By DAVIS GIANGIULIO daily senior staffer @giangiuliodavis
Northwestern students and Evanston residents gathered in
Alice Millar Chapel on Sunday morning for an unusual service.
It began similarly to a mass, with a choir singing hymns and lectors reading scripture, but unlike typical services, dogs also lled the chapel with barks as they
crimes
sexual violence increases
By RUSSELL LEUNG daily senior staffer @rjleung7Thursday with 2021 crime and safety statistics for its campuses.
Several property crimes decreased in number compared to 2020 on the Evanston campus. Burglaries fell from six to two and robberies fell from three to zero, while motor vehicle
found seats in the pews and aisles typically reserved for their owners.
“We are blessed to care for one another, for creatures,” the Rev. Kristen Glass Perez said during the meditation sermon.
The mass, an annual pet
blessing organized by the O ce of Religious and Spiritual Life, supported the Evanston Animal Shelter this year. Representatives of the group a ended the event
Weinberg freshman Cathy Apolot confidently stepped up to the stage — a small makeshift lectern in front of a few seats filled with attendees — and began to proudly recite her poem off of her iPhone.
Apolot was performing at Noyes Cultural Arts Center’s “Word Salad” second-ever spoken word open mic on Friday. Northwestern and Evanston guests alike were invited to sign in on a sheet and share their work.
“I’ve been looking for different ways to connect to poetry or spoken word here,” Apolot said. “Originally, I wasn’t planning on speaking, but then I was like, ‘you know what, whatever, I’ll do it.’ There’s a lot of solace in the fact that a lot of times, I’m not going to see these people again.”
Apolot said some of her inspiration stems from her time performing in jazz clubs in her home state of Nebraska, and more recently, how her Black and African identities tie into life as a college student. She read a collection of recent poems relating to her femininity and experience as a Black woman in the U.S.
Leah Leviton, an Evanston
resident who moved to the city about a year ago, said she read a short essay on end-oflife planning that inspired her spoken word. She also said her own personal experiences, humor, art and details inspire her work.
“I’m a visual artist who has gotten more interested in writing over the past few years,” Leviton said. “I’m very shy, but it seemed casual and lowkey. I’ve attended many (open mics) over the years but never read at one.”
Leviton said she saw the flier for the event in a city email and intends to continue attending and performing.
Angela Allyn, Evanston’s community arts program coordinator, said she plans to continue hosting open mics monthly throughout the school year. She said she wants it to be a safe space for writers to perform their work.
Allyn said the next open mic event will be at the end of October to celebrate Halloween.
“We have a lot of visual arts, we have some performing arts, but it seemed to me that there wasn’t anything like this for people who sit at home and write poems, people who write lyrics, people who write memoirs,” Allyn said. “I’m just excited that we have a program for writers.”
Allyn also said she hopes to see more students attend the open mics –– she said the events are accessible and close
By LILY CAREY daily senior staffer @lilycarey
When Weinberg freshman Isabel Toghramadjian decided to attend Northwestern, she was disappointed to learn there were no Armenian student organizations on campus.
At Noyes Cultural Arts Center, artists share their works
Warning: This article has mentions of gun violence and assault.
The advertisement opens with a darkened image of Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot declaring “the summer of joy” in Chicago. Then, graphic videos of gun violence in the city overcome the screen. The ad urges watchers to “stop Chicago violence from coming to your town” and “vote no on Pritzker.”
The SAFE-T Act, signed into law by Gov. J.B. Pritz ker in 2021, has become a central issue for conservatives in the Illinois midterm campaign, who say the act will cause “Chicago’s lawlessness” to overtake the suburbs. The measure includes police reforms like requiring body cameras at departments statewide by 2025, as well as expanding detainee rights.
The conservative People Who Play By The Rules Political Action Committee has released multiple ads about the legislation, and Republican candidate for governor Darren Bailey made the law a focus in a guber natorial debate Friday against Pritzker.
Bailey is particularly critical of the Pretrial Fairness Act, part of the SAFE-T Act. Among other provisions, the act eliminates cash bail by 2023, limiting pretrial detention based on criteria including the defendant’s risk to public safety, flight risk and criminal history instead of financial ability.
“This act is a huge step forward in reducing incar ceration that specifically targets People of Color and poor people,” Kareem Butler, pretrial justice fellow of the Chicago Appleseed Center for Fair Courts, said.
A 2022 report published by the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights said research “consistently shows” Black and Latine defendants face higher rates of pre trial detention in federal jails and higher bonds than other demographic groups.
