The Daily Northwestern — April 24, 2023

The Daily Northwestern

4 A&E/Boomshaka

Drummers and dancers

stage 26th spring show

Families gather for Earth Day activities

Evanston Ecology Center hosts local environmental orgs

By ASTRY RODRIGUEZ daily senior staffer @astry_tpwk

At Evanston Ecology Center’s Earth Day Celebration Saturday morning, environmental organizations taught ecological issues. Families engaged in sustainabilityfocused kids’ activities while local businesses sold food, sweets, plants and handmade accessories Saturday morning.

The event aimed to promote sustainability efforts and celebrate Earth Day and included over 15 organizations that were set up around the event. Organizations such as the Evanston Environmental Association, Climate Action Evanston and the Evanston Northshore Bird Club spoke with attendees about their advocacy work and spread awareness about climate issues and animal preservation.

Evanston’s solid waste coordinator Brian Zimmerman said his team attended the celebration to advocate

for sustainability initiatives from the city, like Evanston’s new off-season food and yard waste collection pilot as part of the city’s composting program.

“We came out to promote some of the sustainabilityrelated initiatives that the city is trying to push forward,” said Zimmerman. “(We’re) trying to build some awareness around those things and get some engagement from local community members.”

Outdoor activities featured free books, an interactive bubble station and scavenger hunts. One scavenger hunt sent participants searching for animal figurines hidden around the area, and another pushed attendees to look for items found in nature, like trees, birds, worms and other species.

Katie Knappenberger, who brought her three- and six-year-old children to the event, said her family engaged in many activities both “cool” and environmentally informative.

“One of them is learning how to sort the recycling, which is very age

» See EARTH DAY, page 6

NAISA Pow Wow honors the Earth

Second annual celebration brings regional Native community together

By JOANNA HOU and RUSSELL LEUNG daily senior staffers @joannah_11 / @rjleung7

Content warning: This article contains mentions of death and

anti-Indigenous violence.

When the Native American and Indigenous Student Alliance learned Earth Day was an option for its second annual traditional spring Pow Wow, SESP

Mensch’s deli offers NY-style bagels

Childhood friends open Jewish pop-up shop on Chicago Avenue

By KUNJAL BASTOLA the daily northwestern @kunjal_bastola

As kids in Wilmette, Jack DeMar, Eric Kogan and Kiki Eliopoulos always dreamed of collaborating on a business.

Mensch’s, a Jewish-style popup deli in Evanston, is that dream come true.

“We actually all grew up together,” Kogan said. “We’ve known each other for 20-plus years at this point, and we’ve always been talking about a way to work together.”

The three grew up eating Jewish food and found themselves traveling quite far to find a deli that had the classic Jewish-style dishes they wanted. They also said the Jewish population within Northwestern and Evanston was a big factor in deciding to open up Mensch’s on Chicago Ave.

“Being Jewish is a large part of my life, culturally speaking,” Kogan said. “We’ve been exploring this way of how we can bring that type of food to the community, and it feels like Evanston was a great place to do it.”

More recently, a trip to New

York invigorated that desire to bring Jewish culture to the Evanston community. There, they visited 15 delis in the span of three days, making sure to try out various types of bagels that could inspire their own deli, DeMar said.

The pop-up, located inside Evanston restaurant Picnic, opened April 15 and runs every weekend through June 11.

The menu offers both sweet and savory bagels, as well as coffee and orange juice. Eliopoulos, who runs the catering business Kiki Bakes Pies, also makes pastries, including babka and carrot cake.

“Getting feedback from people, it’s been really good,” Eliopoulos said. “I’ll be switching up the pastries throughout the pop-up while we’re doing it the next couple of months and seeing what is the most popular.”

So far, she said, the chocolate babka is a hit.

The trio chose to introduce Mensch’s to Evanston as a popup to incorporate a more interactive style of testing a new market. During the next few months, they hope to garner feedback from patrons.

“Why wait till we have brick and mortar to get bagels to the people?” DeMar said.

The bagels are sourced from the New York Bagel and Bialy Corporation in Skokie, a bagel shop the trio would frequent as children. Working with it is a

“full-circle moment,” Eliopoulos said.

While the menu for the popup is currently limited to bagels and pastries, the co-founders hope to expand to classic deli

» See MENSCH’S , page 6

sophomore and Pow Wow Planning Committee co-Chair Alivia Britton, who is Odawa, said “Honoring the Land” became the obvious theme.

“The land is so integral to being Indigenous and that

relationship is something that our people really value and respect,” said Britton, who is also NAISA’s treasurer. “The land is our relative, so it just makes » See POW WOW, page 6

NU to offer Arabic minor in fall 2023

Activism encourages MENA Languages to create new minor

By KAAVYA BUTANEY daily senior staffer @kaavya_butaney

The Middle East and North African Languages program will launch an Arabic minor this upcoming Fall Quarter, the result of years of effort from students and the Arabic language faculty. The program currently does not offer majors or minors for any MENA languages, including Arabic and Persian.

In Winter Quarter 2022, the Middle East and North Africa Student Association and Arabic language students sent a letter to Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences Dean Adrian Randolph requesting the school create an Arabic language minor. In total, 48 students who signed the letter said they would enroll in the minor.

According to Arabic

language Prof. Ragy Ibrahim Mikhaeel, student support for the movement made the difference in creating the minor. Arabic language classes from Spring Quarter 2022 and onward can be counted toward the minor, Mikhaeel said.

MENA languages program chair and German language Prof. Franziska Lys said when she assumed the chair position in Fall 2018, she wanted to gather feedback to understand whether students were satisfied with the program.

In Spring 2019, Lys conducted an informal survey that asked 31 students whether they would enroll in an Arabic minor. About 83% of student respondents said they would be interested.

“I really wanted to recognize students’ accomplishments because Arabic is not an easy language to learn,” Lys said.

“For students who really go through a minor, I think they need some type of recognition of the special efforts they made in learning this language.”

» See ARABIC , page 6

Photo courtesy of Seeger Gray

The Oka Homma drum circle. The Chicago-based drum singers were one of the invited drum groups at NAISA’s second Pow Wow and presented intertribal songs of the Southern Plains.

Kunjal Bastola/The Daily Northwestern

The Mensch’s pop-up menu features a variety of bagels, including this avocado bagel with tomato and everything seasoning on top.

Residents clean Main-Dempster Mile on Earth Day

By COLE REYNOLDS the daily northwestern @charcole27

April showers might bring May flowers. But they don’t usually bring many volunteers to an outdoor trash pickup.

Nevertheless, around 90 people braved Saturday’s rainy skies and blustery wind to participate in the Main-Dempster Mile’s fifth Earth Day Neighborhood Clean-Up. Many said they saw the opportunity as a way to invest in their community.

