his youth. Instead, he remembers it as the place where he watched Wilmette shoot Fourth of July fireworks when he was young. When the fireworks show would finish, he’d turn his chair around to watch

Evanston’s light up the distant sky.

Now, he hears teenagers shoot off their own fireworks on the course. Officially, O’Connor doesn’t condone the practice. But it’s been an Evanston rite of passage since he was young, he said with a smile.

It’s easy to think of the lumberjacks as stewards of the golf course. But they don’t see themselves as such. Most of them don’t even play golf.

Hughes Jr. has dedicated his professional life to helping businesses create accessible infrastructure for people with disabilities. But halfway through building a trail alongside Canal Shores, Hughes Jr. said he realized the 2-foot-wide path couldn’t accommodate the very people he helped professionally.

After conversations with people with disabilities, the lumberjacks rebuilt the trail to 5 feet wide. Hughes Jr. said it’s part of the lumberjacks’ larger mission to open up a space that previously had an element of exclusivity.

“(People) don’t know how to access this. Ross literally lives four houses away and only saw this as a golf course,” Hughes Jr. said. “This is not your place … until somebody welcomes you and says ‘this is your place.’”

In a way, the Lumberjacks have helped make Canal Shores a more inclusive place. Miller, the golfer, and Bailey, the lumberjack he’d just hit with his golf ball, chuckled to each other as Miller chipped onto the green. Bailey turned back to his fire.

The course is like an ecosystem for Bailey — he said each person has their own “ecological niche.”

“There’s space for everyone here,” he said. colereynolds2026@u.northwestern.edu

Setting the record straight

An article published in Monday’s paper titled “ASG voter turnout reaches 10-year low” misstated how the Division of Student Affairs modified ASG election messaging this year. The Daily regrets the error.

Cole Reynolds/The Daily Northwestern

The Lumberjacks of Canal Shores split firewood. They are a group of volunteers who cut down and replace invasive species around the canal.

Dual degree students embrace overload

By SAMANTHA POWERS

Bienen School of Music students who pursue dual degrees with other schools at Northwestern say they draw on self-motivation to manage their heavy workloads.

Dual degree students typically take five years of coursework to graduate, and those on financial aid are eligible for a fifth year of aid in most programs, according to the University website.

Bienen students often take multiple classes that count for partial credit, including aural skills and music theory courses. Some dual degree students said this workload, combined with their other academic requirements and extracurricular activities, can be overwhelming.

“It’s a balance between trying to be proficient at both and not favoring one over the other, because we’re obviously doing them both for a reason,”

Bienen and McCormick freshman Isaiah Adams said. “We like to do both of them. It’s not like one is a side thing.”

Adams, who studies classical piano performance and mechanical engineering, is taking five credits this quarter. But those five credits translate to about 10 classes, he said, because of extra requirements like half-credit music courses and labs.

Adams dedicates time to both his majors in his day-to-day schedule. After his classes end for the day, he spends about four hours studying and another five practicing piano. He said he goes to bed at around 2 a.m. every night.

Bienen and Weinberg freshman Matthew Huang said he spends six hours a week in his music theory and aural skills classes, though the two courses amount to one credit.

Despite this, Huang said he finds fulfillment in pursuing degrees in different fields because his interests balance each other out. His computer science degree ensures job stability, while his music degree helps offset exhaustion from his STEM classes, he said.

“I was always kind of afraid that I was gonna burn out if I only did pure computer science or

some sort of STEM degree,” Huang said.

Huang, who studies voice and opera and computer science, said he bonds with his fellow Bienen dual degree students over their shared motivation to pursue busy schedules.

“Because (Bienen) is a school that’s known for its dual degree program, a lot of us are very similar in that we want to do a lot of different things,” Huang said.

He added many dual degree students have similar work ethics and mindsets.

Adams said his motivation is purely “selfcontained.” His dream job is to be a pianist who teaches and performs. He also hopes to carry on the “lineage of classical music” and share his work with others.

“I’m gonna go as hard as possible with my piano degree and see how far that takes me, but also have the mechanical engineering degree,” Adams said. “So if the piano part doesn’t work out, I have that academic strongness to fall back on.”

Bienen and Weinberg sophomore Emily

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Amesquita, who is studying voice and opera and English, said while music is her passion, she also wanted to pursue something more “practical.”

She hopes to continue studying music in graduate school.

“I have never found anything that I am as passionate about as voice,” Amesquita said. “If it were up to me, if we lived in a different world, I would be a singer, guaranteed, and I would be able to do that professionally.”

Still, she said she chose NU because she felt the school wouldn’t limit her from pursuing interdisciplinary studies.

Amesquita said while it’s practical to study something besides music, her mom encouraged her to pursue the art form and do what makes her happy.

