The Daily Northwestern — May 31, 2019

The Daily Northwestern Friday, May 31, 2019

DAILYNORTHWESTERN.COM 8 SPORTS/All Sports

3 CAMPUS/Student Life

The Daily’s End of Year Awards

Students express outrage over expensive senior week

Find us online @thedailynu 4 OPINION/Bian

A farewell to the opinion desk

High 82 Low 58

By MARISSA MARTINEZ

daily senior staffer @mar1ssamart1nez

A FRAGMENTED SYSTEM

Margaret Rothe has met with children from almost every elementary and middle school in Evanston during her 25 years as a social worker in Evanston/Skokie School District 65.

By now, she’s working with the second or third generation of the same families, who are reporting similar mental health problems, which she said is indicative of a pattern of inadequate services. And over the past few years, something has changed — but for the worse.

“The numbers of mental illness are the highest I’ve ever seen,” Rothe told The Daily last May, “whether it’s stress, anxiety, PTSD. The amount of need is greater. I’ve had some of those kids and I’ve had their parents through the same program. The problem is getting bigger, not smaller.”

Rothe is not alone in noticing a pattern of mental health concerns among children and adolescents in Evanston’s public school system. District social workers, including Rothe, approached the city’s Mental Health Board a year ago to discuss high levels of inequity in acquiring care. During the meeting, members of the board said they were “blown away” by student hospitalization rates and had “no idea” the problem was getting worse.

Ever since, many city officials and school employees have said the district’s awareness of » See IN FOCUS, page 6

Concerns remain for OSR Bill to expand financial aid Even with an increased staff, concerns remain

Act would offer aid to groups not previously eligible

By GABBY BIRENBAUM

By AUSTIN BENAVIDES and DAISY CONANT

daily senior staffer @birenbomb

In April, Provost Jonathan Holloway and Craig Johnson, senior vice president for business and finance, responded to a growing chorus of concerns from faculty about a research backlog taking place in Northwestern’s Office for Sponsored Research. Feeling pressured by the University to produce research and contribute to a nearly $1 billion enterprise, faculty did not feel supported by the length of the administrative process for awarding grants and frustrated by their lack of information in explaining the delays.

Hearing these struggles, the pair committed to increased staffing and transparency, while promising to bring a team of outside temporary staff to process the existing backlog. Associate vice president for research Rex Chisholm, who oversees OSR, said those promises have been met.

All of the new positions that the office received permission from central administration to hire in April have been filled, and the interview process to fill the position of Executive Director, which has been empty since September, is well underway. External consultants are going through the grants award contracts and subcontracts that had been held up in administrative back-and-forth. “ We’re doing a pretty

the daily northwestern @awstinbenavides @ daisy_conant

Source: Feinberg School of Medicine

The Simpson Querrey Biomedical Research Center, a new Northwestern facility opening in June. With the addition of SQBRC, the Office for Sponsored Research’s workload will only grow.

timely turnaround time in terms of setting up awards, and we’re really focused on making progress,” Chisholm said. “The response from central administration has been terrific.”

Progress is occurring, though it may be fleeting.

The impending opening of Simpson Querrey Biomedical Research Center and further expansion of the research enterprise will require even greater staffing demands.

But a former employee in the Office for Sponsored Research, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said a culture of grants officers being overworked and underpaid contributed to heightened tensions in the office and the backlog itself.

Both Chisholm and the

Serving the University and Evanston since 1881

former employee said the backlog occurs in the process of grant awarding rather than grant proposal submission.

There is an “absolute rule” that all grant proposals submitted on time to OSR will be submitted to the awarding institution — often a governmental body — on time.

Poor training of grants officers and understaffing mean that even though all proposals are submitted on time, problems arise during the grant awarding stage if a proposal is accepted, the former employee said. OSR employees typically review salaries, indirect cost rates, legal concerns and accordance with Northwestern policies and guidelines when going over a grant submission, » See OSR, page 8

A bill passed the Illinois House and Senate that would offer financial aid to undocumented students and transgender students not enrolled in the selective service.

House Bill 2691, known as the Retaining Illinois Students and Equity Act, would also abolish the cap on Monetary Award Program grants.

Around 640 undergraduate students at Northwestern received a MAP grant this

academic year, according to them from federal and state the Office of Undergraduate aid, Vergara Miranda said.

Financial Aid. “So I never did FAFSA,” Brian Drabik, the senior Vergara Miranda said. “I associate director of the had to do the CSS profile office, estimates around 15 because I only applied to of those students will benefit private schools because prifrom the bill. vate schools would be the We i n b e r g f r e s h m a n only one that would be able Teresa Vergara Miranda is to fund me. And so, because an undocumented Illinois I’m being privately funded resident. She said although by Northwestern entirely, I the bill is “a good step for- wouldn’t receive any of this ward,” she predicts it will funding at all.” ultimately benefit students If a student indicates of public universities over they’re undocumented when private universities. Typi- applying to NU, the Univercally, undocumented students sity waives the FAFSA and don’t apply for aid through asks them to complete the the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, which bars » See UNDOCUMENTED, page 8

Alison Albelda/ Daily Senior Staffer

House Bill 2691, now passed through the Illinois state senate, would remove credit hour caps for students receiving Monetary Award Program grants.

INSIDE: Around Town 2 | On Campus 3 | Opinion 4 | Classifieds & Puzzles 10 | Sports 12

2 NEWS | THE DAILY NORTHWESTERN

FRIDAY, MAY 31, 2019

AROUND TOWN

EPD dashboard program falls short in representation

By CASSIDY WANG

the daily northwestern @cassidyw_

In an effort to increase police transparency, the Evanston Police Department recently launched a police dashboard program that displays data on police activity and categorizes incidents by race.

However, demographic categorizations of people marked as “Hispanic” coming into contact with police are causing concerns with the accuracy of the data.

The data range from pat downs, which are categorized by race, to use of force, categorized by type. Evanston police Cmdr. Ryan Glew said the objective of the dashboard program is to create a level of transparency for the police department’s “day-in and day-out activities.”

“We want the community to trust what we say,” Glew said. “We want to give ourselves credibility in the community.”

According to the 2018 dashboard data, 419 field contacts where a pat down occurred involved black people, whereas 137 field contacts involved white people. Data showed that only three field contacts involved Hispanic people.

Glew said people are rightfully “very concerned” about these numbers. He said the lack of representation of Hispanic people in the data may not align with community members’ perceptions of what the numbers should be, especially with the categorization of field contacts by race.

“There have been some concerns voiced about if we’re accurately representing the racial makeup of the people that we’re coming in contact with, who we’re stopping, who we’re arresting, who our victims are,” Glew said.

Glew said possible misrepresentations of the demographic data comes from the categorization of Hispanic people, which agencies within the state and FBI considers an ethnicity, not a race. The police department has to categorize Hispanic people as either white Hispanic or black Hispanic because of federal precedent.

“But when the data is presented in that fashion, it looks like we’re underrepresenting the Hispanics that we’re coming into contact with,” Glew said.

“That’s the concern.”

Glew said this “visual underrepresentation” is consistent across the entire dashboard.

He said the police department will have to reconcile race and ethnicity to provide more correct data going forward.

“How this is categorized, how this is collected is probably not consistent with people’s perception of what it should be,” Glew said. “We’re adhering to what an agency tells us, so this is based on race, not based on ethnicity.”

Austin Spillar, a member of CNP, said in an email to The Daily that the incorrect demographic data is problematic for several reasons. Because the data gives an inaccurate portrayal of who is being stopped by EPD, there is no clear way to determine whether racial profiling or bias was involved.

Studies demonstrate that misrepresentation of Latinx people can create problems within the criminal legal system. According to the Urban Institute, few states include Latinx people in most criminal justice data. Without comprehensive data, policymakers, community members and advocates cannot understand the effects of mass incarceration on Latinx people specifically, while states that only count people as “black” or “white”’ likely label most of their Latinx prison population as “white.” This has the potential to artificially inflate the number of “white” people in prison and mask the racial disparity in the criminal justice system, according to the study.

Spillar said a reasonable inference can be made that police departments don’t designate “Hispanic” as a category in order to inflate numbers to show there is no racial bias. Whether the statistics involve stop and frisk, traffic stops, or marijuana arrests and citations, he said the numbers have consistently shown evidence of racial bias within EPD over the years.

Such inaccurate data would also prevent community members who are concerned about racial profiling or racial bias in policing from holding

authorities accountable, Spillar said.

“The implications of not having the correct demographic data is it doesn’t give us an accurate representation of who the Evanston Police Department is stopping, coming into contact with, arresting,” Spillar said in an email.

With inaccurate statistics, Spillar said it is difficult to correctly identify the problem and therefore correctly identify a solution.

Spillar called on EPD to present more data on traffic stops and contact cards that would answer questions — including whether or not there was a subsequent search or if contraband was found during a stop. After a 2014 University of North Carolina study revealed Evanston police were seven times more likely to search a black driver than a white one, Spillar said this information can be an important indication of racial profiling.

“They have all this data on hand and I don’t think they’re sharing it all,” Spillar said. “We need to know if contraband was found.”

Spillar said this information is important because if police officers are stopping people of color and rarely finding anything, their policies may not be beneficial. Instead, this could potentially result in the community not trusting trust the police.

As a whole, Spillar said EPD should provide more data on the dashboard.

“Data is at the heart of transparency and transparency is at the heart of building trust,” Spillar said.

The dashboard data visualizes discrepancies in numbers from 2017 to 2019, showing trends in police activity and whether there has been an uptick.

