NBN Magazine Fall 2021

FALL 2021

THE SOUND OF

OLIVIA PIERCE The Bienen second-year on writing and producing her own music. | pg. 52

First in the family

Northwestern students tackle the statistics and realities of being first-generation. | pg. 37

Reconciling religion

LGBTQ+ Northwestern students reflect on finding their place in — or outside of — religion. | pg. 47

contents

table of

07 37

PREGAME FEATURES Cat out of the bag Keeping up with the Ryan$ 50 shades of purple Dining dollar? I hardly know her Props to the shop

8 11 13 14 15

First in the family 37 The expense of experience 43 Reconciling religion 47

52 17

PHOTO STORY

DANCE FLOOR Meet me at our (late night) spot Housing hustle Between the shelves Mind the gap The international cost Got sponsors?

Social shift Redefining research

COVER PHOTO BY AVA MANDOLI COVER DESIGN BY KELSIE YU

18 20 23 26 28 30 32 34

The sound of Olivia Pierce 52

56

HANGOVER Hangover helpers ‘Cats on acid [Redacted] Norris courses To pee or not to pee?

Hey sexy ;]

57 58 60 62 63

letter from the editor My first four quarters on the staff of North by Northwestern took place entirely online. Starting in spring 2020, from our apartments, dorms and childhood bedrooms, we managed to create a magazine. And then we did it three more times. But this fall, we got to experience what it’s like to make this magazine in-person. It’s been surreal to have our staff physically together every week, from selecting pitches to the long hours of final checks.

We are in a season of rediscovery. We’ve spent much of the past two years reflecting on the abnormal in the midst of an unpredictable pandemic, but now we have a chance to see Northwestern with fresh eyes. We’re taking this moment to find the extraordinary in the seemingly ordinary and uncover the stories behind everyday campus sights.

In Pregame, we unmask who’s in the Willie the Wildcat costume we’re so used to seeing every weekend at Ryan Field.

We also go behind the scenes with the people who bring Wirtz Center productions to life. In Dance Floor, we meet librarians who are championing accessibility and spotlighting Black history at Northwestern.

In our Features section, we examine the first-generation college student experience and take a look at the often meager compensation provided by the University’s work experience programs, like Medill’s journalism residency and the SESP practicum. We also explore how queer-identifying students have negotiated their religious identities.

Finally, our Hangover section offers tips from our expert editors on how to beat a hangover, in addition to unearthing the secret Norris Mini Courses catalog. And, of course, no issue would be complete without our quiz, where we reveal which sexy Northwestern icon matches your personality.

Every one of these stories was written, edited and designed with care. We’re so glad to be back (even if we weren’t ever truly gone) and together again. I hope you enjoy reading this magazine as much as we enjoyed creating it.

You might even (re)discover something along the way.

— TERESA NOWAKOWSKI

north by

fall 2021

northwestern “What Norris Mini Course would you like to see offered this year?”

Intro to Witchcraft & Baking

PRINT STAFF

WEB STAFF

EDITORIAL

MANAGING

How to make moonshine

PRINT MANAGING EDITOR Teresa Nowakowski ASSISTANT MANAGING EDITOR Grace Snelling EDITOR-AT-LARGE Maggie Galloway SENIOR FEATURES EDITORS Annie Cao, Olivia Evans, Brendan Le, Kyra Steck ASSISTANT FEATURES EDITORS Maddy Rubin, Mia Walvoord SENIOR SECTION EDITORS Emma Chiu, Tessa Paul, Joseph Ramos ASSOCIATE EDITORS Tabor Brewster, Jimmy He, Andrew Kwa, Michelle Liu ASSISTANT EDITORS Samantha Cho, Julia Lucas, Caroline Neal, Rosie Newmark Hustling 101 with NUDM CREATIVE DIRECTORS Andrew Kwa, S. Kelsie Yu DESIGNERS Emma Estberg, Maren Kranking, Agnes Lee, Ellie Lind, Juntang Qian, Hope Thompson, Grace Wang, Jacob Wendler, Wendy Zhu PHOTOGRAPHER Ava Mandoli How to train a messenger pigeon

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Olivia Lloyd EXECUTIVE EDITOR Grace Deng MANAGING EDITORS Shannon Coan, Giovana Gelhoren, Linda Shi ASSISTANT MANAGING EDITORS Trent Brown, Jordan Hickey, Jayna Kurlender, Bailey Richards

WRITERS Jenna Anderson, Ali Bianco, Trent Brown, Molly Burke, Shannon Coan, Coop Daley, Rayna Song, Samantha Stevens, Iris Swarthout, Yurui Wu, Julianna Zitron

SOCIAL MEDIA TEAM Maria Caamaño Garcia, Trevor Duggins, Jordan Hickey, Jayna Kurlender, Jack Lin, Sammie Pyo, Melissa Santoyo, Linda Shi

CREATIVE

FREELANCE

SECTION EDITORS

Cloud NEWS EDITOR Emma Chiu identificiation POLITICS EDITOR Ali Bianco CREATIVE WRITING EDITOR Jimmy He FEATURES EDITOR Felix Beilin SPORTS EDITOR Coop Daley LIFE & STYLE EDITOR Samantha Cho OPINION EDITOR Sam Alvarez ENTERTAINMENT EDITORS Nozizwe Msipa, Elizabeth Yoon AUDIO EDITORS Maria Caamaño Garcia, Trevor Duggins PHOTO/VIDEO EDITOR Christine Potermin GRAPHICS EDITOR Jess Chen INTERACTIVES EDITORS David Deloso, Nathanial Ortiz Bartending for minors

SOCIAL MEDIA

CORPORATE PUBLISHER Tina Huang DIRECTOR OF AD SALES Julianne Sun DIRECTOR OF MARKETING Sammie Pyo WEBMASTER David Deloso

NORTH BY NORTHWESTERN Founded in 2006, North by Northwestern is Northwestern University’s only general interest magazine. We publish an award-winning quarterly print magazine in addition to a variety of articles on our website. North by Northwestern is immensely important to many students on campus, and it provides a place where students can apply the skills they’ve learned in class to the real world.

With your help, North by Northwestern will continue to excel and innovate as a publication. Your support allows us to keep printing and cover our operational costs as we explore new storytelling techniques and create quality journalism.

To make a contribution, please visit http://northbynorthwestern.com/donate.

Thank you for your support.

pregame Cat out of the bag 8 Keeping up with the Ryans 11 50 shades of purple 13 Dining dollar? I hardly know her 14 Props to the shop 15

PHOTO BY JUSTIN BARBIN, Northwestern University’s Wirtz Center for the Performing Arts

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CAT OUT OF THE BAG Unmasking Northwestern’s mascot.

WRITTEN BY MADDY RUBIN // DESIGNED BY JACOB WENDLER

M

ost days, they masquerade as normal Northwestern students.

They sit smugly in lecture halls, secretly aware of their covert second identities. Undercover, they appear on TV screens, students vie for photos with them and strangers cheer their name. They each lead double lives, but function as one ubiquitous campus celebrity. You may think of them as a friendly, familiar face — everyone does.

But you’ve never actually seen them. No one has. At least, not under the mask.

“The best thing about performing as Willie the Wildcat is that people come up to you, and even though subconsciously they know you’re a person in a costume they can look at you as Willie and see somebody who’s a friend,” Communication third-year Finn Murphy says. “[They] see somebody who cares and wants them to be at Northwestern and is excited to see them.”

Murphy is one of four members of Northwestern’s Spirit Squad, a branch of the athletic department that includes students who wear the famed Northwestern mascot suit and act as hype-men on the sidelines of sports events. Northwestern students have been appearing as Willie since 1947, when four students created the first suit for Homecoming.

8

FALL 2021

Performing as “Northwestern’s biggest fan,” as Murphy describes Willie, is more than just posing for photo ops with fans at games. All four Squad members wear the suit interchangeably. While one student is in costume, another acts as the “handler,” assisting Willie as he interacts with fans and helping the rest of the Spirit Squad hype up the crowd.