“It feels almost irresponsible to be at an institution like Northwestern and not take advantage of the interdisciplinary options that are there for me as a student,” she said.

samanthapowers2026@u.northwestern.edu

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Illustration by Lily Ogburn

Northwestern, divest from merchants of mass murder

and Ruger & Co.are publicly held companies that must be held accountable by institutional investors, including universities and colleges. Pressuring such institutional investors to divest their shares in these companies may force firearms makers to act responsibly or weaken their financial support for the gun lobby.

company stocks. Rather than invest in individual companies, most university endowments invest in mutual and index funds that buy a large basket of stocks to diversify and balance their portfolio.

The recent fatal shooting near Northwestern’s campus intensified local attention on gun violence. It came approximately two weeks after national outrage and angry demonstrations sparked by the Nashville school shooting, but despite the death tolls of both incidents, it seems likely that Congress and many state legislatures won’t pass meaningful gun safety legislation ... thanks to a Republican Party heavily supported by the National Rifle Association.

The GOP evidently stands for Guns Over People. It seems that it’s up to those who operate outside of the government to take decisive action toward achieving an end to gun violence. NU students have already begun that initiative by organizing protests and pressuring legislators to act responsibly, but that’s not enough. NU can do more.

Students, faculty, administrators and alumni can target gunmakers’ bottom line by harnessing the financial power of Northwestern’s $14.4 billion endowment. This endowment, which partly funds student financial aid and operating and construction costs, can be a potent weapon against the gun lobby.

Fossil Free NU has led the movement to divest from coal, oil and gas. It’s time to launch Firearms Free NU to divest from merchants of mass murder. Gunmakers like Smith & Wesson, Sturm

Will

Harnessing NU’s financial power would require several steps from a variety of players. One of those is the Advisory Committee on Investment Responsibility, a group that advises the Board of Trustees’ Investment Committee on socially and ethically responsible investing.

Vice President and Chief Investment Officer Amy Falls would be a key participant in this process. After taking office in 2021, Falls said wants to engage students, faculty and staff in conversations on the endowment’s role in environmental, social and governance factors. This is a good opportunity to demonstrate her commitment, as NU’s Board of Trustees has the final say on any investment decisions based on all available data and input from participating parties.

bottom line?

- RICHARD REIF, Op-Ed Contributor

According to Thomson Reuters, funds holding the largest shares of gunmakers’ stocks are Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund, Vanguard Small-Cap Index Fund, First Eagle Global Fund and Fidelity Advisor Small Cap Fund. Collectively, these funds invest more than $380 million in the firearms industry. If any of those funds are part of NU’s endowment portfolio, the Investment Committee should disclose that to NU’s community and then ask those mutual funds to drop gun companies from their stock baskets. If they refuse, the Investment Committee should divest from those funds with the Board of Trustees’ approval.

cut all economic ties with the gun industry and reveal their investments, which colleges tend to be uncommunicative about. NU should not be part of this secrecy pattern. Students, faculty and alumni deserve full disclosure.

I hope this all-out assault on assault-weaponsmakers succeeds. Every dollar invested in gun makers is a potential death warrant for innocent victims. The AR-15 style assault rifle that many mass shooters use has a special significance for me — it is a civilian version of the military’s M16 rifle I trained with during my Air Force service from 1964 to 1968. Both weapons have magazines that hold 30 rounds of ammunition. We can thank the gun lobby, funded by firearms makers, for this tragic situation. While divestment from firearms stocks involves several steps, the ultimate responsibility rests with NU’s Board of Trustees. Their decision should be based not just on input from NU’s chief investment officer and the Advisory Committee on Investment Responsibility, but also on the perspectives from all key sectors of the University’s community. Will NU trustees put public safety ahead of return on investment, or does their moral compass point only to the bottom line? I urge all students, faculty, staff, administrators and alumni: make your voices heard.

The first step would be to determine if the endowment’s investment portfolio includes gun

If the Board of Trustees approves divestment from firearms makers, Northwestern would not be the first university to do so. Students at 42 colleges and universities have joined “#Killer Business,” a Students Demand Action campaign – of which has an NU chapter – and is part of Everytown for Gun Safety, a nonprofit advocating for gun control. Students are urging schools to

Richard Reif is a Medill alum. He can be contacted at Dick.reif@gmail.com. If you would like to respond publicly to this op-ed, send a Letter to the Editor to opinion@dailynorthwestern.com. The views expressed in this piece do not necessarily reflect the views of all staff members of The Daily Northwestern.

Rutgers’ Senate supports discourse about labor, NU should too

A few weeks ago, Rutgers University’s University Senate passed a resolution that referred to Rutgers’ “beloved community.” My curiosity peaked. Jonathan Holloway, former provost at Northwestern University, is the current President at Rutgers. Holloway’s goal is “to foster what he calls ‘a beloved community,’ a university culture defined by tolerance, mutual respect, diversity, and the spirited exchange of opinions and ideas”, where everyone’s “voice is not only heard, but truly listened to.”

Following the expiration of the contracts of faculty, staff and students in June 2022, Rutgers’ University Senate passed a resolution asking Holloway to recognize and implement “the principle that all of us, administrators, employees in collective bargaining units, and students are on the same team.” Last month, as the different bargaining units were preparing to strike, Holloway threatened to seek an injunction in court against the strikers. The Rutgers’ senate again reminded Holloway of his earlier words and asked him to declare that there would be no retaliation for the strikers.