In Illinois, 90% of people in jail have not yet had their trial, according to the Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority.
“We’d be ending wealth-based jailing and restoring the presumption of innocence in the courtroom, which is something that is really under fire and it is not valued
under our current system,” Butler said.
Lightfoot, a Democrat, has blamed pretrial release for increasing violence in Chicago, saying those accused of a violent crime “are guilty.” A 2022 study from Loyola University Chicago, however, found an increase in the number of people released from bond court in Cook County did not change city crime rates.
According to the Civic Federation, about 3.3% of 70,000 people out on pretrial release were charged with a new violent crime or crime against a person, such as assault, and 81.8% were not charged with new offenses while out on pretrial release.
“There’s really no safety component under the cur rent system,” Butler said. “If the argument is that the current system is safer, individuals charged with very serious felony offenses, if they have access to the wealth,
can return to the community.”
Illinois government data shows people who spend three days in jail are 2.5 times more likely to suffer from unemployment within a year. They are also 40% more likely to be rearrested in the future, whether the defen dant was eventually convicted or not.
Stephanie Kollmann, policy director of the Children Family Justice Center at Northwestern’s Pritzker School of Law, said the justice system should be “very careful” about subjecting people to pretrial incarceration.”
“It’s really important to make sure that we are using detention in the most limited and targeted way,” Koll mann said. “Looking at how much money you have is a really bad measure of that.”
Advocacy groups including the Chicago Alliance Against Sexual Explotation, The Network: Advocating
Against Domestic Violence, the Illinois Coalition Against Domestic Violence and the Illinois Coalition Against Sexual Assault have all shown support for the SAFE-T Act. CAASE’s website says the SAFE-T Act allows for more victim input in risk-based assessments.
Butler said the conservative campaigns against the SAFE-T Act didn’t surprise him, since the act signifi cantly changes the Illinois justice system.
“There is a lot of political fear-mongering that is hap pening,” Kollmann said. “Threatening women about safety and (saying) that their safety is in jeopardy has sort of spillover effects, especially with men and their families who are also voters who want to see themselves as protectors.”
madisonbratley2025@u.northwestern.edu
Bright paper lanterns and red streamers decorated the Lakefill on Friday night as stu dents ate traditional Vietnamese food, played games and mingled under the moonlight.
The Vietnamese Student Association hosted its second annual Mid-Autumn Festi val, which this year featured more traditions and activities. The Mid-Autumn Festival is a harvest holiday celebrated in many East and Southeast Asian countries, including Viet nam. While the festival was officially Sept. 10, VSA wanted to commemorate the holiday with students who could not celebrate with their families.
“I know a lot of people don’t get a chance to go back home, especially the Vietnamese international students,” VSA Internal Vice President and Weinberg sophomore Cindy Khuc said. “Small events like this create a safe space where they can talk to other students about their customs and their traditions.”
Khuc said some common traditions include eating mooncakes, attending parades and lighting candles.
The association incorporated some of those elements into the festival, selling foods like fried rice, sesame balls and mooncakes from a Vietnamese restaurant in Chicago’s Argyle neighborhood. The club also held a raffle, with prizes including a stuffed animal tiger to honor the Year of the Tiger, candy packages and a mystery gift box.
“We kind of translated (the traditions) to something that was more accessible,” Khuc said.
Khuc said VSA hopes to continue hosting celebrations in order to build community.
The event also featured an opportunity to make chalk drawings. Co-Design Chair and Weinberg sophomore Hunter Tran decorated the sidewalk with colorful octopus tentacles. Tran said the association purposely invited
students of all backgrounds to join the celebration.
“We’re just sharing what we do,” Tran said. “It helps create some sort of cultural exchange and dialogue between people.”
Many students who were not members of VSA attended, including Weinberg freshman Hannah Zhou.
Zhou said she was excited to eat some of the traditional foods served, like the red bean mooncakes. She said the festival was similar to how she informally celebrates at home.
“It was smaller than I expected it to be, but it’s still pretty well organized, and I love the
chalk art,” Zhou said.
Bienen freshman Erin Yu said she liked that the association was showing recognition for the holiday even after it officially occurred.
The celebration was especially significant to Yu because she did not get to celebrate the holiday while it overlapped with Wildcat Welcome.
“It’s good that people are still celebrating it now because some traditions die over time,” Yu said. “But I’m glad that Northwestern is keeping this tradition alive.”
ericaschmitt2025@u.northwestern.edu
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Since her Northwestern acting debut, per forming on Broadway has always been a goal for Claire Kwon (Communication ’22). However, she never knew how fast the opportunity would arise after graduation.