Sign-ups for the trash pickup have grown by about 30% every year, according to Main-Dempster Mile Executive Director Katherine Gotsick, who organizes the event. This year was no different, with 230 people signing up, Gotsick said.

Ellie Shevick picked up trash hiding in the long grass alongside the CTA tracks as rain sprinkled down. She came with her husband and two kids — one of them dubbing themself the “queen of nature.”

In just over 15 minutes of cleaning, she said her family picked up almost a quarter of a trash bag worth of garbage.

“If you look close, it’s remarkable how much garbage there is,” Shevick said.

Shevick, who sits on the Parks and Recreation Board, said preserving green spaces in Evanston matters to parents like her.

The trash pickup, she said, not only beautifies the community in the short term, but also serves as an investment in the city.

“I just want Evanston to be a clean place for my kids to play — to grow up,” Shevick said.

Members of Evanston Pride are now regulars at the trash pickup, cleaning up the area around St. Paul Park, which the advocacy nonprofit adopted in 2022. Pride board members Sandie Elliott and Kurt Condra said it was important to remove the actual pieces of trash, but crucial to just be present in the community.

“(It is about) making this a beautiful city not only physically but also in its energy,” Condra said. As a record number of state bills targets LGTBQ+ people, Elliott and Condra said the

visibility of the LGTBQ+ community everywhere is even more important. The trash pickup was a small but necessary way to do that, they said.

Last year, people living in the apartments across the street from St. Paul’s Park stood out on their balconies and shouted thank-yous from their windows as Evanston Pride cleaned the park, Elliot said. She said those everyday connections remind the broader community of LGBTQ+ needs.

“It felt good to be recognized,” Elliott said as she picked up a stray Pokémon card. “We’re all in this together.”

Even before the clean-up efforts, Gotsick said the Main-Dempster Mile was relatively clean. She

said she couldn’t remember seeing much garbage on the sidewalks as she rode to work on Saturday, fearing that there wouldn’t be enough trash to go around for the pick-up.

The area needing the most cleaning, she said, was an alley next to the CTA tracks near the Main station, which a contingent from NU’s Delta Delta Delta sorority helped clean. Members shoveled wet, matted heaps of leaves and discarded bottles into bags for composting.

Gotsick said this year produced the “most interesting” finds of all the clean-ups, when somebody found a stack of $50 counterfeit bills near Dempster Street. But the sorority wasn’t that lucky.

“I’ve found a lot of lottery tickets,” Weinberg

freshman Julia Marshall said. “They’re all losers though.”

Initially, Gotsick said she only thought a quarter of the 230 volunteers who signed up would come. She even gave participants the option of picking up trash on their own time during a sunnier day later this week.

But just 45 minutes into the event, she said all of her trash pickup routes were filled. She ended up having to make up new ones just for people to participate.

“I feel like this is a triumph for a cold and rainy day,” Gotsick said.

colereynolds2026@u.northwestern.edu

e t a h e a d , c a tc h u p, t r y s o m e t h i n g n ew.

Cole Reynolds/The Daily Northwestern

People gathered Saturday to clean streets and parks along the Main-Dempster Mile for its fifth annual Earth Day clean up.

Students discuss books on Goodreads

By JOANNA HOU

daily senior staffer @joannah_11

Throughout high school and early college, Weinberg senior Maddie Brown said she couldn’t find the opportunity to read for fun.

But since 2021, Brown has found a way to enjoy her childhood passion again. Her yearly book goal is 75, which she surpassed in 2022, reading about 90 books. This month, she has already read seven.

“I was noticing how miserable forms of conventional social media were making me (during the pandemic),” Brown said. “One day, I just looked at my screen time and I was like, ‘Wow, I could have read a book in this time.’”

Brown started relying on Goodreads — a platform that allows users to catalog the books they’ve read, add reviews and see what their friends are reading — to hold her accountable. Brown, who’s been using the platform since 2014, said she loves Goodreads because it’s the “last vestige of analog internet.”

Brown said she appreciates the connections she’s able to make with her friends on the app. If her friends post reviews on a book she’s read before, she uses it as an opportunity to strike up a conversation.

She’s also built up a reputation for recommending books to her friends, and she makes people book lists when they ask for them.

“Reading brings me so much joy,” Brown said. “I realized I hadn’t prioritized that.”

For some students, including SESP sophomore Alicia Cai, finding time to read for fun is “difficult.” She said it’s a struggle in college, especially as a humanities student who has multiple reading assignments per day.

Cai said she used to read a lot more during the pandemic and now tries to read during school breaks. She said she’s tried using Goodreads, but she regularly forgets to update her status and doesn’t read enough to find the platform rewarding.

Still, she said she enjoys hearing her friends talk about books offline.

“I have the strongest chance to read something if it’s recommended to me by a friend,” Cai said. “That

means (this book) is important to someone around me, which means I will be more interested in it, too.”

Weinberg sophomore Alivia Wynn said she’s faced similar challenges of finding time to read. Instead of trying to power through 600-page books on top of her work, Wynn said she’s become a fan of audiobooks.

Using audiobooks allows Wynn to complete mindless day-to-day tasks and still fit in time for reading. She recently finished Ashley Audrain’s “The Push,” a psychological thriller that explores themes of motherhood and generational trauma.

“I’m a CS major, but my passion is creative writing, and I just felt like my life was being taken over by math and science,” Wynn said. “I was like, ‘I need a book.’”

Wynn joined Goodreads in December and has tried to get her friends on the platform ever since. She said she enjoys tracking her thoughts on the books she’s listened to and read, as well as seeing

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reactions from other readers.

Weinberg sophomore Audrey Zhou said one of her favorite features of book-tracking apps is the ability to read other people’s reviews. If she sees a book with high ratings, she said she’s more inclined to read it.

Zhou said she’s a “methodical” person who enjoys keeping track of many different things. She joined Goodreads with many of her friends at the beginning of the pandemic. In recent years, she said she’s moved her tracking to The StoryGraph, a Blackwoman-owned site, and now has a few friends on that platform, too.

Ultimately, Zhou said, these apps are a way to help her link her love of reading with her friendships.

“It’s just another way to connect with people,” Zhou said. “It’s another way to keep a tab on your friends.”

joannahou2025@u.northwestern.edu

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Illustration by Lily Ogburn

Some students use Goodreads to find new book recommendations.

A&E arts & entertainment

‘Indecent’ brings stories of antisemitism to Wirtz

By JACOB WENDLER daily senior staffer @jacob_wendler

In February 1923, Polish-Jewish playwright Sholem Asch’s controversial Yiddish play “God of Vengeance” opened on Broadway, attracting criticism for portraying prostitution, queer relationships and Jewish culture onstage. Two weeks later, the show’s entire cast was arrested on charges of obscenity.