The ongoing labor struggles at Rutgers and many campuses nationwide for worker rights and fair compensation are not going away. Tens of thousands of graduate workers and non-tenure eligible (NTE) faculty across

the nation have joined unions. The rationale for their actions is clear: Graduate workers no longer have a clear path to a secure academic career – the continued increase in the number of contingent faculty without career and financial security is plain to see. The notion that graduate workers should be subject to abusive and exploitative rites of passage is ridiculous.

The modern university, at Rutgers, here, or anywhere, is not a beloved community. Tenured and tenure-track (TTT) faculty bury themselves under ever more work out of concern for losing their privileges, which include lifetime appointments and better salaries. NTE faculty are asked to do most if not all tasks that are asked of TTT faculty, but lack similar economic security or financial rewards. Staff members are overworked, poorly compensated and, as we saw during the pandemic, could lose their jobs whenever cuts are deemed necessary. Administrators are critical to the proper operation of modern universities with multi-billion-dollar budgets, but their inflated compensations exacerbate inequalities in pay and working conditions.

In “The Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity,” anthropologist David Graeber and archeologist David Wengrow open our minds to alternative societal arrangements. They describe the Wyandot, an Indigenous nation with early interactions with European settlers, as showing “more intelligence in their business, speeches, courtesies, intercourse, tricks, and subtleties than do the shrewdest citizens and merchants in France,” and being “robust, and all much taller than the French,” indicating that

none lacked for food. The Wyandot were an egalitarian society, sharing resources so that everyone could have a dignified life. They also reached decisions by debate and consensus, fostering their cognitive development. Unlike the hierarchical, patriarchal, punitive, and profit-seeking settlers, the Wyandot formed a beloved community. Maybe that is what the Rutgers Senate thought Holloway was aiming for – “a place of inclusion and equality, where everyone, from administrator to custodian, is recognized as integral to Rutgers’ success”, a place where everyone is not only heard, but listened to when they ask for job security, a dignified salary, healthcare benefits, freedom from discrimination, and so on.

The modern university, at Rutgers, here, or anywhere, is not a beloved community.

- LUIS AMARAL, Op-Ed Contributor

It’s encouraging that Rutgers wants to create a beloved community. Unlike Northwestern, which has separate legislative bodies for faculty and undergraduate students, Rutgers fosters a sense of community in its Senate, which includes representatives from faculty, students, staff, administrators and alumni. It was not always like this. Rutgers’ Faculty Senate was established in 1950 replaced in 1953 by a university senate with representatives of the faculty and administration. Student representatives were added in 1969, representatives from alumni and part-time lecturers were

added in the 1990s and representatives from staff in 2006. A unity that extends beyond the legislative body has earned their community a big win. In a strike where TTT faculty stood shoulder-to-shoulder with NTE faculty, graduate students, and staff, those groups won an incredible victory: greater job security and 48% pay increase by 2025 for adjunct faculty, 33% salary increase for graduate workers, presumptively renewable contracts for NTE faculty, and protection against caste discrimination. The successful unionization drives by graduate workers and library workers at Northwestern – as well as the ongoing unionization efforts by our NTE faculty –demonstrate that many in our community are not satisfied with their working conditions. I hope that we all at Northwestern learn the power of being part of a “beloved community” when that struggle comes to our campuses.

Luis Amaral is a McCormick professor. He can be contacted at amaral@northwestern.edu. If you would like to respond publicly to this op-ed, send a Letter to the Editor to opinion@dailynorthwestern.com. The views expressed in this piece do not necessarily reflect the views of all staff members of The Daily Northwestern.

Highlighter Kid brightens days with fancy outfits

By JESSICA MA daily senior staffer @jessicama2025

For many Northwestern students, Highlighter Kid is a highlight of their day.

McCormick sophomore Elijah Esparza, dubbed “Highlighter Kid,” is a familiar figure around campus known for his brightly colored, monochromatic clothing.

“It’s a very low-effort way to bring somebody joy or make someone get excited or laugh,” Esparza said. “I definitely appreciate the hype.” In the iconic 2004 film “Mean Girls,” Karen Smith says, “On Wednesdays, we wear pink.” But on Wednesdays, Esparza wears neon blue.

Esparza cycles his outfits around a schedule. Each day, he wears a designated color — which he said keeps laundry simple. He wears yellow on Monday and green on Friday.

Saturdays are more of a “toss-up,” depending on how Esparza is feeling. It’s usually a bright red, like a “tomato” color, he said. But sometimes he’ll mix it up.

“I don’t have to make a decision in the morning,” Esparza said. “I’m not going, ‘Oh man, I really wish I had those shorts.’ Nope, I only need those on Friday — one time.”

Esparza said he doesn’t know exactly when his bold fashion choices began. In middle school, he started wearing brighter clothing, which he said evolved into full solid-colored outfits over time.