“Basically, you’re like Willie’s personal assistant,” McCormick thirdyear and Spirit Squad member Charlie Chiang says. “You’re there to speak up for him, making sure Willie gets to everywhere he needs to be on time, making sure he’s got water every time he needs it.”

The Spirit Squad and cheerleading team are led by the same coach, and members attend two-hour joint practices twice a week to work on stunts.

They also do weight training twice a week and attend every football game — home and away — and all men’s and women’s home basketball games.

Between attending campus events and performing at games, Spirit Squad member and McCormick third-year Evains Francois says he spends an average of 12 hours a week managing Willie’s commitments.

“Sometimes it’s really hard to prioritize,” Murphy says. “We’re technically student athletes, and it’s a very similar vibe where it’s school first and then their team second and everything else is third.”

On top of his on-campus schedule, Willie manages a busy off-campus social life, attending birthday parties, weddings and events at local restaurants when requested. He also does community work, occasionally entertaining at schools and workplaces, like the Evanston Fire Department.

Willie also maintains an active social media presence, with 4,432 combined followers on Instagram and Twitter (@williewildcatNU) as of Nov. 15. The Spirit Squad uploads photos and short skits weekly on both platforms.

Murphy says that the team tries

to keep Willie’s social media casual.

When they’re not posting videos of the mascot’s extensive workout routine, the Squad uses the platform to emphasize support for the Northwestern and Evanston community. They document Willie’s appearances at on- and offcampus events, from Fourth of July 5k runs to the March Through the Arch.

“It’s really great to have that impact and be able to support not just athletics, but also academics and arts and extracurriculars,” Murphy says. “[Willie is] a fan of everybody and everything

member gave him a card, which he says motivated his initial decision to learn more about the group.

“They were just mad cool,” Bah says.

“Good vibes everywhere. So I decided to join the team.”

Before the start of classes and football season, Spirit Squad members arrive on campus early for preseason camp. Typically, this includes training led by a professional mascot from the NBA. The Squad gets performance coaching as well as “handling” advice for when they accompany Willie during

"IN EACH YEAR, IT'S REALLY IMPORTANT TO REDEFINE, 'WHO IS WILLIE? WHAT ARE HIS CORE ATTRIBUTES?'" COMMUNICATION THIRD-YEAR FINN MURPHY that Northwestern does, not just our performances on the field.”

Each year, the Spirit Squad hosts an information session and tryouts where students engage in a series of nonverbal communication exercises, including improvisation and dancing games. There are no requirements to become Willie, and students of any year can audition.

Chiang says that while some students come to campus interested in performing as Willie, others are recruited by the Spirit Squad at the beginning of the school year. During Wildcat Welcome, when new students learn the Northwestern fight song and alma mater, Willie secretly eyes the crowd in search of especially spirited potential new members.

Selected students receive elusive cards from Spirit Squad members, Chiang says, with a brief description of the Spirit Squad and the date of their first info session, which they are encouraged to attend to learn more.

McCormick third-year Ibrahima Bah was first introduced to the Spirit Squad after he ran the Wildcat Dash in his first year.

An upperclassman Spirit Squad

his appearances.

The professional mascot helps teach the Squad how to handle common game day situations, from effectively organizing a large line of people waiting for photos with Willie to properly dealing with intoxicated fans, according to Murphy. During preseason, the Squad also creates hand signals for communication during loud events.

Though each member of the Squad has different signature moves when in the suit, the professional mascot helps them standardize their performances.

Murphy likens it to acting — if two actors played the same character during one performance, their actions would have to match.

“We have a character for Willie, but Willie evolves,” Murphy says. “In each year, it’s really important to redefine, ‘Who is Willie? What are his core attributes?’”

According to Chiang, Willie is a “playful character” who may be a little mischievous but roots for all things Northwestern. Francois agrees, adding that Willie has a work hard, play hard mentality. Murphy emphasizes that Willie is everyone’s best friend. When each of them performs as Willie, their

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ultimate goal is to portray these qualities.

“Trying to do Willie justice is not the most difficult part, but it’s kind of a stress on me,” Francois says. “Every time we go out, we’re representing Northwestern and we’re also representing Willie, who has been around for so long. I always try to do my best when I’m performing to make it fun and make sure I’m playing my role properly.”

Of the 12 hours Spirit Squad members dedicate to their position each week, on average only an hour and a half can be spent in the suit without a break. Students typically Photo courtesy of NOA NUZOV. switch off at halftime when “Especially in the winter with seasonal performing at football games, and the depression or midterm season rolling suit is disinfected between uses. For around, you never just instantly have basketball games, the same student it. It’s definitely something you have wears the suit for the entirety of the to turn on, which you just have to get game. used to.”

Inside, temperatures can be at least Despite these off-days, each member 10 degrees hotter than outside, and remains passionate about performing.

Spirit Squad members say the sweaty Chiang recalls posing for photos with stench inside Willie’s latex head takes a fan who persistently asked if Willie some getting used to. Performances would date her. Francois chuckles at are physically demanding, and some the memory of face-planting during his game days are easier than others. first-ever away basketball game — he While obvious circumstances like impulsively threw himself into an over-

"I always try to do my best when I'm performing to make it fun and make sure I’m playing my role properly."

MCCORMICK THIRD-YEAR EVAINS FRANCOIS extreme temperatures impact their performances, other imperceptible factors also play a role.

“The hardest part is going to the games and feeling really happy and really hyped, but maybe you’re not feeling that way,” Chiang says.

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FALL 2021

confident back flip — before clarifying “I didn’t mess up, Willie messed up!”

The Spirit Squad has witnessed many historic Northwestern sports moments over the years. Murphy can remember exact scores of standout games, from a 66-63 close women’s basketball

victory over Boston College to a triple overtime win against Michigan State football. Witnessing the women’s basketball team clinch the 2019 Big 10 Championship title, he says, trumps all.

“If you’re into the game, other people are into the game, and they feed off of your energy,” Murphy says. “You can sometimes turn games around.”

Some Spirit Squad members are open about their role as Willie. Still, they never reveal which student is in the suit at any given time — members say that would ruin the authenticity of Willie’s character.

Spirit Squad students have experienced varying levels of recognition for their performances.

While Murphy publicly speaks about the Spirit Squad’s double life as Willie, Chiang keeps it under wraps. Only his girlfriend and parents know where he disappears to at games. Regardless, members say anonymity is not what makes being Willie a special experience.

“I just want to make sure everyone is having a good time,” Chiang says. “And, it doesn’t hurt that he’s college’s sexiest mascot.”

A look into Northwestern’s biggest donors.

WRITTEN BY JOSEPH RAMOS // DESIGNED BY JACOB WENDLER

I

n the nearly two-mile stretch that makes up Northwestern’s undergraduate campus, the name “Ryan” is hard to miss. It’s on anything from the University’s basketball arena to its nanotechnology lab. Behind the name are Patrick and Shirley Ryan, Northwestern alumni who graduated in 1959 and 1961, respectively. They are the biggest benefactors in the school’s history, with nearly $700 million donated to date. In September 2021, they added to their long history of financial support with a $480 million gift funding athletics, scholarships, nanotechnology and microeconomics, the largest the school has ever received.

Patrick, or Pat, as he is commonly referred to, first met Shirley in 1959 at Sheil Chapel on Sheridan Road. At the time, Pat was in his fourth year, about to complete his finance major and enter the world of insurance that would one

day make him billions. Shirley, then a second-year majoring in English, was a member of the Sheil club at the Sheil Catholic Center and lived in the allwomen Pembridge House. Although their initial interaction was brief, the two would reconnect and begin dating seven years later. Now, they have been married for decades and have three children.

By the time the two met again, Pat had already left his job selling life insurance at Penn Mutual — a job which he had gotten through a Sigma Chi fraternity connection — to start his own company.

