The Daily Northwestern – October 23, 2017

Page 1

The Daily Northwestern Monday, October 23, 2017

DAILYNORTHWESTERN.COM 8 SPORTS/Football

3 CAMPUS/Events

NU topples Hawkeyes in thrilling OT contest

Poet talks challenges faced by transgender people of color during performance at NU

Find us online @thedailynu 4 OPINION/McKeon

How NU Greek life became too big to fail

High 58 Low 46

University plans to create acting MFA Master’s program added to School of Communication By MADDIE BURAKOFF

daily senior staffer @madsburk

When Barbara O’Keefe started as the dean of Northwestern’s School of Communication in 2000, she said creating a Master of Fine Arts program in acting was part of her first strategic plan. The School of Communication offers other master’s programs in theater — including directing, stage design and writing — but acting remains a “missing piece,” O’Keefe told The Daily on Friday. However, that will change soon, she said. “To be a competitive theater program in this century, to provide the kind of synergistic education we want to provide ... we’ve decided we need to build an MFA program in acting,” she said. “We’re working on it right now.” Though details of the program are still in the works, O’Keefe said she hopes to have an inaugural class of eight students in place by September 2019. Communication Prof. Harvey Young, chair of the theater department, said a draft proposal for the program is currently under review by the department. The program will need approval from the School of Communication, the graduate school and Provost Jonathan Holloway, but Young said he is “optimistic” the proposal will succeed. Young said it is important to

ensure the graduate program will have no negative impact on undergraduate theater students. “We want to make sure we build a program that on its own is dynamic, that attracts the very best graduate students and gives them the opportunities to succeed,” Young said. “Our commitment is that that program operate independently, so that it has its own spaces and production opportunities.” To provide adequate space for the new acting students, as well as other graduate students in the School of Communication, O’Keefe said NU is creating a center in downtown Chicago. The space will be located on the second floor of Abbott Hall — a building that is already part of NU’s Chicago campus — and renovations should be complete by 2019, she said. Plans for the space include several acting studios, a performance black box and a motion-capture studio, Young said. The center will have facilities for all of NU’s theater MFA programs and the MFA in documentary media, said Kerry Trotter, communication director for the School of Communication. Faculty for the new MFA program will likely come from outside hires, so the undergraduate program will not lose professors to the graduate school, she added. To raise money for the downtown center and the MFA program, the School of Communication will host a gala show in April, bringing well-known » See ACTING, page 5

Brian Meng/The Daily Northwestern

Brian d’Arcy James (Communication ’90) performs at a celebration concert for Evanston nonprofit Over the Rainbow. Before the performance, the organization honored several people who assisted OTR, which provides accessible housing to people with physical disabilities.

NU alums perform at fundraiser Celebration concert to benefit local accessible housing nonprofit By GABBY BIRENBAUM

the daily northwestern @birenbomb

When Arlington Heights resident Courtney Stocking graduated college, she said she and her father began apartment hunting, looking at more than 1,000 places. Stocking, who uses a wheelchair, said buildings that claimed to be

wheelchair-accessible often lacked elevators or ample bathroom space. After she eventually found housing, she continued advocating for those who face similar challenges by working with Over The Rainbow, an organization that provides affordable and accessible housing for those with physical disabilities in Illinois. “I became involved and told my story about my accessible

Local artist highlights race issues

Artwork from at-risk youth displayed at Curt’s Café in Evanston By SAMANTHA HANDLER

the daily northwestern @sn_handler

When Evanston artist Kathy Pilat saw an art show featuring people’s experiences with racism, she said she realized the importance of understanding these stories. Building on that knowledge, she began working with men at Curt’s Café North — a workforce training program for atrisk youth — to showcase their own narratives. Pilat said she encouraged eight students to draw selfportraits and write a few paragraphs below the artwork describing their experiences with racism. She displayed the drawings at Curt’s Café North, 2922 Central St., and plans to have new students add their own portraits and stories » See ART, page 5

Joshua Kaplan/Daily Senior Staffer

Students draw portraits and write about their experiences with racism. The works were displayed at Curt’s Café North, 2922 Central St.

Serving the University and Evanston since 1881

living needs,” Stocking told The Daily. “I came and toured different buildings and said what wouldn’t work as far as accessibility.” Stocking and others were honored at OTR’s 28th Anniversary Celebration Benefit Concert on Sunday at Galvin Recital Hall. The event also featured a performance by Northwestern alumni Brian d’Arcy James (Communication ’90)

ETHS officials, students plan to recirculate paper with disclaimer

Evanston Township High School administrators and members of the student newspaper staff decided to redistribute a section on marijuana use in the Oct. 27 issue after it was removed from circulation. ETHS senior Michael Colton, a co-executive editor for The Evanstonian, said the student staff met with administrators Friday to discuss their options. The upcoming paper will include a disclaimer in the introduction stating the newspaper staff and school administration do not support marijuana use. It will also have an infographic depicting the health and legal consequences of marijuana. The Sept. 22 issue of The Evanstonian was initially confiscated and taken down from the newspaper’s website after administrators determined a series of articles in the section, “The Pot Thickens…,” glorified

and Dan Lipton (Bienen ’97) to benefit OTR’s apartment communities. James recently starred as King George III in “Hamilton,” both on and off Broadway, and as Andy Baker in the popular Netflix series “13 Reasons Why.” At the celebration concert, he performed everything from Broadway show tunes to Billy Joel for » See CONCERT, page 5 drug use, promoted drug dealing and encouraged ideas detrimental to students. ETHS Principal Marcus Campbell said in a Wednesday statement that although state and federal laws allow student journalists free speech rights, they are restricted. He said school administrators can impose limits if they feel the students’ work violates school policy or condones illegal acts. After meeting with the student staff, Campbell told The Daily in an email that the paper will be redistributed because the students “worked hard” on it and deserve to showcase their work. Colton said the newspaper staff members brought the changes to the table themselves in response to the administration’s concerns. However, he said, he wished the administration left these publishing decisions to the staff. “It’s reasonable that we need to provide more balance, and we’re going to do so,” Colton said. “It’s just a matter of coming to that decision on our own rather than the administration doing so for us.” — Amelia Langas

INSIDE: Around Town 2 | On Campus 3 | Opinion 4 | Classifieds & Puzzles 6 | Sports 8


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.