Now, a century later, the Virginia Wadsworth Wirtz Center for the Performing Arts is staging a production of “Indecent,” a 2015 play by Pulitzer Prize winner Paula Vogel inspired by Asch’s life and legacy. Northwestern students involved in the production say the story has never been more timely due to a rise in antisemitism and other forms of hate in America.

With seven performances between April 21 and April 30 at the Josephine Louis Theater, the play incorporates music and movement to tell the story behind the scenes of “God of Vengeance” and its impact on the cast and the world at large. The plot unfolds over four and a half decades and explores

the ramifications of antisemitism, both in the United States and in Europe during the Holocaust.

Communication senior Andy Hartman, who portrays Asch, among other roles, said the production comes with heightened expectations since “Indecent” is inspired by true events. He said this play is the “most difficult show” he’s ever had to perform in.

“There was more pressure to feel like you’re portraying a real-life person because you really want to honor that lived experience, and because a lot of people don’t know about Sholem Asch, his life and his work,” Hartman said.

The historical weight of the play tackles themes of bigotry and trauma, and the dramatic range and versatility required by the script make it challenging to perform in, Hartman and other cast members said.

Aside from the lead role of Lemml, portrayed by Weinberg senior Samuel Rosner, all other members of the seven-person cast shift between various personas throughout the play.

“We all play multiple roles, which actually was something that drew me to the show and is also one of the biggest challenges of the show,” said Communication senior Gabrielle Bieder, who is a

cast member. “Because you’re snapping from one role to the other, and also you’re snapping from a comedic scene to a very deep scene.”

The character changes can be a physical and mental shock, and it takes a long time for the actors to debrief after performing each show, Bieder added. She and Hartman both emphasized the need to “check out” after rehearsals due to the play’s emotional weight.

Bieder said the story requires the cast to separate themselves from the material, but also invites them to incorporate elements of their own identities into their performances.

“As actors, they say you’re playing a character, you’re getting out of it, you’re escaping your world,” said Bieder, who plays a role originally portrayed by NU alum Katrina Lenk (Bienen ’97). “But for this, it’s actually important that we understand the context and we can have our own selves to lean on.”

Bieder added that the majority Jewish cast brings their own heritage to the stage every night, not only metaphorically, but also literally.

Costume designer Lia Wallfish, a third-year MFA costume design candidate, consulted with each cast member to design personalized Jewish

prayer shawls the characters wear onstage. Bieder’s shawl, for example, features the names of her relatives who fled the Holocaust.

Director Kelsey Leigh Ervi, who is pursuing their MFA in directing, said despite the play’s darker undertones, it is ultimately a celebration of community and joy.

“Although there is a layer of sadness, a layer of grief that exists — particularly near the end of the play — I think what we’re trying to do is infuse some hope at the end,” Ervi said. “The playwright Paula Vogel has given that to us, and now it’s our task to really bring it to life.’

Ervi added that they have approached the play through a queer lens, and while the cast brings a Jewish perspective, the show has themes audience members of all identities can relate to.

“We’re sadly in this moment of this rise in antisemitism across the country and also a rise in homophobia and transphobia,” Ervi said. “As a play that very much deals with Jewish themes and queer themes, themes of an immigrant story and the story of an artist, it really has entry points for a lot of different people.”

jacobwendler2025@u.northwestern.edu

Boomshaka drums and grooves at Shanley Pavilion

By BEATRICE VILLAFLOR the daily northwestern @beatricedvilla

Spies. Chefs. Robots. Cult members. Train passengers. This weekend, Boomshaka members transformed into all those personas and more. The drum, dance and rhythm group performed nearly four sold-out shows at Shanley Pavilion on Friday and Saturday, where it performed its 26th spring showcase, “Set in Motion.”

Boomshaka is known for using atypical instruments like trash cans and buckets throughout its shows. The group delivered intense, beat-driven performances with these materials for more than an hour and a half.

The performers also introduced new items that were not used in prior performances. Pans, spoons and forks were part of a performance partly inspired by the movie “The Menu” called “Yes, Chef!” that surprised attendee and McCormick fifth-year Chima Aharanwa.

“(The performances) were all really good. I have to say the chef one, cooking up and stuff, the way

that they use spoons and forks and utensils and stuff in a unique way is really interesting to me,” Aharanwa said.

Aharanwa said Boomshaka’s strong presence on campus reminded him of The Chicago Bucket Boys, which was a “call back to home” for the Chicago native. The Chicago Bucket Boys is a group known for drumming music on overturned buckets, similar to the percussion used by Boomshaka.

Tonal shifts kept the show diverse in sound and style. From EDM-fuelled set “Shockwaves” to breakup-inspired “Recipe for Moving On,” Boomshaka displayed a range of dance styles from contemporary to tap. Likewise, rhythms were made using every part of members’ bodies from head to toe.

“Shockwaves” was “Set in Motion” co-Executive Producer and Weinberg senior Harrison Israel’s favorite piece due to the different drumstick tricks done within the song.

“It definitely took a while to put together because there are so many moving parts, but doing it onstage feels really cool,” Israel said.

“Moving parts” is no overstatement. Each performance featured a costume and lighting change to match the next piece’s theme. In one moment,

the group pressed itself against mesh playing on buckets for the set; in the next, members were in flannels playing melodies on washboards.

“Set in Motion” was Weinberg freshman Annika Macy’s first time seeing a Boomshaka show. She said she attended the show not knowing what to expect, but after seeing Act I of the show, she was excited to see more from the group.

“I love the flipping of the sticks,” Macy said. “The drums are so cool — I could never do that, so it’s super amazing.”

Macy also liked the dance to Lana Del Rey’s “Summertime Sadness,” one of the many popular songs highlighted throughout the set.

“Beggin’” by Måneskin, “Shut Up And Drive” by Rihanna and a medley of songs from Disney Channel Original Movies like “Bet On It” and “The Climb” were some of the most recognizable songs within the performance.

“It’s Not You, It’s Me,” set to “Me and Your Mama” by Childish Gambino, was Boomshaka member and McCormick senior Nathan Arnold’s favorite piece to perform in the show.

Since the start of Winter Quarter, Arnold put in 11 hours every week to rehearse for the show.

The demanding schedule creates a bond between Boomshaka’s members, he said.

“These aren’t just people I’m gonna see for these four years and never again — these are people that I know that I will be friends with for the rest of my life,” Arnold said.

As a graduating senior, the spring show is Arnold’s last performance with Boomshaka after four years of membership in the group. Still, his connection with the troupe will not end, he said.

Israel, also graduating this quarter, said he was “both parts proud and sad” about seeing the final product of “Set in Motion” come to life.

Israel and his co-executive producer, Bienen junior Audrey Marx, deliberated on which ideas to stage since Winter Quarter. He added that it was a privilege to be able to watch new members grow and see others write their own pieces.