Esparza’s hometown friend Riley Whittington had never seen someone dress in all neon before meeting Esparza. And for the most part, he said, he’s only seen Esparza in neon colors.

Once, Whittington said he saw Esparza wear standard-colored clothing at a graduation party, which was a rare occurrence. Esparza wore shorts, polo and a pair of Vans. To be fair, he still wore a yellow shirt, Whittington said.

“It was so funny seeing him like that,” Whittington said. “The dude can dress nice either way. He’s got his own style. He sticks to it.”

At NU, Esparza owns accessories that are brightly colored to go with his daily wardrobe, including a couple backpacks and a blanket. Esparza, who owns about 30 to 40 highlighters, said his favorite brand is Sharpie because he’s

a fan of the “big, standard” highlighter shape. Esparza’s girlfriend Sophia Fallanca said highlighters carry through to other aspects of his life, such as his Instagram handle (@therealhumanhighlighter) and his studies.

“All of this stuff is neon,” Fallanca said.

“He’s at his desk, using his neon items — just going hard with all of this neon stuff on his homework.”

Almost everything in Esparza’s closet is neon, excluding some paraphernalia from his favorite metal bands, he said.

The only time Esparza doesn’t wear neon

is at music shows, he said. For concerts, he’ll wear pants and a shirt from a metal band. He said he prefers pants to “mosh” in.

“Lots happen on the floor,” Esparza said.

“Neon’s just not the clothing of choice.”

Esparza is multifaceted, according to Fallanca. When it comes to academics, he’s serious. But when it comes to mosh pits, she said, he’s “going crazy.”

Fallanca said she doesn’t think much about Esparza’s fashion style. It’s just blended into who he is, she said.

“When I see him, I don’t see his clothes as

bright as they are,” Fallanca said. “But it is really easy to find him in the airport.”

Whittington said Esparza’s traits make him a great friend. Esparza strives to be the best version of himself, which Whittington finds admirable.

Esparza’s fashion choices were initially a shock to Whittington. At the end of the day, though, Whittington said he is a “standard bro.”

“I’m just a guy,” Esparza said. “I just wear the clothes that I own.”

jessicama2025@u.northwestern.edu

Ziye Wang/Daily Senior Staffer

McCormick sophomore Elijah Esparza wears brightly colored neon outfits that have captured the attention of the Northwestern community.

Another researcher in Easterday’s team, fourthyear technology and social behavior Ph.D. candidate Gus Umbelino, manages a database with information about residents who signed up to take part in participatory budgeting. He designs online forms to invite people to attend meetings and for them to submit their ideas for the budget.

Umbelino said the participatory budgeting program allows him to study how technology can support civic engagement, putting his skills in computer science and outreach to use for a real-world campaign.

From November to February, the city held 10 meetings for residents to discuss and submit their ideas for the budget. Participatory Budgeting Manager Matthew Ouren said the city has collected more than 1,200 ideas with the help of NU researchers and volunteers.

Ouren said the next step is for resident “budget delegates” to meet and select and develop ideas into proposals that will be on the ballot later this year.

Evanston resident Michelle Long said she first heard about participatory budgeting from her daughter, a sophomore at Evanston Township High School.

Long, a budget delegate on the Asian, South Asian and Pacific Islander American affinity committee, said her group is working on a proposal to build an Asian American cultural and arts center in Evanston.

“We’re asking for funding to have a standalone building to provide a space where Asian-identifying people can come to celebrate culture, learn (and) have a community,” Long said.

She added that participatory budgeting is an example of “democracy working in action.”

While School of Education and Social Policy researchers helped implement the process for Evanston’s participatory budgeting, other students worked on publicizing the program and facilitated events as a part of their coursework for the SESP Civic Engagement Certificate.

“It’s really important that the students are

working on a real campaign in a real organization,” Easterday, an instructor in the certificate program, said. “It’s not something you can learn just by reading about it or doing exercises.”

SESP freshman Anusha Kumar said working on participatory budgeting has helped her get to know Evanston.

“As Northwestern students, we often feel very distant and not very connected to the community,” Kumar said. “I think the certificate is a great way to get involved in the community and start building those connections.”

The students in her class work in teams that organize events to promote participatory budgeting in the community, Kumar said.

Communication junior Jordan Muhammad, a student in the certificate program who uses ki/kis pronouns, said ki is excited about participatory budgeting because it empowers residents to make decisions for themselves.

A member of Fossil Free NU, Muhammad said ki has also been applying the skills, such as formatting meetings, that ki learned to the organization.

“It just makes me excited that I’m learning things that are being used in the field of community organizing,” Muhammad said. “I’m also thinking new things, like concepts, tools and skills, that I wouldn’t have had I not done the program.”

Leonard Lamkin, an Evanston resident for 30 years and a member of the participatory budgeting housing committee, said his committee is considering proposing rental assistance programs, including one that helps people aged 14 to 21 to find housing.

He said he appreciates the community partnership between NU and Evanston on participatory budgeting and would like to see the city incorporate that collaboration into its yearly budgeting process.

