The Daily Northwestern – May 3, 2018 by The Daily Northwestern

The Daily Northwestern Thursday, May 3, 2018

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Fifty years after Bursar’s Takeover, NU reconciles continued parallels in black student concerns By TROY CLOSSON

daily senior staffer

Kathryn Ogletree (Weinberg ’71, Graduate School ’76) was just a freshman when she helped mobilize and lead a 38-hour sit-in that

would change the course of the University’s relationship with black students. It was May 3, 1968. Black students at Northwestern had organized the night before to finalize plans to take over an undisclosed campus building. The protest had been in the works for a while,

Ogletree said, and everyone had a designated role: The then-president of For Members Only helped guide students into the Bursar’s Office at 619 Clark St., while some led diversions at the Rebecca Crown Center. Others simply showed up in solidarity. “It was agreed that this is what we were

going to do, and then everyone who was in support showed up (at) seven o’clock in the morning the next day and we were fed into the Bursar’s Office, and that’s the history,” Ogletree said. » See IN FOCUS, page 4

NU research fellow D65 proposes dress code changes runs for state Rep. Decision follows ETHS revisions enacted earlier this school year Daniel Trujillo running as Green Party candidate By CATHERINE HENDERSON

the daily northwestern @caity_henderson

Daniel Trujillo, a research fellow at Northwestern, said he was “frustrated” watching state politics from the sidelines and decided he had to get involved. He is now running as the Green Party candidate for Illinois’ 18th District representative seat against incumbent state Rep. Robyn Gabel (D-Evanston). Trujillo announced his candidacy at the beginning of 2018 and has since been campaigning to collect signatures to appear on the ballot in November, his campaign press secretary Molly Laatsch said. Although Trujillo has the Green Party’s endorsement, he said he identifies as an independent and votes across party lines. “I myself am just a regular, working-class father,” Trujillo said. “I have six children. … We’re involved in the everyday

lives of raising children and being a part of our community.” Trujillo said he is facing a plethora of challenges trying to get on the ballot. Ballot access procedures are particularly “regressive” in Illinois, he said. As a third party candidate, he said he must receive signatures from 5 percent of the voting population from the last election — about 5,000 signatures — while Democratic and Republican candidates only need 500 signatures. Candidates file signatures between June 18 and 25, giving Trujillo some time to get on the ballot. He said there is a good chance his signatures will be challenged, so his campaign must be especially thorough. Laatsch said she is working to make her candidate visible in the community. She said the campaign has gathered a couple hundred signatures by canvassing neighborhoods and attending community events geared toward Trujillo’s mission of empowering working-class voters. She said Trujillo will be at the Evanston Farmers’ Market this weekend to meet with constituents. » See TRUJILLO, page 3

Serving the University and Evanston since 1881

By AMELIA LANGAS

daily senior staffer @amelialangas

The Evanston/Skokie School District 65 Board Policy Committee decided at a Monday meeting to propose changes to the district’s dress code policy and follow in the footsteps of Evanston Township High School. In the beginning of the school year, ETHS implemented a policy highlighting marginalized communities and favoring dialogue surrounding dress code. Soon after, a group of ETHS students — who had worked to enact the changes — attended a Board Policy Committee meeting along with District 65 students and parents to advocate for a similar review of the District 65 dress code, board president Suni Kartha told The Daily. “It was a combination of District 65 students as well as high school students who had been through District 65 saying this is not just an issue for the high school,” Kartha said. “That was really the impetus for us to look at (the ETHS) policy and look at our policy and see what we needed to do.”

Daily file photo by Noah Frick-Alofs

Evanston/Skokie School District 65 Board president Suni Kartha at a meeting. The district’s Board Policy Committee decided Monday to begin to make amendments to the district’s dress code.

Sergio Hernandez, a board member and chairperson of the Board Policy Committee, said after hearing the community’s concerns, the committee asked the district administration to take a look at both the district’s current policy and ETHS’

edited policy. He also said the administration was asked to review policies of nearby school districts. At Monday’s meeting, the administration presented a memo to the committee. The memo recommended that the

district review and update the code, and it also included a summary of current practices at other Illinois school districts as well as at districts in Portland and San Francisco. » See DRESS CODE, page 3

INSIDE: Around Town 2 | On Campus 3 | Arts & Entertainment 6 | Sports 8

2 NEWS | THE DAILY NORTHWESTERN

THURSDAY, MAY 3, 2018

AROUND TOWN DIY wood sign creative studio opens By CLARE PROCTOR

the daily northwestern @ceproctor23

Workshops at Board & Brush — a wood sign creative studio that opened in Evanston on Saturday — are “kind of like a party,” said co-owner Shannon Valko. “We have loud music and music videos blasting, and we do have beer, wine, soda, water,” she said. “It’s a really social, creative atmosphere.” Valko owns Board & Brush — a national chain that now has a location at 802 Dempster St. — with her husband, Drew Valko, and brother, Rob Spengler. Customers can create a personalized wood sign based on a design selected from the store’s website over the course of a three-hour workshop held at the studio, she said. Valko and her husband, both Evanston residents, wanted to open up shop in their hometown, she said. She said she was interested in the Main-Dempster Mile’s location because of its community events that increase traffic in the business district. After beginning to look for a space in

POLICE BLOTTER Evanston man charged in connection with aggravated assault A 66-year-old Evanston man was charged with aggravated assault Monday evening after threatening a 55-year-old man with a metal bat. Around 6:30 p.m., the 55-year-old man and his son were pulling into their driveway in the 1800 block of Brown Avenue when the 66-yearold approached the two with a bat in hand. He struck a fence with the bat, Evanston police Cmdr. Ryan Glew said. The two went inside, while the 66-year-old

Evanston last August, Valko said the city’s economic development division recommended multiple potential properties that fit Board & Brush’s needs. The owners decided on the Dempster property in November. “The space was customized to our needs, which was great because we have kind of unique needs in that we need to have handwashing sinks and a work bench area, office space, studio space and such,” she said. Renovations at the property took about three months, Valko said. The builders repurposed wood from the Ice House Gallery and used it in the Board & Brush location, she said. Paul Zalmezak, Evanston’s economic development manager, said Board & Brush brings a new artistic medium — wood — into the mix. “It’s not something that you can do online,” he said. “It’s just something that’s a fulfilling activity that you do in person with friends and family.” Valko and Spengler co-own another Evanston business, Little Beans Café, located at 430 Asbury Ave. Valko said Evanston is a “creative town,” and owning the cafe and children’s playspace in the city helped her decide to open up another business locally. Although Bottle & Bottega — located at

1016 Davis St. — offers a similar experience combining wine and painting, Valko said Board & Brush differs in the types of craft activities it offers, and it’s more individualized. “(At) Bottle & Bottega, you pick the workshop you want to attend and everyone would do the same project,” she said. “At Board & Brush, you go online and pick your project and then come in, and everyone has something unique.” In addition to offering public workshops, Board & Brush also accommodates group activities like corporate events and birthday parties in which customers create wood decor for their homes or offices in a social environment, Valko said. Spengler said Board & Brush provides Evanston residents with an alternative evening activity from the “typical” dinner and a movie. “That hands-on arts and crafts creative experience is what we were going for, and I think a town like Evanston is a perfect place for it,” Spengler said. “It’s a great community for it.”

man stood outside the residence and continued to threaten the 55-year-old man. The 55-year-old man walked out onto his front porch with a BB gun, telling the other man to leave the property. The two were arguing over church equipment, Glew said. Officers placed the 66-year-old in custody. The 55-year-old man allowed officers to search his residence and the BB gun was recovered.

