The Daily Northwestern — October 14, 2016 by The Daily Northwestern

The Daily Northwestern Friday, October 14, 2016

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Responding to ‘locker room talk’

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Provost defends counseling change Dan Linzer says Women’s Center changes make sense By YVONNE KIM

the daily northwestern @yvonneekimm

Jeffrey Wang/Daily Senior Staffer

Intersex artist and activist Pidgeon Pagonis talks about issues surrounding sex assignment surgeries at Harris Hall Thursday. Pagonis was selected as the Rainbow Alliance’s weekly keynote speaker for Queer and Trans* Empowerment Month.

Activist critiques intersex surgery Pidgeon Pagonis talks bodily justice at Rainbow Alliance keynote By LEAH DUNLEVY

the daily northwestern

Intersex activist Pidgeon Pagonis called for increased awareness on the impact of sex assignment surgeries on intersex individuals Thursday.

“It’s a social emergency,” Pagonis said during Rainbow Week’s keynote address. Pagonis — who uses they, them, their pronouns — spoke to about 50 people in Harris Hall at an event hosted by Rainbow Alliance. Pagonis spoke on being intersex and

showed their documentary, “The Son They Never Had: Growing Up Intersex,” which was followed by a Q&A. Pagonis is Chicago-born activist who advocates for the intersex community and bodily justice. With over 10 years of experience, they

have been published in the academic journal Narrative Inquiry in Bioethics and were honored by the White House as an LGBTQ “Champion of Change” in 2015. Pagonis used their personal » See PIDGEON, page 10

Committee punts on Stevens case By JULIA JACOBS

daily senior staffer @juliarebeccaj

A Faculty Senate committee tasked with reviewing disciplinary actions decided it is unable to make a decision on political science Prof. Jacqueline Stevens’ appeal of her involuntary leave, according to a letter from the committee obtained by The Daily. The Committee on Cause, chaired by School of Law Prof.

Ronald Allen, issued the statement dated Sept. 26, saying it is “impossible” for the committee to act without a statement of specific disciplinary actions against Stevens and that it does not consider sanctions after they are lifted. In a blog post published Oct. 7, Stevens made multiple objections to the committee’s rationale, saying she would appeal the decision. Stevens was notified by Weinberg Dean Adrian Randolph at the end of July that she was being put on leave based on reports that

she was a threat to campus safety, claims that Stevens maintains are baseless. She attributes the University’s action in part to her political activism, including organizing the opposition to former ambassador Karl Eikenberry’s appointment to lead the Buffett Institute of Global Studies. Stevens was ultimately prohibited from visiting campus or contacting students — except those on a list for specific purposes of communication — until a fitnessfor-duty evaluation resulted in her

being cleared to return to teach this fall. The committee was notified on Sept. 16 that Stevens had put forth an appeal of disciplinary action, the letter said. “Professor Stevens may very well have been mistreated in numerous small and not-so-small ways; perhaps there is a hostile workplace environment actionable under law; but the Committee on Cause is not an appropriate » See STEVENS, page 10

Provost Dan Linz er defended recently-announced plans for Counseling and Psychological Services to absorb the Women’s Center’s counseling services, saying it makes more sense for the University to offer its mental health programs in one place. Linzer said the Office of the Provost, which oversees the Women’s Center, does not have the “expertise” to oversee a health care practice. “CAPS identifies what’s the best approach for students who need certain types of help,” Linzer said. “We’re putting all this investment into making CAPS absolutely terrific. Wouldn’t it make sense to combine the resources and really have a single umbrella over our student mental health programs that provide the best possible coverage we can?” Some students had criticized the decision, concerned in part that CAPS — which specializes in short-term, rather than longterm, counseling — wouldn’t serve students as well as the Women’s Center does now. Linzer pointed out that CAPS already provides longterm counseling to students when they need it, and that CAPS recently lifted its 12-session limit for students. Linzer said the Women’s Center provides such a wide range of services that it was important to designate services it should continue and which ones could be “met in other ways that can be better for the University.” Linzer also said the decision was made after a years-long

planning process, in hopes that “any health care that we are providing for students meets the highest professional standards.” The email, sent Sept. 28, said the integration will be “facilitated by the increased number of counselors at CAPS,” and “a wide array of mental health services and other support … which were not immediately available in the Women’s Center.” Still, SESP sophomore Liz Diamond, a member of Sexual Health and Assault Peer Educators, said she was referred out of CAPS during her first intake appointment and went to the Women’s Center instead. She said she was “immediately disappointed” to hear the news because of how the Women’s Center helped her. “I just remember feeling so drastically different (in CAPS) than in my intake appointment with the Women’s Center,” Diamond said. “CAPS is very cold and clinical, and the Women’s Center is just welcoming. It’s literally a house; it’s a home.” CAPS staff said they were not available for comment. The Women’s Center served roughly 80 students per year from 2013 to 2015, interim director Alecia Wartowski told The Daily in an email. Both clinicians and counseling externs meet with students. Wartowski added that students of any gender can use the center’s services for up to 52 sessions. “While I think it’s great that CAPS has removed the (12-session) limit, I think that wasn’t the only problem with CAPS,” Diamond said. “I understand the limitations of running a mental health service through the Office of the Provost. However, I do think there’s a compromise that could be made to maybe reduce liability … (while) keeping a warmer » See COUNSELING, page 10

Schakowsky urges students to not waste vote on third party By SAM KREVLIN

daily senior staffer @samkrevlin

With fewer than four weeks until the presidential election, U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) visited the College Democrats on Thursday to encourage students phone banking for Hillary Clinton and to discourage students from voting for a third party. Schakowsky — who represents Illinois’ 9th district in Congress — said this election is the most consequential in her lifetime, and grassroots advocacy to mobilize the vote will be the

deciding factor. Schakowsky said the Clinton campaign has done a better job recruiting volunteers that make personal contact, make phone calls and knock on doors than her opponent, Donald Trump. “We are never going to match them dollar for dollar unless we get rid of Citizens United,” Schakowsky said. “But we can outmatch them (with volunteers).” But Schakowsky did say she worries some millennials will vote for third-party candidates such as Gary Johnson or Jill Stein. She said the election of George W. Bush over Al Gore in 2000, when Ralph Nader ran as a Green Party candidate, is the

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perfect example of how a thirdparty candidate can change trajectory of the country. The election of Gore, Schakowsky said, would have resulted in a better America with progress in climate change and without an Iraq war. “That is a vote for Trump,” Schakowsky said of voting for a third-party candidate. “This is a choice between two people, and the consequences are too grave to vote third-party.” Bryan Lee, an executive board member for College Democrats, also stressed the importance of voting for Clinton over a thirdparty candidate. He pointed out college students as a demographic are more likely to vote third party

than any other demographic. “The most important thing is that millennials vote for Hillary and not a third-party candidate,” the Weinberg sophomore said. “We don’t want to go to bed voting for Gary Johnson and waking up tomorrow to president Donald Trump.” Schakowsky mentioned the recent recording published by the Washington Post that included lewd comments about women, which Trump defended as “locker room talk.” Schakowsky said it took her back to when she was an organizer and felt sexually violated by a major leader of » See SCHAKOWSKY, page 10

Sam Krevlin/Daily Senior Staffer

U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) speaks to students about the effect of voting for a third party candidate in the upcoming presidential election. She urged students and faculty to support Hillary Clinton by continuing frequent phone banking and making a personal impact on undecided voters.