Across racially categorized data, such as criminal offenders and pat downs, numbers for black people are significantly higher. In 2018, 2,438 criminal offenders were categorized as black, whereas 1,286 were white. In Evanston, 66 percent of residents are white, whereas 18 percent are black or African-American, according to the most recent census data.

While the dashboard serves to provide greater transparency on police activity to Evanston residents, Glew said presenting data on the city’s website is not the final step.

“It’s not a magic wand,” Glew said. “It’s not the silver bullet. It is one of the tools we are going to use to increase transparency and make what we’re doing accessible to the public.”

Spillar said the dashboard does not go far enough.

He said he would like for the police department to take a more proactive role, analyzing the data and not leaving it up to interpretation for the public.

“They’re not highlighting where racial bias and racial profiling typically exist in the police department,” Spillar said. “It’s one thing just to have a bunch of data, but if you’re not using that data to craft better policies or find problems, then it’s really not very effective.” cassidywang2022@u.northwestern.edu

Setting the record straight An article published in Thursday’s paper misspelled ShopNOV, misstated UNITY co-president Lilli Boice’s position within the organization and misspelled her last name. The Daily regrets the errors.

An article published in Thursday’s paper said Riley was Multicultural Filmmakers Collective’s spring speaker.

The event was also hosted by Studio 22 Productions, the Undergraduate Radio/ Television/Film Student Association, as well as the department of AfricanAmerican Studies and Radio/Television/Film. In addition, Maggie Brill was stated as being a member of Multicultural Filmmakers Collective. She is actually a member of Studio 22 Productions and USRA. The Daily regrets the errors.

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THE DAILY NORTHWESTERN | NEWS 3

FRIDAY, MAY 31, 2019

ON CAMPUS

Students angry over Senior Week prices

By CAMERON COOK

daily senior staffer @cameron_e_cook

Some students who can’t afford to pay to participate in Northwestern’s Senior Week are finding alternatives to the activities, saying the University excludes low-income students from partaking in them.

Senior Week is a collection of both free and ticketed events that occur between finals and commencement. The activities, which range from an alumni office-sponsored beer garden to a $55 day trip to Six Flags, have been met with student disdain. Low-income students have taken to social media to air their grievances with what they see as the University’s refusal to support those who aren’t rich and privileged.

SESP senior Samantha Buresch said she’s not surprised the University would exclude low-income students from Senior Week, but that the high cost of the activities was a “smack in the face,” especially since for some of the events, it would be cheaper to go alone rather than through the University.

“These events are ridiculously priced,” Buresch said. “I can go to Lincoln Park Zoo on my own, for free. They’re literally going to Shedd Aquarium on a free day and trying to charge students.”

Though students can attempt to lessen the cost using One Form — a program Student Enrichment Services developed in 2017 to help low-income students pay for on-campus activities — the money isn’t available to everyone who may need it. SES can only cover the expenses for a “limited number” of students, according to Northwestern’s website.

The money typically comes in the form of reimbursement, Buresch said, and students who are unable to front the cash can’t sign up in the first place. In addition, applications for One Form were due on May 27, which Buresch

said was before the prices for the events were released. The deadline for the application has since been extended to May 31.

Communication senior Taylor Stark said another problem with One Form is that it isn’t well publicized — she’s used it once, she said, but wished she’d known about the opportunity earlier.

SES did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

In addition, events sponsored by the Alumni Association come with the extra cost of a donation to the school, Buresch said. The Alumni Association deferred comment to University spokesman Bob Rowley, who said a donation isn’t required to attend Alumni Association events, both during Senior Week and the rest of the year.

“Participation in these programs does not require a gift to the University, although some of the activities do have a registration fee,” Rowley told The Daily in an email.

However, some still feel as though by making the events ticketed, the University is keeping low and middle-income students from celebrating.

“It kind of goes with the idea of who is able to pay for these events and keeping those students happy and only focusing on those students,” Buresch said.

Stark said she doesn’t feel like the University is purposefully excluding low-income students, but called pricing the events so high a “gross oversight” of low-income students and their end-of-year experiences, and that students should be able to “purposefully choose” whether or not to attend events rather than being forced to choose not to for financial reasons.

“I have already felt excluded at this university because of my financial background,” she said. “It seems to me that an institution of this status should try their best to help students not feel this way instead of adding to it.”

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A meme on Northwestern’s meme page making fun of Senior Week pricing.

expensive events, like the formal dance, some seniors are organizing their own events. One student-run event is an alternative formal, which Buresch said will cost between $20 and $25 — half the price of the Senior Week formal.

Stark said she might also attend the student-organized formal, but definitely plans to attend smaller parties thrown by some of her friends, as well as a couple of the schoolsanctioned events — she would go to more, she said, but can’t afford many of them.

“What is supposed to have been a joyous celebration of all we have accomplished has turned into a financial stress and burden,” Stark said. “I have given my blood, sweat, tears and money to this school for four years. Seems like they could throw us a bone and pay for Senior Week.”

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OPINION

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Friday, May 31, 2019

A farewell to the opinion desk, but not to tough topics ANDREA BIAN

OPINION EDITOR

Eight months ago, I started my first year at Northwestern, with my mind full of possibilities as to what was to come. I knew I wanted to write for some campus publication, having done journalism in high school. But I didn’t know where I wanted to write, who I wanted to write for, or what I wanted to write about.

If you were to go back and tell September 2018 me that by the end of the year I would be an opinion editor, I would have said you were crazy.

I remember going to The Daily’s open house in early October of last year and visiting each desk, overwhelmed by all of the options. At my small high school paper, I wrote everything from sports to news, and didn’t even know something like an opinion desk existed, that was solely devoted to individual experiences and personal narratives.

I think that’s what made me agree to start writing columns for opinion. As I’ve stated in columns before, I had never had a concrete platform to speak out on issues that I feel affect not only myself but others around me, using stories from my own life.

Before I knew it, I had committed to writing at least a few columns for the opinion desk. I left the third floor of Norris that night feeling a little lightheaded, wondering what I had just done. Amid all of the opportunities and activities that had been shoved at me during orientation and the first few weeks of classes, I had finally committed to something. I finally had direction.

In the months following, I wrote columns about everything I could think of, from political issues to college admissions to pop culture. It was refreshing to brainstorm my

own ideas and write what I was passionate about. Even with the negative comment here and there, the positive feedback I received made me feel satisfied with my work.

The next thing I knew, I was assistant opinion editor, and then the opinion editor.

Going from assistant opinion editor to the head of the desk was extremely intimidating. I remember worrying during my entire four-hour flight to Chicago before the start of spring quarter, wondering if I had made a mistake by taking on the position. How could I ever be prepared for such responsibility — to edit all opinion pieces and oversee the entire desk — when I hadn’t even finished one year at Northwestern?

Looking back now, I know nothing could have ever prepared me for what was ahead.

Nothing could have readied me for endless late nights, for writing columns in record time, for improvising on the page last-minute. Nothing could have prepared me for the increased amount of hate mail or negative comments I received.

Race and ethnicity are topics that particularly interest me as a journalist. I’ve had a complicated relationship with my own race for as long as I can remember, so I took my time as opinion editor to delve deeper into that relationship, telling stories and writing about issues that I would have liked to have seen when I was younger and at the height of my conflict with my ethnic identity.

I’ve received a lot of criticism during my time writing for opinion — some of it justified, some of it less so. But this quarter, a particular form of criticism hit me harder than others.

Repeatedly, I was told I should write less about race. I was told to “relax.” I was told that writing “constantly” about race made me seem unlikable and angry at the world.

I found this criticism to be particularly interesting. It’s a form of feedback I’ve heard people of marginalized identities receive countless times, so to have it turned onto me

forced me to finally reconcile with what that felt like.

I’ve said this before — being able to write about race in such a public way has been incredibly empowering for me. After all, there are few other forums that allow me to write about these types of issues so openly.

Hearing that writing about my own issues with race made me seem angry revealed to me a priority other people thought I had: being liked.

Race is really hard to write about. It’s hard to talk about, too. It’s an uncomfortable topic. We believe we’re all good people, and no one likes to talk about racial minorities being systematically disadvantaged in multiple ways and on multiple levels. No one wants to take the blame for that.

But it’s a reality. There is no getting around it. And if no one talks about it, nothing will ever change.

Yes, maybe writing columns about race makes me seem angry. But it makes me seem angry because I am angry. I am angry that because of my race, I have been sometimes made to not feel like a complete human being. I am angry that this dehumanization can be even worse for people of other ethnic identities. And most of all, I am angry that by speaking out and writing about it in attempts to open minds and prompt change, people use this anger as a way to minimize

voices — voices that need a lot of courage, vulnerability and strength to form in the first place.

I don’t write for opinion to be liked. In fact, I often expect the opposite because I know people will frequently disagree. I can be angry and upset and still express my opinion in a polite and civilized way. I can channel that emotion into words, words that I desperately hope resonate with at least one person who may feel similarly.

I’ve written about representation in academia, my Chinese American identity, and how identity politics affected my own life experiences. Even though I’ve occasionally doubted the validity of my voice as I’ve received negative feedback, I am ultimately immensely proud of everything I’ve written as opinion editor, and I am especially proud of the personal columns I’ve written about my identity.

Saying goodbye to this desk means saying goodbye to all the highs and lows of something I never thought I would do. I know I’m not perfect. I still have so much to learn about journalism, about opinion writing, and about life. Through all the successes and frustrations I’ve had at this desk, I know that for certain.

