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The Daily Northwestern Thursday, March 5, 2015
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More than a myth
In Focus
Tisdahl brushes off student criticism By CAT ZAKRZEWSKI
daily senior staffer @Cat_Zakrzewski
A purple Northwestern football helmet sits on the corner of Mayor Elizabeth Tisdahl’s desk. While browsing her email, she talks about how she loves bringing her 11-year-old grandson to games and sitting on the sideline with University President Morton Schapiro. But when Tisdahl took the field this year, she was met with boos from students, still angered by her 2012 decision to revoke the liquor license from the legendary student watering hole, The Keg of Evanston. “I’ve become something of an urban legend,” the mayor said. “I don’t know that that will ever change.” Since the Keg’s closure, students have parodied Tisdahl as a prohibitionist. The rumors have gone so far that the city’s website even included The Keg on a “Fact vs. Fiction” page, where the city dispels local lore that
NU students party too much and bowling is illegal. The city writes the rumor “Tisdahl forced The Keg out of business” is a myth, clarifying she revoked the liquor license and the business subsequently closed more than a year later in March 2013 when the property’s owner refused to renew the bar’s lease. But almost two years later, many students — even students who had not yet applied to NU when the Keg’s doors (and fence) were open — know only the myth, not their mayor. On a recent afternoon, that same mayor took a sip of champagne at an afternoon groundbreaking for the Evanston Art Center on Central Street. With a playful smile, she joked she could pen her own profile. “I can write the headline for you now, ‘Mayor who shut down Keg drinks champagne in the afternoon,’” she joked. Despite fl are-ups over the socalled “brothel law,” The Keg and » See TISDAHL, page 8
Vargas talks immigration By MARIANA ALFARO
the daily northwestern @marianaa_alfaro
Activist Jose Antonio Vargas spoke Wednesday night about the role the media and the government have in defining the lives of undocumented people who consider themselves American, but don’t have the right papers. Vargas visited NU as College Democrats’ winter speaker. About 80 people attended the event in the McCormick
Foundation Center Forum. Vargas revealed his status as an undocumented immigrant in a 2011 essay for The New York Times Magazine and has since spoken widely about the rights of undocumented immigrants in the United States. Today, the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist leads Define American, which aims to create dialogue about the criteria for defining who is American. To Vargas, presenting facts as they are is a way to improve the conversation about undocumented immigrants. He said that news sources sometimes don’t
Sophie Mann/The Daily Northwestern
DISCUSSING DOCUMENTATION Jose Antonio Vargas, activist and Pulitzer-prize winning journalist, discusses his nonprofit Define American. Vargas came to Northwestern as College Democrats’ winter speaker.
Brennan, Wilbon join new Medill sports program
USA Today sports journalist Christine Brennan (Medill ’80, ’81) and ESPN sports journalist Michael Wilbon (Medill ’80) will join the Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications’ new sports journalism graduate program.
The former Daily staffers will teach part-time at Medill’s Washington, D.C. newsroom. “I see this as a continuation of being able to give back to Northwestern,” Brennan said. “Anyone who knows me knows that mentoring students is the number one thing I do in my career. There’s no place I’d rather be than Northwestern.” Brennan and Wilbon are on Northwestern’s Board of Trustees and members of Medill’s Hall of Achievement
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include certain facts in their stories because they don’t fit their narrative. “Who we are is framed by who we talk to, who we watch, what we see, what we listen to and what culture, what the media, what television, what radio, what film, what they tell us who we are,” he said. “The real question is, who are we? And when we talk about immigration, given the fact that immigration is always in the news, do we really know what we’re talking about? Are we really on the same page? My argument is that we are not.” Vargas said he was surprised when the federal government’s Immigrations and Customs Enforcement didn’t deport him after coming out as undocumented in his NYT Magazine essay, and he decided to find out why. “I called the editor of Time magazine, and I said ‘Hi, you know, I think I want to write a follow-up story about why I haven’t been deported,’ ” he said. “In that year alone, President Obama’s administration deported 400,000 people, and I wasn’t one of them. So I actually called ICE myself and I said ‘Hi. I haven’t heard from you. What are you going to do with me?’ ” The government told him they had no comment on his case. “You know, that’s like a metaphor, actually, for what all of you think of us » See VARGAS, page 4 for distinguished alumni. Wilbon also serves on Medill’s Board of Advisers. The pair have connections to both Medill faculty and people in the journalism industry, said Medill Prof. Charles Whitaker. Whitaker is a board member of the Students Publishing Company, The Daily’s parent organization. “We think that they’ll continue to be strong members and counselors,” Whitaker said. “They’ll help to guide us as we flesh out our curriculum and
Greek groups start diversity initiatives By ALICE YIN
daily senior staffer @alice__yin
The Panhellenic Association and Interfraternity Council have set new positions for diversity and inclusion in motion this quarter. Following winter recruitment, all 12 PHA chapters either added a new diversity and inclusion chair or added similar responsibilities to an existing position, said Medill junior KK Doyle, PHA president. All PHA sororities released applications this quarter, Doyle said, with the goal of each sorority reaching its final decision about who will take their position before spring break. Doyle drew from weeks of roundtable discussions with presidents from each PHA chapter and PHA adviser Karen Pryor to determine what would qualify someone for the new diversity and inclusion position, Doyle said. PHA sent preliminary emails to the chapters with recommendations on what would make someone a good fit for the job, she said, but the decision is up to the individual sororities. “When people try to talk about diversity and inclusion … (there’s) the complexity of 12 organizations who operate provide more opportunities.” Brennan has started mentoring and speed-networking events for Medill students and student-athletes. She also started a summer fellowship that supports Medill students doing unpaid journalism-related internships, according to a Medill news release. Brennan and Wilbon have long provided students with career counseling, advice on reporting and advice on launching a career in journalism,
differently,” Doyle said. “Everybody picks these people differently … We really are just trying to find someone with energy and enthusiasm about having different conversations and sensitivity towards varying levels of engagement.” Although the new position will focus on diversity and inclusion, Doyle said the official title of the position varies among the chapters. Some sororities decided to establish a committee instead of one chair because they had multiple people qualified for the job, Doyle said. After all decisions are made, PHA will send guided questions for the new chairs to reflect on “where their chapters are at now,” Doyle said. PHA plans to set up meetings with them afterward to discuss their hopes for the new position. “This is a new position and it’s important. It’s got to stay around,” Doyle said. “It’s only as strong as the effort you put in putting it together. You don’t want to rush this and have it be a hasty project.” Doyle said she spoke with students and faculty outside of PHA as well, including SESP senior Austin Romero, Associated Student Government vice president of accessibility and inclusion, and Michele Enos, assistant director of campus inclusion and community. » See DIVERSITY, page 4 Whitaker said. He wanted to formalize the relationship Medill had with Brennan and Wilbon. “Christine and Mike care deeply about educating and inspiring the next generation of sports journalists,” said Medill Dean Brad Hamm in the news release. “They are ideal role models for our students, and I appreciate their strong commitment to the excellence of Medill and Northwestern.” — Emily Chin
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