“I remember the seniors that were there when I was a freshman who helped me out and led me along the way that first year,” Israel said. “It’s been an honor to be able to do that for our new members.”

beatricevillaflor2026@u.northwestern.edu

Elisa Huang/The Daily Northwestern

Karaoke bars in Chicago offer unique spins on singing

By JACK AUSTIN daily senior staffer @jackaustinnews

It all started with a now signature duet of “When You Were Young,” by the Killers.

Alex Ceko could almost taste the glory of the spotlight and the warmth of the applause. He sipped on a $3 margarita from Flaco’s Tacos, just down the street from Brando’s Speakeasy –– a fixture of his Monday night ritual — imagining the stage and the crowd.

As a junior at DePaul University, Ceko started frequenting Brando’s as part of his Monday night karaoke routine.

Ceko walked down the street to the speakeasy and put in a song request week after week. He would bide his time until he had to perform, fueling himself with liquid courage in his apartment above the bar. The highlight of the night, of course, is always his performance of “When You Were Young”, Ceko said, and he had practically perfected it with time.

Ceko, now pursuing a master’s in writing and publishing at DePaul (and a former School of

Professional Studies student at NU), said that he enjoys karaoke for its small taste of fame, in addition to the supportive environment.

“What I like about karaoke — I love rock stars,” Ceko said. “I love the idea of a rock star. I love reading what it looks like to be cared for by thousands of people, to be wanted like that. When I karaoke, I get a taste of that.”

Karaoke bars are not hard to come by in the Chicago area. Many cater to unique tastes and offer their own spins on the activity. Ceko enjoys many of these karaoke bars, including Trader Todd’s, and Sakura Karaoke bar, but said his favorite will always be Brando’s.

Trader Todd’s in Lakeview has its own flair. The bar employs a karaoke host that guides programming, typically experienced in stand up and radio work, according to general manager William Gold.

They also adhere to a tropical theme, decorating in what Ceko described as “Jimmy Buffett” style and offering large fishbowl cocktails.

The bar attracts a young crowd, and most performers at Trader Todd’s sing crowd-pleasing popular songs. Ceko said “Livin’ on a Prayer” and “Don’t Stop Believin’” are regulars. Though, Gold said the bar plays many genres — Lady Gaga could follow

a Frank Sinatra cover.

By contrast, Brando’s Speakeasy feels like it could double as a cigar lounge during the day with its leather interior, dark colors and drapes, Ceko said.

Unlike Trader Todd’s, customers tend to sing more personal favorites than crowd pleasers. On several occasions, Ceko said he saw people who could pass for Santa Claus perform incredible renditions of Bob Seger, even better than the original “Turn the Page” in one instance.

Bobby Love , owner of Bobby Loves in Boystown, said his bar attracts many regulars and “quality singers,” quite unlike what he called “typical screeching karaoke.” Love said that when the cast of “Wicked” stopped in town several years ago, they came to sing karaoke at Bobby Loves on two consecutive nights, electrifying the crowd.

Songs at Bobby Loves, which opened 24 years ago, range from broadway to hip-hop, Love said.

Gold said some of his more memorable nights at Trader Todd’s include when a group of friends dressed up to sing as much of the “Hamilton” catalog as they could, and once when another patron came dressed as a turkey. He added that karaoke is a means of creating a communal atmosphere,

especially in a digital era.

“People are used to communicating through a screen and (are) probably a little bit shy interacting in person,” Gold said. “When you see somebody singing your favorite song right next to you (at a karaoke bar), it’s a little bit more relatable.”

For aspiring karaoke stars suffering from stage fright, many venues offer more private rooms, like Sakura Karaoke Bar in Chinatown.

Across all environments, karaoke largely exists as a judgment-free zone. Ceko said he often sees excellent vocalists who always dreamed of singing utilize karaoke to overcome their stage fright. More than anything, Ceko said karaoke provides a fun, jovial atmosphere.

One day he was in the audience, he said, and the next, he was on-stage, becoming a regular performer. No experience or skill is required — only the desire to sing.

“I’d always sung along to songs, always in the car, at parties, out in the grocery store, the shower — wherever, as loud as I could,” Ceko said. “I didn’t give a (damn), I didn’t even care who was listening. So I always felt like karaoke was for me.”

jonathanaustin2023@u.northwestern.edu

Local therapists promote healing practices through art

By EMMA SULLIVAN the daily northwestern @emmasullivannu

Evanston social worker Janice Fleckman knows the pain of losing a loved one. When Fleckman was overwhelmed with grief over her mother’s death, she said she turned to painting to cope.

“It was my way of expressing the loss,” Fleckman said. “Art is so good for expressing loss. I realized that it could be healing for other people.”

Fleckman is one of several Evanston therapists who uses art to facilitate healing among her clients. Her experience mourning her mother’s death inspired her to create Honoring Our Lost Mothers And Others, a group where people use art to express the loss of loved ones.

During therapy sessions, Fleckman hands participants a piece of paper in the shape of a circle and has them draw whatever comes to mind. She then asks them to describe what they see in their art.

Fleckman said she has heard from many participants the program has helped them become more in tune with their feelings.

“It was really amazing how much healing happened in the period of six weeks,” Fleckman said. “I think that’s because art gets at those unconscious feelings in a nonverbal way, and then, in the writing, they can start making more sense of it.”

Art can be a powerful vehicle for healing in

historically marginalized communities, according to Melissa Raman Molitor, an Evanston-based art therapist.

Molitor co-founded the Evanston nonprofit organization Studio 3 with fellow art therapist Angela Lyonsmith during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. The organization, formerly known as Kids Create Change, uses the arts to promote sociocultural awareness in youth.

“It can be less daunting to engage in conversations around racism and discrimination in a creative way,” Molitor said. “There isn’t that pressure of finding the right words and utilizing the right language.”

Molitor said she recognizes her therapy model is not “traditional,” as it focuses on the larger systemic issues that affect an individual’s mental health. She believes society has a tendency to “problematize” mental illness and view it as the individual’s problem.

However, Molitor centers her therapy around community and collective healing.

“It’s really part of a larger societal and communal issue,” Molitor said. “I’ve always been much more interested in how we build relationships and tell stories (by) utilizing art and how that can be healing.”

Fleckman and Molitor are members of Evanston Made, a nonprofit aiming to increase the visibility of Evanston artists and foster community among local creatives. It currently has around 400 members, according to founder and co-Director Lisa

Degliantoni.

Degliantoni said she would like to see the city invest more in the arts. The City of Evanston’s budget for 2023 is $397.2 million. However, only $590,457 of the total budget — approximately 0.15% — is being allocated to cultural arts programs and the Noyes Cultural Arts Center combined.