Meanwhile, Shirley had studied in Paris at the Louvre and worked in Chicago.

After two decades spent expanding his own business, Pat merged with another insurance group to create a corporation called Aon, where he served as the CEO until his 2008 retirement. As Pat built his business, the couple also turned their attention to their alma mater. The

family’s first major financial gift to the school resulted in the 1983 opening of Welsh-Ryan Arena, named for the couple’s parents.

Though the Ryans’ September donation builds on programs and scholarships including the medical research and the new Center for Applied Microeconomics, the family is also maintaining their history of sports funding. Part of their gift will support the redevelopment of Ryan Field, the football stadium that was named in their honor in 1997.

“Shirley and I believe in the power of sports to develop the whole person — mind, body and soul for all students,” Pat Ryan said in a post by the University announcing the donation. “This holistic approach prepares Northwestern student-athletes to be the leaders of tomorrow.”

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"Obviously I wanted to make a lot of money. But it is the feeling of building and creating from nothing and watching it grow without limits that I really enjoy. With that comes money."

- Pat Ryan, in a 1976 Chicago Tribune profile Shirley Ryan, pictured in 1962 with the Northwestern University chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma.

1965

Year Pat and Shirley Ryan started dating after a mutual friend reintroduced them

20

1996-2009

$8

Years Pat Ryan was the chairman of Northwestern’s Board of Trustees

billion

undergrads

receive financial support each year under the Ryan Scholars Program

"I feel that it is truly a privilege to be able to work with you on 'the noble mission of Northwestern University.'"

- Pat Ryan, in a 2008 letter to then-Northwestern President Henry Bienen

2016

Pat Ryan’s approximate net worth, according to Forbes

Year Pat served as chairman of Chicago’s Olympic bid committee

Spotlight on nanotechnology Nanotechnology has also received significant donations from the Ryan family. Within Ryan Hall is Northwestern’s International Institute for Nanotechnology which, alongside nanotech research labs in the school’s Technological Institute, has “state of the art” facilities, according to Assistant Professor of Instruction Katie Gesmundo.

Gesmundo studied nanotechnology in graduate research, and now teaches a Weinberg first-year seminar called ‘What’s So Special About Nanomaterials?’

Part of the course includes a tour of some of the school’s nanotechnology facilities where Gesmundo can show prospective nanotechnology students the actual instruments they use and the work they would be doing. She says because of the access to resources like the ones the Ryan family donation provided, “my class is made better.”

“It’s really cool as a professor to be able to say ‘This field is not only applicable in science in general, but it’s really well supported here at Northwestern,’” Gesmundo says.”

PHOTOS COURTESY OF SYLLABUS YEARBOOK

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50 shades of purple Former fan fiction authors reflect on their writing.

WRITTEN BY HOPE THOMPSON // DESIGNED BY S. KELSIE YU

L

eslie Robins will never log back into her old Now that she’s studying secondary teaching for Wattpad account. The SESP second-year will English, Robins sees the value in using fan fiction never read her middle school Percy Jackson fan as a creative outlet. As a seventh grader, she made fiction again. it to the final round of the Ohio creative writing “No way,” Robins says. “It’s not happening. I competition Power of the Pen, a feat she now think I would cry.” attributes to the hours she spent on fan fiction.

To Robins, writing fan fiction is a sign of The anonymity of the various fan fiction sites obsession, which could be anything from One also gave Robins a safe place to publish her work Direction to America’s Founding Fathers. Whatever and receive feedback. Sometimes readers gave the topic, fan fiction is something that is often her useful writing tips. Other times, they simply perceived as cringey or nerdy. That provided validation, which doesn’t mean the experience isn’t became one of Robins’ favorite worthwhile, though. Northwestern’s parts of participating in fan "Harry Potter. A lot of own former fan fiction writers fiction. people think I’m weird for have learned a lot in this online For Frost, the connection to loving him the way I do, but her readers created a community community.

Fan fiction, fan-written stories they just don’t understand. she had never found in the real No one does." based on celebrities or characters world. from popular media, are found “I felt so connected to [Harry - Excerpt from Communication on sites like Wattpad and Archive Potter] for so long, and I thought second-year Morgan Frost’s of Our Own. Fan fiction stories I was the only one,” Frost says. fanfiction are notorious for their explicit “That was hard because [the material, cliché plots and generally series] made so much sense to poor grammar. But the writing isn’t me, and I loved it so much.” always hopeless — some of it becomes a lifelong Bienen second-year Paula Pérez-Glassner, who inspiration and jumping-off point for writers, and reads fan fiction as a "guilty pleasure," appreciates some are even put into print, including major titles the work writers put into their stories. like After or Fifty Shades of Grey.

“I love to read stuff just to feel something,” Communication second-year Morgan Frost, a Pérez-Glassner says. “Oftentimes these are very former fan fiction writer and Harry Potter fanatic, dramatic or melodramatic stories that are a little credits her fan fiction years for the storytelling bit dumb, but it’s fun.” skills she uses today in her stand-up comedy. While Once readers and writers of fan fiction get past she’s reluctant to revisit her stories, Robins agrees their embarrassment, fan fiction is just that — fun. that fan fiction has had a positive impact on her “If they’re characters that you love, and and served as creative writing practice. you want to imagine what it’s like in a certain “You don’t have to worry about developing your situation, you’re probably not the only one who own characters,” Robins says. “You get to really just wants to imagine that,” Robins says. “So you may focus on the description and the storylines, which as well share it.” is so important.”

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Dining dollar?

I hardly know her!

How Northwestern students are cashing in on their dining dollars.

WRITTEN BY JIMMY HE // DESIGNED BY AGNES LEE

T

ired of eating Allison chicken and rice? Longing for a Patty Squared cheeseburger? Luckily, Northwestern students are armed with a stash of dining dollars to satisfy all their food-related cravings. First–year and second–year students are assigned to Northwestern’s Open Access Meal Plan, which grants them 125 dining dollars each quarter. Whether it's for a daily cup of Norbucks coffee, a late-night Fran’s milkshake or a smoothie from The Protein Bar, dining dollars provide Northwestern students with an extra degree of dining flexibility. Run out of laundry detergent or tissues? Dining dollars cover toiletries at campus stores as well! Yet, the longevity of these dollars is another story. North by Northwestern surveyed 51 first– and second–year Northwestern students on their fall dining dollar usage.

30 FIRST-YEARS 21 SECOND-YEARS

HIGHEST REMAINING*: $120 LOWEST REMAINING*: $20.54

While some students are down to 20 dining dollars by the end of week three, dining dollar hoarders may find themselves asking in June: what can I do with all of this leftover cash?

Weinberg third-year Anika Nerella has an answer.

“I had the idea to organize a food drive on campus for a long time,” Nerella says. “Before coming to college, that was something I always wanted to do and last year seemed like a very good time, especially with me and a lot of my fellow students realizing, ‘Hey, I have so many dining dollars left, and I have nothing to do with them at the end of the year.’”

Thus, the dining dollar drive was born. Working with Campus Kitchen, a campus group that collects, packages and redistributes dining hall leftovers, Nerella repurposed students’ dining dollars to feed low-income Evanston residents. Over three days, the group collected nearly 14 boxes of non-perishable goods and over 1,000 unique food items. The collected food goes to Soup at Six, an Evanston soup kitchen that operates out of the Hemenway United Methodist Church.

This year, Nerella is reprising her role as the dining dollar drive organizer. She hopes to expand to more locations, including the C-stores in Foster-Walker Complex and Lisa’s, and collect over a longer period of time.

“I would hear a lot about students making change and doing things on campus, and I always itched to do something myself,” Nerella says. “At the end of collecting all this food, I really felt like I had contributed to something in the community for the first time and had a tangible impact.”