The man was observed in the backyard of a residence in the 2100 block of Wesley Avenue at about 7 p.m. He was observed firing the pellet gun in the air by the person who called EPD, Glew said. When officers arrived, the man followed orders to place the firearm on a table, and the firearm was then confirmed to be a pellet gun. Officers also located roughly 14.5 grams of cannabis in the man’s backpack, Glew said. The 19-year-old was charged for possession of an air rifle and misdemeanor possession of cannabis.

Man charged with possession of cannabis, air rifle

A 19-year-old Evanston man was arrested Monday evening after police received calls of a man with a pellet gun.

Syd Stone contributed reporting. clareproctor2021@u.northwestern.edu

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THURSDAY, MAY 3, 2018

ON CAMPUS ASG Senate unanimously confirms vice presidents By GABBY BIRENBAUM

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Kate Salvidio/Daily Senior Staffer

Tyler Washington speaks during ASG Senate. The Weinberg junior was one of nine vice presidents confirmed at Wednesday’s meeting.

Associated Student Government Senate unanimously confirmed the nominations of nine vice presidents to its executive board Wednesday in what chief of staff Lars Benson said was the most competitive application process in institutional memory. Weinberg junior Agneska Bloch Skyped in from abroad to answer questions from senators regarding her application to be vice president for academics. ASG President Sky Patterson, who formerly held the position, said Bloch remained engaged with the committee even while abroad. Bloch said she hopes to expand Patterson’s legacy by advocating for the Books for Cats program to administrators. “The only way to properly (expand) is to continue to garner support from faculty and administrators,” Bloch said. “Often faculty and administrators will not really want to listen to us unless we come in with numbers, with collaboration, with other student groups” Weinberg junior Peter Hillenbrand was confirmed as vice president for campus life. Weinberg junior Rebecca Lazer, who has served as vice president for health and wellness for the past 10 months, was confirmed in the same position. Medill sophomore Gabrielle Bienasz was confirmed as vice president for public relations. Weinberg junior Tyler Washington was confirmed as vice president for accessibility and

inclusion. His biggest goal, he said, would be to expand the work-study program. Katherine Conte, a Weinberg freshman, was confirmed as vice president for analytics. She said the analytics committee has traditionally been isolated from the rest of ASG, and she hopes that under her leadership it can be a “bridge” between committees and help them collect data. “All parts of our life here at Northwestern can be tracked with statistics,” Conte said. “We love stats, the administration loves stats.” Weinberg sophomore Meilynn Shi was confirmed as vice president for community relations, and Weinberg freshman Juan Zuniga was confirmed as vice president for sustainability. McCormick freshman Spencer Colton was confirmed as vice president for services. Colton served on the services committee this year and said he has been revamping ASG’s website. “We could really use technology to our benefit to make ASG a more efficiently-run organization and one that’s more transparent to our students,” Colton said. ASG also amended a resolution introduced last week to change the code for parliamentarian impeachment procedure. The amendment — written by Zuniga and passed unanimously — changed the definition of the judicial pro tempore, who would lead impeachment proceedings in the event that a parliamentarian would be impeached. With the amendment, the position will be elected by the Rules Committee rather than automatically designated as the most senior member. gabriellebirenbaum2021@u.northwestern.edu

Boeing CEO talks plans to put first human on Mars By AMY LI

the daily northwestern

Dennis Muilenburg, chairman, president and CEO of The Boeing Company, told a crowd of students and industry professionals Wednesday that within the next couple of years, Boeing will put the first human on Mars. “The world is on the cusp of a revolution and a transformation into the next age of space exploration,” Muilenburg said. Muilenburg spoke at the 37th annual Patterson Transportation Lecture in Lutkin Hall. The lecture was sponsored by the Northwestern University Transportation Center. Boeing takes pride in its four missions: “connect, protect, explore and inspire the world through space innovation,” Muilenburg said. The company is the main contractor of NASA’s Space Launch System — a 384-feet-tall rocket that has 9.2 million pounds of thrust, which is roughly equal to 208,000 Corvette engines, Muilenburg said. He said although it is still in its beginning stages, the Space Launch System will be the first spaceship to put humans on Mars. Muilenburg added that this will be the first deep-space rocket launch in the past 50 years. The Space Launch System’s first launch test will take place in about a year and a half, he said. At the event, Muilenburg also introduced some of the projects that the company anticipates launching in the next several decades, saying Boeing is in the middle of a “crescendo of activities

DRESS CODE From page 1

Hernandez said the board plans on addressing practices that disproportionately affect female students and students of color in order to create a more equitable framework for the dress code. “This is the actual racial equity manifesting itself in policy and then in practice and through supports,” he said. “We need to give all stakeholders the capacity to carry out these

TRUJILLO From page 1

“We’re really talking about providing relief for everyday people,” Laatsch said. “We’re working every single day to make sure that we can give a voice to people who have typically felt that they’re not being represented.” If elected, Trujillo said he would prioritize budget reform, campaign finance and pension reform. He also expressed support for universal health care in

Noah Frick-Alofs/Daily Senior Staffer

Dennis Muilenburg speaks during a Wednesday event. The Boeing CEO spoke about the future of space exploration at the 37th annual Patterson Transportation Lecture.

“lower-orbit space ecosystem” and “a viable commercial economy.” Muilenburg said technologies such as space hotels and smart manufacturing facilities in space that take advantage of low gravity conditions will be available in the near future. Pushing the boundaries of the new frontier of human space exploration has “enormous” benefits in other areas too, Muilenburg said. He said science in cutting-edge digital devices, advanced materials, sports and fitness and biotechnology all have connections to the ongoing investment in space exploration. Muilenburg added that companies like Boeing have a responsibility to inspire future talent in engineering. He said his two children, who both have interests in engineering, joined him in witnessing several spacial launches at Boeing. NUTC director Hani Mahmassani, who introduced Muilenburg, said the center was honored to invite someone with a distinguished career in space science. “Boeing is one of the leading corporations in space exploration, at least in my generation.” Mahmassani said. Ryan Albelda, a McCormick junior who attended the lecture, said while she’s met professors who work in the space industry, it was helpful to hear from CEOs about scientific innovation outside of NU. “Seeing some of these industry professionals and seeing people with jobs I want to work towards is really inspiring.” Albelda said.

and energy.” “Programs on the way today are bigger and more significant than the Apollo program,” he said.

Boeing also sees potential in creating new destinations in low-earth orbit, Muilenburg said. The company is also looking into human physiology and medical technologies necessary to create a

changes, which in the end will benefit everybody because it makes a less punitive approach and then it kind of works off of this equity lens where we’re not judging others.” Kartha said the administration will change language in the student handbook to address issues of inequity and body shaming while allowing more freedom in clothing choices. She also said that the board hopes the proposed changes to the dress code will create an environment more conducive to learning instead of targeting students for violations.