“It’s hard to graduate and be like ‘Okay, I’m going to audition and hope that things work out,’” Kwon said. “It was also excitement and like, ‘Oh my gosh, I finally did it. I finally achieved this goal and now, the real work begins.’”
As a swing performer, Kwon will understudy five roles in “Almost Famous” come Novem ber. The movie-based musical is about aspiring music journalist William Miller, who finds him self in a rock ‘n’ roll circus in the ’70s and meets a series of unforgettable characters along the way.
As a child who shied away from the spotlight, the New Jersey native said she never imagined pursuing theatre professionally.
Thanks to her mom’s support as a piano teacher and to her elementary school best friend who kickstarted her love of musicals, she came to NU wanting to study theatre as a hobby. How ever, her professors said they could sense her career-altering potential before Kwon realized it herself.
Before Communication Prof. David Catlin
taught Kwon in his acting sequence, he said Kwon’s initiative to introduce herself while she worked in house management for a show impressed him.
“I actually remember meeting her more than I remember the show,” Catlin said. “Because she’s so present and full of life, she was incred ibly memorable.”
He said Kwon has a “luminous energy” she brings into every space. Although he didn’t know the full scope of her talents back then, Catlin said he is not surprised by her Broadway debut.
“It makes all kinds of sense to me,” Catlin said. “I think once the world and directors discover how terrific she is to be in a creative space with, they’re going to fight hard to get her in their plays and productions.”
Communication Prof. Kelli Morgan McHugh also recalled Kwon’s talent before teaching her. She said she felt like she drew “the golden ticket” upon discovering Kwon was assigned to her vocal studio.
After seeing Kwon perform in an NU pro duction of “Fun Home,” McHugh said she told her husband Kwon was better in the role than multiple actors she watched on Broadway. Kwon was a sophomore at the time.
“My running line is that Claire Kwon is a national treasure,” McHugh said. “From the moment she stepped onstage, I remember being entranced, thinking there’s no way Claire’s not going to have an incredible career because she’s
magic on stage.”
As an upperclassman, Kwon grappled with the idea of performing professionally. She said she worried about the new emotional element she would have: becoming comfortable with rejection and not knowing when her next gig would come.
When the pandemic hit, focusing on her the atre work at NU gave her clarity about narrowing her professional directions, Kwon said.
“There is merit in me being like, ‘Performing is something that I want to do because I’m not actually spending my time working on market ing projects or reading economics textbooks,’” she said. “I had to really bring myself to a place where I’m like, ‘I believe that I can do this and I’m going to try.’”
Though Kwon said she first faced imposter syndrome when rehearsing with other Broadway professionals, she said she felt lucky to work with people who seek to create joy and gener ate empathy.
The support and inclusivity of the cast and creative team of “Almost Famous” have helped Kwon realize she is meant to be exactly where she is, she said.
“Something I love about theatre is it’s given me a home,” Kwon said. “It’s become my com munity of people where we can celebrate the good in life.”
In the Block Museum’s Katz Gallery, visi tors are encircled by a collection of images: a bowl of peaches, a math equation, the moon and more. The artworks don’t have accompa nying text, allowing viewers to form their own interpretations.
The “Looking 101” exhibit, which runs from Sept. 22 to Dec. 4, provides an exercise in close looking and prompts discussion. The exhibit seeks to support academic instruction, particularly for first-year curriculum.
Essi Rönkkö, the associate curator of col lections at the Block, said the artwork’s lack of labels is atypical. According to her, the format allows visitors to first engage with the artwork themselves. “Looking 101” helps people practice basic skills that develop from the slow, analytical process found in research, Rönkkö said.
“Start with looking. Only then, dig into the research and the context,” Rönkkö said. “It really changes how you see things when you give people who made it, what it is, how it’s made.”
Instead of labels, artworks have QR codes posted next to them. When scanned, the codes direct visitors to more information about the piece, including its title and artist. The informa tion is also available in brochures and online.
Lindsay Bosch, the Block’s associate director of communications, marketing and digital strategy,
said everyone brings expertise when analyzing artworks, not just art historians.
“Everyone is an expert in their own life and their own experience,” Bosch said. “What you see in (a work), what you say it means — it has weight.”
Rönkkö said she found inspiration in the museum’s study center, where NU courses discuss artworks in a private setting and wanted to create a similar space for general audiences.
Eight faculty members, including Weinberg College Advisor and biology Prof. Marcelo Vinces, worked alongside Rönkkö to select the artworks.