“I would love the citizens of Evanston to commit to supporting the arts and being arts patrons,” Degliantoni said. “We can keep this community artsy and interesting. We just have to engage with it more.”

emmasullivan2025@u.northwestern.edu

Reel Thoughts: ‘The Mandalorian’ falters in its third season

By DANNY O’GRADY and MILES AZUMA-HALL the daily northwestern @dannymogrady04 / @milesazumahall

Following two commercially successful seasons of “The Mandalorian,” fans highly anticipated the franchise’s latest installment. However, some felt disappointed by this season’s disjointed storyline. This latest dose of the show attempts to tackle too many plot lines at once, and consequently, leaves the audience with about three episodes of content sandwiching a season of side adventures. While more casual viewers may not mind these detours, many die-hard fans have been left wanting

more of The Force, more danger and more tension that keeps fans at the edge of their seats.

Not every television show has to kill off characters at the pace of “Game of Thrones,” but this season’s refusal to take risks or present a palpable danger to characters results in the show losing its momentum quickly. The main protagonists never face a significant threat because nothing unfortunate ever happens to them. In fact, the sole protagonist who dies this season is Paz Vizsla (Tait Fletcher), who holds only a minor role.

Since the characters never face grave danger or grapple with loss, the plot becomes less interesting as no quality of writing can overcome a lack of stakes. The death of series regulars like Greef Karga (Carl Weathers) or The Armorer (Emily Swallow)

could have taken the story in a bold new direction and kept audiences hooked. But, the writer’s room was too timid to kill off more notable characters.

Even if “The Mandalorian” showrunners were bold enough to kill off main protagonists, most characters were not interesting enough this season for viewers to care about them. For instance, season three co-leads Bo-Katan Kryze (Katee Sackhoff) and Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal) were static characters throughout most of the recent installment, not undergoing any notable character development. On top of that, supporting characters like Paz Vizsla were rather unlikable at times, only serving to interrupt interesting plot developments in pursuit of side quests.

To make matters worse, the show sidelined its big-bad Moff Gideon (Giancarlo Esposito) and fanfavorite Greef Karga for most of the season, two of the most compelling characters in the entire show.

The show’s struggles in dealing with character development throughout the season could have been overlooked if its plot was exceptional. Unfortunately, the overarching storyline is consistently derailed by nonessential filler episodes. Perhaps the most egregious example of this trend is “Chapter 20: The Foundling,” which is one long side quest where the Mandalorians spend an unnecessarily lengthy amount of time trying to save Paz Vizsla’s young son. While watching these filler episodes, it feels as if the showrunners were contracted to make more episodes than the main story warranted, resulting in a stretched out season of television.

Amid the scattered side plots, however, there are several easter eggs that one would be remiss to not commend. From the first on-screen appearance of Garazeb Orrelius (Steve Blum) of “Star Wars Rebels” to mentions of Grand Admiral Thrawn, teasing these names and characters heavily implies their involvement in the upcoming “Ahsoka” series.

Even fans less versed in the lore were excited to see Brendol Hux (Brian Gleeson), father of General Armitage Hux of the Star Wars sequel trilogy, appear in the Shadow Council. Despite this season’s disjointed storyline, viewers can at least appreciate the season’s efforts to fill in the plot holes introduced in the sequel trilogy. The third season of “The Mandalorian” is merely a mediocre extension of one of Star Wars’ most iconic series and is a bantha-sized step down from the quality of “Andor” and “Obi-Wan Kenobi.” The easter eggs and top-notch visuals elevate the viewing experience, but they cannot overcome the season’s lackluster plot and character development.

dannyogrady2026@u.northwestern.edu milesazuma-hall2026@u.northwestern.edu

arts & entertainment

Editor Ella Jeffries

Assistant Editors

Lexi Goldstein

Beatrice Villaflor

Design Editors

Valerie Chu

Danny O’Grady

Anna Souter

Illustration by Beatrice Villaflor

Bo-Katan is thrust into the spotlight in season 3 of “The Mandalorian,” essentially taking on the role of co-lead.

Daily file illustration by Cynthia Zhang

Art therapy can help people process their emotions, according to Evanston social worker Janice Fleckman.

sense to honor that.”

More than 200 Native and non-Native people gathered in Welsh-Ryan Arena to celebrate the local Indigenous community and the Earth on Saturday. Through song, dance and other forms of tradition, the Pow Wow commemorated the cultures of tribes and nations across the Midwest and beyond.

Northwestern’s Evanston Campus sits on the traditional homelands of the people of the Council of Three Fires — the Ojibwe, Potawatomi and Odawa — and the Menominee, Miami and HoChunk nations. John Evans, a co-founder of NU, played a significant role as governor of the Territory of Colorado in the 1864 Sand Creek Massacre that killed about 230 Cheyenne and Arapaho people.

The Pow Wow began with the Grand Entry, a procession led by military veteran Vincent Romero — who is Laguna Pueblo — holding an Eagle Staff. Veterans were followed by dancers, visiting royalty, and other community members and guests. The ceremony also commemorated the late Bill Smith, a Lakota military veteran who died in 2020.

The celebration featured exhibition dances and drum group performances, while Indigenous artisans and organizers worked at tables providing educational information and sold handmade cultural goods to attendees.

NAISA co-Chair and Weinberg sophomore

Athena GoingSnake, who is a citizen of the Cherokee Nation and Muscogee Creek, said the Pow Wow is a step toward increasing both internal growth and NAISA’s connections to the larger University and regional Indigenous communities.

“The number-one thing is that we’re trying to build this really strong foundation for us so we can build off that and advocate for ourselves and teach others about us and our presence on campus,” GoingSnake said. “But this Pow Wow was a really good example of how we’re trying to share with the wider Northwestern community.”

University Chaplain the Rev. Kristen Glass Perez, who is enrolled in the Leech Lake Band of the Minnesota Ojibwe, presented her blessings at the event. She said there is “beauty and necessity” in every season, and that people must treat every day like a celebration of the Earth.

University President Michael Schill also spoke

at the Pow Wow and said the University is taking institutional steps to enhance the Indigenous presence on campus through programming. He also announced a new scholarship for Native American and Indigenous students.

Communication sophomore and Pow Wow Planning Committee co-Chair Mel McDaniel — who is Tyme Maidu of Berry Creek Rancheria of Oroville, California — said NAISA has many more initiatives it wants to accomplish. The group hopes to work with NU to create a Native American and Indigenous studies department and hire more Native faculty.

But, she said, the alliance does not have much people power. The class of 2025 came in at about 1.6% Native and Indigenous, according to the University. NAISA has about 15 members, according to GoingSnake.

For McDaniel, the Pow Wow is a way to engage in conversations about Native people outside the history of genocide, one of the “only” narratives she heard growing up.

“We want people talking about Native people outside of the harsh history,” McDaniel said. “We want people to see that it’s also a celebration of culture and we’re brought together to find collective joy.”

On May 5, the Center for Native American and Indigenous Research at NU will launch the wiigwaasi-jiimaan, also known as the birch bark canoe, into Lake Michigan. The canoe, built in 2021 by then CNAIR artist-in-residence Wayne Valliere, will then be displayed in the Segal Visitors Center.