“We had such a focus lately on, ‘How do we address the needs of the whole child and make sure that kids feel comfortable and included and ready to learn at school?’” Kartha said. “So making these changes and making sure that we have the inclusive and welcoming school climate that we want to have for our kids is important.” Although no concrete policy changes will be enacted until next school year at the earliest, Kartha said the administration will take time over the summer to meet with focus groups

to develop specific changes to the dress code. The board requested that the administration create a “fusion” of the Portland school districts’ code and that of ETHS, she said. “What we’re telling students and what we’re actually doing in school isn’t going to be about body shaming or discrimination,” Kartha said. “We’re just letting kids be kids and learn and be comfortable and whatnot, and not feel like the adults are necessarily policing what they wear.”

Illinois. As an educator and research fellow at Northwestern as well as a father, Trujillo emphasized education as an important issue. He said public schools funded through property taxes lead to schools in wealthier neighborhoods getting more resources, perpetuating inequality. Gabel, the incumbent, is running on her record of passing 50 bills during her time in office. She has held the position for eight years and said her role is multifaceted: Her work includes “cutting the red tape”

for constituents and writing and passing legislation. “When you run every two years, you’re always running,” Gabel said. “I spend a lot of time doing what people would normally consider campaign work, and I just consider it being in touch with the district.” She also highlighted a campaign election reform bill she co-sponsored that aimed to create a matching system for small donors. Though she said she receives some money from corporate donors and political action committees, Gabel said she doesn’t have to

raise much money to run her campaign. The Trujillo campaign has not taken any donations from PACs or corporate donors. “Our campaign is a really face-to-face campaign,” Trujillo said. “It’s funded by small donors. We don’t take any corporate donations. … It’s really a grassroots campaign.”

amyli2021@u.northwestern.edu

amelialangas@u.northwestern.edu

Syd Stone contributed reporting. catherinehenderson2021@u.northwestern.edu

4 NEWS | THE DAILY NORTHWESTERN

THURSDAY, MAY 3, 2018

IN FOCUS From page 1

They remained in control of the Bursar’s Office overnight. Ogletree said students chose that location — NU’s business office at the time, home to financial records and cash holdings — because they knew it would force the University to respond. At about 9 a.m. the next morning, Ogletree and nine other students met administrators and faculty in Scott Hall to begin negotiations. The protesting students had created a list of demands regarding black students’ experiences at Northwestern, including increasing the representation of black students on campus to at least 10 to 12 percent of each incoming class and hiring more black faculty members. Students also called for the University to provide space for a black student union and to publicly acknowledge institutional racism. Students and administrators were at “polar positions” when the takeover began, Ogletree said, but the tone had shifted when they convened. “By the time we actually started meeting with each other, there was some appreciation that they were trying to understand what they didn’t understand before,” Ogletree said. Later that evening, students approved the terms that the University had committed to — in the “May 4th Agreement”— and left the Bursar’s Office, ending the day-and-a-half protest, Ogletree said. In their demands, Ogletree said students were not focusing just on themselves, but on bettering the lives of students coming after them. Charla Wilson, University archivist for the black experience, said among numerous impacts, the significance of what she calls the “first major protest” at Northwestern can still be felt today, from its direct role in prompting the establishment of the Black House to the development of the African American Studies Department. Yet 50 years later, many of the demands Ogletree and her peers advocated for have not been met as black students remain unhappy at Northwestern. In 2016, the Black Student Experience Task Force report showed black students’ satisfaction with their Northwestern experience lagged behind that of every other racial and ethnic group on campus — and was on the decline. Only 12 percent of graduating black students reported feeling “very satisfied” with their undergraduate education in 2016 senior surveys — compared to 35 percent a decade earlier. No other racial or ethnic group surveyed reported rates under 20 percent in 2016.

Source: James Sweet/Northwestern University Archives

James Turner, president of the Afro-American Student Union, talks to the press on the day of the Bursar’s Office Takeover. Turner was a lead negotiator in the takeover.

Echoes of the past

Nearly three years ago, Communication senior Jade Mitchell found herself leading a group of about 300 students as they disrupted a groundbreaking ceremony for the new lakeside athletic complex. Students were protesting both a lack of representation and resources for students of color and institutional racism at Northwestern as University administrators, alumni and donors gathered to celebrate what would become a $260 million athletic facility. “That was the first time it felt like they took notice,” said Mitchell, who is co-president of CaribNation, a cultural student group. “They were livid that we were in there. Sometimes you have to move people to anger to get them to listen.”

In 2015, Mitchell said, many black students felt that the University didn’t listen to them. The demonstration occurred amid University discussions surrounding the decision to move administrative offices into the Black House. Later that November, various student organizations aligned to release a list of 19 demands related to the experiences of students of color — which grew to 34 by its final iteration in January 2016. The list included increasing the total percentage of black students to at least 10 percent by 2020, tripling the number of faculty of color by 2025, expanding Black House resources and publicly acknowledging national tragedies within communities of color. Three days after the protest, the University canceled proposed changes to the Black House. But Mitchell said the issue reflected a continued inattention to the black student experience, illustrating a need for the University to be “more culturally sensitive.”

Reconciling parallels

Source: James Sweet/Northwestern University Archives

Northwestern student Stephen Broussard (Medill ’70, Law ’73) exiting the Bursar’s Office on May 3, 1968. Students blocked the entrance to the building to stop police from forcibly removing protesters inside.

African American studies librarian Kathleen Bethel, who joined Northwestern in 1982, has served on two task forces dedicated to studying the black student experience at NU — one over 20 years ago and the one in 2016. Not much has changed in that time, she said. The 2016 study brought up the same concerns as the initial one, which was conducted during the 1995-96 academic year in response to campus incidents surrounding racial issues. “We could have taken the cover sheet off the first (report) and put it on the second one, because it pretty much said the same thing,” Bethel said. Though Bethel said she’s recently seen a “really proactive” response from the University to black student concerns, she wondered how much longer it will be until change occurs. Wilson called the similarities between demands then and now “eerie,” but emphasized the courage of students in the 1968 protest, considering the national context at the time: On other college campuses throughout the country, protesters had been injured and killed. Still, Wilson said that even 50 years later, students continue to say they feel “exhausted being black on campus.” Jeffrey Sterling (Weinberg ’85), president of the Northwestern University Black Alumni Association, said some current students use the “exact same words and phraseology” as the protesters in the 1960s. Sterling is the co-author of an upcoming book illustrating the evolution of black students’ experiences on campus. In a February interview with The Daily, Provost Jonathan Holloway acknowledged that “painful echoes” still exist harkening back to the takeover. However, it’s essential to recognize campus inclusion and diversity efforts have seen “radical positive improvements” at universities like NU, he said in April. “Anybody who says we are no further along than we were 50 years ago is just wrong, period,” Holloway said. “However, if they were to say

we’re not where we need to be, they’re right.” Lauren Lowery (McCormick ’89) — former vice president of NUBAA — said the same obstacles persist largely because the University “banks on the fact that the memories are short.” Earlier this year, Lowery co-founded the NUBAA Archives along with Sterling because she realized almost nothing had been compiled regarding the history of black students at Northwestern after going to the University Archives herself. “They didn’t value over the 140 years of Northwestern — or whatever how many years it is now — black students and black experiences,” Lowery said. Lowery said it is clear many issues are cyclical. “Unfortunately, no one has people of color’s interests at heart other than themselves,” she said. “So if we continue to come and go and (if ) … Northwestern administrators don’t have interest, then the same things continue to happen.”