Human emotions sometimes help and other times hinder science, Vinces said. His first-year seminar on biology and society explores how racism, sexism and classism influence science and medicine — which he said are supposed to be objective endeavors. Vinces said he plans to take his students to the exhibit later in the quarter.
As part of the collection, the photograph “Now (Slave Plantation, St. John, Virgin Islands), 09-01” documents a former sugar plantation on St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands. Artist Alan Cohen took the photograph while traveling to sites of historical trauma.
“There’s things in the image itself that students can make commentary on, (as well as) the title and the location,” Vinces said. “(The work) con nects directly to some of our readings later in the quarter.”
Leonard Suryajaya’s photograph “Perennial
Blossom” from the series “Parting Gift” features 13 Block Museum Student Associates, one Block staff member and Suryajaya’s sister and mother. The photograph was taken outside the Block.
Surrounded by bursts of colorful flowers, Weinberg senior Katy Kim, BMSA programs and tours coordinator, is noticeable in the corner, looking off in the distance.
Kim said BMSA has been a formative part of her NU experience. She said she felt immense pride when she saw the photograph.
The gallery doesn’t center around a theme or historical time period, Kim said, but a practice of looking.
“If we think about the museum as promot ing accessibility, you don’t need an immense amount of art history knowledge to understand an artwork.” Kim said. “Anyone can enter the gal lery and look. That’s super exciting to me and validating.”
jessicama2025@u.northwestern.edu
By MAIA PANDEY daily senior staffer @maiapandey
About halfway through TBD’s show Saturday, Britney Spears’ “Work Bitch” blasted through Shanley Pavilion’s speakers, vibrating the floor
as cast members roused the crowd to rush the stage and dance.
Soon, the standing room-only crowd was jumping and shouting alongside members of the Neo-Futurism-inspired performance group. It wasn’t until the cast members shouted “Thank you,” which signals the end of every short play in a TBD show, that the crowd subdued.
Communication sophomore Aidan Klinges, who wrote that short play, said he wanted the moment to model a pop-up nightclub. Since most TBD shows are held in Fisk Hall, Klinges said the group also wanted to take advantage of the more intimate Shanley space for its show, “You Got Gunked … Woah.”
“I just sort of rolled with it and started spinning with glow balls,” Klinges said. “I really wanted to do something where we could get the whole audience involved.”
All short plays in a TBD show are written by cast members and presented in a different order each performance. Before the play begins, several audience members are handed sheets of paper with numbers corresponding to a play and then tasked with randomly taping them up on the wall to determine the order.
The plays are also nonfiction and non-illusory, so each cast member plays themself onstage.
The mix of introspective and offbeat plays, combined with the random order, results in the “emotional whiplash” key to a TBD show, accord ing to Communication sophomore Jeff Snedegar.
During one of his plays, Snedegar asked the audience if anyone needed to use the bathroom and then accompanied a random member to the bathroom. As they took turns using the facilities, Snedegar called into the speakers on the main stage.
“We never know what play is going to come
next,” he said. “That leads to the ability to do a resonant play…straight into me peeing on a microphone.”
Along with a bathroom break, audience mem bers had other opportunities to participate. In one play, the audience scanned a QR code and voted on which cast member they thought would be most likely to cheat on a partner. The members who ranked first and last place then clasped hands and exchanged compliments.
Klinges said he especially advocated for this play to make it into the show, with the goal of examining “problematic questions” reminiscent of reality television.
“What I really liked about it was at the end, instead of being like, ‘Oh no, this is how we value ourselves,’ the two people turned to each other and just had an honest conversation about the things they liked about each other,” Klinges said.
The promise of a slightly different show each time compelled Communication sophomore Ella Gatlin to attend two of TBD’s three performances this weekend. Gatin said she encourages anyone who hasn’t seen a TBD show to catch the next one.
“Expect the unexpected and be willing to just let the performance take you where it’s going to take you,” she said, “Because that’s really what it’s about — trying new things and being truthful.”
maiapandey@u.northwestern.eduContent warning: This article contains references to homophobic violence.
This article also contains spoilers.
A first kiss in the back room of a bar. Holding pin kies in a dark bus. Stolen minutes in an abandoned shed. A date disguised as dinner between teammates. History will say they were best friends, but fans of Amazon Prime’s “A League of Their Own” know better.
An adaptation of the 1992 film by the same name, “A League of Their Own” takes the same basic plot points as the original movie — following the members of the 1940s professional women’s baseball league — and turns them on their head. Set against the backdrop of World War II, the show’s characters are significantly more diverse than its predecessor’s in race, sexuality and gender, while the longer format allows for in-depth explo ration of multiple emotional arcs.
