The Daily Northwestern Thursday, September 22, 2016
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Call for change follows report Black Student Experience task force members urge action By MARIANA ALFARO
daily senior staffer @marianaa_alfaro
After almost a year of research and data collection, members of the Black Student Experience task force hope their report, released Friday, will effect change in University systems with speed. The report, sent to students on Monday, outlines 14 recommendations made to the University by a committee of faculty, staff and students. The recommendations range from longterm goals — such as increasing the number of black students, faculty and staff at NU — to creating more spaces for black student organizations. The task force, established by Patricia Telles-Irvin, vice president for student affairs, in the spring of 2015 in an effort to gain a better understanding of the experiences of NU’s black undergraduate students is comprised of four students and 11 faculty and staff, including Communication Prof. Harvey Young. Young, a theater professor whose research focuses on the intersection between race and performance, said though all recommendations are equally pertinent, he believes one of the most feasible proposals for the University to complete in the near future is the creation or reorganization of spaces for black students to meet, socialize and hold performances. “Increasing the number of students, faculty and staff will take time,” Young said. “However, increasing availability of space is something the University can act on pretty much immediately.” University administrators now have three different studies to analyze to enhance the experience of black students at Northwestern. The report joins the Black House Facility Review Committee’s findings released last spring and the University program review as part of an administrative push to keep up with NU’s diverse population. Damilola Arowolaju, a SESP senior and a member of the task force, said students he has spoken to about the report strongly identify with the struggles described by the committee. The report repeatedly outlines the concept of loneliness or “being » See REPORT, page 4
Lauren Duquette/Daily Senior Staffer
ETHS student Asher White says she has waited long enough for the administration to craft a policy on transgender students’ use of locker rooms and bathrooms. White has to change in a separate locker room for gym classes.
Transgender policy stalled
Students frustrated as ETHS struggles to enact rules on gendered spaces By DAVID FISHMAN
daily senior staffer @davidpkfishman
Asher White just wanted to use the bathroom. But after a “baffled” security guard at Evanston Township High School saw her exit the girls’ facility, she took an unexpected detour. “I was escorted throughout
Admins hire architects for Black House
University administrators hired an architectural firm to begin planning work on the Black House by the end of the month. In an interview with The Daily, Patricia Telles-Irvin, vice president for student affairs, said the firm will start meeting with constituents to gather opinions and suggestions on what renovations should be made. Though the schedule has not yet been set, Telles-Irvin said she expects to have a better idea of how the changes will be implemented by the end of September. Last summer, University leaders announced plans to move administrative offices into the Black House, sparking outrage among alumni, faculty and students who said the building on 1914 Sheridan Road should remain a safe space for black students at Northwestern. The debate that followed led to the cancellation of the original plan to move offices into the Black House and the Multicultural Center, 1936 Sheridan Road.
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the entire school, downstairs to the dean’s office where I sat in the waiting room for 10 minutes (until) the security guard reappeared and said ‘Ok, you can go,’” the transgender junior said. ETHS, which serves more than 3,300 students from Evanston and Skokie, has no official policy on transgender students’ use of locker rooms and bathrooms. Instead, principal
During the controversy, a group called Concerned Students of Northwestern University published a list of demands including the improvement of Black House facilities — from the quality of technological equipment to the expansion of rooms and creation of performance spaces. Telles-Irvin told The Daily that the University has already updated equipment in both spaces, including different computer programs and software for McCormick students. The next step for the administration, she said, is to renovate the spaces in the Black House. “(The architectural firm) will give us a recommendation and also the cost associated with that recommendation, and then we need to move into the next phase, which would be planning for when this renovation can take place and what it’s going to entail,” Telles-Irvin said. Telles-Irvin said she expects to receive recommendations from the architects by the end of December or early January. She expects NU to eventually address similar updates for the MCC, she said. — Mariana Alfaro
Marcus Campbell said the school employs a set of “procedures” to guide faculty and staff on the issue. “Usually you have a policy, then you have procedures,” he said. “But given how quickly this is evolving and the amount of students coming in who identify this way, we needed to have some things in place. The policy would come later.”
Officials have been crafting a policy for more than a year, but a recent combination of student frustration and legal battles has reignited calls for clarity.
“Locker room #3”
Transgender students, whose gender identity differs from their biological sex, may » See ETHS, page 6
Non-profit doubles down
Connections for the Homeless sets $500,000 goal By NORA SHELLY
daily senior staffer @noracshelly
The time has come to act on Evanston’s homelessness problem, said officials from Connections for the Homeless on Wednesday. The nonprofit, located at 2121 Dewey Ave., serves North Shore and Evanston residents who are homeless or struggling with home payments. The group has started an awareness campaign designed to inform Evanston residents of the work yet to be done in alleviating homelessness and raise money to expand programming. Sue Loellbach, director of development for Connections, said, “the math just doesn’t work for anyone trying to live on the North Shore making less than $18 an hour.” The campaign centers around the theme “love don’t
pay the rent” and aims to raise $500,000 to fund a five-daya-week program for homeless people. The programming currently runs two days a week. “ We love our citizens, but our love is not paying the rent,” Loellbach said at a press conference on Wednesday.
Evanston city manager Wally Bobkiewicz said he and Mayor Elizabeth Tisdahl received a notice about the campaign from Connections last week and said the group was smart to raise the level of awareness in the city. “Homelessness in » See HOMELESS, page 4
Daniel Tian/Daily Senior Staffer
Connections for the Homeless launched an awareness campaign attempting to inform Evanston residents of the city’s homelessness problem. They are hoping to both increase community awareness and raise $500,000.
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