A matter of numbers

Weinberg junior Dante Gilmer, who participated in the 2015 disruption of the groundbreaking ceremony, said the University often presents itself as more diverse and inclusive than it really is. However, Gilmer said establishing a sense of community for black students is challenging when the total student body is still less than 10 percent black. “I’m just wondering how, after all of these years, did we still ask for the same thing?” Gilmer said. “You’re like, ‘Wait a minute. What happened?’”

After the 2016 Black Student Experience Task Force Report was released, administrators and University leaders prioritized three of the 14 recommendations for the 2017-18 academic year, including increasing the number of black students, faculty and staff. Associate provost and chief diversity officer Jabbar Bennett, who oversees a committee that focuses on this recommendation, said he’s working to ensure the population of black students on campus is representative of the country. In doing so, Bennett said it’s important for the University to concurrently prioritize increasing

THE DAILY NORTHWESTERN | NEWS 5

THURSDAY, MAY 3, 2018 available resources and financial aid. Though black students make up one-tenth of the class of 2021 — the highest percentage in recent history, said executive director of Campus Inclusion and Community LesleyAnn Brown-Henderson — only 6 percent of all undergraduates identified as black in fall 2017, with a separate category for multiracial students, according to the Northwestern Data Book. Many current black undergraduates said they are not represented sufficiently in all majors and programs. Communication junior Elliot Sagay said that both at Northwestern and within his theater major, the number of black students is noticeably small. In last year’s graduating theater class, he said he remembered there being no more than two black students, and while his cohort feels larger in comparison, it’s still not enough. “It’s important to celebrate our steps forward, to celebrate our victories, but I think it’s also important to remember that sometimes those victories are just a small step, and that we need to keep walking,” Sagay said. “We need to keep running in order to get to where we actually want to be.” FMO coordinator Kasey Brown said it’s not only important for the University to enroll more black students; Northwestern must also consider the “other variables” they face — compared to white students — once they’re here. Although NU’s current first-year class is 10 percent black, Brown said it’s important to realize “how little progress” has been made in 50 years. “There’s so much room we could have grown, but we celebrate that 10 percent because we really don’t know the history,” Brown said, “and the University knows we don’t.”

“We look nothing alike”

Several black students said the erasure of their identities extends to small, everyday instances on campus. Earlier this year, Sagay wrote a play titled, “What’s in a Name?” for “Black Lives, Black Words” — a campus iteration of an international project aimed at providing a platform for black actors and playwrights. Sagay’s piece dealt with the subtle biases and ignorances that can manifest when nonblack faculty and students mispronounce or forget the names of black students — behavior he said has impacted his NU experience, like when the play “In the Red and Brown Water” opened in the fall. “When ‘In the Red and Brown Water’ closed, I think I got congratulated by at least five people in the span of a week for being in that show,” Sagay said. “I had made no appearance in that show, but that’s part of the problem.” When not only his peers, but also faculty members began mistaking him for other black students, the issue became “much more pressing,” he said. Sagay said other black theater students have shared similar experiences. “We’re going to an institution where we’re paying for our education,” Sagay said. “Messing up the names of people of color is not the sort of example that any teacher should be allowed to set.” After the disruption of the groundbreaking ceremony, students demanded the University triple the number of faculty and administrators of color by 2025. Students also separately demanded that special attention be paid to the theater department. According to the Northwestern Data Book, 3.5 percent of tenure-line and full-time faculty in fall 2016 — including those in graduate schools — were black. Sagay said one of the “most valuable” aspects of his experience in the department has been having professors of color.

But having so few in the department, he said, has been challenging. When he arrived at Northwestern, there were three black theater professors — Harvey Young, Melissa Foster and Aaron Todd Douglas. Young has since left the University. Karen Taylor, president of NU’s chapter of the National Society of Black Engineers, said she’s only had one black professor — for an African American studies course — during her time on campus. Taylor too said she’s been called the wrong name in her engineering classes. Through a number of courses, the McCormick sophomore said, faculty members mistook her for another black student. “The professor confused us for the whole quarter. It happened again the next quarter with a different professor, and then happened again the quarter after that with a different professor,” Taylor said. “Meanwhile, it’s just us two the whole time. I don’t expect everyone to get everyone’s names right on the first try but … it’s only us two, and we look nothing alike.” Former and current black NU students both agreed that a higher number of black faculty could increase student inclusion in academic spaces while preventing microaggressions and racially-based incidents from occurring as prevalently. Brown-Henderson co-chairs a team focused on strengthening student and faculty relations. The group aims to tackle one aspect of another recommendation prioritized for this academic year: listening to black students regularly, not just in times of crisis. The team, Brown-Henderson said, understands that black students have had interactions with faculty members that they feel are inappropriate. She said the group has been researching resources available to students in these instances and their accessibility. Brown-Henderson said what black students experience in higher education is often a product of “systemic and institutional inequalities, and really the institutional racism.” However, moving forward, Brown-Henderson said she’s confident in the potential to create real change at the University as “more structure and capacity” exists internally now than when she first arrived in 2012. Bursar’s Office Takeover participant Debra Hill, who graduated from the School of Education in the 70s, said she never had a black professor during her time at NU, and she supported efforts to increase representation within faculty. After Hill participated in a summer program at the university in the late 1960s before her freshman year, she said a counselor questioned whether she was “Northwestern material.” “The counselor that I was assigned just told me to my face that he did not think that I was going to be successful at Northwestern,” Hill said. “There was no black faculty for me to go to, to share that with, to say, ‘So, how do I deal with this?’”

An alienating atmosphere

Bursar’s Office Takeover participant Victor Goode (Weinberg ’70) said he never experienced overt racial harassment during his time at NU. “But some of my friends did, and that created an atmosphere that led me to believe if it can happen to them, it will happen to me at some point,” he said. A sense of “alienation” from the greater NU community, he said, was palpable throughout the University and had differing impacts on black students. Ogletree, the Bursar’s Office Takeover leader, recounted incidents of white students throwing beer cans out of windows at black students, unfair disciplinary action toward black students and being treated as an “object” by the University to culturally educate others. Half a century later, the feeling remains. According to the 2016 Black Student Experience Task Force Report, less than half of respondents agreed that NU is welcoming for black students. Justin Clarke (Weinberg ’13) said a lot of racially-based “nonsense” also occurred during his four years as an undergraduate. The former FMO coordinator said incidents like the “Racist Olympics” largely characterized the environment at the time. In 2012, members of the Ski Team hosted a “Beer Olympics”style contest in which attendees wore culturally insensitive costumes, including Native American headdresses. While overt discrimination has become less common, he said “subtle forms of racism” and “identity-based aggression” remain issues. “You may not have someone walking up to you and calling you a racial epithet on Sheridan. But I had people during my time here walk up to me like, ‘Hey, oh are you an athlete?’” Clarke said. “I was like 5’9”, maybe 120 pounds, like, do I really look like a Division I football player or basketball player?” Weinberg freshman Taylor Bolding said

Source: James Sweet/Northwestern University Archives

Northwestern students gather outside the Bursar’s Office during the takeover. The poster on the left reads: “Black students occupy this building because the administration has turned a deaf ear.”

efforts to make campus more diverse and inclusive first require a committed “changing of the campus culture” to address the systemic issues existing within Northwestern. Earlier this year, the University sent a Campus Climate for Diversity survey to undergraduate and graduate students. Brown-Henderson said its insights will be valuable in moving forward to tackle these concerns. But Bolding said Northwestern’s environment, in a lot of ways, can be “very off-putting” for students now. For example, she said, when a friend and prospective student visited campus during last month’s Wildcat Days, he quickly knew NU wasn’t the right fit for him because he sensed there was an isolating atmosphere for black students. “I was walking across Sheridan and I just got so angry and fed up,” Bolding said. “My friend’s only been here for a day and he’s saying nothing but truth: This place wasn’t built for students like me, or students of color in mind.”