“It’s a learning process for the students, and it’s good because they’re providing extra research. They’re providing extra hands,” Lampkin said. “It’s what Northwestern should be doing, not just with this process, but with every process … in the city of Evanston.”

caseyhe2026@u.northwestern.edu

him with the biggest smile on his face.”

released Monday listing six official demands of the University: an in-person meeting between its authors and the administration within seven days, consultation with Black students by Multicultural Student Affairs on decisions that affect the Black House, funding increases for Black student-led organizations, a review of NU recruitment and admissions policies, an end to the policing of Black spaces and a plan for the University to meet the demands of the Bursar’s Office Takeover.

As of Tuesday night, 23 student organizations and more than 400 students had signed the letter.

“I want to see some stuff in black and white with signatures on it. I don’t just want words,” Ligon said. “We need to actually see tangible evidence.”

In April 1968, representatives from For Members Only and the Afro-American Student Union presented a list of demands to the NU administration, many asking for more resources for Black students on campus. These included an increase in Black student admissions, an acknowledgment of the existence of institutional racism at the University and the establishment of a Black student union.

The administration did not meet all of the demands by May 2, 1968. As a result, more than 100 NU students took over the Bursar’s Office on May 3 and 4 in a peaceful effort to bring attention to the issues presented. The occupation ended 38 hours later, when University administrators committed to increasing support and services for Black students in admissions, curriculum, counseling, scholarship, housing and facilities.

However, four of the original demands have not been met, according to the event organizers. NU has not issued an official statement acknowledging the existence of institutional racism at the University, increased financial scholarships for Black students, created Black residential colleges nor hired a Black counselor

for Black students, the organizers said.

Communication sophomore Blessing Agyare, said she decided to attend Tuesday’s rally because of the new policy at the Black House. For Agyare and her friends, the space is their “home.”

“I want to say it’s shocking, but it’s not,” Agyare said. “Black lives continue to not be a priority for the University.”

In a Tuesday afternoon statement to The Daily, University spokesperson Jon Yates said NU “acknowledged racism” in its original agreement with students in 1968 and currently employs Black counselors who are available for Black students. He also cited NU’s financial aid policy of meeting cost-of-attendance needs without loans.

Yates also said the University has worked with student leaders to address the issues raised in the Bursar’s Office Takeover. He said although NU has recently increased security patrols on campus in response to reports of vandalism and theft, it has reformed protocol so the Division of Student Affairs now handles some situations that UP previously would have handled.

“The University is mindful that we must balance calls for increased security with student concerns around security presence,” Yates said in the statement.

Following the rally, students painted The Rock black with white lettering that reads “Stop policing Black spaces,” “We keep us safe” and “Meet our demands,” among other statements. Ligon said The Rock is “very symbolic” for NU students and that painting it is a form of activism.

She added that organizers wanted to paint The Rock to leave their mark on campus and so passersby could be aware of their movement.

“This is just the beginning,” Ligon told the crowd. “We will continue to protest and practice other forms of demonstration and activism until our demands are met.”

pavanacharya2025@u.northwestern.edu russellleung2024@u.northwestern.edu

about them being their brothers’ keepers, you know what I’m saying. He was trying to make responsible, young men out of his brothers.”

Jacquis Irby’s Facebook profile picture features his younger brother’s logo — a marketing emblem he used to try and promote Yaris Irby’s basketball career, according to Tinch.

Yaris Irby said his brother’s support for his endeavors will always stick with him.

“My personal favorite memory was playing in my game against Evanston,” he said. “I remember hitting a three and looking over and seeing

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Growing up, Jacquis Irby spent time hanging out at the Robert Crown Community Center. There, former Evanston Community Services Manager Kevin Brown met Jacquis Irby and two of his brothers.

Brown engaged him in a program on Martin Luther King Jr.’s principles of nonviolence. He said Jacquis Irby gravitated toward the curriculum and spoke about what he’d learned at an event hosted at the Evanston Art Center.

“When he was involved in those small groups, not only did he have leadership ability, but he also was very helpful to other young people,” Brown said. “He was a good person.”

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SUDOKU

Jacquis Irby will be remembered by the Evanston community for his commitment to family and his passion for basketball, Tinch said.

On Friday, Jacquis Irby’s family was called and told to come to an impromptu memorial for Robert Crown. Tinch said he wasn’t involved in the planning — so he was stunned at the number of people who came to the balloon release that was arranged to honor his nephew.

“It was hundreds, if not even a thousand balloons that were let off in his memory,” Tinch said. “So I know that he’s made his mark and was very loved by the community and the youth there in Evanston.”

Tinch remembered that as a family, Jacquis

Irby, his brothers and his mom would always participate in community service activities like helping with free haircut days or cleaning up after the Juneteenth festival.

Jacquis Irby did his best to get ahead despite not always having the opportunity to do so, Tinch said.