Receiving an occasional text or email from someone telling me my column resonated with them makes those frustrations worth it. I’m taking a break from opinion to return to other forms of journalism. But despite attempts to prevent me from doing so, I won’t shy away from writing about tough topics — no matter what I choose to do.

Andrea Bian is a Medill f irst-year. She can be contacted at andreabian2022@u.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.

Theatre and The Daily: A (Short) Tale of Two Lives A. PALLAS GUTIERREZ

ASST. OPINION EDITOR

If there were a dual-degree program between Medill and the School of Communication, I would be in it. Initially, I looked at Northwestern because I had heard great things about our undergraduate journalism program. Then, during the summer before my senior year, I realized that my true passion was theatre, and I applied to the School of Communication. But I never stopped looking over my shoulder, wondering if I had made the wrong call.

In my early exploration of NU, when “journalist” was still going to be my future career, I had read about The Daily. I was a reporter and then a columnist in high school, where I wrote about sports, theatre and queer issues. Despite all the rumors I had heard about The Daily only being for Medill students, I marched to the interest meeting and became a Devo writer — the term we use for new writers before they become full staffers.

While the Devo process was kicking off, so was my StuCo season. I interviewed to be the lighting designer for Vertigo’s Winter Reading Series, which

led to me sound designing “Children of Eden,” which led to me becoming the master electrician for “Fefu and Her Friends.” All in all, I worked on ten StuCo shows this season, nine in two quarters.

I will openly admit I worked myself too hard.

Next year, I will be holding myself to a hard limit of four shows per quarter, preferably two or three. But even so, when those shows are in full swing, production team members have to be at some combination of build weekends, load-in, tech week, production meetings — which often start at 11:45 p.m. — and strike. For many theatre students, myself included, it often feels like there aren’t enough hours in a day.

With my busy schedule, being a reporter felt impossible. That I ended up at Opinion makes perfect sense in retrospect. I have a lot of opinions and not a lot of time. I could write an opinion piece overnight, send it to Alex, Marissa or Andrea for edits before coming in to the office, and be in the office for an hour or less, all the while still making it to my production meetings. Being an opinion writer gave me a non-theatrical outlet that fit into my life.

I applied to be assistant editor for selfish reasons.

I wanted to make sure that my “50 Years of Queer Anger” series could keep being published. But being assistant opinion editor has meant so much more. I have grown much closer to all the other editors and

learned a lot about how a newspaper gets made. I have had easy nights and insane nights, clocking out at 10 p.m. and 12:30 a.m. There was still a bit of the school barrier that I anticipated; as one of the 16.9 percent of Daily staffers outside Medill, I sometimes had to play catch-up to understand their references.

But overall, I have loved spending one night per week in The Daily office this quarter.

Being an opinion editor, in particular, has been very special. I have had complete control over what I write and how I write it. When I first pitched 50 Years, I was nervous that other people wouldn’t find my opinions — or the facts I presented with them — important or relevant. The validation of having the space to publish that series is a joy I am still struggling to put into words. I can never thank the opinion section enough.

Next year, I am going to be the technical director for Vertigo Productions, which means committing to at least build, load-in, tech and strike for each of Vertigo’s slots. I will also be on StuCo exec as coaccessibility, inclusion and diversity chair, a position that my co-chair and I are still shaping. My play, “Carolina at the Cross,” will be featured as a staged reading in Jewish Theatre Ensemble’s Night of New Work. I am fielding offers and sending out emails to work on other shows in scenic, lighting and sound design capacities. Everything is settling in, but I am

confident that this year will be a good one for me in StuCo. By contrast, I don’t know what my next steps at The Daily will be. Both theatre and editing are incredibly time-consuming, and I don’t feasibly have time for both. Maybe I will come back as assistant opinion editor, maybe transition to something else entirely or maybe this will be my final opinion piece.

It’s difficult to pick between two things I love, and I don’t think I’ll ever stop looking back on that day in July 2017 when I felt like I had decided for sure. I know that when push comes to shove, I’ll pick theatre over journalism, and that breaks my heart, but it’s what’s right for me.

Beyond all that, beyond all the aggressive decision-making college culture forces onto us, I am so glad I spent this quarter as assistant opinion editor.

I will always value my time here, no matter if this is my final quarter or the third of many.

A. Pallas Gutierrez is a Communication freshman. They can be contacted at pallas2022@u.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.

The Daily Northwestern Volume 139, Issue 127 Editor in Chief Alan Perez

Managing Editors Kristina Karisch Marissa Martinez Peter Warren

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR may be sent to 1999 Campus Drive, Evanston, IL 60208, via fax at 847-491-9905, via e-mail to opinion@dailynorthwestern.com or by dropping a letter in the box outside The Daily office.

Letters have the following requirements: • Should be typed • Should be double-spaced • Should include the author’s name, signature, school, class and phone number.

• Should be fewer than 300 words They will be checked for authenticity and may be edited for length, clarity, style and grammar.

Opinion Editor Andrea Bian

Assistant Opinion Editors A. Pallas Gutierrez

Letters, columns and cartoons contain the opinion of the authors, not Students Publishing Co. Inc. Submissions signed by more than three people must include at least one and no more than three names designated to represent the group.

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concertsatbienen.org 847-467-4000

June 3 - 13

Student Recitals Monday, June 3

Charlie Lin, violin 6 p.m., Regenstein Master Class Room Mason Cooper, baritone 6 p.m., Galvin Recital Hall Taichi Fukumura, conducting 7:30 p.m., Pick-Staiger Concert Hall Gabriel Walker, baritone 8:30 p.m., Galvin Recital Hall

Tuesday, June 4

Dennis Li, flute 6 p.m., Regenstein Master Class Room Louis Danowsky, conducting and orchestration 8:30 p.m., Ryan Opera Theater

Wednesday, June 5 Michelle Zarco, flute 6 p.m., Galvin Recital Hall

Sam Wolsk, jazz trumpet 6 p.m., Regenstein Master Class Room Nicholas Trimark, piano 8:30 p.m., Galvin Recital Hall

Thursday, June 6

Jesse Steele, classical guitar 6 p.m., McClintock Choral and Recital Room Benjamin Jacobs, double bass 8:30 p.m., McClintock Choral and Recital Room Rennie Cotner, horn 8:30 p.m., Galvin Recital Hall

Friday, June 7

Ben Sullivan, guitar 8:30 p.m. McClintock Choral and Recital Room

Saturday, June 8

Rebecca Oliverio, trumpet 12 p.m., Galvin Recital Hall Owen Ruff, violin 2:30 p.m., Galvin Recital Hall Hyejin Joo, piano 6 p.m., Galvin Recital Hall Ian Clark, baritone 6 p.m., Ryan Opera Theater Daniel Kim, saxophone 8:30 p.m., McClintock Choral and Recital Room Muzi Zhao, piano 8:30 p.m. Regenstein Master Class Room Tiana Sorenson, soprano 8:30 p.m., Galvin Recital Hall

Sunday, June 9

Matthew Mifflin, guitar 12 p.m., McClintock Choral and Recital Room Ayeong Jeong, violin 6 p.m., Galvin Recital Hall Grace Jong, mezzo-soprano 8:30 p.m., Galvin Recital Hall Sean Yeung, bass trombone 8:30 p.m. McClintock Choral and Recital Room

Monday, June 10

Elina Chekan, guitar 6 p.m. McClintock Choral and Recital Room

Tuesday, June 11

Ayla Langer, soprano 6 p.m., Galvin Recital Hall Lily Smith, soprano 8:30 p.m., Galvin Recital Hall

Thursday, June 13

Re Zhang, piano 6 p.m., Galvin Recital Hall

6 IN FOCUS | THE DAILY NORTHWESTERN

IN FOCUS From page 1

student concerns has increased, but the response is still lacking: More and more students are expressing signs of poor mental health.

One of the biggest problems is figuring out how to support them all — especially when a student who needs help faces systemic barriers, including their socioeconomic status, language differences and a lack of good insurance.

A national and local issue

According to the National Institute of Mental Health, an estimated 3.2 million adolescents — or 13.3 percent of Americans in this demographic — have had at least one major depressive episode in the past year.

Suicide is the third leading cause of death for people aged 15-34 in Illinois and the third leading cause of death for people aged 10-24 in the nation. Emergency departments across the country treat about 157,000 people in the latter age range annually for self-inflicted injuries.

According to the most recent Evanston Project for Local Assessment Needs report, 8.3 percent of local teens aged 12-17 experienced a major depressive episode in 2008. The city does not collect data on either suicide or hospitalization rates for young people with mental health problems.

District officials say many students report a variety of mental health conditions such as anxiety, depression, PTSD, suicidal ideation, attachment disorders and other disorders that require emotional and occupational therapy.

Michael Edwards, a special services supervisor for District 65, said diagnosing a child is a case-by-case process. Often, he said, teachers, families or even friends of a student who is having problems will come to him to report concerning behavior.

Edwards said he can meet with students up to five times without notifying parents or guardians — though he clarified family awareness of a problem is not necessarily “a bad thing.” After that limit is reached, Edwards said he — like other district social workers — must receive consent from guardians to continue meeting with the child or refer them to outside social service groups in case their need exceeds what a school can offer.

If a crisis arises, the school can send the student to the hospital or emergency services — but many said that may present challenges for families without documentation or insurance. District employees would be involved in the whole process, Edwards said, whether it means riding in the ambulance or waiting in the emergency room.

They also follow up with families afterward.