House and black student experiences should have been held at the Black House. Moving forward, she said if the University wants black students to attend the sessions, administrators should be more intentional about advertising them. Gwendolyn Gissendanner, who participated in the 2015 protest and graduated from SESP in March, said she’s seen “clear communication” between black students and upper-level University leadership in the last three years. Still, as many of the students who interrupted the groundbreaking ceremony have left or are about to leave campus, Gissendanner said she’s concerned as to whether the University will continue to focus on improving black students’ experiences with less accountability. “I fully understand that … all of these things do take time,” Gissendanner said. “I do get worried about the amount of time that Northwestern spends doing dialogues and doing listening sessions and that it’s really just a way to appease whoever started the momentum until they’re gone.”

Leaving a legacy

Feeling heard

Bennett said the University has prioritized engaging with black students since the 2015 protest. He cited the establishment of community dialogues, a Northwestern initiative created to address concerns from the protest. The sessions continue to provide administrators valuable opportunities to examine issues salient to students, he said. Brown, the FMO coordinator, said the dialogues feel less for students themselves, and more like a way for the University to continue “checking off boxes.” Brown said conversations regarding the Black

Brown, the FMO coordinator, said despite continued concerns among black students, she tells her peers that she feels it is “a great time to be black on this campus” because of the possibility to create change in their experiences. Though it can be easy to become complacent and believe issues will remain, she said understanding what student activists fought for 50 years ago shows current undergraduates they don’t have to settle. “The fact that (we) know all this history and (we) can see all the imperfections this University has, pushes us to do more,” she said. “(We can) leave an impact and make this place better for the next black students that are going to come after us.” Clarke said while most black students knew about the takeover of the Bursar’s Office when he was a student, it is “really disappointing” that the current student body’s awareness has now decreased. Still, while contexts may be different, he said for current students, the Bursar’s Office Takeover illustrates that they can have a say in what their experiences on campus look like. “This is something that should never be forgotten, just to, in certain aspects, hold the University accountable moving forward but also (to) keep a sense of pride in that this is what was fought for, and this is what you get to have,” he said. “This is why you still get to demand certain things of the University. Because those people came before you, and they did it first.” troyclosson@u.northwestern.edu

A&E

6 A&E | THE DAILY NORTHWESTERN

THURSDAY, MAY 3. 2018

arts & entertainment Alison Albelda/The Daily Northwestern

The cast of “Manhattan Miracle” performs a number set in 19th-century New York City. The 87th annual Waa-Mu Show is based on the creation of the first American musical.

Waa-Mu Show captures collaborative spirit onstage By ANDREA MICHELSON

daily senior staffer @amichelson18

“Manhattan Miracle,” the 87th annual Waa-Mu Show, tells a dramatized story of the production of the first American musical. Communication senior and Waa-Mu co-chair Andrew Restieri said the show follows a group of artists “coming together to create something larger than themselves.” Coincidentally, a similar saga of creative collaboration occurs behind the scenes of the Waa-Mu Show every year. Restieri said between 150 and 200 students worked on the entirely student-written show, which opens Friday and will run through May 13 in Cahn Auditorium. The show is a work of historical fiction and takes place in 19th-century New York City. After a tragic fire, a visiting Parisian ballet and opera company is forced to merge with a failing melodrama at a

local theater. The brainchild of the two troupes, “The Black Crook,” is widely regarded as the first-ever book musical, the co-chairs said. Communication senior Sarah Ohlson, another one of the four Waa-Mu co-chairs, said the production is truly all hands on deck; as a co-chair, she worked on everything from ensuring continuity in the script to dabbling in songwriting for the first time. Communication senior and Waa-Mu co-chair Maxwell Beer described a similar experience, saying that even though he was a head writer last year, he briefly joined the crew when it was short a member. “Being a part of the Waa-Mu family, you can do anything,” Beer said. “Anytime someone needs a hand, it’s not just your job. You’re in it for the organization and the community.” Beer said the group made some major changes to the show as recently as Winter Break, when they wrote a “massive” full company number. Ohlson said the turnaround from writing to rehearsal is

extremely fast; of the two songs she wrote for the musical, one of them was finished just two weeks ago. While Ohlson joked that “crowdsourcing creativity seems like an impossible task,” she said the music team managed to pull off a final product that is true to the jazz style. “It sounds like it’s been written by one mind, which is incredible,” Ohlson said. “It’s really tough when you have so many songwriters to create one cohesive musical style.” Communication junior Gabriella Green, choreography co-chair and ensemble member, said the music and choreography of the show are “anachronistic.” Though the original production of “The Black Crook” took place decades before the rise of jazz, the stylistic aspects of “Manhattan Miracle” allude to how musical theater would develop in the years to come, she said. Green said “Manhattan Miracle” is the most challenging Waa-Mu Show she has been a part

of in her three years at NU, primarily because it is particularly difficult to learn music and choreograph dances in the jazz style. The period’s costumes also pose a challenge to the cast. Green said the women in the show dance wearing “20 pounds of skirts and corsets.” Despite that, she said it was “pretty magical” to see everyone rehearse in full costume. Beer said every aspect of the show is best described as “grand,” from the elaborate costumes to the dynamic set, which is designed to look like the interior of an old-school theater. Even the instruments featured in the orchestra harken to the jazz age with a much “brassier” sound than past shows, Beer said. “The final line of The New York Times review for the original show was ‘in this spectacular age,’” Beer said. “That was a guiding force for us, in the design and the writing, just making something spectacular.” andreamichelson2020@u.northwestern.edu

NU alum, wife to showcase film at Chicago festival By MADELEINE FERNANDO

daily senior staffer @madeleinemelody

When Jordan Horowitz (Communication ’02) and his wife, Julia Hart, had their first child, Horowitz recalled his wife saying she had never felt more powerful than when she became a mother. The thought sparked the defining combination of the duo’s latest film: motherhood and superheroes. “(We) never really felt we’d seen something about a superhero that was also a mother and sort of an exploration of motherhood as a superpower,” Horowitz said. “Fast Color” will make its Chicago debut this Friday at the Music Box Theatre as part of the Chicago Critics Film Festival. The film was cowritten by Horowitz and Hart, with Hart directing and Horowitz serving as a producer.