Britton said she hopes Pow Wow attendees will become more aware of the everyday choices they make in relation to the environment. Indigenous communities are a foreground for addressing environmental challenges — including climate change — because their cultural practices that are proven to help the environment, she said.

Increasing the visibility of Native stories is a top priority for her.

“Turning (the Pow Wow) into tradition is so important to us,” Britton said. “We want to have it so Native students, when they get here, they feel seen and have a space to actively celebrate and be in community with each other in a space that’s created for them by them.”

joannahou2025@u.northwestern.edu

russellleung2024@u.northwestern.edu

freshman Erin Lee, who woke up early to get to Mensch’s at the 10 a.m. open time.

Seeing the huge turnout was a highlight for the trio.

appropriate,” Knappenberger said. “I thought that was a very practical thing that they can do at home.”

The event also offered local businesses the chance to share environmentally friendly products with the community.

Inside the center were a handful of local businesses, such as Cocina Azteca, Dulce Caramel Co. and Journey: One Bar At a Time. Journey owner Misala Calakovic also featured items from her second business, Nu Moda, where she sells crossbody bags, headbands and scrunchies.

“I came here to show what I am creating, and offer an alternative in regards to soaps and ultimately skincare,” Calakovic said.

Natural Habitat Evanston, a sub-group of the association Climate Action Evanston, gave away free Evanston-native seeds to promote green spaces and advocate for protecting pollinators and birds.

Leaders from Natural Habitat Evanston also promoted techniques to prevent birds from crashing into windows. Catie Lott, a member of the Natural Habitat Evanston committee, said drawing specific patterns with a bright white marker on windows can help

birds evade windows.

“If you have horizontal lines, birds will fly into it, they think they can get within the horizontal lines,” Lott said. “But for vertical lines, birds won’t fly through.”

Nearby booths also offered tips for individual action items. Citizens’ Climate Lobby distributed informational pamphlets and posters about reducing carbon footprint and energy usage. The organization’s table showed examples of alternative light bulbs for lower watt consumption.

Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago offered promotional materials for kids to learn facts about water, like where it goes after flushing the toilet. The organization provided coloring books and crossword puzzles about the water industry, as well as books focused on other topics like saving the monarch butterfly.

Knappenberger, who also attended the Earth Day event last year, said she appreciated learning from the many organizations and had a great time with her family.

“(My kids) definitely have been learning about Earth Day in school, and so it’s fun to bring that into the weekend and celebrate that with our family,” Knappenberger said. astryrodriguez2025@u.northwestern.edu

the written language to “speaking Latin in Rome.”

sandwiches and Jewish staples like matzo ball soup and latkes by the time the Mensch’s storefront opens up.

With lines out the door during the first weekend of the pop-up, Mensch’s has already attracted many NU students and Evanston residents alike. Many students flocked to Picnic to grab a New York-style bagel.

“It was definitely worth waking up for,” said Medill

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With the pop-up open for another seven weekends, students and community members still have time to check out Mensch’s and indulge in a bagel, a cup of joe or a baked good.

“It was good to confirm that people do indeed like bagels,” said Kogan. kunjalbastola2026@u.northwestern.edu

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DAILY SUDOKU

Earning a minor allows students to develop language proficiency and have a degree to show for it, Lys said. Arabic is spoken worldwide, she added, and plays an important role in the business world, because of the increase in business with Arab countries.

Weinberg junior Sara Ibrahim, co-President of MENA Student Association, described the new minor as a “testament” to the efforts of students and faculty. She said the minor will increase enrollment in Arabic and incentivize students to take Arabic language classes.

Mikhaeel said students have historically been frustrated with not earning any degree in Arabic, even after spending three or four years learning the language. He said he was happy the administration listened to students and created the minor.

“It’s good to get those who have the energy and those who own the future to say their say,” he said. “As long as it is toward construction, toward building, towards improving.”

In recent years, the Arabic language program at NU has shifted its curriculum to incorporate Ammiyah Arabic, the spoken language, Mikhaeel said. Previously, the program has only offered written Arabic.

Spoken Arabic is more often used in everyday life, he said. Mikhaeel compared speaking

Before the curriculum incorporated Ammiyah Arabic, students struggled to communicate with others when studying abroad in the MENA region, Mikhaeel said.

“Students come from all walks of life. Some of them are into politics of the Middle East or doing field research in anthropology research,” Mikhaeel said. “These kinds of students will be dealing with people in the streets, in the villages. People in everyday life ... don’t speak the written language.”

With the new minor, Mikhaeel said he is looking forward to being able to teach Islamic manuscripts. Students would analyze different aspects of the manuscript, such as translating the writing and the document’s artistic elements.

Arabic language Prof. Rana Raddawi is also interested in teaching new classes for the minor, including a course about intercultural communication between “the East and West.” Raddawi and Mikhaeel both hope NU will also create an Arabic major in the future.

“Other languages at Northwestern — as important as Arabic — French, German, Portuguese, Spanish have minors and majors in their respective languages,” Raddawi said. “So why not Arabic?”

kaavyabutaney2026@u.northwestern.edu

DAILY CROSSWORD

Students rave about Celsius drink, even after lawsuit

By JESSICA MA daily senior staffer @jessicama2025

Many students start their mornings with a cup of coffee. But Weinberg junior Shawn Liang gulps down a can of Celsius, a popular energy drink.

“I’ve developed a routine where I wake up and I keep a can on my bedside,” Liang said. “I grasp for it in the morning. It’s usually the first thing that gets me going.”

Celsius has grown in popularity since its founding in 2004. It’s now the third-largest energy drink company in the U.S. For some Northwestern students, like Liang, it’s their source of caffeine.

According to a lawsuit filed last November, Celsius mislabeled its product as containing “no preservatives,” even though it contains citric acid. As part of the settlement, customers could receive up to $250 if their submitted claims are approved.

Medill junior Claire Foltz said she didn’t end up submitting a claim, though she has bought about five cases. As a “loyal customer,” Foltz said she supports the company.

“Since then, I’ve had more Celsius,” Foltz said. “It feels kind of fake to partake in the settlement.”

After a friend’s recommendation, Foltz started drinking Celsius during Fall Quarter because she got “busier and sleepier.” Coffee just wasn’t cutting it for her anymore, she said.

Foltz said she needed something “stronger and quicker,” which she said Celsius provides. Once Foltz takes a sip, she said she feels “immediate relief.”

“There’s really nothing quite like it,” Foltz said. “You take a sip and you’re buzzing. Your heart starts racing.”

Energy drinks usually taste awful to Liang, but Celsius’ taste impressed him. The first time Liang tried Celsius, he didn’t realize it contained caffeine, he said. Liang thought it was “zero-calorie juice.”