Jacob Jarding, Weinberg second–year Spends the most at: Dunkin’ Donuts “Last year, I barely used my dining dollars. At the end of the year, I had almost $200 I needed to spend in just a few weeks because I would spend so much time inside. Whereas this year, I find myself in positions where I need it more often.”

TOP SPOTS TO SPEND:

Adam Leif, Weinberg second–year Spends the most at: Viet Nom Nom “If you’re at $20 at this point in the quarter, you’re just making yourself sad. Because then you’re going to have to spend realpeople money if you want to buy non-meal exchange stuff.”

*surveyed at the end of week three

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OTHER: • The Protein Bar • Kresge Cafe • Tech Express • Café Coralie

TOP COFFEE SPOTS TO SPEND:

• Other Norris Restaurants

S E TH P S O H R OP P TO A behind-the-curtain look at the Wirtz Center’s production shops.

WRITTEN BY MAGGIE GALLOWAY // DESIGNED BY WENDY ZHU

C

hris Wych never expected to find himself affixing a remote control car to baskets of fake potatoes.

But in 2018, he did just that for a production of The Fairytale Lives of Russian Girls.

“I was in charge of getting the remote control car underneath the baskets, and the [props] team built fake potatoes so they could go in there and get a little lift that rose up and pushed all the potatoes out,” says Wych, the properties supervisor for the ​​Virginia Wadsworth Wirtz Center for the Performing Arts. The Wirtz Center stages theatrical and dance productions on Northwestern University’s campus, primarily with undergraduate performers.

This is just an average day in the Wirtz Center’s production shops. There are five production shops in total: scenic, paints, costumes, electrics and properties (better known as props).

Without the students and 15 staff members who work there, Wirtz productions wouldn’t have the same sparkle — or as many animated, overflowing baskets of potatoes.

The Wirtz Center frequently collaborates with the School of Communication, but it is its own entity that

operates largely outside the school's coursework. Master Carpenter Shannon Perry says this autonomy is what distinguishes Wirtz from other universities’ theatres.

“The Wirtz Center is actually its own kind of independent company — we’re just housed in Northwestern — which allows us a lot of freedom for picking what we want to work on,” Perry says.

According to Perry, this independence allows them to build a larger staff of professionals who have been working in production for many years prior to joining Wirtz.

For Wych, mornings usually start by looking at the previous day’s rehearsal notes for a production he’s working on. From there, he could be in the shop creating props or in the office adjusting prop lists and attending meetings. One of his favorite parts of the job is the collaborative nature of the Wirtz production shops.

“All of us work really well together, and we’re not afraid to share resources, knowledge and skills between all of our shops,” Wych says.

Costume and Crafts Supervisor Renee Werth loves collaborating with the Master of Fine Arts (MFA) students studying stage design.

She works in the costume shop and specializes in non-clothing pieces such as masks and accessories.

Werth says her favorite part is “seeing [the graduate students] grow as designers and seeing how happy they can be with what you’ve created for them.”

The MFA students can concentrate on costumes, scenery or lighting. They design many of the pieces for Wirtz shows, and then the production shop staff bring their designs to life.

David Arevalo is an MFA student in the stage design program with a primary

Performers move the casket in Fun Home.

PHOTO BY JUSTIN BARBIN

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A remote-controlled potato basket sits on the stage during The Fairytale Lives of Russian Girls.

PHOTO BY JUSTIN BARBIN

concentration in costume design.

For a typical production, he collaborates with MFA students from the other concentrations, as well as the show's director, to create a vision for the show.

Once he has concrete ideas for his designs, he starts meeting with the costume shop staff about their feasibility.

“A ton of conversations have to happen between me and the [costume] shop to make sure that my stuff is clear, I understand actually what I want and to make sure that I haven’t done something that’s impossible for them to accomplish,” Arevalo says. work-study job One of his favorite designs was a costume for in the costume the lead in the fall 2019 production of Machinal. In the shop because play, the character feels suffocated by her life and recent he enjoys working marriage, so Arevalo designed a dress with a very high with his hands. In collar that mimicked a straitjacket. The other actors fall 2019, he was an helped change the actress on stage by putting the dress associate costume on her from the front and wrapping her into it. designer for the Imagine Despite not being able to work on in-person shows U production of Winnie PHOTO BY KATHY PARSONS for most of the last two years, the Wirtz production the Pooh. Riley's favorite piece staff still had plenty to do. Perry worked on updating that he created for the show was a winged cape for the safety procedures for the scenic shops and created the owl character, who was played by his friend Ruchir an online training program for student workers. In Khazanchi.

March, Werth and the rest of the costume shop created “Just seeing him inhabit this character and let these puppets for a filmed production of wings be part of that, that was really Tomás and The Library Lady. gratifying,” Riley says.

“Instead of having all of these Many of the production staff actors in the show, because we were members also offer their help to trying to not have too many people undergraduates who are working in the building, the show was mostly on projects outside of the Wirtz puppets,” Werth says.

Center's purview. Wych says that Production staff brought supplies staff is open to answering questions from the shops to their homes, where and helping students produce "the they built the cardboard puppets. best show possible."

Rae MacCarthy, a McCormick “The permanent staff that work third-year, finds that their work-study in the costume shop, we’re all job in the prop shop helps them with professionals that have been doing — MFA student David their mechanical engineering major this for a really long time, so our by improving their problem-solving Arevalo goal is obviously to give the students skills. They like that their job has so the best quality work that we can,” much variety, whether it involves Werth says. “We’re working hard, sewing together brightly colored umbrellas for Last Stop [so] come to the shows, and you can see it for yourself.” on Market Street or laying inside a casket for Fun Home to Arevalo echoes that undergraduates shouldn’t hesitate screw in brackets to make it sturdier. to stop by the production shops. He was inspired to start “It was partly due to me that the casket did not designing costumes after visiting the costume shop at his collapse while people were dancing on it, and that was undergraduate alma mater. “This is your space too,” he pretty cool,” MacCarthy says. says. “Like me, you never know if maybe you’re going to Brendan Riley, a Communication fourth-year, loves his fall in love with this space.”

“Like me, you never know if maybe you’re going to fall in love with this space.”

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dance floor Meet me at our (late night) spot 18 Housing hustle 20 Between the shelves 23 Mind the gap 26 The international cost 28 Got sponsors? 30 Social shift 32 Redefining research 34

PHOTO BY AVA MANDOLI

DANCE FLOOR

17

r u o t a e m Meet t o p s ) t h (late nig After dark, Evanston restaurants compete for students' attention.

WRITTEN BY JENNA ANDERSON // DESIGNED BY S. KELSIE YU

I

t was the end of Dillo Day 2021 and Weinberg second-year Georgie Goldstein and her friends were devouring cheesy bread and pizza. They had just visited Sarpino’s Pizzeria on Main Street, one of their go-to options for late-night food.

“There were four of us sitting on the curb just demolishing the Sarpino’s,” Goldstein says.

Sarpino’s has been in business since 2008, and although General Manager Velislav Antonov says labor shortages during the pandemic took a toll on business, they managed to stay afloat. The restaurant offers free delivery with no order minimum, and they’re open every day of the year, including holidays.

“That’s something that we hold over other businesses,” Antonov says. “We’re trying to serve the best we can, especially at the late hours.”

Such a competitive edge has proven important in recent years. After the closure of a number of classic Evanston late-night spots, including Burger King and Bar Louie, an opportunity appeared for other local restaurants. With students returning to campus this fall, the race is on to become Northwestern students’ go-to option late at night. In addition to Sarpino's, other top contenders offering late hours are The Table NU, Bob’s Pizza and Ridgeville Tavern, along with Sarpino’s.

McCormick second-year Ashley Berson remembers a late-night occasion when she ordered Sarpino’s for a large group.

“They do bulk [orders] really well,” she says. “One time we were hanging out with a lot of people, and we ordered three cheesy breads and a pizza.”