After being released from emergency services, children may get 90 days of medicated service, Rothe said, but they have to find a psychiatrist for a follow-up appointment, which can prove to be challenging for a variety of reasons, from cost to insurance to time. If they don’t check in with a therapist or psychiatrist after hospitalization, they may end up needing emergency services again.

When the problem grows beyond what the 25 social workers employed by District 65 can accommodate, they try to refer students to a variety of nonprofit agencies in Evanston, like The Family Institute, Metropolitan Family Services and Trilogy. However, families seeking help from organizations like these can sometimes encounter long wait times or inadequate services, especially when the agencies don’t have the funding to support a growing problem.

Top-down funding problems

Joyce Bartz, the assistant superintendent of special services for District 65, said there are many staff members committed to providing the “best support” possible for struggling students.

She said there are plans designed to address

FRIDAY, MAY 31, 2019 behavior and social issues, and assist families in finding resources they need.

“All students have access to mental health services depending upon their need and/or the severity of their situation or what they might require,” Bartz said.

Despite those intentions, some families say this system does not always serve every student well. An Evanston parent said she learned her son faced problems socializing when he was in kindergarten, and his teacher suggested he receive occupational therapy. The Daily is not identifying her for privacy reasons.

The mother said she asked if the district could cover the cost through special services. But since her son’s struggles were social, not academic, she said she was told to go outside the school district, which could have led to her paying outof-pocket because her insurance didn’t cover her child’s needs.

After her son struggled for a year, she approached his first-grade teacher during parentteacher conferences to discuss his challenges.

Only after that faculty member advocated for her son was he able to get help from a school social worker.

“He immediately started going to the social worker and… he goes, like, twice a week now,” she said. “It’s helped him a lot. But if it weren’t for that teacher, we would still be struggling.”

Students’ challenges were only exacerbated when the state faced a budget crisis.

Following the 2014 election of Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner, Illinois lacked a state budget for two years. Many agencies that received state funding had to close their doors. At the time, tens of thousands of Illinois residents lost access to mental health care.

The cuts trickled down to Evanston.

“There are organizations that have had to close their doors or organizations that are hanging on by the fabric of an operational dollar,” said Evonda Thomas-Smith, the city’s former health and human services director. “We have not caught up and recovered from that lack of funding.”

Thomas-Smith described a ripple effect from the budget crisis: For example, when a service provider’s reimbursement is delayed six months, it affects all operations, which leads to decreased access and availability for new patients. With a growing city population, demand stays high while the amount of services diminishes — and that leads to nonprofits closing because they can’t keep up. While those agencies try to work around deficits, she said, many marginalized communities in Evanston don’t receive help.

“The demand is still there… and I think we have maximized and become as lean as we possibly can,” Thomas-Smith said. “When nonprofit A closes their doors, (it) impacts nonprofit B, because nonprofit B who’s left standing is expected to pick up the excess — and providers cannot do that.”

Illustration by Roxanne Panas

Evonda Thomas-Smith, former Health and Human Services Director.

Evanston. Through her coverage, she said she could “scrape together” funds for a neurological psych evaluation for her child.

Facilities that lie far away from Evanston can cost less and accept a wider range of insurance, but might offer limited services as a result.

Bergner said that can mean children and teenagers might have to meet with an intern or graduate student who doesn’t have a lot of experience in handling complex cases, even if they’re being supervised by an experienced professional.

This could lead to inadequate care.

The limitations under Medicaid, the single largest payer for mental health services in the United States, affect the treatments families can receive. Like all states, Illinois is required to provide benefits like inpatient and outpatient hospital services under federal law. The insurance plan also covers services that fall under Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnostic, and Treatment, a benefit that provides health care for children under 21, including mental health screenings.

Under Group A services for individuals, mental health assessments, psychological evaluations

Low-income barriers

The ripple effect has not impacted all of Evanston’s communities equally. When it comes to cost and available insurance benefits, many lowincome households have experienced inequities while seeking out mental health care.

Jennifer Bergner, a social worker at Oakton Elementary School, said part of her job includes advocating for children and families in her school district. Although Evanston is resource-rich, there are still inequities in access, including for mental health care.

She said many barriers exist to obtaining help, including long waiting lists, limited insurance and a lack of provider choice, which can be especially challenging.

“I always tell people it’s best practice to choose a therapist that you feel comfortable with,” Bergner said. “But when you’re not provided options or you go back on another long waiting list, you almost feel like you have to take what you’re given, just because you don’t have the right insurance or you don’t have the money to pay cash.”

Bergner said options like Medicaid, state-provided insurance or an HMO plan can limit the quality of care future clients can attain. To receive care that’s in-network, families often have to leave Evanston for offices in Chicago or surrounding suburbs like Highland Park, Schaumburg and Hoffman Estates.

“It creates this cycle of in and outpatient therapies,” Thomas-Smith said, “and we really have a lack of outpatient therapies for low-income families. It just really fragments an already fragmented system.”

Angela Allyn’s three children attended District 65 and District 202 schools, and her youngest is about to graduate from Evanston Township High School. She said she was privileged as a parent who could navigate her way through statutes and even afford legal help when necessary.

“I understand when they’re doing something that’s not legal,” Allyn said. “The entire time I was going through this, I knew other kids who may have had similar struggles or worse.”

She said having health insurance benefited her children during their search for outside treatment, an inaccessible option for many in

Illustration by Roxanne Panas

Natalia Moreno Polomarkakis, bilingual social worker at District 65.

THE DAILY NORTHWESTERN | IN FOCUS 7

FRIDAY, MAY 31, 2019 and treatment plan developments at all ages can be obtained — at a time limit of a quarter of an hour.

However, the gap in the level of care someone would receive in 15 minutes, rather than a longer period of time covered by private insurance, is drastic, Bergner said. A therapist would likely not be able to understand a patient’s mental health history within that amount of time, leading to a potential misdiagnosis, she said.

“Doctors are given only certain amounts of time to be paid for,” Bergner said. “You could be a great child psychiatrist, (but) in a half an hour appointment, you’re not going to be able to conduct a really good history to be able to make an accurate diagnosis.”

Language and culture barriers

Beyond issues of income inequality, many residents face a language barrier. Students in District 65 collectively speak 62 languages, and among them, 13 percent are identified as English language learners.

Bartz said even though a “broad array” of languages exists throughout the city, that diversity isn’t similarly represented in the district’s staff.

When students who don’t have strong English skills come to district social workers with significant concerns and traumas, it may be difficult for both parties to communicate fully.

Despite the myriad languages spoken in schools across Evanston, there are very few measures in place to support those who do not speak English fluently.

Natalia Moreno Polomarkakis, a District 65 social worker, said she sees a disparity in access to mental health services in the city. A Spanish speaker, she is one of the district’s few bilingual social workers.

Some Evanston organizations, like The Family Institute, charge for services on a sliding scale and are potentially more affordable. Unfortunately, they don’t have more than one or two Spanish-speaking clinicians on staff, Moreno Polomarkakis said. This becomes a problem, she added, especially when families are dealing with issues like family separation or deportation.

In interviews with The Daily, many social workers noted that even fewer of their district colleagues speak languages like Haitian Creole or Arabic — to the detriment of students and their families.

Some households that don’t speak fluent English have come to Evanston from other cultures and communities outside the U.S. as immigrants or refugees. Thomas-Smith said she has noticed some children from those families display behavioral and anti-social tendencies — students as young as three years old — but no programming exists for that demographic.

Because of these cultural differences, she said many families aren’t used to Western methods for addressing mental health concerns like therapy.

Thus, they can often be unfamiliar with the type of help their children need.

Transitioning to a new environment and culture while adjusting to a loss of familiarity means adults may also struggle with their own problems, Thomas-Smith said, allowing children’s concerns to be lost. Edwards said he himself has noticed a discrepancy in the number of refugee families open to therapy because of surrounding stigmas.

The city started a Refugee Task Force in 2016 to help new families get resources and financial support for 90 days after they arrive. Members belonging to different resettlement and city agencies work to assist refugee households in adjusting to American life, including finding medical and social services. According to the task force’s initial findings in February 2017, approximately 100 “legal refugee students” were enrolled in Evanston schools, though there could be more living in the city without legal status.

However, once three months are complete, many households can find it hard to navigate the complex mental health service system in the city.

“The expectation is that the families would be self-sustaining and some of them are really struggling to find access to services they need,” Thomas-Smith said. “Once the 90 days is up, they’re kind of on their own.”

The overlap of obstacles

Many families that face these language and cultural barriers are also considered low-income, which makes finding adequate and affordable care in Evanston very difficult.

Paola Flores, a bilingual social worker at Chute Middle School, said most of the students she works with do not get mental health care in Evanston because affordable, Spanish-speaking services are “pretty close to nonexistent.”

“There’s one or two providers and they are full right now,” Flores told The Daily last May. “If you’re wealthy and you have good health care coverage and private insurance, you can pretty much go anywhere, but if you’re poor, your options are very limited. If you’re poor and you have to have services in another language, it is extremely difficult.”

She said this puts undue stress on families: Parents who have a child in crisis and in pain want to get the best care, but wait times can be insurmountable — especially for her clients at Chute who speak Spanish, Haitian Creole or Arabic.

Finding services then becomes more difficult, not only for children, but for their families. It’s often complicated to explain intake processes and insurance forms — parents may need someone to describe the process in their native language.

She said she saw no difference between the mental health needs of Latinx students, for instance, and those who are not, but the disparity becomes more apparent since many materials aren’t translated.

Along with socioeconomic status, lack of fluency in English and cultural differences, families face yet another barrier — long wait times. The more accessible agencies in Evanston are often overwhelmed with new clients, sometimes leading to months-long appointment waitlists.