“I really want people to remember his pledge as a parent, him being a very, very good father,” he said. “I want people to remember that — you know what I’m saying — he was a family guy and always there trying to protect his brothers.” avivabechky2025@u.northwestern.edu avanikalra2025@u.northwestern.edu

DAILY CROSSWORD

Hartigan’s Ice Cream Shoppe celebrates reopening

By LINDSEY BYMAN the daily northwestern @lindseybyman

Hartigan’s Ice Cream Shoppe celebrated its grand reopening March 31 after almost three months of renovations to update its interior and facilities.

Owner Marcia Hartigan (Weinberg ’84) bought the store as a sophomore at Northwestern with her future husband Terry Hartigan. Over 40 years later, she said she wants the shop to have an updated look for her own satisfaction.

“Ambience is very, very important to me,” Marcia Hartigan said.

The store traded gray wood-like flooring for black and cream tile in order to make the shop feel “more spacious,” according to Marcia Hartigan. Hartigan’s also added white granite countertops that “sparkle,” she said.

“I want the store to feel homey and old-fashioned — a whole different experience than just going to the grocery store to pick up a quart of ice cream,” Marcia Hartigan said.

Other renovations were more functional, she added. The store updated electrical and plumbing systems and replaced cabinets and soda fountain handles.

Some employees have already noticed a difference at the store.

“It feels a lot brighter in here,” employee Sophia Burnell said.“I really enjoy the atmosphere.”

At least one thing remained the same throughout the renovations. A photo of Marcia Hartigan’s late husband, Terry Hartigan, smiling behind a banana split, still hangs high on the wall next to the store’s entrance.

Marcia Hartigan met her husband while they both worked at the Wilmette Baskin-Robbins in the late 1970s.

In 1980, the owner, looking to retire, asked the young couple if they would take over the chain’s Evanston location. The couple then bought the shop later that year, and Terry Hartigan began working full-time to manage the store. Then, shortly following Marcia Hartigan’s graduation in 1984, the couple married.

In 1996, the Hartigans parted from the Baskin-Robbins brand and put up a new sign for Hartigan’s Ice Cream Shoppe, a sign that’s

there today.

When Marcia Hartigan tore brown paper from the windows in late March for re-opening night, she said eager customers banged on the store’s glass.

“There was a lot of community spirit,” Hartigan said. “Every single customer that came in Friday, Saturday (and) Sunday was like, ‘Yay, you’re open! Oh my gosh, the floors look so good!’”

Evanston resident Shuntella Richardson,

who sometimes goes to Hartigan’s, said she has noticed that community members choose the shop over a “plethora” of other ice cream options in the city.

She said people love Hartigan’s because of how employees greet them, which continues to serve 49 year-round ice cream flavors.

“People in the community love the ice cream parlor,” Richardson said. “My personal experience has always been welcoming. (They are) always friendly, family-oriented, clean, kind

(and) respectful.”

Marcia Hartigan added she loves her store’s community and enjoys attending her employees’ baseball games and theatre performances. But that’s not all she likes about the job.

“My favorite thing, oddly enough in all those years … is that I like milkshakes,” she said.

“I really like a peanut butter and chocolate milkshake.”

lindseybyman2026@u.northwestern.edu

Daniel Kim/The Daily Northwestern

Marcia Hartigan (Weinberg ʼ84) bought the store as a sophomore at Northwestern with her future husband Terry Hartigan over 40 years ago.

‘Generational player’ Madison Taylor makes her mark

By JAKE EPSTEIN the daily northwestern @jakeepste1n

Feb. 11 marked the dawn of a new era: the start of a season for then-No. 4 Northwestern. The fresh start meant another chance at overcoming the Final Four woes that had plagued the team’s past three campaigns, blocking it from reaching the National Championship for more than 10 years.

While many familiar faces returned this year, including graduate student attacker and Tewaaraton Award front runner Izzy Scane, the Wildcats still had holes to fill. The losses of stars like Lauren Gilbert, Jill Girardi and Ally Palermo meant NU needed new firepower to make it over the long-lasting hump.

For freshman midfielder Madison Taylor, this moment proved years in the making. The Long Island product began playing lacrosse in second grade and competed at the highest youth levels before joining the Lake Show, but few foresaw her rapid rise to the pinnacle of the college game.

Less than two minutes into the Cats’ first contest of the year against then-No. 5 Syracuse — one of the nation’s top defenses — Taylor fired a rocket into the top right corner of the cage for NU’s first goal of the season.

“That relief when you get that first goal — and for that to happen so quickly — gave me a boost of momentum and just kept pushing me through the whole game,” Taylor said.

Taylor’s dazzling debut only strengthened from there. The first-year solidified any scorer’s dream with a hat trick in her first game, burying a bounce shot in the second quarter and a free-position in the third to tie the contest at nine apiece.

Trailing by two-scores in the final frame, Taylor called her own number once more in JMA Wireless Dome, unleashing a lefthanded laser for her fourth goal of the day. Eight minutes later, she beat Syracuse’s Delaney Sweitzer on another perfectly executed bouncer to convert her fifth tally.

“It was surreal,” Taylor said. “Once the whistle blew, it was kind of a blur from there. It all happened so quickly.”