Sarpino’s offers a 15% Wildcard discount and has connected with Northwestern University students

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through catering opportunities at the Kellogg School of Management. Since Sarpino’s is several miles south of campus, their delivery option is most popular among students, especially orders of the cheesy bread, chicken wings and, of course, pizza. Their extensive menu also has vegan versions of nearly all of their dishes. Along with the convenience of delivery and very late hours, Antonov says the freshness of their food also gives them an edge.

“We don’t freeze our dough, we don’t freeze the pizza sauce and we use fresh veggies,” Antonov says.

Another late-night delivery option is The Table NU, a business operated by Northwestern students that formerly followed a ghost kitchen model (deliveries only) but recently began offering pick-up.

“I think [being student-run] really differentiates us and makes us unique,” says SESP third-year Josh Bloom, the manager of The Table.

The Table originally served breakfast outside of the Jacobs Center to provide an alternative to the dining halls. They switched to a delivery-only model during the pandemic because many students were living off campus. Now, they focus on late-night deliveries, which they have found to be more profitable than the breakfast service.

The Table’s concise menu features popular items like the Chicken 'N Waffle Sandwich, which uses waffles as the bun for a piece of fried chicken and pickles. Bloom says one key factor that sets The Table apart from other late-night options is the quality of their food.

“Just putting love and care and attention and details into our food is one component that makes our food really special,” Bloom says.

While The Table only provides after going out somewhere else, since media and are working on getting a delivery and pick-up, Bob’s Pizza offers it is within walking distance from Northwestern discount program. They a physical location for Northwestern campus. are also planning on having delivery in students. The restaurant and bar used Ridgeville Tavern is also vying to be the future. to be the Whiskey Thief Tavern and the top late-night bar spot in Evanston.

“I encourage Northwestern students served Bob’s Pizza with a ghost kitchen The restaurant and bar, which opened and faculty and the whole community model, like The Table. During the in August 2021, used to be Bar Louie, to check us out,” Robertson says. “We’d pandemic, they rebranded to solely where Ike Robertson acted as general like to be the go-to neighborhood Bob’s Pizza. manager for 12 years. corner bar.”

“It’s a lot more drinks than food “When they closed due to Medill fourth-year Eli Karp first tried late-night,” says General Manager Mark [COVID-19], I decided to try and give Ridgeville Tavern last September when Hayashi. “After 10 o’clock, it’s just pizza. it a shot myself,” says Robertson, now he was getting a late dinner with two We do offer it by the slice.” the owner of Ridgeville Tavern. “We’ve friends.

Bob’s tries to draw in Northwestern been busy since we opened.”

“My friends and I were very excited students through their Tuesday trivia Ridgeville does not limit their menu that we have a tavern-like, pub-type nights. Hayashi says many Kellogg later at night but instead serves their place to go,” Karp says. “We thought it students were familiar with Bob’s would be a little bit more of a barwhen it was the Whiskey Thief type atmosphere, and it felt a little Tavern, but they are seeing more bit more like a restaurant with a "There were four of us sitting undergraduate students this fall, bar.” on the curb just demolishing the especially on weekends.

Karp says students may “We seem to draw the biggest be a little discouraged by the Sarpino’s." crowd,” says Hayashi. “We try to distance, since Ridgeville is about Weinberg second-year play fun music [and] make it an a 25-minute walk from North Georgie Goldstein inviting atmosphere.”

Campus. Despite this barrier, he Weinberg third-year Maddie still thinks the business has the Malueg visited Bob’s one potential to be a popular lateWednesday night when some friends entire menu of “tavern fare” until night spot for Northwestern students. organized an event through Facebook. last call. They’re known for their beer “I think that it’s pretty attractive “The vibe there is kind of different selection, which includes many local late-night food,” he says. “They have an than clubs in the city, which I like, brews. Robertson says their burgers are opportunity to really fill a void in the because I feel like it’s more everyone also popular, along with specialty items community, especially when it comes standing around talking and chill like their fried chicken sandwich and to a tavern or a sports bar.” drinking instead of super loud music,” risotto fritters.

As each business offers different she says. “You have to be in the mood “Our menu’s very approachable,” food, atmospheres and levels of for it, but it’s fun. It was very nice for a Robertson says. “Everyone’s going to convenience, time will tell which of Wednesday.” find something they like.” these options will pull ahead in the Malueg adds that, on the weekends, As Ridgeville is still starting out, competition to be Northwestern’s people tend to end their night at Bob’s they have only marketed through social favorite late-night spot.

-

The Table NU Hours: Thurs-Sat 11 p.m. to 1 a.m.

Delivery and pick-up only

Sarpino’s Pizzeria

Bob’s Pizza

Hours: Sun-Thurs 11 a.m. to 3 a.m., Fri-Sat 10 a.m. to 4 a.m.

Hours: Mon-Sat 11 a.m. to 2 a.m., Sun 11 a.m. to 12 a.m.

616 Davis St, Evanston, IL 60201 Restaurant and bar Delivery available

2428 Main St., Evanston, IL 60202 Restaurant Delivery available

Ridgeville Tavern Hours: Tues-Thurs 4 p.m. to 12 a.m., FriSat 4 p.m. to 1 a.m.

1520 Sherman Avenue, Evanston, IL 60201 Restaurant and bar

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Housing hustle The scramble to secure off-campus housing in Evanston’s competitive market.

WRITTEN BY MICHELLE LIU // DESIGNED BY MAREN KRANKING

T

he Thursday before Fall Quarter began, Griffin Minster, a Weinberg second-year who hadn’t even attended his first inperson class at Northwestern, was getting ready to go to an off-campus showing for his housing next year.

Minster and his friends had only talked vaguely about living together during the summer, but when a post about available rental houses popped up on the Facebook group “Housing @ Northwestern,” he sprang into action.

“It was a great lead, and we didn’t really want to lose it,” he says.

Minster texted the landlord in the post inquiring about available units, and in a couple of days, he and his friends gave the landlord a list of the houses they wanted to see. They quickly set up viewings for two or

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three days later, but upon arriving at the first house, they were shocked to learn that of the approximately six houses they were interested in, only two were still available.

“Apparently in the past 72 hours of when we talked, they had signed eight leases,” Minster says. “Things were just flying away.”

The search for rental housing has never been simple or stress-free, but in college towns like Evanston, it’s exacerbated by the pressure to sign a lease anywhere from six months to a year before moving in. As early as October, students are scrambling to find available off-campus housing for the following school year as popular and affordable units begin to fill up.

In such a competitive market, these relatively inexperienced student renters often have little choice but to sign or re-sign a lease as far as a year in advance — or risk losing their spot to someone else.

Every year, roughly 1,500 undergraduate students are on the hunt for off-campus housing in Evanston, according to Northwestern Residential Services. Most of them are sophomores about to be freed from Northwestern’s two-year oncampus residency requirement. For them and other upperclassmen, living off-campus is an appealing alternative to the dorms: there are private bathrooms, no dining plan, the freedom of having one’s own place and often a cheaper price tag.

There isn’t a clear explanation as to why Northwestern students start scouting for housing so early. Most of the pressure seems to come through word of mouth. Minster says he heard somewhere that it’s a good idea to sign a lease in the fall, or at least by winter break.

Signing a lease more than six months in advance may seem early in the housing industry, but it’s a common occurrence in college towns, says Jasemen Hatcher, the housing, counseling and education director at Open Communities,

an organization that fights for fair housing in north suburban Chicago.

Since the pandemic, Hatcher has noticed that, in Evanston, the time between signing a lease and moving in has only gotten longer, and it’s caused a lot of students to look outside of Evanston for housing options.

It’s a stressful timeline, says Communications second-year Julia Sexton. She and her friends started looking at off-campus housing options in early October, but as they continue to browse rental listing sites, she says many listings are already disappearing and “there’s not really space for dilly-dallying.”

This year, less than a month after classes began at Northwestern, Evanston landlords and real estate offices are already dealing with swaths of students searching for next year’s housing.