Flores said this lack of immediacy limits the options within Evanston and the surrounding area significantly, especially for those who don’t speak fluent English.

“In some places,” she said, “they don’t even want to put your name on the waiting list because there’s just such a backlog for those places that do take (your insurance) and have Spanish-speaking services.”

But the clinics have two waitlists — one, she said, for an intake session and another for actually meeting with a therapist. The process becomes even more difficult if you speak another language — if a clinic only has one Spanish speaker, for example, a family could be put on hold for months.

Evanston resident Sofía Santos’ teenage daughter had depression and suicidal thoughts during her time at a District 65 middle school. However, Santos said her child was not able to get help within a reasonable timeframe. Like many, she was put on a waitlist for care. Santos said she wishes there was more consideration for cases like her daughter’s that happen “daily.”

“They give you a long waitlist, over a month, and in a month, lots of things can happen,” Santos told The Daily in Spanish. “The person can commit suicide because they are serious problems, and there’s no prompt response to them.”

Santos said her daughter needed a therapist with a lot of experience, but she never got that help. The situation grew so bad, Santos said her child had to leave Evanston to live in Mexico.

Although she tried to seek professional help, Santos said the process was difficult — agency workers didn’t answer the phone or return her messages promptly, which was “dangerous.”

While three years have passed since her daughter left the city, Santos remains frustrated with the lack of accessible quality care. Though her daughter is bilingual, Santos wishes there were services available in Spanish for her to better understand the therapeutic process as a parent.

“I also would have liked to help her and understand what the therapist wanted to do with her,” Santos said in Spanish. “My daughter’s problem was mine, my husband’s, my children’s. It was a family problem.”

with the Mental Health Board to facilitate data collection and resource guides.

Last November, the Mental Health Board was allocated a budget of $736,373 for the current fiscal year. The city’s proposal initially suggested a quarter-million dollar cut in funding, which was not included in the approved budget. During their meeting, board members assigned points to city agencies based on assessments of things like diverse reach for organizations that applied for funding, and allocated money accordingly.

The Mental Health Board works with the city directly, rather than the school districts, said Jessica Wingader, the city’s grants and compliance specialist. Because of this separation, she said the most the board can do in terms of fixing District 65 and District 202 inequities is fund nonprofit agencies such as Metropolitan Family Services or Trilogy.

While school districts have examined disparities in mental health care, particularly between children of color and white children, Flores said Evanston tends to limit the focus to differences between black and white residents. Oftentimes, she said that leaves out Latinx experiences.

Organizations such as Evanston Latinos and Evanston CASE have held community discussions surrounding family rights when it comes to getting accessible mental health services.

In addition, families can band together to help each other navigate the complex mental health system. Through Facebook groups like Evanston CASE’s, parents ask each other for resources — some even attend meetings with fellow parents who don’t understand complicated proceedings like the IEP process, Allyn said.

Health agencies like The Family Institute at Northwestern operate on a sliding scale, aiming to serve as an affordable option. The Institute has an affordable counseling program staffed

by Northwestern graduate students training to become therapists. A session with one of them can cost as little as $5 and does not require any type of insurance.

Though the clinic’s goal is outreach to “underserved populations, including racial ethnic minorities and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender individuals,” chances are, patients will likely see therapists from a homogeneous group: white women.

The low availability of diverse, bilingual or bicultural students who are therapists-in-training persists every year. For marginalized District 65 and District 202 students, this lack of diversity impacts every level of care — from not receiving nuanced understanding from their therapist, to increasing wait times for affordable or multilingual clinicians.

Edwards said he was one of the few black men in both his undergraduate psychology and graduate social work programs. In a field overrepresented with white women, there is a systemic problem that he said starts with the lack of recruitment of bilingual students, people of color, immigrants and other marginalized individuals.

Of the 496 students studying subjects in Social and Behavioral Sciences in The Graduate School last fall, 83 percent were women, while just 30 percent identified as American Indian, Black,

Hispanic or Pacific Islander. Only 3 percent identified as international students.

And ultimately, Edwards said that disparity creates a lack of a pipeline into the industry.

“You say you want to hire teachers of color or educators of color,” he said. “You’re going to have a hard time going to those grant programs and undergraduate programs and finding people of color who even go to college to do that.”

Parents like Allyn think more comprehensive mental health resources would also be crucial for students. She said she would want a clinical therapist on staff with whom students could sign up to have individual sessions during the school day, although she doesn’t know what that might look like in practice. Allyn also said she wished the process to receive special services were less “adversarial.”

Many community members, district workers and city officials have identified Evanston residents’ limited access to mental health as a problem to be solved. However, the city is at a standstill with how to proceed — now that issues have been named, more tangible solutions have yet to be addressed at the district level.

While parent organizations and the groups like the Mental Health Board work to fix individual problems, students — especially marginalized ones — are still struggling daily in school.

“I look at the services that these kids get — our black and brown kids get — (and they) are really subpar,” Rothe said. “I feel really scared some days to go to work because sometimes the only mental health services they get are the people that I can (send to the hospital).”

Samantha Handler contributed reporting. mmartinez@u.northwestern.edu

Next steps

The lack of access to quality and affordable services is difficult to improve in a short amount of time. However, residents and city officials have started taking some tangible steps to address the problem.

Within the city’s EPLAN report, officials surveyed approximately 200 community leaders.

Their top health priority was addressing mental health concerns. In addition, another survey in the report showed 43.4 percent of respondents said mental health issues — the top answer — were the most important problems affecting quality of life in Evanston.

The action plan put forward a goal of decreasing the 8.3 percent of people aged 12-17 who experienced a major depressive episode in 2008 to 7.5 percent by 2020. One intervention strategy listed was training city employees in Mental Health First Aid to better serve those experiencing mental health crises. Another was partnering

Illustration by Roxanne Panas

Michael Edwards, special services supervisor for District 65.

8 NEWS | THE DAILY NORTHWESTERN

OSR

From page 1 but the lack of adequate staffing when the former employee was there meant there was often not enough time to thoroughly review applications.

If that application were accepted, there would be even more work for the officers in handling details when drafting contracts and subcontracts, particularly if the grant was awarded to a collaborative team involving another University or foundation, with their own policies and guidelines to consider. With grant administration positions being filled internally, their lack of replacement meant there was not enough staff to handle contract and subcontract activities, and the back-and-forth between Northwestern and partnering groups could take months, with each new iteration of the contract requiring a signature from higher-ups.

“The department (was) short-staffed, so that meant that departments suddenly didn’t have a grant officer,” the former OSR employee said.

“Departments would be like, ‘Why isn’t it set up yet?’ And other universities would be like, ‘Why haven’t you sent back this signed agreement yet?’

That’s where it would get very, very frustrating, and that’s where the biggest problem was.”

Chisholm agreed that the process of reworking budgets, guidelines and other concerns in contractual and sub-contractual negotiations with other universities or groups is where delays occurred, and he believes the hiring of new faculty can bridge that gap.

UNDOCUMENTED From page 1

CSS profile instead. If admitted, NU covers demonstrated need for undocumented students through these MAP grants, Drabik said.

Under the new legislation, this process would be altered slightly, according to Drabik.

If an undocumented applicant indicates they reside in Illinois, they would then fill out the FAFSA and become eligible for state-funded financial aid. The process is similar for transgender students unable to register for the draft.

“We’re grateful that the state legislature was able to enact this and we hope that this leads to some kind of change on the federal level,” Drabik said. “This could open up the pell grant for undocumented students and

FRIDAY, MAY 31, 2019 The growth of the research enterprise was not supplemented with additional staff until this year, he said. While the amount of awards has increased 4 to 5 percent yearly, there’s only been a 2 percent increase in grant administration staff over the last decade — a discrepancy that yielded noticeable results for the faculty responsible for the growth.

“The faculty is very collaborative in their increasing the number of outgoing subcontracts, and we’ve done that up until just about two months ago with no increasing staff at all,” Chisholm said. “The workload’s going up, staffing is not quite keeping up with that workload, and the consequence of that is, stuff just takes longer. It’s that simple.”

While understaffing is significant, it was not the only issue, the former employee said.

Chisholm said simply obtaining a signature from a director or assistant director is not where the problem lies, especially because OSR has implemented a new electronic signature system as a result of a quality improvement process. But the former employee said waiting on a signature when they worked there took an inordinate amount of time, because those with signing authority would overview contracts in an order that did not take time sensitivity into account and would under-prioritize specific departments or officers.

A grants officer would end up stuck in the middle with all of the blame, the former employee said.

“She’s dealing with the person signing on our end, and she’s dealing with this other

institution, waiting to sign on their end, and then she’s in the middle of the (faculty member’s) department saying, ‘Hey, where the hell is my award? ‘What are you people doing in OSR? Why haven’t you done this yet?’” the source said. “Anything that we say sounds like an excuse, and it makes the grants officer look bad, but 95 times out of 100, it’s not the grants officer. It’s our directors or the other institution who’s dropping the ball.”

In addition, the former employee said the training environment was not conducive to success — in their experience, employees would be given binders with online modules to complete, unable to shadow more senior employees, and then being forced to “sink or swim” when busy proposal or awards seasons came along, contributing to the lengthy contracting and subcontracting period.

While Chisholm said online modules are utilized, the training is done in an apprenticeship model in which hands-on experience is emphasized. In April, Holloway said sufficient training, using the apprenticeship model Chisholm described, will be implemented for new hires.