While the Cats ultimately came up a goal shy in a 16-15 thriller, Taylor made a staunch statement of her intent in a wondrous individual effort, tying Scane with five goals to lead the way for NU and sending shockwaves throughout the collegiate lacrosse landscape. The five-point performance earned the freshman midfielder her first Big Ten Freshman of the Week nod.

With Taylor’s first collegiate accolade achieved, a new star beamed the purple and

white, illuminating the trajectory of NU’s historic program.

“She’s been ready for this moment her entire life,” former Wantagh High School coach Robyn Rooney said. “She’s built for this stage.”

The Hometown Hero

Long before she arrived in Evanston, Taylor was a quiet high school freshman yearning for a coveted spot on the Wantagh High School Varsity lacrosse squad. But like at college, she made quite the first impression on her teammates and coaches.

Rooney immediately took notice of the new kid, feeling that she was “special from day one.”

“I didn’t think she was a freshman,” Rooney said. “You see a kid walk on the field with that kind of confidence and that size and maturity — she was incredible. You see her in person, and she looks like an All-American.”

With such a weapon at her disposal, Rooney said she played Taylor “every minute of every game” at midfield.

Taylor soon became the focal point of a highly ranked Warriors’ team, facing the gauntlet of Long Island lacrosse, which Chelsea Karr, Taylor’s assistant coach at Wantagh, called “a competition where every single game is like the county championship.”

Taylor’s lightning speed and elite athleticism separated her from the talented Long Island pack, pushing the Warriors into the state championship conversation each of her high school seasons. Rooney said Taylor’s diverse skillset meant the team looked to her whenever it needed a spark.

“She was top three on Long Island in points every season that she played, (and) she was popping ground balls every season,” Rooney said. “She was a lockdown defender, tasked with winning the draw, locking down the (opposing) team’s best player and scoring most of our goals every single game — and she did it every single game.”

Taylor’s do-it-all presence drew doubleteams whenever she stepped on the field. But she’d still be able to push through whatever the opposition threw at her.

Despite the COVID-19 pandemic canceling her sophomore season, the midfield stalwart produced video game numbers in her three-year high school career. Taylor recorded 173 goals, 79 assists and 328 draw controls. In her senior season alone, Taylor played a major two-way presence, scooping 74 ground balls, causing 38 turnovers and corralling 145 draws. During her last dance, the team captain led Wantagh to a conference title.

In addition to earning All-American honors in her junior and senior seasons,

Taylor shone on the soccer pitch and the hardwood, earning All-County honors in both soccer and basketball.

“She’s the best athlete I’ve ever witnessed in my entire life — and the best lacrosse player I’ve ever coached (or) played against,” Rooney said. “I played against Northwestern in college (with Connecticut) and I played against Kristen Kjellman. To me (Taylor) is number one.”

A legendary mentor

Even before high school, Taylor embarked on the road to success with greatness by her side. In middle school, Taylor joined the Long Island Top Guns 2022 Black team, coached by Hofstra head coach, threetime national champion and Tewaaraton Award winner Shannon Smith — one of the most prolific scorers in NU history.

The team became one of the top ranked club outfits in the country, competing with national juggernauts such as Sky Walkers, M&D, Florida Select and Hero’s.

It was at this Long Island-based club that Taylor developed her tenacious work ethic and laid the groundwork to become a day-one starter at a perennial powerhouse.

“(Smith) was the one who made me work hard in lacrosse,” Taylor said. “There were times where (as) a lefty she was like, ‘You gotta go righty all practice.’ She taught me to control what I can control, and that’s really stuck with me.”

Taylor formed a midfield line with Dartmouth’s Catherine Erb and Hofstra’s Nikki Mennella that Smith counted on in crunch time. All three eclipsed the 20-goal mark this season, becoming lethal markswomen in their inaugural campaigns.

Taylor said playing alongside some of the

BASEBALL

top recruits in the country — at a club that’s produced elite talent like Syracuse standout attacker Emma Ward, Maryland attacker Chrissy Thomas and Florida midfielder Emily Heller — pushed her to constantly compete and strive for improvement.

Competing against Long Island’s top talents every day in practice for a coach that “pushed them hard” taught Taylor not to take any plays off.

“I remember pulling (Taylor) over to the sideline and dumping a cooler of water on her head to cool her off,” Smith said. “She was just a force on the field, had a willpower to win and a knack for scoring goals — (she’s a) tremendous dodger and just super athletic.”

The Big Ten Freshman of the Year Favorite

Taylor — ranked outside of the Inside Lacrosse Top 50 recruits in the 2022 class — appeared as a surprise addition to coach Kelly Amonte Hiller’s starting lineup for some, but the freshman wasted no time proving she belonged. Her top-drawer play versus Syracuse was no flash in the pan, but rather a snippet of what was to come.

The first-year has racked up 38 goals, 16 assists, 24 ground balls, 45 draw controls and the seventh-most points per game in the Big Ten. But, much of her impact isn’t even reflected in the stat sheet. The Wantagh product possesses all the intangibles and does the little things necessary to win games — whether that be pressuring opponents on the ride or finding teammates for unselfish passes.