“We’re getting anywhere from two to 10 inquiries a day for next year already,” Tara Hutting said in early October. Hutting, the property manager at Evanston Place, a popular luxury apartment complex located less than five minutes from South Campus, says there has been a considerable increase in students looking for housing. “Usually, last year and the years before, we don’t start getting inquiries until after the holidays,” she says. “We’re kind of surprised.”

Evanston landlord Dylan Grigg says that he has also been busy with inquiries from prospective tenants, but he’s used to starting the process in October or even earlier. Grigg and his real estate partners have already signed leases with students — including Minster and his

roommates — as early as September.

“It’s a normal year [for us], where students start thinking about where they’re going to live about a year or so in advance,” Grigg says.

Hatcher says that when a unit is available for rent is dependent on

“We don’t start getting inquiries until after the holidays.

We’re kind of surprised.”

EVANSTON PLACE PROPERTY MANAGER

TARA HUTTING

individual landlords and how early they want to lease out.

“For some landlords, [rentals are] an asset. It’s income, it’s their retirement money. So when they’re forecasting a year out and having you sign an actual lease, oftentimes it’s because they want to make sure they can depend on the income,” she says. “It’s not great because a lot of life happens within a year, but it’s not unheard of.”

As Minster and his friends toured the only two houses remaining on his list, he knew that they were facing a much bigger time crunch than they had expected. It wasn’t like these two houses were their only

options, Minster says, but they still felt a sense of urgency — especially after the landlord encouraged them to sign as soon as possible.

“If it didn’t work out, it would have been okay, but it would just have been another whole round of work that was way more up in the air,” Minster says.

They settled on one house that they all preferred, says Minster, but they were less sure about how fast they wanted to proceed. Feeling stressed, they picked up the phone and called the landlord to talk things through.

At some point in the conversation, the five of them looked at each other and knew: they didn’t want to risk losing the house. The landlord responded with five leases ready for them to sign— and they did. It had only been four hours since they first saw the house.

By mid-October, the management offices of some apartment buildings near campus, including the Link and The Carlson Building, slipped their tenants notices about re-signing their leases. One notice from Bchchurch, the leasing company of the Carlson Building, dated Oct. 12, 2021, read, “We realize this seems early to be asking about your plans for next year, but it is a competitive market, and we have had many calls from perspective [sic] tenants who are going to be attending Northwestern next year and are looking to secure their housing now. As such, we would like to know if you plan on renewing your lease for next year.”

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The students who received the notice had just moved in on September 1st.

But it wasn’t only the leasing companies of large student apartments that began pressuring residents to re-sign. Téa Baum, a SESP third-year who lives in a house a block from the Foster train station, says she was blindsided by her resign notice. On the night of Oct. 8, she received a text from her landlord that there was a group of sophomores who were ready to lease her unit.

Baum and her roommates were given until the next morning to decide if they wanted to re-sign — a window of less than 10 hours.

It was a difficult choice for Baum because she loves her house and wanted to live there again, but one of her two roommates won’t be in Evanston next year.

“We were like, there’s no way we’re going to find a third person by tomorrow morning,” Baum says. “It doesn’t make sense to sign a lease when we don’t know that yet, so we had to let it go.”

Medill third-year Julia MacCary also gave up her apartment after receiving a re-sign notice, but her choice was much easier. In September, MacCary and her roommates moved into a “dirty” apartment at The Link, a luxury student apartment in downtown Evanston.

“There were beer pong balls on the floor, nail clipping in the sink, trash everywhere, hair everywhere, nothing was cleaned,” MacCary says, “[My

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roommate] arrived to a disgusting apartment, and The Link was not helpful about it. There was a lot of fighting going on.”

Even after The Link sent someone to clean the unit, the apartment was still dirty, she says. She had to scrub frozen food out of the freezer.

Communication with the management at The Link has also been difficult for her and her roommates, MacCary says.

“In general it’s been impossible to reach them, and when I talk to them, they have not been very nice to me,” she says. “It’s been such a frustrating experience.”

So when MacCary got the notice to re-sign and a 10-day deadline to respond, she made her choice immediately.

“Absolutely not,” she says, “In what world would I want to live here again?”

Under the Chicago Residential Landlord and Tenant Ordinance, landlords cannot legally require a renter to renew a lease more than 90 days prior to the end of the current lease. But Evanston’s Residential Landlord and Tenant Ordinance has no similar language, which means Evanston landlords are free to require lease renewals whenever they want.

Landlords are more likely to pressure tenants to re-sign quickly and far in advance if they believe that the tenant is not aware of their rights, or has very few options should the landlord put the rental back up on the market, says Hatcher. Students, who are often inexperienced renters, tend to fall perfectly into this group.

But students shouldn’t just take the pressure, she says. There are housing mediators who can intervene on behalf of both the tenants and landlords to ask for negotiation.

This recourse is in the landlords’ interest as well, Hatcher says, because in six months, depending on the tenant-landlord relationship, their desire for a

“Those four hours were definitely stressful. We just weren’t expecting it to move this fast.”

WEINBERG SECOND-YEAR

GRIFFIN MINSTER renewal could change.

“The ability to negotiate is typically on the table,” Hatcher says. “Know your rights first and determine if [resigning] is the best fit for you.”

But as long as the city doesn’t take action and there’s a market for landlords, Hatcher says, one can expect to continue to see units being rented out and re-sign notices sent to tenants a year, or even earlier, in advance.

“Those four hours were definitely stressful,” Minster recalls. “We just weren’t expecting it to move this fast.”

Minster doesn’t have any regrets right now, since he says not having to worry about where he’s going to live is a load off his shoulders. Still, he thinks it’s “kind of crazy” that his housing is set before he even began his second year. He says the portrayal of the housing market as competitive could have been a marketing tactic to pressure young, inexperienced renters to sign the lease, but ultimately, he trusted his landlord.

“Honestly, I did believe him that it was so crazy. One of my friends actually signed with the same landlord earlier that day, and it was one of the properties we were going to tour,” Minster says. “Because of that, I thought that they were actually telling the truth.”

Northwestern librarians’ efforts to increase accessibility.

WRITTEN BY YURUI WU DESIGNED BY ELLIE LIND & S. KELSIE YU

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lorence Mugambi, Northwestern’s African Studies librarian, recalls constantly searching for books to read when she was growing up in the remote village of Ontulili in eastern Kenya. When she arrived at the University of Nairobi as a student, textbooks were scarce. She often had to borrow books from a few of her friends and pass them within the group.

Mugambi even met her husband when she borrowed his textbook.

Now, Mugambi wants to make sure that Kenyan children have the access to books that she lacked. Since 2010, she has been building a library in her home village to make that dream a reality.

“If and when that will be completed, I think my life will be made,” Mugambi says.

Mugambi is one of more than 40 subject specialist librarians at the Northwestern University Libraries.

They compile research guides for courses, help Northwestern students navigate their research projects and, in some cases, welcome visiting researchers from around the world. But aside from their ordinary duties, many of them, like Mugambi, also pursue projects that help to increase access to library materials for both students and the public.

Building a brighter future

Mugambi’s position as the sole librarian for Northwestern’s African Studies library is no small task. The Melville J. Herskovits Library of African Studies, located on the fifth floor of University Library, has the largest separate Africana collection in the world. As a result, Mugambi welcomes African studies scholars from around the world every year.

But it's her work on a yet-to-becompleted library in Ontulili, Kenya, that brings her the most excitement.

Mugambi’s dream of building a library in Ontulili began in 2001. That year, she and her husband moved from Kenya to Baton Rouge to pursue graduate degrees at Louisiana State University.

“There are so many books and so

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many reading materials, but I am from a place where this doesn’t exist,” Mugambi remembers thinking.