“The challenge is it’s not just something (where) you raise your hand and get put into that job and know how to do it,” Holloway said.

“Training is going to take awhile to get up to speed to be expert enough to adjudicate what needs to be adjudicated.”

Employees of OSR often stayed until 7 p.m. catching up on work but would be reprimanded for taking a lunch break over an hour, the former employee said. Both pay and office morale were

low. In the former employee’s final year at OSR, the merit raise pool was 2 percent, Chisholm said.

“The raises were dismal last year,” the source said. “So we’re watching all of these big construction projects come up, all over the University, and then we’re hearing the merit raises are gonna be between 1 and 3 percent — that’s not a merit raise. That’s not even cost of living.”

Chisholm said he knows how his employees are “overworked” and that they stay late to serve the faculty. Merit raise pools have been higher in the past Chisholm said, adding the University’s budget deficit is “probably a contributing factor” to the smaller pool.

Ultimately, the stress of what the former employee called a “toxic work environment” without the pay or appreciation to make it worth it was too much for them, and they chose to leave.

Chisholm said the implementation of the central administration’s solutions has been valuable to fixing the backlog and improving the office’s functionality — for now. But the future central administrators are building will require further investment in “boots on the ground.”

“It’s enough to help us get to where we need to be today, but we’ll need some additional growth as there’s continued growth in awards and proposals,” Chisholm said. “As that continues, we’re going to need additional staff next year and the year after. Any business you think of, if you’re in growth mode, you need more employees to help get the work done.”

perhaps someday eliminate the selective service question or waive it for certain people in certain identities.”

According to Drabik, the most important aspect of the bill for NU is the removal of the credit cap on the MAP grants. The MAP provides grants to Illinois residents who attend approved Illinois public colleges and demonstrate financial need.

Previously, students could not take over 75 credit hours before their junior year and still be covered by the grant. If a freshman or sophomore needed more paid credit hours after reaching the cap, they would have to attain junior status, forcing students whose MAP grant eligibility ran out in their final quarters to seek aid from other sources. With the bill’s passing, students’ financial need will be met

throughout the completion of their undergraduate education, regardless of the credit hours they must complete.

Drabik said this impacts any student funded by the MAP grant — and will be especially beneficial for those who come into NU without AP or college credit. The University has been utilizing the MAP program since the grant’s inception, Drabik said, mainly to cover students ineligible for state-funded or federal aid.

“This legislation is a recognition of the diverse population Northwestern strives to recruit,” Drabik said. “Having the state or a government agency try to support those students sort of aligns with our mission at the university… and the additional support allows use to spend funding on other students as well.”

Cameron Peters, the public relations officer

for NU College Democrats, said this legislation comes at a tumultuous political moment where federal protections for transgender and undocumented individuals have been rolled back.

The Medill sophomore said the College Democrats are “glad” to see the bill pass to the Governor’s desk. He added that it’s important for disadvantaged students to be able to access the opportunities higher education provides.

“It’s just incredibly cruel and pointless that (the federal government) is keeping students from getting really important financial aid,” Peters said. “I’m glad to see our state government is taking steps to remedy that.”

gbirenbaum21@u.northwestern.edu

austinbenavides2022@u.northwestern.edu daisyconant2022@u.northwestern.edu

THE DAILY NORTHWESTERN | NEWS 9

FRIDAY, MAY 31, 2019

Recreation Director Dan Bulfin retires after 41 years

By ZOE MALIN

the daily northwestern @zoermalin

Dan Bulfin’s office is tucked away on the first floor of the Henry Crown Sports Pavilion.

The area is quiet in contrast with the rest of the lively facility, and his office is surrounded by those of other faculty members. But Bulfin, Northwestern’s director of recreation, said he loves interacting with students and staff.

Because of this, he has made it his daily practice to walk around the floors of Henry Crown Sports Pavilion and talk to people. He said these daily interactions are what he will miss most when he retires Friday after 41 years at NU. “I’ve always felt working here is like living in a small town,” Bulfin said. “You run into people and you get to know them. They’ve taught me about all of the crazy, wonderful things that go on here.”

Over the years, Bulfin has made his mark on the University’s Evanston campus. He expanded Northwestern Recreation services, increased the number of staff members who work for the program and oversaw building renovations.

However, when Bulfin began working for Northwestern, it was on its Chicago campus.

He was hired in 1978 as an intramural and club sports director, tasked with managing a new recreation program for graduate students.

Bulfin remained in this position until 1980.

Then he moved north to Evanston. Around the same time, NU’s Board of Trustees created a campaign to enhance recreation and athletic facilities on the Evanston campus.

Bulfin said the campaign’s goal was to raise $23 million and use it to make “well-needed” improvements.

“To give you an idea, the facility that is now Welsh-Ryan Arena was originally called McGaw Hall and it had a dirt floor,” Bulfin said.

Bulfin was inspired by the campaign. He felt it was an opportunity for the University to establish a campus recreation division, so he submitted a proposal to create one. Previously, student recreation programs were housed within NU’s physical education doctoral program. Bulfin said it was phased out after he was hired.

Not only was Bulfin’s proposal accepted, but he was named the director of recreation, too.

Nancy Tierney, NU Recreation’s associate director of fitness and wellness, said Bulfin has made an “incredible impact” since his first day on the job. Tierney praised Bulfin’s “insightful leadership” as well as the way he “trusts his staff.”

“It’s hard to put into a few words the legacy he leaves behind,” said Tierney. “It will forever be remembered.”

Since the ’70s, Bulfin has seen a lot of changes occur within NU Recreation. Bulfin remembers what he called “the Jane Fonda fitness boom” that exploded across the country in the 1990s, causing a “radical shift in how people exercise.” This prompted NU Recreation to add more fitness machines to its facilities and classes like aerobics and yoga to its group fitness offerings.

Bulfin has also been a part of NU’s Athletics and Recreation Facilities Master Plan. The master plan has resulted in new structures on campus, like the Lakeside Field, the Walter Athletics Center and the Ryan Fieldhouse.

Bulfin said he admires how such developments have given students who want to take advantage of NU Recreation programs as well as provided student-athletes with their own “state-of-the-art” spaces.

“Convenience is the name of the game with

Zoe Malin/The Daily Northwestern

Dan Bulfin is retiring from NU Recreation after 41 years working for the University. He greatly expanded the program during his time as the director of recreation.

fitness,” Bulfin said. “The Facilities Master Plan has done a great job with identifying that need and creating environments to help people thrive.”

After retiring, Bulfin plans to spend time with his five children and six grandchildren, sail along the Michigan shore with his wife and deepen his interest in music. He said NU was “a great environment to establish a career” in and is excited for the next chapter of his life.

Bulfin has connected with countless people

over his career, including Henrietta Berning.

She is an Evanston resident, member of Henry Crown Sports Pavilion and former adult swimming instructor for NU Recreation. Berning met Bulfin 28 years ago and admires how he has run the program and its facilities.

“Dan is kind and generous,” Berning said.

“He is special, and I thank him for all that he has done.” zoemalin2022@u.northwestern.edu

Inclusive style collective KIN launches on campus

By ZINYA SALFITI

the daily northwestern @zinyasalfiti

KIN Collective is a newly-founded inclusive style collective at Northwestern. Seeking to provide a safe space where any student, regardless of background, can talk about fashion and reflect on style in a deeper and more meaningful way, KIN aims to serve as a platform where students can think more critically about their identity and how it relates to fashion.

With a variety of visual editorial pieces and merchandise available on their website and Instagram page, KIN has amassed about 1600 pageviews and over 400 Instagram followers since their soft launch this past weekend.

After recognizing a lack of representation and platform for people of color to voice their ideas of

style, KIN Co-Founder and Weinberg junior Rachel Price said she wants the site to focus on elevating marginalized voices. She said she hopes to provide opportunities for them to discuss their style and cultural identities.

“We are open and want to showcase the diversity of campus, which includes people from marginalized backgrounds in addition to people from non marginalized backgrounds,” Price said. “We want to be diverse in a non-exclusive way.”

KIN co-founder and Weinberg junior Patricia Tang said one of the driving factors that inspired the creation of an inclusive style collective was that they felt the trends that fashion takes are too often dictated by a few of people at the very top. Tang said having just a small group deciding what fashion is completely neglects the individual experiences of those who are trying to find their own personal identity through style.

All editorial and visual content produced each

quarter must be related, in some way, to the quarterly theme — which for the the inaugural quarter, is family.

“Kin, obviously, is a synonym for family. We are all KIN is underlying our inclusivity.” Tang said. “All of us on the KIN founding page are all people of color, and we noticed that as people of color, fashion for us is highly influenced by family.”

The creative vision behind the aesthetic of the website is inspired by the design of a museum. Museums tend to have minimalistic designs and are painted solid colors, so that the focus can be on the art exhibited. Price explained how the design for the website entailed a minimalistic backdrop so that the focus is on the content.

Part of their creative intention for KIN’s instagram page, @kincollectivenu, is to have the account be a place where people can submit their own authentic photos to the account, as they are, to showcase individual personal style instead of conducting photoshoots.

“We haven’t done photoshoots yet, we had people submit their own photos,” Price said. “We didn’t dress them up or curate their style, because we didn’t want to influence their personal sense of fashion,” she explained.

Head of editorial content Medill sophomore Sofia Sanchez said she would like to see more creative content, like paintings, get submitted. She said KIN is open to contributions and submissions of editorial and visual content that deviates from traditional article and essay formats.