Set in a barren dystopia, the film follows a young mother with superhuman powers who is forced on the run when scientists target her, according to the film’s production notes. Horowitz — who also produced Oscar best picture nominee “La La Land” in 2016 — said the film feels like a “character-driven sci-fi” that features a distinct female perspective. “A lot of the male superhero movies are about destruction and battling and tearing things down in order to save things,” Horowitz said. “This movie is very much about creation. … The idea that a female superpower is very much about creation was very important to us.” The movie stars Gugu Mbatha-Raw, whose casting Horowitz said also impacted the film. While the project began with a focus on women and mothers, with Mbatha-Raw in the lead role it grew to feature women of color in an “interesting way,” he said. Erik Childress, a producer and co-founder of

the Chicago Critics Film Festival, said “Fast Color” caught the eye of his co-producer when the film premiered at the South by Southwest festival in March. They decided to invite the movie to the festival, an annual event that highlights new work popular among film critics, Childress said. A screening of “Fast Color” will open the festival and will be followed by a Q&A session with Horowitz and Mbatha-Raw, he said. “Fast Color” is not the first nor the last time Horowitz and Hart will bring their collective work to the big screen. The two collaborated on the 2016 film “Miss Stevens” with Horowitz producing and Hart making her directorial debut. Horowitz added that the pair is in the midst of writing a movie adaptation of the young adult novel “Stargirl” for Disney, which will begin shooting in the fall. While they are a dynamic duo professionally, Horowitz said he and Hart make time for their

roles as partners and parents in addition to their film work. “We live together, we work together, we raise children together, so there’s a lot of time to talk about (our work),” Horowitz said. “There’s also no time but it’s sort of both.” Communication lecturer Mary Poole, who will attend the festival, said she looks forward to seeing the collaborative effort of both Horowitz and Hart. Although Horowitz was an actor when Poole taught him at NU, Poole said she is unsurprised he took on a behind-the-scenes role as a producer and writer. She said Horowitz is a storyteller at heart and the attention he has been receiving in Hollywood is well-deserved. “Jordan doesn’t care about being famous,” Poole said. “He’s in it because he wants to make good stories. He’s just a maker.” madeleinefernando2020@u.northwestern.edu

Feinberg students launch Northwestern Medical Orchestra By TROY CLOSSON

daily senior staffer

Even before arriving on campus, first-year medical students Bettina Cheung and Michael Wang noticed the Feinberg School of Medicine didn’t have its own “instrumental music scene” — and were determined to change that. It’s easy “to get absorbed in the bubble created by the environment” at Feinberg, Cheung said. So she and Wang, who attended Yale University together and were involved in a studentrun orchestra there, were eager to bring musicians on the Chicago campus together to focus on something unrelated to medicine, she said. After a few months of rehearsals, the Northwestern Medical Orchestra held its inaugural concert Tuesday in the Shirley Ryan AbilityLab downtown and looks ahead to another on Friday. While Tuesday’s performance was held for patients, families and faculty in the AbilityLab as a “thank you” for allowing them to practice in the space, Cheung said the upcoming

concert at Thorne Auditorium is more targeted to the general public. While NMO’s board consists entirely of first-year medical students, Cheung said the orchestra features everyone from Feinberg students and postdocs to faculty, staff and local alumni. “It’s just been really cool to me, to see that no matter what stage of your career you’re in, people are still excited to play music and you can make time for it if you want,” Cheung said. Matt Heffernan, NMO’s manager, said the group currently has about 60 members and continues to grow. After playing in an orchestra since his freshman year of high school, Heffernan, also the second violin section leader, said he was grateful for the opportunity to continue in NMO. “I just wanted to keep playing violin,” Heffernan said. “When I was starting medical school, I thought that there was a chance that I wasn’t going to be able to continue. So when this chance to start something came about, I was really excited.”

NMO was connected to its current artistic director and principal conductor, Taichi Fukumura, through the group’s faculty adviser, and Heffernan said the orchestra immediately benefited from having a professional musician involved. Fukumura — a Bienen School of Music doctoral student — said he is passionate about contributing to a project that “actually benefits the people (he’s) working with.” Fukumura said he was initially worried whether students would be able to commit to the orchestra. But despite many students having exams around the same times as one another, he said he hasn’t seen many challenges for them in balancing their schedules. “I’m amazed that … people will still show up just for that two-hour break,” Fukumura said. “I don’t know how, but they still come. They may look half-dead, but it’s so worth it to them that they actually show up to rehearsal.” At Friday’s concert, he said NMO will reprise the repertoire — consisting of works by Beethoven, Ravel, Williams and Dvořák

— from its AbilityLab concert, a mixture of genres they decided upon as a group. Because the orchestra is the only instrumental music group on campus, Fukumura said the Chicago medical community has taken notice. NMO has been invited to perform at a number of events downtown, he said, including an upcoming event in Millennium Park sponsored by the National Institutes of Health. Although the orchestra only began rehearsing in February, Fukumura said it is “already such a different group” talent-wise. Looking forward, both he and the first-year medical students said they hope NMO remains around for years to come and continues to provide a musical outlet for Feinberg. “It’s such an enrichment for people’s lives,” Fukumura said. “To get to come together and just make music is something really important to them. … For them to be able to then share that music with their friends in the medical community is a wonderful thing.” troyclosson@u.northwestern.edu

THE DAILY NORTHWESTERN | A&E 7

THURSDAY, MAY 3. 2018

Feinberg professor mixes magic, medicine in show By ALENA PRCELA

the daily northwestern

When Feinberg Prof. Ricardo Rosenkranz wandered into a tiny Mexico City magic shop 18 years ago, he didn’t expect his world to change. But it did. “I was entranced,” Rosenkranz said. “But I had no idea what this would come to mean to me.” Now, Rosenkranz teaches medical students a course he created that intertwines magic and medicine. Even in his hard science lectures, he incorporates mini performances at the beginnings or ends of classes. When he is not in the classroom, he performs his original show, “The Rosenkranz Mysteries: Physician Magician,” at Chicago’s Royal George Theatre. The show’s run, which began in late 2016, was recently extended until Memorial Day weekend. Rosenkranz’s journey with magic started slow. At first, he said it was a hobby to show off at dinners with friends and a way to entertain his wife and three kids. When a friend suggested he start performing publicly, Rosenkranz tossed the idea aside. “I’m teaching at the medical school, seeing patients,” he said. “I’m not going to go and start doing restaurant magic.” Soon, however, he discovered a way to bring his magic to the classroom. Rosenkranz started performing — just an illusion or two — for his students at the end of classes. Initially, Rosenkranz said, he was a little nervous about “offending the dean.” However, the medical school faculty have been overwhelmingly supportive of Rosenkranz’s unconventional subject matter, Feinberg Prof.

Greg Brisson said. “If you think about medicine, it’s a profession that’s based in science. Magic by definition is hard to prove, and the results can make a scientist skeptical,” Brisson said. “But I’ve never heard anything but support (for) it.” Eventually, after winning several teaching awards — honors he attributes partially to his in-class illusions — Rosenkranz got a call about teaching a Feinberg humanities seminar on the subject. He immediately started researching and developing a curriculum. Rosenkranz said students in the class don’t just learn theory of magic; they watch professional magicians and mentalists, learn illusions and perform a show at the end of each term. Medicine and magic, he said, are both about forming connections — whether with patients or with an audience. “Magic and medicine share DNA,” he said. About seven years ago, Rosenkranz decided to bring his passion from the classroom to the stage. Initially, he said he expected to perform a simple show, once a week, in hotels around the city. But after learning a new illusion, in which water inexplicably appears in two empty bowls, he realized he needed full stage lights to capture it perfectly. After dropping his daughter off at a Royal George Theatre camp, he knew he wanted to be on that stage instead. Then Jessica Fisch (Communication ’15) signed on as the show’s director and enacted even more changes. Instead of a traditional magic show, Fisch said she wanted Rosenkranz to tell a story, and more specifically, a story about himself. “We ended up talking for two hours, because he’s just so interesting,” she said. “When I listened to the script in its current form, I just felt like it was missing this thing. The most interesting thing is that you’re a doctor and a magician and that’s

Source: The Rosenkranz Mysteries

Feinberg Prof. Ricardo Rosenkranz in his show “The Rosenkranz Mysteries: Physician Magician” at the Royal George Theatre. The show’s run recently got extended to Memorial Day weekend.

really a story for people to hear.” And so the “Physician Magician” in its current form was born, making its premiere in winter 2016. Throughout the performance, Rosenkranz tells personal stories about his Feinberg students and interactions with patients. One act features a drawing that looks like a rabbit from one angle and a duck from another. Rosenkranz shows the same image to students on the first day of class to remind them to challenge their existing ways of thinking, he said.