The show centers around Carson Shaw (Abbi Jacobson), a catcher from Idaho whose husband is away at war, and Max Chapman (Chanté Adams), a Black woman from Rockford, Illinois who is desperate to pitch for a baseball team. At tryouts, Carson runs into Greta Gill (D’Arcy Carden) and Jo DeLuca (Melanie Field), and the three bond
instantly (and Carson hopes this doesn’t awaken something in her). The trio successfully makes the league, setting out for northern Illinois to join the Rockford Peaches.
The show doesn’t shy away from embracing the league’s queer history — or its racism. While it isn’t always safe for the characters to be open with their identities in the show, they are able to find commu nity in each other. The show shines in its moments of shared understanding and the comfort these queer women brought each other. At the same time, Max faces the added challenge of playing a “man’s sport” as a Black woman barred from joining the “All-American” league and (initially) unable to work at the men’s factory or join its baseball team.
Unlike many of the queer stories being told today, “A League of Their Own” is created by queer people — and therefore feels like it’s meant for a queer audience. Director and star Jacobson walked the show’s red carpet hand-in-hand with her fiancé
Jodi Balfour, cast member Roberta Colindrez is openly queer and Rosie O’Donnell even makes a cameo as the owner of a gay bar.
The show has already had real-life impacts, including on original league player Maybelle Blair, now 95, who consulted on the show. During the show’s premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival in June, Blair came out publicly for the first time.
Early in the show, Greta discovers Carson is struggling to tell her husband that something feels wrong with their relationship. The day after they get drunk together to write him a letter (which Car son can’t remember), Greta kisses her, prompting
Carson to reflect on what might be the central flaw in her marriage. The pair’s relationship develops throughout the rest of the show as Carson begins to “come in” to the queer community and embrace a new side of herself.
In later episodes, the show dives deep into the importance of queer communities, as well as the risks of being openly queer that existed at the time. In the fifth episode, viewers are introduced to a member of Max’s extended family: her transmas culine uncle, Bertie.
As Max explores her own sexuality and gen der expression, she receives support from her uncle. Still, she is apprehensive about the stigma that comes with his identity, though she begins to embrace herself after meeting a girl at a party thrown by her uncle’s friends.
The following episode, Carson follows two of her teammates as they sneak out of the Peaches’ shared house. Instead of the collusion with oppos ing teams Carson expects to find, she stumbles into a secret gay bar — and a rich and thriving queer community. That image, however, is soon torn down. Reality seeps in at the end of the episode when the bar is raided after Carson returns with Greta and Jo. Though Carson and Greta escape, Jo is violently beaten and arrested.
The original movie may have centered strongly on baseball, but the sport is the premise — not the heart — of the television adaptation. Instead, the characters’ personal lives and emotional journeys drive the show, making it compelling and accessible for baseball fans and non-athletes alike.
As the show’s first installment comes to a close, so does the baseball season, with the Rockford Peaches taking to the field for the championship game. The eighth episode concludes neatly, tying up the emotional arcs the show began in a satisfy ing way, but the possibility of next season gives characters and viewers alike a promise of hope.
fulton@u.northwestern.edu isabelfunk2024@u.northwestern.edu
From
shelter.
information on how to foster pets and
Eric Budzynski, associate director for religious life
chapel music, said pet blessings are a common event at many churches this time of year to celebrate St. Francis of Assisi. Both his death and a holiday commemorating his life are in early October.
“He had this special relationship with animals,” Budzynski said. “He saw nature as this mirror of God, so in that celebration of him in early October, a lot of churches now have had a special day for the church to honor animals.”
A group blessing for a ending animals took place toward the end of the mass in a call and response
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remained at four in 2021.
Other crimes involving relationship-based or sexual violence increased or stayed the same. Reported rapes rose from two to five, and University Police recorded one domestic violence case, compared to zero in 2020. Fondling cases remained constant at two. However, stalking reports fell from nine to one.
Liquor law violations referred for disciplinary action drastically increased, rising from 99 to 185. The rise may reflect adjustment to
format between Perez and the a endees. A er, owners could bring their pets forward for individual blessings.
Evanston resident Gloria Meldman brought her Maltese-mixed dog Tillie to be blessed.
“I always go to church. So when I heard there was a blessing, I wanted to come here,” Meldman said.
Meldman said the event wasn’t her rst pet blessing, but she was especially interested in the animal shelter’s involvement. She said she was hoping to nd ways to become more involved with the group.