“The first thing you see when you click ‘Be A Contributor’ on our page is ‘WE WILL LISTEN’ in big, bold letters,” Sanchez said. “We listen, and we want to hear everyone’s voice, however you want to articulate and envision yourself. We are open, and just want to include your voice.” zinyasalfiti2022@u.northwestern.edu

LOOKING BACK

Bowl wins. Conference titles. The long-awaited openings of shiny new facilities. Record-setting seasons. It was quite the year for Northwestern sports, and The Daily was there to cover it all, capturing the story everywhere from a rainy Holiday Bowl to the

first-ever fencing event held in Ryan Fieldhouse. Here are some of the photo highlights from the Wildcats’ 2018-19 season.

— Ella Brockway

Daily file photos by Brian Meng, Noah Frick-Alofs, Alison Albelda

10 NEWS | THE DAILY NORTHWESTERN

FRIDAY, MAY 31, 2019

SOLR alleges Compass employee abused dining hall workers

Students Organizing for Labor Rights, a group working toward improving conditions for service workers on campus, alleged Wednesday that a Northwestern employee has been mistreating and abusing dining hall workers and called for an email campaign to have him fired from the University.

Luis Garcia, a Compass Group North America employee and manager in some of the dining halls, has been “abusing, mistreating, and manipulating” service workers, SOLR members wrote in a tweet Wednesday.

Garcia was also accused of “blaming survivors of sexual harassment,” “creating workplace conflict” between people of color and “forcing workers to do jobs not required.” SOLR also alleged that the University has ignored workers’ complaints about Garcia.

Multiple service workers have filed grievances against Garcia, said Weinberg junior and SOLR member Allyson Bondy, for offenses such as verbal abuse and use of racist language. Anonymous workers

Daily file photo by Brian Meng

Sodexo and Aramark employees march in a protest last spring. Service workers allege a University employee has been abusive and created workplace conflict, said advocacy group Students Organizing for Labor Rights.

reached out to SOLR asking for help after Compass didn’t act on their complaints, Bondy said.

“Instead of just firing him, Compass has been moving him to different dining halls around campus,”

Charles Whitaker announced as dean of Medill

Colin Boyle/Daily Senior Staffer

Charles Whitaker at an event last month speaking with New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman.

Whitaker was named the dean of Medill Wednesday.

Charles Whitaker will serve as the dean of Northwestern’s Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications, the University announced Wednesday.

“It’s an honor and a privilege to be the first Medill alumnus selected to serve as dean,” Whitaker said in a news release. “I care deeply about the school, particularly the students, faculty and staff who have made Medill such a vaunted institution in the fields of journalism and integrated marketing. Our industries have been disrupted by tremendous technological changes. But rather than shrink from those challenges,

Bondy said. “He’s been a problem in every single dining hall he’s been at. This isn’t okay and he needs to be gone completely.”

SOLR has emailed Jennifer Byrdsong, the vice we embrace the opportunities they present for Medill to provide leadership as well as highly trained talent for our fields.”

Whitaker’s term will begin July 1.

Provost Jonathan Holloway, who appointed Whitaker, said it was “clear that Charles is the right person to guide Medill into its next chapter.”

“I have tremendous confidence in his ability to lead, educate and advocate for all members of the Medill community,” he added.

Whitaker, who joined Medill in 1993, has been serving as the interim dean of the school since July 2018.

Whitaker has a long history working in the magazine industry. He was a senior editor at Ebony Magazine where he covered cultural, social and political issues. He was also the co-author of “Magazine Writing,” a textbook on feature writing and the magazine industry and has contributed to magazines such as

president of dining operations, asking for Garcia to be removed, Bondy said. The group hopes to mobilize more students to help sway administrative opinion.

Byrdsong has received “inquiries via email,” she said.

Northwestern Dining will be taking the allegations against Garcia seriously as it does “all allegations involving the safety and well being of our guests and associates,” Georgene Sardis, the Compass marketing director, told The Daily in an email.

“When a grievance is raised, it is thoroughly investigated with the results collaboratively agreed upon by the Unite Here, Local 1 Union, Compass Group human resources department and the involved parties,” Sardis wrote. “Appropriate action is taken in each situation with merit.”

The push for Garcia’s removal comes three months after SOLR circulated a petition calling for Compass to treat its employees more fairly. The February petition demanded Compass take its employees’ complaints regarding their treatment seriously and to hold managers accountable for “verbal abuse and racist harassment.”

Attempts to contact Garcia were unsuccessful.

— Cameron Cook

Jet Magazine, Essence Magazine, Chicago Parent magazine and Folio.

In addition to having written the textbook, Whitaker engages in academic study of the magazine industry, from authoring multiple statistical analyses of the hiring of female and minority candidates in the industry to advising the Magazine Publishers of America, now known as The Association of Magazine Media, on diversity.

At Medill, he was a rotating director of the Magazine Publishing Project for graduate students and has taught magazine writing and magazine editing courses.

Whitaker previously served as the chair of Students Publishing Company, the governing board of The Daily Northwestern.

— Alan Perez

For the latest NU news, follow The Daily online!

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THE DAILY NORTHWESTERN | NEWS 11

FRIDAY, MAY 31, 2019

Women are being put at risk by religion-based laws MARCUS THUILLIER

DAILY COLUMNIST

It took me a little bit of time to decide whether or not I should write about this. I’m not a woman or a medical professional — and shouldn’t that disqualify me from ever approaching this issue?

But neither of those things stopped 25 white men from deciding for all the women in Alabama.

The abortion law that was passed in the state is inhumane, shows a complete disregard for women’s rights and doesn’t even remotely resemble the general population’s thoughts on the matter. Alabama and all the other states that followed suit just pushed the United States back 40 years into the past.

Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court decision that protects a pregnant woman’s liberty to choose to have an abortion, passed in 1973. Forty-six years ago, the Supreme Court of this country understood that giving a woman the ability to choose was a basic human and constitutional right. This decision should have ended the conversation then and there, but somehow people are not able to respect

A Letter from the Northwestern Office of Equity

As the year winds down, the Office of Equity would like to thank our student community for your partnership in working toward a culture of access, belonging and accountability. Every time we reached out to students for input and support, you met us with honesty, energy, drive and great ideas. Examples of what we were able to accomplish together include: Receiving input from our community on ways to improve and clarify the University’s Policy on Sexual Misconduct.

The Office of Equity convened its inaugural Student Advisory Board. This group of six graduate and five undergraduate students meets

the ownership that a woman has over her own body and keep meddling into other people’s affairs.

First of all, the new abortion law in Alabama is unpopular by common measures. In 2018, 58 percent of American adults supported abortion in most, if not all, cases. Even in the conservative, pro-life state of Alabama, 65 percent of respondents to a 2018 poll stated their opposition to banning abortion in cases of rape and incest — something the new law supports. Going one step further, even prominent voices in the GOP like 2012 presidential candidate Mitt Romney and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy have called the new law “extreme.” This backlash demonstrates that the Alabama law and similar legislation in other states is made by a few people for a few people, specifically people of Christian faith who live in the United States.

Just to be clear, this isn’t an attack on the Christian faith or any religion, but instead a critique of a branch of Christianity that is pushing an agenda onto Americans. Religious fundamentalism exists outside of the United States and we are very quick to point out the danger it represents. It is now time to recognize that this kind of fundamentalism has crept into American political discourse and is disproportionately affecting women.

Republican Clyde Chambliss, who sponsored

the bill in the Senate, notably said, “Senator, I don’t know if I’m smart enough to be pregnant, so I appreciate the wisdom of our heavenly Father.”

Whether this is indicative of religious tones in new pieces of legislation — or just that Chambliss is a sexist but God-fearing man — does not really make a difference. Although this kind of legislation is usually driven by the beliefs of religious people, it ultimately comes down to one core issue: who has the ownership of a woman’s body.

It should be a woman who has ownership of her own body. However, the argument that this law puts forward is that the fetus’ life is as much, if not more important, than the woman who is carrying it. But that just cannot be true. If it was true, Chambliss wouldn’t be arguing that “The egg in the lab doesn’t apply. It’s not in a woman. She’s not pregnant,” when regarding in vitro fertilization. IVF produces an embryo, just like a natural pregnancy does. The law is deliberately targeting women for being pregnant and not protecting the “unborn child.” If anything, there can be an argument that Alabama does less for the born child than for the unborn child, and that is a very dangerous reality.

Anti-abortion views are religious, but are more about fundamentalism than religiosity itself. Equally, anti-abortion views are sexist, though in a much

more covert way that is hidden behind the pretense of “pro-life.” More importantly, the many arguments against abortion often come from subjective points of views. But it shouldn’t be a subjective issue.

Pro-choice advocates are not going door-to-door, urging people to get abortions. If you are against abortions, no one is forcing you to get one. If you choose to carry out your pregnancy, regardless of the circumstances, no one will stop you. So let the other women in your life have a choice. Let them choose what is best for them, as it will have no impact on you whatsoever. You still have the choice to have a baby, and other women still have the option to choose what is best for them.

The woman’s right to claim ownership of her body should take precedence, and it is imperative that we let the women themselves decide what is best for them. And this is just addressed to the women out there. Ultimately, men should not be able to make decisions about women’s bodies.

Marcus Thuillier is a first-year graduate student. He can be contacted at marcusthuillier2019@u.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.

LETTER TO THE EDITOR regularly to provide feedback, guidance and perspective on all aspects of the Office’s work. We had some honest conversations during our meetings, and we know our work will be better because of this. We would like to thank our 11 Student Advisory Board members for their work and candor.