Liang said Celsius’ marketing emphasizes health benefits that appeal to wellness-oriented customers. On the front of the can, Celsius advertises the product accelerates metabolism,

burns body fat and provides “essential energy.”

Feinberg Prof. Marilyn Cornelis said these claims are likely based on the effects of caffeine — meaning consumers could receive the same benefits from a cup of coffee.

“They might sell it as something very novel, but the research just shows that it’s really just the caffeine,” Cornelis said.

Though both coffee and Celsius contain caffeine, Cornelis also noted there are chemical differences.

Coffee is derived from a plant, so it contains thousands of compounds, which have yet to be fully researched, Cornelis said. On the other hand, she said Celsius isn’t a natural product, since it has an ingredient list.

Liang said he prefers Celsius over coffee, because Celsius is always “ready to go.” It’s cold and delicious, he added.

“Coffee is tough to drink,” Liang said. “You’ve got to put a lot of stuff in it and prepare it. There’s a lot of different roasts.”

Cornelis said Celsius targets a younger demographic by adding sweetness. These drinks taste “yummy,” she said, whereas coffee is bitter.

While each serving/can of Celsius contains 200 milligrams of caffeine, coffee contains about 95 milligrams per cup. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration cites 400 milligrams of caffeine per day — about four to five cups of coffee — as the safe maximum level of consumption for adults.

But Cornelis said bodies respond to caffeine differently due to genetics. If people metabolize caffeine quickly, they’re naturally going to consume more caffeine, because its stimulant effects lessen, she said.

“Some people consume a lot of caffeine, and they’re fine. Others are very content with just one serving,” Cornelis said. “That just speaks to the between-person variation.”

Heavy caffeine users may experience withdrawal symptoms, like headaches, if they immediately abstain from caffeine, Cornelis said. To avoid these symptoms, she recommended gradually reducing caffeine consumption each day.

Cornelis said students should be attune to their body’s response to caffeine intake, whether it be in the form of Celsius or coffee.

In her genetic studies, Cornelis found people naturally modify their consumption behaviors in response to caffeine.

“I’m a huge body listener,” Foltz said. “If I’m

tired, I’ll drink caffeine. I don’t fight very hard with my body.”

Illustration by Shveta Shah Celsius is a popular energy drink among college students — advertised to include health benefits like increased metabolism.

NU scores regular season title in win over Maryland

By JAKE EPSTEIN the daily northwestern @jakeepste1n

After more than two months of action, No. 2 Northwestern’s regular season all came down to a Saturday night sellout on Lake Michigan.

NU reached the mountaintop on multiple occasions this season — defeating then-No. 3 Boston College, then-No. 4 Stony Brook and then-No. 1 North Carolina in dominant home displays inside Ryan Fieldhouse. But a final matchup stood in the way of an outright Big Ten regular-season championship, the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament and

a spot atop the national polls.

As coach Kelly Amonte Hiller’s team braced for its last battle prior to postseason play, No. 12 Maryland marched into Martin Stadium, eyeing an upset victory to catapult itself to the top seed in the Big Ten Tournament and punch its ticket to the conference semifinal.

“We knew it was going to be a fight,” senior attacker Erin Coykendall said.

“Being the second ranked team in the country, no matter who comes in here, they’re going to give us a fight. That’s what we wanted.”

Under the cover of darkness, the Wildcats (15-1, 6-0 Big Ten) snatched victory from the Terrapins (12-5, 4-2 Big Ten), thanks to a second-half attacking

brigade matched with an unnavigable defensive blockade.

Freshman midfielder Madison Taylor handled the opening draw, and graduate student attacker Izzy Scane scampered in front of the net before putting NU in front just 31 seconds into the game. Less than three minutes later, Taylor received a pinpoint pass from graduate student attacker Hailey Rhatigan and doubled the Cats’ advantage to 2-0.

After Coykendall completed the 3-0 NU run, Maryland attacker Libby May and midfielder Shaylan Ahearn corralled consecutive conversions, bringing it back to a one-score game. But 2:28 later, graduate student midfielder Elle Hansen drew a free position shot with

0.7 seconds left in the period and beat the buzzer from the eight-meter to settle a 4-2 lead for the Cats.

Ahearn grabbed her second goal of the night less than a minute into the second frame, and Terrapin attacker Chrissy Thomas tied the contest at four apiece on her team’s ensuing possession. When Maryland threatened to take its first lead of the day, graduate student goalkeeper Molly Laliberty made the improbable look routine on a pair of acrobatic saves around the quarter’s midway point.

As the NU attack struggled to find its shooting form in the second quarter, Laliberty gobbled up a last-second free position attempt, while the Cats’ defense constantly checked and clawed its way to maintain a 4-4 score heading into the break.

“We really were able to step up to the challenge and embrace that hardship,” sophomore defender Samantha White said. “It made us gel together as a defense even more.”

Following nearly 18 scoreless minutes, Taylor fed Hansen for the go-ahead score, handing NU a 5-4 lead with 12:12 remaining in the third period. The firstyear phenom then drew a shooting space call and sank the resultant free position tally — her 40th goal of the season.

While Terrapin attacker Eloise Clevenger responded to split the deficit, Taylor punched back on a hat trick goal, emphatically spiking her stick against the turf to emblematize the 7-5 edge.

Just when the Cats needed a spark amid a four-plus minute scoring lull, Rhatigan sprinted past the heart of the Maryland defense and found twine on a low-arcing shot. In the waning moments of the third quarter, she struck again

MEN’S TENNIS

No. 26 Wildcats split weekend in Michigan

By ALYCE BROWN daily senior staffer @alycebrownn

No. 26 Northwestern split a pair of matches on the road this weekend, closing its regular season with impressive efforts against Michigan and Michigan State.

The Wildcats (19-8, 7-2 Big Ten) had an opportunity to pick up a huge conference victory against No. 7 Michigan (22-3, 8-1 Big Ten) on Friday and avenge a 4-0 loss to the Wolverines in January.

The team managed to hold its own in doubles, but it wasn’t quite enough.

The No. 80 duo of graduate student Ivan Yatsuk and junior Gleb Blekher forced the Wolverines to a tiebreaker on Court 2, but fell 7-6. Michigan then clinched the doubles point on Court 3.

Graduate students Steven Forman and Simen Bratholm, the No. 61 duo, were cut off in their match against Michigan’s No. 8 pair on the top court, where they went blow-for-blow with each other and were in the middle of a tiebreaker at cutoff time.

After the tight slate of doubles matches where the Wolverines’ dominating power didn’t make much of an appearance, it roared out in singles.

Michigan took five out of six first sets, with the sole victorious Wildcat being No. 60 Forman on Court 1. He converted that momentum into NU’s only point of the match, taking down No. 11 Andrew Fenty in straight sets for a huge personal win.