She began with small-scale donations from book drives and people she met through her connections as a librarian, delivering batches of books at a time to her home village. But she realized that wasn’t enough. Because there wasn’t a proper space to store the first round of books, they were destroyed by rats. In her subsequent trips back to Kenya, she found passionate children and empty

Mugambi says. “And it’s a wonderful project.”

Right now, the library is still missing a roof and windows. Mugambi estimates that with an additional $50,000, construction can be completed in the next year. Fortunately, with the connections she formed as a librarian throughout her career, filling the library shelves with books should not be a problem.

“The money is not unattainable,” Mugambi says. “I think it’s just focusing on reaching out to passionate people. If a student group here is willing to contribute, it will be more than appreciated.”

Discovering a rich history

Charla Burlenda Wilson PHOTO COURTESY OF CHARLA WILSON

bookshelves.

In 2010, when she was a librarian at Purdue University Fort Wayne, Mugambi founded the Ontulili Literacy Project in hopes of cultivating a reading culture for the children in the village through the construction of a physical library. With a population of around 11,000, the village is home to seven primary schools and three secondary schools, all without libraries.

Although her hopes were high, Mugambi realized that building a library is not an easy task. After breaking ground in 2015, she originally hoped construction would be complete by 2018.

But issues with funding, her move to Northwestern in 2017 and the pandemic all contributed to a four-year delay.

Despite these challenges, Mugambi never considered giving up. “It’s home,”

As Mugambi is busy working to help Kenyan children reach a brighter future, Charla Wilson, the university’s archivist for the Black experience, is trying to build a bridge to the past.

Since arriving at Northwestern in 2017, Wilson has uncovered and documented previously hidden Black history through archival materials and created multiple exhibits to showcase them.

It was Black history that brought Wilson, a former museum archivist from San Diego, to Northwestern.

Following demonstrations against institutional racism in 2015, Black students and alumni demanded the creation of Wilson’s current position to better document the lives of the Black community on campus.

Wilson says her love for African American history was inspired by her dad, who always shared his wellresearched family genealogy at the dinner table when she was growing up.

The conversations often evolved into a broader discussion of African American history.

Those interests propelled Wilson to study history and education in graduate school. There, her research on San Diego’s Young Women’s Christian Association gave her access to documents that revealed how Black history is poorly documented in the city, where only 6% of the population is Black.

“It was so disappointing to see how little African American history was

reflected in the repositories there,” Wilson says. “There’s more that can be done.”

In the process, Wilson also discovered that materials on Black history were available but hidden. She started wondering what more she could do to draw attention to and preserve documents in collections that depict historically marginalized groups.

Those questions led Wilson to Northwestern in 2017, when her role as university archivist for the Black experience was created. As far as Wilson knows, no other non-historically Black college or university has an identical position specifically designated to document Black history on campus.

“It’s important because it gives us a fuller sense of this history,” Wilson says. “I think it would be a disservice to the people in the past to neglect their existence. The more we can capture, the better it will serve in the future when people want to access them and write their histories. It would just be a shame to distort history.”

Affordable access

In addition to Wilson, Lauren McKeen McDonald, the Communication Studies librarian, is also concerned with students’ access to information. She leads a project that aims to bring more free textbooks to

students at Northwestern and beyond.

Three years ago, McDonald and her colleague Chris Diaz, the digital publishing librarian, brought the concept of open education to Northwestern.

“It’s the belief that educational materials should be free for everyone to access without limits,” McDonald says.

Currently, instructional materials for Northwestern courses can cost as much as $200, creating a barrier to knowledge for many students. As the university’s Open Education Resources (OER) librarian, McDonald now works with faculty members to produce the textbooks they write so they will be more affordable once they’re published.

So far, 17 departments have received grants to create free textbooks, and a few of them are already being used in a range of introductory courses like statistics, Swahili and chemistry.

Medill professors Desiree Hanford and Patti Wolter received a grant this year to create an online textbook for “Reporting & Writing,” an introductory course required for all Medill first-years.

They wanted to write a comprehensive textbook that reflects Medill’s values and what they try to teach so that lecturers would no longer have to pull materials from various sources.

Hanford says she hopes the new book, which will be completed in two years, will be useful to both lecturers

and students. The OER program can distribute their textbook among other schools that are also a part of the program for other instructors to adapt and use.

“It’s a pretty big undertaking,” Hanford says. “Lauren has been instrumental in this whole process.”

Whenever the professors needed help with breaking down the book’s structure or adding video instructions, McDonald was always ready to meet with them and keep them on the right path, according to Hanford.

“I’m super passionate about what I do,” McDonald says. “I’m thrilled that I’d be able to make a difference and lower the cost of courses, and help faculty to be able to create something that is perfectly catering to their course.”

In the future, McDonald wants to continue expanding the program alongside Diaz, publishing more textbooks in different subject areas and reaching more schools to circulate the work of Northwestern professors.

She also hopes students can develop a relationship with the library and utilize many of its available resources.

“A lot of students will go through their academic career and not interact with the library or with their librarian,” McDonald says. “And I think that they’re missing out.”

"If and when that will be completed, I think my life will be made."

- Florence Mugambi, Northwestern African Studies librarian

Florence Mugambi

PHOTO BY AVA MANDOLI

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Mind the gap How Northwestern students spent an unconventional year off.

WRITTEN BY ROSIE NEWMARK // DESIGNED BY JUNTANG QIAN

W

einberg first-year Daphne Zuckerman expected to be marching through the Weber Arch in September 2020. Instead, she found herself rafting down the Colorado River through Utah, 1,500 miles away from Evanston. This was just one portion of the 70-day camping trip through Utah, Colorado, Arizona and California that Zuckerman took in the fall.

“I loved it,” Zuckerman says. “I thought it was the perfect balance between just exploring nature and living in a tent for three months but also getting to do some cool volunteer work and make connections I probably wouldn’t have had it not been through some sort of program.”

Zuckerman was one of many college students to take the last school year off amid the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center, first-year undergraduate enrollment dropped by 13.1% in fall 2020, compared to a 1.4% drop in fall 2019. Northwestern students also said the University’s decision to not allow first- and second-years to move on campus impacted their choice to take a gap year.

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"I have a more nuanced perspective on college in that it’s not the endall be-all."

Weinberg first-year DAPHNE ZUCKERMAN

Zuckerman’s roommate, Weinberg first-year Izzy May, initially felt ready to go to college, expressing that it was the “natural trajectory” of her life. However, Northwestern’s announcement made her consider the prospect of a gap year.

When she still thought she would begin college at the traditional time, May signed a lease for an Evanston apartment during the Fall Quarter with three other incoming first-years. After extensive discussions with her parents about her options for the year, she decided at the last minute to take a gap year. She says she wanted a real college experience and felt that she would not be able to get that during a pandemic.

May had already signed a lease, though, so she still moved to Evanston in the fall.

In need of a way to occupy herself during the day, she found a job tutoring an eightyear-old boy on Zoom every weekday from September through November.

This was not May’s first choice for her gap year. If she had more time before Northwestern sent out the announcement, she says she would have preferred to go to Israel for her entire year off. Instead, she chose in September to go there for the second half of the year.

May returned to her hometown in Bethesda, Maryland, for the first months of 2021 while she waited to hear from Aardvark Israel, the program she applied to go abroad with. She was initially scheduled to leave for the program in January, but her departure date kept being pushed back because Israel had shut down its border due to COVID-19.

“That was a really challenging time,” May says. “I didn’t know when I would be able to go. I was half packed for weeks.”

After months of waiting, May finally departed for Tel Aviv, Israel, in April, more than three months after she originally planned to leave. Once in Israel, she had an internship at i24 News, a broadcast journalism station airing in France, the U.S. and Israel. She wrote stories and recorded herself for on-air broadcasts.

Now, May is attending her first quarter at Northwestern. She says the transition back to academics after taking a year off has posed challenges, especially with the added uncertainties of the pandemic.