Smith said she never doubted the freshman midfielder “would be ready to step in” to make an instant impact.

“She’s got a body build of not a typical freshman in college — she’s super strong,” Smith said. “She’s a thoroughbred. As the game goes on, she only continues to get better, stronger and faster.”

After putting the nation on notice, the accolades soon piled up for the freshman phenom. Taylor garnered a conference record of eight Big Ten Freshman of the Week awards and became the first freshman to earn a spot on the Tewaaraton Award Watch List this year. She’s tallied a point in every game this season — only failing to score a goal in a lone matchup against then-No. 4 Stony Brook.

But Taylor and her teammates still have some unfinished business. There’s one trophy that stands tall above the rest.

“Winning a national championship — that’s always the goal,” Taylor said. “We just got to keep working (and) focusing on each next game.”

With a regular season title push coming to a close, and Taylor raising the level whenever she steps on the field, the Cats carry heaps of momentum into postseason play.

As Amonte Hiller’s team gears up for a run at an eighth national championship, NU will lean on Taylor heavily — as she’s been throughout her high school and club careers. Rooney said she’s sure NU’s sensational starlet will shine in the spotlight.

“She’s going to be an All American and a Tewaraaton finalist, if not a Tewaraaton winner,” Rooney said. “They’re gonna win a national championship, either this year, next year or the year after that — and largely in part to her. She’ll be playing for Team USA and coaching somewhere when she graduates. She’s a generational player.”

jacobepstein2026@u.northwestern.edu

Sweep against NIU indicates focal points for season

By LAWRENCE PRICE daily senior staffer @lpiii_tres

Ladies, gentlemen and Northwestern fans, it’s time to exhale.

After four straight losses — giving up at least eight runs in each — the Wildcats (6-25, 3-6 Big Ten) have found the win column once again, defeating Northern Illinois (7-26, 4-10 MAC) 16-5 Tuesday. The 11-run victory for NU completes the two-game season sweep over the Huskies, whom they downed 15-11 about three weeks ago.

In a way, the road game win ties together happiness and disappointment. On one hand, the Cats finally put the pieces together; but, a third of the program’s wins now come from a team arguably in the same sunken place record wise.

Still, it’s important to focus on the positives, not the negatives, especially after a dominant win. It may be too soon, but here’s what a successful afternoon meeting means for coach Jim Foster’s squad for the rest of the season:

1. That 3-4 hitting combination?

Yeah, don’t change it.

Most teams put their best hitters, mixing in power and contact, into the three and four holes of their lineup for numerous reasons.

For NU, that’s been team captain senior infielder/outfielder Stephen Hrustich and sophomore catcher/infielder Alex Calarco.

Against NIU on Tuesday, the “Georgia Peach” went 3-6 with two doubles, a home run and two RBIs of his own. Meanwhile, Calarco nearly echoed Hrustich’s statline by going 4-6 at the plate, ripping two doubles, a home run and three RBIs.

The dynamic duo has shown the most consistency at the plate for the Cats, flexing the best batting averages on the team — Hrustich at .344 and Calarco hitting .319. Not to mention, out of the six batters that have had 100 or more at-bats, the one with the next best average is graduate outfielder Griffin Arnone (.242), who usually mans the one-hole.

It’s clear that the offense lives and dies by the swings of Hrustich and Calarco,

emphasizing why they need to continue finding gaps in the defense in hopes that the other bats throughout the lineup come alive eventually.

2. Much needed momentum could be wake-up call

With the competition only getting stronger as the plot thickens, the Cats will need to up their game if they want a chance at the Big Ten Tournament. Luckily, the 11-run victory over NIU on Tuesday couldn’t have come at a better time. With the win, as Foster also expressed after the team’s series win over Illinois a few weeks ago, the team showed its identity — strong pitching, defense and putting pressure on the opponent.

Of course, the Tuesday pitching performance was outshined by the Cats’ second-highest run total of the season, but the pitching unit was better than the first time the two groups met: NU gave up just five runs instead of 11. Additionally, only one error was recorded. It is way too early to give a prediction

on how the rest of the season will play out, but hopefully this win will get NU’s motor going.

3.

Big Ten record > overall record

With three weeks remaining in last season’s schedule, the Cats were on their way to the Big Ten Tournament for the first time since 2017. Sadly, NU missed the trip to Omaha, Nebraska, once again, dropping out of its position by finishing 3-6 in their last

nine games.

This time around, the Cats still have a chance — even with a dismal overall record. Currently, NU is tied for 10th in the Big Ten, which isn’t ideal, but with five series remaining in the season, a lot can happen by then. At this point in the season, it’s impossible for the Cats to finish .500 with 19 contests remaining. But it doesn’t mean the conference tournament is out of the picture.

lawrenceprice2024@u.northwestern.edu

Illustration by Shveta Shah

Daily file photo by Mika Ellison