Elsewhere, it was Wolverine territory. Michigan took down Bratholm and Blekher first, then clinched the match on a successful tiebreaker over

junior Presley Thieneman, ending the Cats’ upset hopes 4-1.

Up until the very end, NU consistently fought. Many matches remained close, and the effort from the Cats against a talented Wolverine team showcased a strength that bodes well for their Big Ten Tournament hopes.

NU found a much easier battle against No. 66 Michigan State on Sunday.

Despite a Spartan pickup on Court 3, doubles proved quick work for the Wildcats, who took courts 1 and 2, both 6-4, to tally the doubles point.

Thieneman jumped out first in singles, as he did last week against Wisconsin, to build on NU’s lead with a 6-4, 6-2 victory on Court 5. Blekher quickly followed with a 6-1, 6-3 takedown on Court 6, emphasizing the Cats’ strength on their lower courts.

The clinch came from Bratholm, who took his match 7-5, 6-3 to close out the Spartans 4-1. The rest of the courts finished their matches, making the final score a deep 6-1 victory for the Cats.

Although a Wolverine upset earlier in the weekend would have been a resume booster heading into the postseason, the pickup against the Spartans was a valuable addition to NU’s conference victories and improved that record to 7-2.

From here forward, all that’s left for the Cats’ season is all-important tournament play. The Big Ten Tournament takes place later this week, where NU’s No. 3 seed books them a ticket straight to the quarterfinals on Friday, where it will rematch with Wisconsin. When the teams met last weekend, the Cats took a 4-1 win. alycebrown2025@u.northwestern.edu

— this time from a free position attempt — to extend NU’s lead to 9-5 with 15 minutes to play.

Coykendall kickstarted the final frame’s proceedings with a goal, but the flow then transitioned to a chippy battle between the restraining lines. With the clock ticking beyond the seven-minute mark, Rhatigan completed her hat trick on an unassisted tally, propelling the Cats to an 11-5 margin.

Rhatigan’s second-half clinic picked up more steam as the contest continued, as she stormed the cage to tally her fourth goal with 3:32 remaining. After Thomas scored the Terrapins’ first goal in more than twenty minutes, Coykendall collected the ball in the game’s closing moments. Yet, rather than kill the clock, the “Spencerport sniper” ended the contest with a bang, scoring through pressure to place a final nail in the coffin for a 13-6 conference clinching conquest.

“Anytime you win a title, it’s a really special thing,” Amonte Hiller said. “These girls should be really proud of themselves … I’m proud of the way they came out of the locker room at halftime and stayed together — found the holes (on offense) and stayed together defensively.”

Purple confetti draped the night sky as NU hoisted the Big Ten regularseason championship trophy. The team reveled in the moment not as a means to an end, but as “a good start” with plenty of work left to do, Coykendall said.

The Cats will face the winner of the quarterfinal matchup between No. 14 Penn State and No. 18 Michigan May 4 in Columbus, Ohio — likely entering the game with the No. 1 national ranking.

jacobepstein2026@u.northwestern.edu

Price: Second series win unlikely

By LAWRENCE PRICE daily senior staffer @lpiii_tres

Northwestern’s historically dismal 2-17 start to the season before Big Ten play can be credited to many excusable factors.

A new head coach, the majority of starters leaving, two long-tenured coaches stepping down unexpectedly — it takes time for a team to mesh and find a rhythm. And it looked like the Wildcats (6-28, 3-9 Big Ten) found that two weeks ago, as coach Jim Foster and his team strung together the most momentum they’ve had all season.

NU had finally won its first series of the year, taking two of three against in-state rival Illinois at Miller Park in the Cats’ first home series of the 2023 campaign. Following the series-clinching win on April 9, Foster said the team was starting to figure out its identity and the jive of its heartbeat.

Two weeks later, though, NU has yet to find the win column again versus Big Ten opponents, losing most recently to Rutgers (24-16, 7-5 Big Ten) on Sunday, 5-1. The loss capped off the Scarlet Knights’ series sweep, while the Cats have dropped its last six conference contests, losing three outings each to Nebraska last weekend and Rutgers this go-around.

Foster said he felt NU played well this weekend but still has a lot to do — emphasized by the three straight losses. Although progress has been made since the season opener, there may not be enough time for the Cats to turn it around, with much more work needed and most teams already in mid-to-late season form. Specifically, it means winning another Big Ten series.

Let’s break it down using the Rutgers series.

NU’s Friday opener was ugly. Besides junior infielder Tony Livermore’s RBI single in the fifth inning, NU’s offense stalled,

producing just four other hits and zero runs over nine innings and losing 7-1. Holding the second-worst batting average in the conference (.249), the Cats’ struggles at the plate stuck out like a sore thumb.

Even though the bats woke up Saturday, putting seven runs across the plate, pitching woes took the crown that time by giving up 11 runs — providing a reminder on why NU has the conference’s highest ERA (9.31). Rutgers’ ability to capitalize and drive in runners in scoring position, a point of emphasis that separates good and great teams, was apparent throughout this series.

Additionally, in five of the last six conference matchups, NU hasn’t scored first once. As a result of playing from behind, the Cats were outscored 23-9 in the Rutgers series and 35-10 versus Nebraska.

Of course, any team can come from behind and win, including NU. But with a struggling offense, an untrustworthy pitching staff and a deeply talented Big Ten, the Cats’ possibility of doing so is low.

Now, it’s difficult to harp on a program clearly rebuilding and facing roster turnover from last season, setting up tons of inconsistency. Coach Foster noted it takes multiple recruiting cycles to finally see the product he might have envisioned years before.

That brings me to my point: With many players currently on the roster that

were selected by a past regime with different focuses and ideals, the brand of baseball the new coaching staff wants may materialize early on. And bouncing around three head coaches in three years doesn’t help.

We’ve already seen Foster mix and match to try and find the right combination. Over the past three series, he has placed Livermore, freshman infielder/ outfielder Owen McElfatrick and graduate outfielder Griffin Arnone in the leadoff spot — underscoring how NU still hasn’t found its groove.

NU has 16 contests left in the season, and of course, a surge to walk off into the sunset would be perfect. However, with so many questions still to be answered and holes in various parts of their game, the Cats’ conference losing streak is coming at the worst possible time.

All four of NU’s remaining Big Ten opponents hold a top-five conference record — Michigan State at No. 5, Indiana at No. 1, Michigan at No. 3 and Iowa at No. 4 — making the chances of a late-season push even less likely.

With the middle-of-the-pack opponents already out the way and the heavy hitters lining up, it may mean NU’s next series win will come in 2024.

Photo courtesy of Griffin Quinn/Northwestern Athletics

The Big Ten regular-season champions bask in the glory of their win. The Cats won all six conference games this season, culminating in a 13-6 victory against Maryland on Saturday.

Ziye Wang/The Daily Northwestern