Though his show closes at the end of the month, Rosenkranz said he plans to stay busy. In addition to writing an academic book about medicine and performance, Rosenkranz is also working on a new show called “Concealment and Revelation.” For this show, he said he plans to just focus on the magic and leave his lab coat at home. “But I’ll always be the physician magician,” he said. alenaprcela2020@u.northwestern.edu

Alum programs light-up mushrooms at Smithsonian By AMELIA LANGAS

daily senior staffer @amelialangas

Bomani McClendon (McCormick ’17) had yet to graduate from Northwestern when he was brought on board the “Shrumen Lumen” art project as a software programmer. Then an intern at the design company IDEO, McClendon was hand-picked by Joerg Student, executive design director at the company and lead artist for “Shrumen Lumen,” to help with coding the five 12- to 18-feet tall luminescent mushrooms to be displayed at Burning Man 2016. Almost two years later, McClendon’s skilled work on the project is on display at the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s Renwick Gallery as part of the “No Spectators: The Art of Burning Man” exhibition, which runs until next January. McClendon said he was brought on board the project in July 2016. With about three months until “Shrumen Lumen” was scheduled to appear at Burning Man, he worked to perfect the interactive aspects of the piece. “From one perspective, it’s this almost alien object, but it’s also very much a mechanical construction,” McClendon said. “There’s something interesting about how those two things collide and and corroborate each other.” Kalan Kircher (McCormick ’11), the digital lead for the project, collaborated closely with McClendon as both men worked on programming the mushrooms to move, light up and

Source: Ron Blunt/Smithsonian American Art Museum Renwick Gallery/Foldhaus Art Collective

“Shrumen Lumen” at the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s Renwick Gallery is a part of the exhibition “No Spectators: The Art of Burning Man.” Northwestern alum Bomani McClendon contributed to this project, which is on display from March 30 to Jan. 21, 2019.

change shape depending on how observers step on a weight-sensing pad. Kircher said he was initially drawn to McClendon as a fellow NU graduate, soon realizing the high level of skill McClendon brought to the project, especially for someone so young. “What struck me at first is that he’s obviously very technically savvy, but also has a really good eye

for design,” Kircher said. “He’s always keeping the user really at the forefront even while he is deep in the software side of development.” Since working on “Shrumen Lumen” with McClendon, Kircher said the two have developed their relationship both personally and professionally, even traveling to Washington, D.C., and Dubai together for installations.

COMING UP

Student, the lead artist who works at IDEO, said he asked McClendon to help with the project because he was impressed with the energy he brought to the team at IDEO. Although many people who worked on the project were IDEO staffers, “Shrumen Lumen” is actually the brainchild of FoldHaus art collective and is unaffiliated with IDEO, he said. Student is one of the leaders of FoldHaus, which specializes in large-scale, interactive origami art installations. He said the work on “Shrumen Lumen” was entirely volunteer-based and was often conducted at night and on weekends. McClendon said he really valued working alongside artistic professionals and getting to develop relationships that extended beyond the workplace. McClendon, who majored in computer science, said although art is more of a hobby for him, he is interested in exploring its intersections with technology. “I wouldn’t consider myself to be an artist, but I’ve always been interested in the ways that technology and some of the things that I have dedicated some more focused effort to could contribute to the creation of art,” he said. Despite being brought on about halfway through the process, McClendon is considered one of the core five or six people who worked on the project, Student said. “He was running meetings with our electronic guys and and sort of saying, ‘Come up with a game plan,’” Student said. “He wasn’t just the software guy, he really said, ‘OK, here’s the challenge, here’s the timeline we have, this is what needs to be done.’” amelialangas@u.northwestern.edu

A&E

Friday, 5/4

Saturday, 5/5

Sunday, 5/6

• Virginia Wadsworth Wirtz Center for the

arts & entertainment

Performing Arts presents: The Fairytale Lives

Editor

Assistant Editors

of Russian Girls in Ethel M. Barber Theater at

Madeleine Fernando

Andrea Michelson

7:30 p.m.

2 p.m.

Charlotte Walsh

• The Waa-Mu Show presents: The 87th Annual

Staff

Waa-Mu Show: Manhattan Miracle in Cahn

Troy Closson

Auditorium at 7:30 p.m.

Auditorium at 2 p.m.

• Boomshaka presents: Full Volume in Shanley Pavilion at 7 p.m. and 10 p.m.

Amelia Langas

• MFA Lab Series presents: The Orange Garden in

Andrea Michelson

the Hal & Martha Hyer Wallis Theater at 2 p.m.

Alena Prcela

Designers Caitlin Chen Colin Lynch Katie Pach

SPORTS

Thursday, May 3, 2018

ON DECK MAY

ON THE RECORD

“Playing with players that have a high level of skill will make it a lot easier for me. I don’t have to take contested shots.” — Ryan Taylor, men’s basketball

Lacrosse No. 16 Penn State vs. No. 7 NU, 6:30 p.m. Friday

@DailyNU_Sports

RED LINE RALLY

Wildcats erupt to earn first victory at DePaul in 12 years Northwestern

By BENJAMIN ROSENBERG

the daily northwestern @bxrosenberg

CHICAGO — Northwestern had not won at DePaul since 2006, so waiting another hour seemed like nothing. Wednesday’s game was delayed by lightning in the middle of the third inning. After spotting the Blue Demons 2 runs immediately after the game’s resumption, the Wildcats (3314, 13-6 Big Ten) rallied for 3 in the fifth and 4 more in the sixth to claim a 7-3 victory over DePaul (30-15, 12-3 Big East). NU had at least one baserunner in each of the first four innings, but could not come up with a timely hit. With two outs in the fifth, the Cats conjured up a big three-run homer. Junior left fielder Morgan Nelson hit a line drive that carried over the left field wall, and suddenly a 2-0 NU deficit had become a 3-2 lead. “(The home run) changed the whole feel of the game, it changed the way we were playing,” coach Kate Drohan said. “Sometimes that’s what the game takes. We did a nice job of settling down and we had some really tough at-bats.” The Cats put together another rally

