The Daily Northwestern Wednesday, November 15, 2017
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3 CAMPUS/Student Groups
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6 OPINION/Alfaro
Chicago poet Eve Ewing discusses significance of social issues in work
Goodnight Nevin’s, we will all miss you
‘Radical’ feminists denounce ETHS rule
City OKs drafting of Harley contract Local nonprofit to renovate, lease lakeside mansion
School policy allows transgender pupils to pick locker rooms
By KRISTINA KARISCH
daily senior staffer @kristinakarisch
Aldermen on Monday authorized the city to draft a contract with Evanston Lakehouse and Gardens to renovate and lease the Harley Clarke mansion. The historic building, located in north Evanston along the lakefront, has been vacant since 2015 when the Evanston Art Center moved out. The mansion includes lakefront access, a greenhouse and a garden. As part if its proposal, Evanston Lakehouse and Gardens will restore the property and sign a 40-year lease to operate the mansion. The renovated space would feature outdoor recreational opportunities, community meeting spaces and environmental education. According to the proposal, Evanston Lakehouse and Gardens plans to keep the building open for events and meetings, and it will install a cafe to help fund the operation. Evanston Lakehouse and Gardens was founded in 2015 to restore the Harley Clarke Mansion. Since its inception, the group has received more than $90,000 in pledges for the $5.3 million project, board president Tom Hodgman said in October. The organization is looking to raise nearly $5 million of the costs through a capital fundraising campaign. In the original proposal, Evanston earmarked a $250,000 contribution. However, Ald. Eleanor Revelle (7th) said because of Evanston’s current financial position — officials are trying to fill a $6 million deficit in their proposed 2018 budget — the city will no longer provide the funding. The lack of municipal contribution and high cost of the project has led some aldermen to doubt whether the nonprofit can raise necessary funds. Ald. Judy Fiske (1st) said she is concerned about fundraising, but hopes that once the group signs a contract donors will feel more comfortable contributing. “We need to have clearly identifiable benchmarks along the way,” Fiske said. “If the funds aren’t raised, I think
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By AMELIA LANGAS
the daily northwestern @amelialangas
Design by Colin Lynch, Kim Sloan
Student leaders struggle with University’s barrier-free initiative for group admissions A “mad dash”
By STAVROS AGORAKIS
daily senior staffer @stavrosagorakis
A self-described “overachiever,” Weinberg junior Danielle Hojnicki thrived in her high school social scene. As a leader and member of several organizations — National Honor Society, choir, an art club, among others — she always felt eager to pursue her extracurricular interests. But coming to Northwestern, Hojnicki said the process of applying to student groups differed significantly from her experience in high school. At NU, the extensive application process freshmen go through to get into clubs quickly crushed her eagerness. By the end of her first year, she said she was rejected by half a dozen clubs. Hojnicki said freshmen often turn to clubs to build strong communities with other students early in their college careers. Not having had this option, she said she doesn’t know what experiences she might have missed out on. Following feedback on NU’s competitive student group culture, the University proposed a plan requiring groups to adopt open admission policies. Originally announced in spring 2016 by the Student Organizations and Activities office, the initiative aims to improve the first-year experience and increase accessibility by facilitating points of entry into groups. The plan — later coined The Inclusive and BarrierFree Student Organization Engagement Initiative — was rolled out in March, SOA director Kourtney Gray said. The initiative defines an inclusive student group as one that has “no extraneous barriers to general membership” and that allows “general members full participation in meetings, events, and other organizational activities.” Administrators previously said clubs not complying with the proposal might lose recognition but have since dropped this consequence. “Removing applications or making (student group admission) less difficult would’ve been very beneficial,” Hojnicki said. “I probably would have had a different freshman year experience.” Some student leaders criticized the University’s new direction, saying administrators have not communicated well about the initiative or the extent to which it will affect student group activities. SOA associate director Tracey Gibson-Jackson said administrators are not trying to enforce a blanket policy on all student groups, but rather encourage new ways for them to promote inclusivity. “Groups are thinking, ‘Oh my God. They’re putting a policy in place,’” Gibson-Jackson said. “It’s not a policy. … We’re not forcing people to change, we’re just trying to educate students about what some of their peers are saying and about removing some barriers.”
» See HARLEY, page 7
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Undergraduate students reflecting on their firstyear experience with club recruitment said they faced unnecessary barriers to join. Hojnicki said imposing barriers on admission to student organizations can often detract from an inclusive environment. Additionally, she said, applications and “rush processes” may inhibit students from professional and personal development. Weinberg junior Emily Ash said student group recruitment can be “terribly intense,” and described it as a “mad dash.” Although she was only rejected from a couple of clubs freshman year, Ash said her expectations of the NU social scene differed from those of other students due to advice from upperclassmen. “This competitive nature of student groups was very much part of the student narrative that I got from my older friends,” she said. “They told me it’s a very intense process and that I should be prepared for rejection.” Medill sophomore Gabrielle Bienasz, who did not get into the first two groups she applied to last fall, said some of her personal recruitment experiences were “awful.” During an interview for a club sport team, Bienasz said she was asked whether she liked beer. When she responded no, the student leaders told her she gave the “wrong answer.” “Certain student groups are more selective than Northwestern itself because the qualifications to get into a student group are so ambiguous and personality based,” Bienasz said. Hojnicki said freshmen are especially eager to forge new identities in college, and being turned away from student groups often leads to feelings of isolation and issues with self-esteem. She said it can leave students asking, “Why wasn’t I good enough?” Because first-year students may become organizations’ most committed members, Ash said groups should explore the option of admitting more freshmen. She hopes the barrier-free initiative empowers students to feel more ownership over their first-year experiences. “My hope is that first-year students feel less pressured to perform or posture or agonize about how they may appear in an application or an interview and focus more on identifying the right groups that they want to prioritize being in,” she said.
Focusing on first-years
Administrators and student leaders have clashed over the initiative’s effect on the first-year experience. Vice president for student affairs Patricia TellesIrvin, whose department oversees SOA, said the administration has solicited input from the community to help shape the final initiative. » See IN FOCUS, page 4
Evanston Township High School/District 202’s newly implemented transgender locker room policy received backlash from a self-proclaimed radical feminist organization, which voiced its opposition of the policy. The Women’s Liberation Front is a grassroots international organization comprised of all-female volunteers who work to empower women and “resist all systems of oppression.” Board chair Natasha Chart told The Daily in an email that WoLF does not support ETHS’ locker room policy because it does not create a “safe or equitable learning environment” for non-transgender girls. “Girls have privacy needs related to menstruation, and are often intimidated or shamed around these needs, particularly by male peers,” Chart said. “These policies also teach girls that they can complain about unwanted exposure to male nudity everywhere except their locker rooms, where they are also expected to undress.” Kara Dansky, a spokesperson for WoLF, said the group heard about ETHS’ new policy through its involvement in the national discourse on gender identity. In 2016, WoLF filed a lawsuit in New Mexico against an Obama-era interpretation of Title IX — which bars discrimination based on sex — to include gender identity. However, Dansky said WoLF is not considering any legal action against ETHS at this time. The District 202 board voted overwhelmingly last spring to pass the new policy, which allows transgender students to pick a locker room that corresponds to their gender. Previously, transgender students could use the bathroom of their choice but had to request access to a separate locker room. Board member Gretchen Livingston, who voted for the policy, said in May that the board had an obligation to “do better” for its students. “Simply put, we do not treat our students differently on the basis of characteristics like skin color or disability, nor should we do so on the basis on gender identity,” Livingston said. » See BACKLASH, page 7
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