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The Daily Northwestern Friday, April 17, 2015
DAILYNORTHWESTERN.COM
Schapiro discusses inclusion
Sophie Mann/The Daily Northwestern
STATE OF THE SCHOOL University President Morton Schapiro discusses the status of the “We Will” campaign at his annual address on the state of the University. Schapiro and two other administrators answered staff and audience questions at the Thursday morning event.
By MADELINE FOX
the daily northwestern @MadelineFox14
University President Morton Schapiro highlighted the University’s efforts in fundraising and inclusion at his yearly address Thursday morning. Schapiro was joined by executive vice president Nim Chinniah and Provost Daniel Linzer at “Conversations with President Schapiro,” which began with brief remarks from Schapiro, followed by a moderated panel and audience questions. Schapiro highlighted the success of the “We Will” campaign, the University’s $3.75 billion dollar fundraising push announced in March 2014, which he said is going better than expected after
More swastikas, racist graffiti found in library
Two more incidents of racist and anti-Semitic graffiti were reported at University Library on Wednesday. University Police Deputy Chief Dan McAleer said police found a swastika drawn in pencil in a third floor study room. Police also found a Star of David drawn in ink pen on the walls of a different thirdfloor study room. McAleer said the image might have previously been a swastika. Police also found disparaging remarks toward African Americans written near the elevators on the fifth floor. Those were also written in pencil and removed.
large gifts such as the more than $100 million donation in January from billionaire investor Warren Buffett’s sister Roberta Buffett Elliott. NU intends to use part of the money raised in the campaign to expand its faculty and add more endowed chairs, Schapiro said, though the size of the student body will not change. Linzer spoke about the search for a vice president for diversity and inclusion, which he said is still in the early stage of identifying potential candidates. Many have expressed interest in the position, which Linzer credited to NU being “well-known around the country for its efforts” on diversity and inclusion. He said the position will focus on two main areas: Everyday programming around diversity and inclusion and navigating crises related to such issues. Racist and anti-Semitic graffiti was also reported at the library this weekend. Police found a swastika and derogatory remarks about African Americans in the men’s fourth-floor restroom. McAleer said police are investigating the incidents. He said it is unclear if they are related. University President Morton Schapiro sent a campus-wide email Tuesday in response to the first reports of graffiti. “The investigation by University Police has determined there is no immediate danger to any specific individual or to the larger campus community,” Schapiro said in the email. “However, these acts are offensive to the entire Northwestern community and will not be tolerated.”
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“This person has to be resilient and able to navigate at the front lines with people who are upset at that moment,” Linzer said. All three administrators spoke positively about NU’s recent efforts in diversity and inclusion, but tempered stories of recent successes with cautions about current and future challenges. “This is a nation that’s struggling with inclusion,” Schapiro said. “Obviously we’re not immune from that.” Chinniah said it is “unrealistic to think that this will be the campus where those incidents don’t happen.” During a Q&A after the event Alecia Wartowski, director of programs at the Women’s Center, asked the panelists about plans to address campus climate to make it more inclusive, saying she has heard from faculty and students that navigating the university while grappling with issues of identity is “very difficult.” She said she mostly agreed with the administrators’ assessment. “As Morty said, it’s not easy, and no one’s quite figured out how to do it,” Wartowski told The Daily. “Northwestern is a place full of really smart people, so I think it’s a good chance for us to try to be the leaders in this field.” The panel included discussion about global initiatives, which Schapiro identified as an “important part” of the University’s strategic plan. “We have a lot of good ideas, and we have the money,” Schapiro said. “We’re going to make some really exciting moves.” Chinniah echoed the importance of a global focus. “We cannot be a great research university of the future without a global footprint, and we have an incredible set of assets at Northwestern,” he said. Although the NU Staff Advisory Council and the Office of the President » See SCHAPIRO, page 6
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Ban on conversion therapy backed By JULIA JACOBS
the daily northwestern @juliarebeccaj
Illinois activists and politicians are ramping up efforts to gain votes for a state ban on so-called conversion therapy for LGBT youth in the hopes of passing the bill out of the state’s House of Representatives by next Friday’s deadline. The bill restricts licensed medical health providers in the state from practicing conversion or reparative therapy on minors, in which professionals attempt to change the sexuality or gender identity of their patients. The Conversion Therapy Prohibition Act, which failed to pass in both the Illinois House and Senate during last year’s legislative session, was reintroduced in both chambers in January by Rep. Kelly Cassidy (D-Chicago) and Sen. Daniel Biss (D-Ill.), who represents Evanston. In the effort to get enough votes to pass the bill through the legislature by the end of May, President Barack Obama’s recent announcement supporting statewide conversion therapy bans will have a substantial impact on passing the bill, said Rep. Sam Yingling (D-Hainesville), the first openly gay person elected to the Illinois legislature from outside of Chicago. Obama’s endorsement has also attracted national focus to the issue, shedding light on the damage the practice does to LGBT youth, said Yingling, who signed on Tuesday to co-sponsor the bill. “This issue has been coming to the forefront for a number of years, and that is a result of the public recognizing that so-called reparative therapy or so-called conversion therapy is nothing more than
quackery,” Yingling told The Daily. “Conversion therapy does not work. It’s no more effective that somebody going to a therapist to change the color of their skin.” The Obama administration released the statement calling for an end to conversion therapy April 8 in response to a petition named in honor of Leelah Alcorn, a 17-year-old transgender youth who committed suicide by walking in front of a semi-truck at the end of last December. Alcorn wrote in her suicide note about her parents’ efforts to change her gender identity through conversion therapy. The petition, which was first published in early January, has garnered more than 120,000 signatures. Around the same time earlier this year, Illinois activists’ campaign for a renewed state bill began. In January, Equality Illinois, the state’s largest advocacy group for the LGBT population, began working with Cassidy and Biss to gain the legislative vote in Springfield while getting constituents involved on the ground. On Wednesday, about 60 Equality Illinois supporters from Chicago and central Illinois went to Springfield to lobby their legislators in favor of the bill, said Patty Dillon, director of field operations for the organization. A press conference on the bill, attended by eight legislators, featured speakers that included a psychotherapist, a pastor from Chicago and an individual sharing a personal experience with conversion therapy, Dillon added. With no time to waste, Dillon said Equality Illinois sent out an email blast to its supporters Thursday, just over a week » See CONVERSION, page 6
NU to review rezoning proposal By MARISSA PAGE
the daily northwestern @marissahpage
Members from the Evanston Preservation Commission passed a motion at a special committee meeting Thursday night to redivide Northwestern’s campus into five lots. The proposal now goes back to the University for review. NU’s campus east of Sheridan Road is currently divided into two zones: one historic zone to the west that contains all 12 of the landmark structures on campus — including Lunt Hall, Annie May Swift Hall and Deering Library — and one eastern zone that encompasses the Lakefill. » See SUBDIVISION, page 6
Marissa Page/The Daily Northwestern
ZONED OUT Evanston Preservation Commission members deliberate NU’s proposal to rezone the campus. Their changes included dividing NU into five zones as opposed to the current two.
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