Daily file photo by Katie Pach

DePaul

in the sixth inning, scoring four times on five hits. Senior shortstop Marissa Panko led off with a single and scored all the way from first when freshman pitcher Kenna Wilkey doubled into the gap in left-center. A pinch runner then scored on a hit by senior right fielder Brooke Marquez, and the Cats added two more in the inning on a groundout by senior center fielder Sabrina Rabin and a single up the middle by Nelson. The offensive outburst made a winner out of sophomore pitcher Morgan Newport, who gave up 2 runs on four hits over four solid innings. Wilkey pitched the final three innings, allowing just one unearned run to notch the save. “Before the rain delay, we were kind of tense, and as soon as we got the lead, we loosened up,” Nelson said. “We started playing loose and free. We’ve just got to figure out how to do that in the first inning.” Newport allowed the first two Blue Demons to reach base in the first but

retired the next three to escape. In the second, she was bailed out when senior catcher Sammy Nettling threw out a runner trying to steal third. She showed some signs of rust upon returning to the circle in the third following the delay, but limited the damage to 2 runs before throwing a scoreless fourth inning, keeping her team in the game and giving NU time to come back. “DePaul’s a great hitting team, and I was just trying to be aggressive and pound the strike zone and trust my defense behind me, especially after the delay,” Newport said. “I was really proud of the way we battled today.” Wilkey came on in the fifth and needed just 38 pitches to get through three innings, keeping her fresh for a series this weekend at Wisconsin. She secured the Cats’ 11th win in their last 12 games and 24th win in their last 30. NU also completed a sweep of its Chicago area rivals, having beaten Illinois-Chicago back in March and Loyola just last Wednesday. “Our team handled (the delay) wonderfully,” Drohan said. “I thought they battled hard, I thought they gave it their all. I think they had great focus for a Wednesday afternoon game.” benjaminrosenberg2021@u.northwestern.edu

MEN’S BASKETBALL

BASEBALL

Cats split 2 high-scoring games Grad transfer Taylor By RYAN WANGMAN

daily senior staffer @ryanwangman

Over the past few days, the weather in Evanston and Northwestern baseball have had something in common: a string of bright performances broken up emphatically with a boom. On Wednesday, the Wildcats’ five-game winning streak was washed away in a downpour of Western Michigan scoring. In the second of NU’s two back-toback midweek games, the Cats (1425, 4-14 Big Ten) put up their second best offensive outing of the season as they plated 15 runs, but they astoundingly lost by a double-digit margin to the Broncos (19-19, 8-8 MAC). Outfielder Nate Grys led the 26-15 drubbing for Western Michigan, hitting a pair of dingers to go along with 7 RBIs on the afternoon. The 41-run slugfest is only two points fewer than the combined 43

Chicago State

Northwestern

Western Michigan

7 9

the schools scored when they faced each other in football in 2016. Four separate NU pitchers gave up at least 6 runs. The Broncos scored 15 runs in the fourth inning alone. The Cats employed a bullpenning strategy in both of their midweek games, with 10 different pitchers on the mound over two days, which coach Spencer Allen said was a challenge because the rotation was a little thinner. He said having to stretch out pitchers into five games over the course of a week is tough. “There were some good spots,” Allen said. “But any time you have a crazy inning like (the fourth), it’s just going to kind of blow things out of proportion a little bit. But you gotta learn from it and move on.”

Daily file photo by Alison Albelda

Alex Erro takes off for first base. The sophomore second baseman tallied seven hits in two games this week.

But before the Cats traveled to Kalamazoo, they took care of business at home Tuesday with an inspired dose of revenge against Chicago State, who shocked the team with a walk-off victory earlier in the season. NU trailed by 4 runs in the fourth inning but later stormed back to win 9-7 with a lategame rally that has seemingly become a team signature as of late. Sophomore outfielder Leo Kaplan was a major catalyst in that comeback, tying the game with a 3-run blast in the bottom of the seventh. Kaplan said his home run and Charlie Maxwell’s go-ahead single in the eighth inning were the big hits the team has missed in a lot of games this season. “To be honest, I don’t really remember much of it,” Kaplan said. “When you hit a home run you just kind of hit the ball and then black out. I’m not actually even sure what the count was or what pitch it was.” The Cats have undergone an offensive facelift over their past five outings, averaging 9 runs per game in that span. Junior shortstop Jack Dunn has an active hitting streak of 12 games, and sophomore second baseman Alex Erro had seven hits over the past two contests, tacking on 4 RBI and 3 runs scored. Erro said the locker room is full of players who love to compete and who won’t “throw at-bats” away, so when faced with situations where the team is down, they try to score 1 run at a time to get back in the game. With that mentality, the Miami native said the team can soon load the bases, spark a rally and be right back in the game. “That’s sort of the theme of college baseball,” Erro said. “I don’t really think anyone’s ever out of a game until you officially give up yourselves, and we’re definitely not a team to do that.” ryanw@u.northwestern.edu

discusses move to NU By BEN POPE

daily senior staffer @benpope111

Ryan Taylor has not followed a typical path through college basketball. The graduate transfer guard — who will join Northwestern next season for his final year of NCAA eligibility — started at Ohio, then moved to Evansville, then decided to change schools again after Aces coach Marty Simmons was fired in March. Taylor said he was recruited by nearly 40 schools, including a number of perennial powerhouses, but discovered an atmosphere in Evanston on a visit earlier this spring that matched what he sought. “My road was not the traditional road that most people take, and I’ve always gone to places that I felt fit me, whether it was a historic program or not,” Taylor told The Daily in an exclusive interview. “I felt like, with the coaching and the experience that coach (Chris) Collins and also the assistants have, it would be way more beneficial playing for them than just playing for someone that has a name.” So Taylor turned down the likes of Miami, Oregon and his home state of Indiana — the other suitors in his top four — to commit to the Wildcats, a team coming off a 6-12 Big Ten season. The shooting guard will likely enter next fall favored to fill the starting role vacated by the graduating Scottie Lindsey. The Gary, Indiana, native was so sought after because of his impressive track record at Evansville. He led the Missouri Valley Conference in 201718 with 21.3 points per game, and also ranked first in free throw percentage and fifth in 3-point shooting percentage. “He can make a shot right over you completely contested; it doesn’t faze him,” said Porter Moser, coach of MVC champion Loyola-Chicago, to the Evansville Courier & Press in February. “That’s another level of an elite scorer.” But Taylor was also somewhat weighed down by the team around him last season.

He was asked to shoulder a massive role in the offense — he ultimately took over 40 percent of the team’s total shots, the highest percentage of any player in the nation — on an Evansville squad that played at a very slow pace, turned the ball over often and finished 7-11 in conference play. Many times, that led to Taylor taking low-probability, welldefended shots at the end of shot clocks, dragging down his efficiency statistics but forcing him to learn how to shoot in the toughest of situations. “I’m actually pretty good at making tough shots, just because of the offense that we played ... at Evansville,” he said. “I also feel like I’m a good passer and it’s a little underrated, just because of my role at Evansville and what I was asked to do. I love getting my teammates the ball, and that’s something that I’m really excited to do this next season as my role changes.” At NU, Taylor will likely be tasked with still sizeable, but much more reasonable, duties. He’ll be by far the most experienced guard on the roster — with the possible exception of South Dakota graduate transfer Matt Mooney, who is considering the Cats and two other schools in his recruitment, and to whom Taylor said he talked in April. Taylor said he’s been working on his lateral flexibility and finishing around the rim this offseason in hopes of becoming a more well-rounded weapon. He added that he’s excited to play with Big Ten-caliber teammates who can make his job easier, and he expects his shooting volume to drop significantly from his Evansville days. “A lot of the reason why I made the decision to move (is) because playing with players that have a high level of skill will make it a lot easier for me,” he said. “I don’t have to take a lot of contested shots, I don’t have to run down the ball with six seconds on the clock, and then also when I do have the ball, it’s going to space out the floor a lot for me and make it a lot easier for me, as well as my teammates, to score.” benjaminpope2019@u.northwestern.edu