The Office of Equity is committed to providing sexual misconduct prevention and response training to all students. During Winter quarter, 16,360 students completed an online sexual misconduct prevention training, and throughout the year we met about 2,100 of you through our in-person training offerings.

In April, over 5,500 students — just over 25% of our student body — participated in the Campus Climate Survey on Sexual Assault and Misconduct. This is a significantly higher participation rate than the 2015 Climate Survey, and we are grateful to our partners across campus who

helped spread the word (including ASG, MARS, SHAPE, SPEAK, College Feminists, Res Services, MSA, The Women’s Center, OFSL and CARE). We will receive our survey results in the coming months, and we look forward to working together to decide how these data can inform our sexual misconduct prevention and response efforts moving forward.

For the second year in a row, we partnered with CARE and ASG to provide training for student group leaders. We trained over 240 students, who now have a starter kit for creating cultures of healthy sexuality in their student groups and beyond.

Finally, we were thrilled to partner with students on events like January’s panel on the proposed changes to federal policy on sexual misconduct and April’s panel on sexual violence response at Northwestern. We are in awe of the work and

commitment that students put into making these events happen and know that both events sparked important dialogue and connections.

We look forward to continuing this work with you next year and to expanding our efforts. Our work next year will focus on how to better reach traditionally underserved students and continuing to educate our community on all forms of discrimination and harassment (including discrimination and harassment based on race, disability and sexual orientation).

We know there is much work to do, and that this year was just a beginning. Please contact us any time with feedback, questions about ways to get involved, or questions about available resources.

The Office of Equity is here to serve this community; we are your office.

— Office of Equity

SPORTS

Friday, May 31, 2019

@DailyNU_Sports

YEAR IN REVIEW

The Daily’s sports staff examines the past year in NU sports GAME OF THE YEAR

FOOTBALL, 34-31 WIN VS. NEBRASKA October 13’s gme between Northwestern and Nebraska had everything. A fumble return for a defensive lineman’s firstever touchdown? Check. A 99-yard drive down the field in two minutes? Check.

A touchdown with less than 15 seconds remaining to send it to overtime? Check.

A walk-on kicker who hit the first three field goals of his career — including one

MALE ATHLETE OF THE YEAR

in overtime — to win the game? Check.

The win proved to be one of the most important of the season. It was the only time the Cats would play in overtime in all of 2018 and started a streak that saw them win five of their next six and claim the Big Ten West crown for the first time ever.

Had that 99-yard drive not ended in a touchdown, or redshirt sophomore Drew Luckenbaugh’s overtime field goal attempt fallen short, the Cats’ 2018 campaign could have ended quite differently.

Honorable mention: Lacrosse vs. Maryland; softball vs. Louisville; field hockey vs.

Stanford

CLAYTON THORSON, FOOTBALL

TEAM OF THE YEAR

FEMALE FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR

Northwestern had one of its best seasons ever, finishing with a 39-5 record.

The team earned a best-ever No. 2 ranking from CollegeFencing360, swept the weapon styles at the Midwest Fencing Conference championships and sent five fencers to the NCAA Championships.

Senior foil Yvonne Chart, freshman epée Julia Falinska and freshman foil Alyssa Chen earned All-American honors at the meet, where the Wildcats finished sixth in the nation.

NU plowed through tournaments during the regular season, starting with 16 straight team duals wins and finishing 10-4 against its fellow top-10 teams.

Along with the impressive team accomplishments, the Cats held their first collegiate home meet at Ryan Fieldhouse in February.

The five graduating fencers have left a massive mark. Chart, sabre Emine Yücel, sabre Maddy Curzon, foil Ella Lombard and foil Sharon Chen finished their regular season careers an overall 750-393. This graduating class underwent a coaching transition three years ago, and helped new coach Zach Moss create a cohesive team environment in the aftermath.

Honorable mentions: Football, Softball, Lacrosse

This comes as no surprise.

Danielle Williams won NFCA National Freshman of the Year on Tuesday. The freshman from Pleasanton, California was one of the best pitchers in the Big Ten, ranking second with a 1.55 ERA and 317 strikeouts and also taking home the Big Ten Freshman of the Year honor. Williams led the team with 31 wins, marking the second straight year that Northwestern’s wins leader was a freshman.

Williams’ dominant pitching performances led to the Wildcats’ first regional since 2008, and in the postseason, she stepped up for the team once again. In the Evanston Regional, she finished with a 1.22 ERA and pitching 13 of NU’s 14 innings in its Sunday elimination games. Even at the plate, Williams was one of the Cats’ best hitters. In the first regional game against Detroit Mercy, the freshman drove in three runs and hit a home run. In addition to winning National Freshman of the Year, she was also named a NFCA Third-Team All-American.

Honorable mention: Clarissa Hand, Izzy Scane

FENCING

DANIELLE WILLIAMS, SOFTBALL

RUN OF THE YEAR

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL IN WNIT

Kathryn Stacy/OU Daily

FEMALE ATHLETE OF THE YEAR AUBREY ROBERTS, CROSS COUNTRY

UNIFORMS OF THE YEAR

MEN’S BASKETBALL

Northwestern has a nice arena, a well regarded coach and talented recruits like a lot of other Big Ten teams. But the most unique thing about the program is the new uniforms its seniors create every season.

For the second straight year, the senior class collaborated to design a one-timeonly uniform that the team wore on Senior Day. This year’s black jerseys featured a Memphis Grizzlies-inspired Wildcat logo and the motto “Pound the Rock” in the uniform’s trim.

“We came up with the idea, and then we created a monster, ’cause once the underclassmen saw that the seniors got to create one, they said, ‘We’re going to do something better next year,’” Collins said when the jerseys were released. The Cats lost the game against Purdue, 70-57, but the jerseys have created a legacy of their own. Sports business analyst and NU alum Darren Rovell’s tweet about the jerseys garned more than 2,700 likes, and UNISWAG named them one of the top five college basketball uniforms of the year.

Honorable mentions: Women’s Soccer, Football all-whites vs. Iowa, Women’s Basketball pinks

How to describe Clayton Thorson in one word? Winner.

Going into his senior year, though, we didn’t quite know what to expect from Thorson. He was coming off a devastating torn ACL sustained in the 2017 Music City Bowl win, and it wasn’t clear if he’d be ready for the season opener against Purdue.

There were also questions how much of a load Thorson would be able to take on without longtime backfield mate Justin Jackson.

He answered everything. He certainly wasn’t perfect, but every time NU needed a big play,Thorson was there. He engineered a legendary 99-yard touchdown drive with two minutes remaining to stun Nebraska and keep the Wildcats’Big Ten West hopes alive. He guided NU to its first-ever Big Ten Championship Game appearance.

Peace, Clayton. Here’s hoping Evanston never forgets you.

Honorable mentions: Sebastian Rivera, Ryan Lumsden, Ryan Deakin

Daily file photo by Alison Albelda

As the first cross country and indoor track All-American in program history, it’s not hard to see why Aubrey Roberts’ junior year campaign is deserving of recognition.

But what makes the Wisconsin native all the more impressive is the dominant path she’s taken to get here.

She was the top runner on the team in every cross country meet she ran in this fall, and became the first NU

runner to land a Big Ten Athlete of the Week nod since 2013.

At December’s BU Season Opener, Roberts set a school record in the 5,000-meter race — by nearly 40 seconds.

It set the stage for her record-shattering to continue into the winter and spring. With her 4:52 mile in January, she ran NU’s third-fastest 1600m.

With the year coming to a close, Roberts also holds a program record in the 3K and the third-fastest 800m time in the school’s history.

Honorable mention: Selena Lasota, Danielle Williams, Stephanie Lau

Cinderella’s slipper always fits most snugly in March.

Northwestern’s women’s basketball team played the part of the underdog during its six-game 2019 WNIT tournament run in early spring, combining stretches of dominance and icy late-game shots en route to a runner-up tourney finish and the longest postseason run in program history.

Four of the six postseason contests were decided by single digits, and in two of the Wildcats’ victories — against Toledo and West Virginia — the team rallied back from deficits of 16 and 18 points respectively.

Sophomore Lindsey Pulliam emerged as a star during the competition, averaging over 18 points per game, and served as the team’s default option offensively in crucial situations down the stretch. Senior Pallas Kunaiyi-Akpanah was another key player in the team’s improbable tournament run, establishing herself as a serious threat on the boards.

The magical run ended in Tucson, Arizona, where a gassed NU squad couldn’t muster the fight to take down an Arizona team considered one of the best in the entire WNIT field.

Honorable mentions: Football; Women’s Golf; Softball 20-0 in Big Ten, Sebastian Rivera 20-0 start

MALE FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR ISAIAH BOWSER, FOOTBALL

Isaiah Bowser began the 2018 season with the expectation that he’d redshirt.

The running back took a combined two attempts in NU’s first four games, and it was assumed that the freshman from Sidney, Ohio would spend much of the season on the sideline as the more experienced Jeremy Larkin became the Cats’ primary ball carrier and John Moten worked as his backup.

That all changed when Larkin

announced his medical retirement on September 24. NU floundered running the ball the next few games, trying to find his replacement, but on a cloudy day in Piscataway, New Jersey, Bowser shined.

That afternoon against Rutgers, Bowser burned his redshirt and ran for 108 yards on 24 carries. He earned the starting job, and finished the season with six touchdowns and 866 yards.

Bowser ended the campaign eighth among all Big Ten running backs, and third among all freshman rushers.

Honorable mention: David Nyfjäll, Shawn Goosenberg

Daily file photo by Noah Frick-Alofs