Weinberg junior JoJo Holm, founder of All Paws In, a group that connects students with the animal shelter, said she hoped the event would yield responses like Meldman’s.
“All we can do is encourage other students to go and encourage people to donate to the shelter,” Holm
pandemic conditions, as 2019 saw 229 cases.
At the Chicago campus, compared to 2020, robberies fell from 11 to 10, aggravated assaults decreased from 12 to seven and motor vehicle thefts jumped from 10 to 17. Domestic violence reports fell from six to five, and dating violence cases increased from four to six. Weapon law arrests increased from 13 to 14.
One fire occurred at a University residential facility in 2021: a cooking-related incident at Chapin Hall that cost less than $100 in property damage.
russellleung2024@u.northwestern.edu
said. “As a club, we’re really focused on doing good for the animal shelter.”
Holm said the group was also working to ensure the event could be stress-free for the animals, like by planning breaks for the animals and paying a ention to their body language, something she said o en gets overlooked.
Budzynski said the event would be successful if it promoted both All Paws In and the animal shelter. He also said he hoped the event could have a spiritual e ect on a endees regardless of their religious a liation.
“It’s a li le bit of a novel or a fun way, especially for people that may not be looking to go to a worship kind of experience regularly, just as a way for them to engage,” Budzynski said. “To see religion outside of the box.” davisgiangiulio2025@u.northwestern.edu
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Upon her arrival, Toghramadjian said she quickly found other Armenians because Armenian last names are recognizable. However, she said there was no way for them to meet in an organized setting, so she decided to do something about it.
Toghramadjian is the president and founder of NU’s newly approved Armenian Student Association, the University’s only Armenian student interest group. The group aims to bring Armenian culture to campus through events and advocacy, she said.
“I’m very optimistic,” Toghramadjian said. “We have the potential to create a solid and vibrant community … This is going to be something good and sustainable.”
She first started an Instagram account in Winter Quarter and began following as many Armenian students as she could to gather interest. Toghramadjian then applied to be an official organization with Student Organizations & Activities. Last week, she found out the organization was approved.
This quarter, Toghramadjian said the club is looking to establish a general email list and launch a Wildcat Connection page. It also hopes to host a meet-and-greet event during Reading Period so students can get to know each other.
Toghramadjian said she hopes the club will be fully solidified by fall.
“I’m glad I could establish it early because it has potential for the next three years,” she said. “Hopefully it will also be sustainable once I’m gone.”
Communication junior and Social Media Chair Anelga Hajjar said she also hopes the club can serve as a safe space for Armenian students and raise awareness of the diaspora. Hajjar said turmoil in Armenia over the past year has made her feel isolated on a campus where she previously didn’t have a way to
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to both NU and Evanston Township High School.
Apolot said she plans on going back to the cultural center for its upcoming open mics because being in a creative environment encourages her to write more.
“Spoken word is empowering,” Apolot said. “It’s enlightening because I might read something and then it finally clicks. How it sounds, how my audience is taking it and then it kind of cements how I feel about that work.”
selenakuznikov2025@u.northwestern.edu
connect with other Armenian students.
“There was a resurfacing for me about what it means to be Armenian,” Hajjar said. “(This club) helps create visibility because we might be small, but we’re mighty.”
Hajjar said she also hopes the club will be a learning opportunity for students who identify as ethnically Armenian but might not have a connection to the country and its culture.
She said she has heard some NU community members deny the existence of the Armenian genocide, so she hopes the group can work together to advocate for Armenian rights.
Weinberg freshman and club member Stephanie Rissmiller said she is excited to learn more about Armenian culture and language because she said she doesn’t feel fully connected to her Armenian roots.
“Having this space on campus is really important for educating both individuals who are not members of the Armenian community, as well as members who want to learn more but find it difficult because resources about the culture and language are so scarce,” Rissmiller said.
Rissmiller said she is looking forward to nding a community that shares her identity through pu ing on Armenian dance performances and other cultural events in Fall Quarter.
While the group is still working to solidify executive positions and plans to officially launch Fall Quarter, Rissmiller said she’s excited to welcome both Armenians and nonArmenians who are curious about the culture to join the club, especially incoming freshmen.
Ultimately, Hajjar said she is excited to have a space on campus where the people around her fully understand her identity and background.
“It just feels good to be in a place where you can have a shorthand of people and where you don’t have to explain your identity,” Hajjar said. “Once it grows, it will be more of a safe space for Armenians to feel validated.”
lilycarey2025@u.northwestern.edu
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Welsh-Ryan Arena grew increas ingly electric Friday as Northwestern and Michigan battled for control in the fourth set.
