‘Survivor’ season with SESP senior set to premiere » PAGE 3
sports Men’s Basketball Shorthanded Cats can’t keep up with Hoosiers » PAGE 12
opinion Editorial No excuses for students after ASG simplifies elections » PAGE 6
High 21 Low 12
The Daily Northwestern DAILYNORTHWESTERN.COM
Monday, February 24, 2014
Find us online @thedailynu
NU responds to Title IX lawsuit University denies Title IX violations, clarifies purpose of committee By Ciara Mccarthy and Ally Mutnick daily senior staffers @mccarthy_ciara, @allymutnick
Northwestern responded Friday to the Title IX lawsuit a Medill junior filed against the school last week, saying the school appropriately punished philosophy Prof. Peter Ludlow based on the findings of its internal investigation. The University said it “imposed several disciplinary sanctions and other corrective actions against Ludlow” — including denying him a raise during the 2012-13 academic year, rescinding his appointment to an endowed professorship and prohibiting him from having any contact with the student — and denied it had acted with “deliberate indifference and retaliation” while handling the student’s complaint. A six-person faculty committee unanimously supported the sanctions when Ludlow appealed them, according to the response. University spokesman Al Cubbage said in an email to The Daily the committee “could have recommended additional sanctions but did not do so.” The student alleges Ludlow sexually assaulted her during a trip the two took
to an art show in Chicago in February 2012. An internal investigation by the University concluded Ludlow made “unwelcome and inappropriate sexual advances” toward the student. In its response, NU admitted many of the factual allegations made but denied most of the allegations against the University. The school denied the lawsuit’s claim that the student “will continue to suffer humiliation, mental and emotional anguish, anxiety, and distress as a result of the hostile educational environment created by Defendant and its deliberate indifference.” Cubbage said in a statement he had made the student’s attorney aware of several inaccuracies in the lawsuit and the attorney indicated he would correct the suit. The student’s attorney, Kevin O’Connor, told The Daily on Friday afternoon the University had provided him additional information regarding the committee, which the original lawsuit says was established to determine disciplinary actions against Ludlow. O’Connor said he recently learned the committee was created to evaluate sanctions the University had already proposed. O’Connor said he plans to amend the lawsuit to indicate the committee’s formal decision did not recommend Ludlow be fired. The change is a technical one, O’Connor said, and he believes the » See response, page 8
Annabel Edwards/Daily Senior Staffer
FROZEN IN TIME The New Trier Powerlifting Club team runs out of the water Saturday at the Polar Plunge near North Beach. The event’s participants raised more than $260,000 for Special Olympics.
‘Plunge’ benefits Special Olympics By Bailey williams
the daily northwestern @news_BaileyW
Hundreds of individuals raised funds this weekend by entering the icy waters of Lake Michigan at North Beach for a “polar plunge” benefiting Special Olympics Illinois athletes. “It’s the biggest crowd we’ve ever had,” organizer Matt Johnson said. “It’s the biggest fundraising total to date.”
The Law Enforcement Torch Run Polar Plunge was part of a 30-day event from Feb. 21 to March 23. About 350 people entered a pool of water adjacent to the lake on Friday and Saturday, said area director Katie Grisham. The plunge at North Beach was the first event of the series. The fundraiser included 43 SUPER Plunger participants, who immersed themselves once an hour for 24 hours. Each participant had to raise at least $75 and received a sweatshirt, a lunch and an invitation to
the after-party. The plunge raised more than $260,000, according to a statement from the organizers. Johnson, who has been working with the Northwestern location’s plunge for six years, said the event had a great mix of new and veteran participants. “There’s a little bit of everything ... that anxiety until you get your first plunge under your belt,” Johnson said. “A lot of excitement.” » See plunge, page 7
ETHS students build house Diversity requirement under consideration
By JORDAN HARRISON
the daily northwestern @MedillJordan
About 80 Evanston Township High School students and volunteers donned hard hats and safety glasses Saturday at a community build day for ETHS’s Geometry in Construction class. The class, co-taught by Maryjoy Heineman and Matthew Kaiser, combines math with real-world applications to build a house for a low-income family. “The basic idea Through and prembuilding the ise of the c ou rs e i s house, the that through students have building the an opportunity house, the students to learn have an geometry in an opportuapplied manner. nity to learn geometry in Matthew Kaiser, an applied teacher manner,” said Kaiser, a career and technical education teacher. “So, when we did things like building a wall or finding how to square a wall, students had to use angles to determine whether or not they had a square structure.” Heineman and Kaiser said they plan for construction to be finished
“
By Tyler Pager
the daily northwestern @tylerpager
Administrators from five of Northwestern’s six undergraduate schools are currently deciding whether to adopt the proposed University-wide diversity requirement. The Social Inequalities and Diversities requirement, which was recommended by the University Diversity Council to be implemented in the fall of 2015, includes
an academic curricular component and a discussion-based activity outside of the classroom. The School of Education and Social Policy has adopted the academic component of the requirement, said Susan Olson, SESP’s assistant dean for students affairs. Olson did not specify whether the school has also instituted an extracurricular portion of the requirement. Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences, the Medill School of » See diversity, page 8
Jordan Harrison/The Daily Northwestern
‘IF I HAD A HAMMER’ Evanston Township High School students and volunteers work together to build a house Saturday for a low-income family. The project is part of a class called Geometry in Construction.
in late May. The house will then be transported to its permanent location at 1941 Jackson Ave. Heineman, an ETHS math teacher, said the class has been able to press forward with construction through adverse weather conditions this winter due to its versatile classroom space. “With the weather constraints, we’ve actually done quite a bit of work inside, so we’ve built almost all but one or two of our interior walls.” Heineman said. “We haven’t lost too much time because we’ve had this incredible space where we can just work inside when the weather’s not
Serving the University and Evanston since 1881
great for us.” Kaiser said the one-story, threebedroom house will measure approximately 1,300 square feet. The structure of the house is uniquely long and narrow to fit shipping regulations and the shape of the build site. The class has already hosted one community build in October, where students and volunteers completed the building’s floor. The emphasis on hands-on experience resonated with some freshman and sophomore students in the class, such as ETHS freshman Josh » See build, page 8
Profs petition NU Board of Trustees in response to student’s lawsuit
Northwestern professors posted a petition Sunday evening asking the University’s Board of Trustees to fully implement policies that require accountability and transparency when handling sexual assault and misconduct. Sociology Prof. Laura Beth Nielsen, the director of legal studies, said she began hearing from concerned faculty members after writing a column in The Daily calling for greater accountability from the University administration. About 20 professors drafted the petition,
Nielsen said. The petition was written in response to the lawsuit that a Medill junior filed against NU earlier this month and the University’s reply, which denied all allegations of noncompliance with Title IX of the Education Acts of 1972, which prohibits sex discrimination by educational institutions receiving federal funding. The student filed the lawsuit on Feb. 10, claiming NU had failed to act appropriately after she reported being sexually assaulted by philosophy Prof. Peter Ludlow in 2012. The petition requested full compliance with the requirements of Title IX and the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act. It was posted on change.org » See petition, page 8
INSIDE Around Town 2 | On Campus 3 | Opinion 6 | Classifieds & Puzzles 8 | Sports 12