One long, back and forth play near the end of the set had fans’ eyes glued to the court. When junior middle blocker Leilani Dodson delivered a kill to seal the point, the crowd leapt up and the bench was in celebration mode.
Dodson, who totaled six kills and recorded a .357 hitting percentage, was one of several Wildcats with a strong individual performance against the Wolverines. But a mix of miscom munication, execution errors and a sluggish first two sets led NU (12-4, 1-3 Big Ten) to fall to Michigan (12-2, 3-1 Big Ten) in four sets.
“We learned that we can’t start off slow,” senior outside hitter Temi Thomas-Ailara said. “We have to pick it up throughout the match.”
The Cats stumbled in their return to play after a historic upset over No. 7 Minnesota on Wednesday. Michigan tallied the first two points of the set, gaining a lead it would never relinquish.
The first set laid the groundwork for the Wolverines’ dominance dur ing the rest of the matchup, as they
outpaced NU in hitting and kill per centage. Thomas-Ailara said Michigan played well through the first two sets, while the Cats didn’t compete to their potential.
Among other offensive woes, NU also committed several errors, includ ing sending the ball out of bounds repeatedly. Coach Shane Davis viewed miscues and offensive failures as cen tral to the loss.
“We had balls dropping, miscues on balls — just easy stuff that we couldn’t execute,” Davis said.
NU notched the first two points of the second set, but the Wolverines battled back for the lead. The com petitors traded points through the middle of the set, but Michigan began to cruise as the Cats committed piv otal errors once again.
Though the third set was a simi lar back-and-forth battle, it was NU who took control this time. The Cats led by four at multiple points during the set and managed to ward off the Wolverines as they narrowed the lead. Fifth-year outside hitter Hanna Lesiak sealed the victory, finishing the set with back to back kills.
Davis said taking care of the ball was key to maintaining momentum in the third set. Getting NU’s middle blockers more involved helped, too, he said.
The Cats’ confidence buoyed them
into the fourth set. NU looked at ease, jumping out to an eight-point lead early on. But, after a timeout and a challenge to a call on the court, Michi gan looked like a new team.
The Wolverines surged ahead with a 7-1 run near the end of the set. While the Cats rallied to force set point, it wasn’t enough. Michigan finished the matchup with three straight points for a 3-1 victory.
The shift in momentum was dif ficult, Davis said.
“What was kind of disappointing was having a big lead like we did in set four, and then (taking) the foot off the gas pedal,” Davis said.
Thomas-Ailara said Michigan’s out side hitters and middle blockers posed challenges in the set. Their players were good at moving, she said, which pushed the Cats’ middle blockers to really think about where they were going in the fourth set.
Now 1-3 in Big Ten play, NU returns to competition against Rut gers on Friday. Ahead of the match-up, Thomas-Ailara said she expects the Cats to look inward.
“We’re going to focus on having our team identity from point one — making sure that we’re engaged, ready to play from point one, set one,” Thomas-Ailara said. charlottevarnes2024@u.northwestern.edu
In a game in which total turn overs (eight) between both teams doubled up the total scores (four), Northwestern couldn’t convert chaos into victory. The Wildcats’ losing streak was extended to four games in a 17-7 defeat at No. 11 Penn State on Saturday.
“I’m proud of our guys and proud of the way they came in here to bat tle,” coach Pat Fitzgerald said. “We had to battle the elements and battle a top-15 team on the road. We’re a few plays away, but that was one hell of a Big Ten football game.”
While those in attendance with stood the pummeling onslaught of rain, both squads’ offenses couldn’t get much going. The messy affair between the Wildcats (1-4, 1-1 Big Ten) and the Nittany Lions (5-0, 2-0) featured a harvest of fumbles, plenty of run plays and a host of three-and-outs.
NU’s first five drives were indica tive of its many offensive struggles in Happy Valley.
The Cats’ opening three posses sions each ended in three-and-outs, and even when the Cats got the ball back courtesy of an interception from redshirt junior linebacker Bryce Gallagher, junior quarterback Ryan Hilinski turned the ball over less than two minutes later. The fifth drive — NU’s shortest non-turnover induced possession of the first half — lasted all of 28 seconds after three consecu tive incompletions from Hilinski. It wasn’t until the second quarter that a Cats drive lasted longer than 1:44.
NU entered halftime facing a 14-0 deficit following a dismal first half showing which featured five punts, three turnovers and 78 yards of total offense.
“I think our offensive guys ran into a really good defense tonight,” Fitzgerald said. “(Penn State) made some pressures that we didn’t maybe adjust to, but those guys fought their
tails off.”
Despite the struggles offensively, the Cats defense stepped up to the challenge. NU forced a season-high five turnovers and conceded just three scores to Penn State. Fitzger ald heralded the defense’s effort as a “valiant performance,” one that held the Nittany Lions’ dynamic running attack to just 3.8 yards per carry on 58 rushing attempts — conversely, NU registered a mere 1.1 yards per carry.
Out of the intermission, the Cats began to move the ball downfield to greater success. Deep into the third quarter, Hilinski led NU to the Penn State 47-yard line. After an incomplete pass intended for senior wide receiver Donny Navarro III, Hilinski lined up in the shotgun on second-and-10.
The Orange, California native found sophomore wideout Jacob Gill in acres of space down the left sideline for an easy 47-yard touch down. Gill, who came into Satur day’s matchup averaging just one reception a game and 6.8 yards per
catch, credited the play’s success with his offseason work alongside Hilinski.
“Me and Ryan, we’ve been work ing all offseason on vertical go (routes), working on timing with that,” Gill said. “Then, him just lay ing it out there, perfect ball, body catch it for weather and then going to make a play. It was just a perfect scenario.”
Gill’s touchdown would end up as NU’s only score on the day, with several late game turnover-on-downs sealing the game’s fate.
Fitzgerald said the onus falls on him to “push the right buttons” in order to get a win, and he wasn’t able to do that Saturday. Still, he said he was proud of the Cats’ effort despite the bitter result.
“We’re 1-1 in the Big Ten and like I told (the team) after the game, that’s all that matters,” Fitzgerald said. “They’re gonna keep grinding, they’ve got a lot of fight in them and I’m really proud of them.”.
Northwestern’s clash with No. 20 Penn State on Sunday could be char acterized by one attribute: resilience.
The Wildcats (1-6-3, 0-3-1 Big Ten) entered Sunday’s match on the heels of three consecutive losses. NU’s main shortcoming of late has been its lackluster response after conceding goals. The Cats’ last two opponents, Indiana and Michigan, managed to score a second or third goal within mere minutes of their opening score. Hosting the ranked Nittany Lions (4-3-3, 1-0-2) this weekend, it was reasonable to tem per expectations.
But for the first time in a long time, the Cats answered when their opponent scored. Not just once, but twice.
“We put ourselves in a deficit and credit to Penn State,” coach Russell Payne said. “Both goals were a little bit self-inflicted in terms of us just losing our shape. We fought back twice and we had chances there (late).”
The Nittany Lions, fresh off a 1-0 midweek defeat to Villanova, got on the scoreboard first. Recent memo ries of NU’s small deficits becoming deep holes came flooding back, but the Cats didn’t shut down this time around.
Just three minutes later, junior forward Justin Weiss leveled the score at 1-1, and left those in atten dance marveling. After nearly losing the ball, Weiss bodied the defender away, squared his hips to the goal and placed a looping shot into the upper left corner, all while seemingly off balance. The New York native’s equalizer quelled any notion that NU would be reliving the past week’s results once more.
Following halftime, Penn State wasted little time taking the lead back. Once again, the Cats were
quickly able to equalize.
Sophomore midfielder Collin McCamy’s tempting cross into the 18-yard box was headed away, but graduate student defender Ethan Dudley reacted quickly. On his favored left foot, the Florida Gulf Coast transfer took the ball down and fired a shot from outside the box into the back of the net. Dud ley’s effort looked like one from a seasoned striker, not a center back who had just one goal to his name this season entering Sunday’s con test. Still, a goal is a goal, and it was desperately needed.
The two teams exchanged chances for the rest of the game, but the score remained squarely 2-2 until the final whistle.
“It’s just good to get points,” Dud ley said. “I liked the way we played today. We had a lot more energy. The communication was up, the workrate from everybody was up … so, I’m just proud of the guys’ performances because it was a collective effort.”
NU secured one point from its draw with the Nittany Lions — its first point in conference play — nabbing eighth place in the Big Ten from Wisconsin. Both the Cats and Badgers remain winless in conference play, and the Oct. 23 meeting between the two teams is likely to have significant postseason implications.
Payne reiterated that “composed, calm and connected play” is the squad’s priority, and it will allow the Cats to achieve greater success in the final stretch of the season. NU’s pre season goals of making the Big Ten Tournament and possibly the NCAA Tournament are still in sight, accord ing to Payne, but it starts with gameby-game results.
“Every point matters,” Payne said. “Our record at this point is meaning less and has no reflection on where we’re going to be in the postseason.”