“I’m seeing progress every day, but I had a lot of trouble focusing the first week. It just took me a lot longer to do some math work or reading than it would’ve a year ago,” May says.

Weinberg first-year Mo Moritz, who

spent his year traveling and working on a farm in Iowa, says he felt unproductive at the beginning of the school year. As the quarter has progressed, though, he says he has gotten back into the swing of academics.

“I sort of had a hunger to learn again which I never really had before.

I wasn’t just trying to get good grades, I’m actually interested in my classes,” Moritz says. “It’s weird when school is always your top priority and then all of a sudden it’s just not. I think it was really beneficial for me.”

Weinberg second-year Seth Pierson followed his own gap year timeline.

He attended Wesleyan University his first year and decided he wanted to transfer in March 2020, which was past the transfer deadline for many of the schools he was interested in. Instead, he took the year off and coached soccer and tutored in the fall.

Pierson lived in an apartment with a couple of friends in his hometown of Berkeley, California, because he did not want to infect his parents with COVID-19. In the spring, he went on an 87-day outdoor wilderness trip hosted by the National Outdoor Leadership School with other students his age.

“In terms of school, I don’t feel like I took a step backwards necessarily,” Pierson says. “The biggest impact I feel like is now I’m a year older than most kids, and being a transfer means I’m in

more of a similar boat with freshmen and transfers than kids my age, which is an adjustment.”

Pierson and Zuckerman say taking a gap year was often a point of connection they found with other students who had the same experience. Northwestern organized a gap year bonfire during orientation, and Pierson says he had been spending most of his time with other transfers he met during Wildcat Welcome and first-years who took gap years. He has also looked for connection through student groups like the men’s club soccer team.

“I feel like integrating into the community of kids that have been here will just come with time,” Pierson says.

Zuckerman says she switched from McCormick to Weinberg during her gap year since the time off changed her perspective on her academics.

She realized she wanted to be able to pick from a broader curriculum to accommodate her growing interests.

As a whole, Zuckerman says she has no regrets about her gap year.

“I have a more nuanced perspective on college in that it’s not the end-all be-all,” she says. “If a test doesn’t go my way or if something doesn’t happen that I want to happen, I see the bigger picture a lot easier than I could have before just because I’ve enjoyed so many things outside of college.”

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THE

INTERNATIONAL COST

International students’ path to financial aid.

WRITTEN BY RAYNA SONG // DESIGNED BY WENDY ZHU

W

hen McCormick fourth-year James Jia, who is from China, applied to Northwestern University, he did not apply for financial aid. He knew it could possibly hurt his chance of getting into the University as an international student.

Jia says his household’s annual income is approximately $70,000, and his family had to sell a secondary home to afford Northwestern’s tuition.

Jia knows other Chinese families who have also had to sell their homes to be able to afford sending their children to American universities.

PHOTO COURTESY OF LINUS HOELLER

Linus Hoeller

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The cost of going to Northwestern was not prohibitive for Jia's family.

His family could afford the tuition after selling an apartment, but it was still a struggle. Jia understands that financial situations vary from family to family but believes many middleclass Chinese families would have a hard time affording American tuition unless they came from more populous or wealthy cities such as Beijing or Shanghai.

According to the Northwestern Undergraduate Financial Aid website, each year “a small group of international students” receives need-based aid, but "Northwestern's acceptance rate for international applicants requesting aid is less favorable than acceptance for students not requesting aid." Some students choose to forego applying for aid and find other ways to save money, while others apply, knowing they will not be able to afford the high tuition.

Jia became a resident assistant (RA) during his sophomore year. He says the main reason he took the job was to save money and alleviate the financial burden on his family. RAs are provided a single room on campus and an Open Access Meal Plan for free, and they receive $500 every academic quarter when employed. This adds up to approximately $19,000 in savings plus $1,500 in compensation every academic year.

However, Jia says he understands why the University has different standards for international students

Ali Slayie PHOTO BY AVA MANDOLI

when it comes to admissions and financial aid.

“Why should they provide financial aid [to international students], which is a government monetary fund?” Jia says.

“I would like to have any opportunity for merit-based scholarships, but that’s not very common in the undergrad level for American colleges.”

Some international students are satisfied with the financial aid packages they received from Northwestern but are concerned about their packages’ inflexibility.

"We know that the financial aid system is not always the most efficient, not always the most understanding, not always the most flexible to individual circumstances."

— Medill third-year Linus Hoeller Medill third-year Linus Hoeller, who was born in Austria and grew up in Germany, says he could not have gone to Northwestern without financial aid. He was overjoyed when he found out that the University gave him approximately three times the amount he expected. “[Northwestern] was one of my top choices. It has incredible programs that I really wanted to do, but that doesn’t really matter if you can’t afford to go there in the first place,” Hoeller says.

Some international students like Hoeller receive a fixed financial package over their four years of college, unlike domestic students, whose aid can change over time. Hoeller says he thinks the University overall meets the financial needs of international students, but these needs might change, and the University does not

adjust according to those changes.

“We know that the financial aid system is not always the most efficient, not always the most understanding, not always the most flexible to individual circumstances,” Hoeller says.

For some, attending Northwestern would not be possible if they had to pay full tuition. Weinberg first-year Ali Slayie, who grew up in Syria and went to his last two years of high school in Tanzania, received a full ride when he was accepted to Northwestern. “[My] financial aid package from Northwestern was the best financial aid package I got compared to my other universities [that accepted me],” he says.

Slayie says his family’s economic situation was significantly impacted by military conflicts in Syria, as well as COVID-19. The pandemic worsened existing hyperinflation, meaning Slayie could not exchange Syrian pounds for as many U.S. dollars as he could several years ago.

He also appreciates that the package he receives from Northwestern does not require him to participate in workstudy, unlike many domestic students.

As a first-year, it would be difficult to handle work and school at the same time during Fall Quarter, Slayie says.

Medill third-year Anushuya Thapa, who is from Nepal, also received a full ride from Northwestern. She returned to her home country in March 2020 because of COVID-19 and came back to the United States in December 2020.

Thapa says Northwestern reimbursed her for the emergency flight she took back home to Nepal at the beginning of the pandemic.

However, she wishes the University would offer more travel grants so that she could go home more frequently.

Thapa adds she would not be studying at Northwestern without financial aid.

“It was a condition of my parents.

They were like, ‘We cannot afford to send you abroad whatsoever, but you

are applying abroad. So even if you get into your college, don’t get your hopes up, because if they don’t give you financial aid, we can’t let you go, that’s just not possible for us,’” Thapa says.

She received details about her financial aid package at least a week after she opened her acceptance letter from Northwestern and says she spent that time worrying about whether she would actually be able to attend Northwestern.

Nevertheless, Thapa says she feels supported by Northwestern, and being an upperclassman gives her more financial freedom.

“It’s a lot better for me now that I’m living off campus,” Thapa says. “The money that would go into my meal plan and housing is sent directly to me.

That’s where my refund comes from.

That gives me a lot more flexibility and a lot more control over my finances.”

PHOTO BY AVA MANDOLI

Anushuya Thapa

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Got sponsors?

Student-athletes’ newest play: marketing themselves.

WRITTEN BY COOP DALEY // DESIGNED BY ANDREW KWA

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elia Crompton, a Weinberg thirdyear, wanted to get free Mortal Kombat merchandise. Warner Bros., which produced the movie, had sent representatives to Northwestern to promote the movie. It was a simple exchange: students would film an unboxing video, and in turn, they could keep the merchandise. The only thing keeping Crompton, a member of Northwestern’s fencing team, from Mortal Kombat swag, were

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National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) rules against athlete brand deals.

“That had nothing to do with my athlete status, but I couldn’t do it because it was against compliance [rules]” Crompton says. “There were a lot of rules that were excluding us from silly stuff like that, that are now lifted, which feels a lot better, and also feels a lot safer.”

In June 2021, the Supreme Court ruled that college athletes should be allowed to make money

from their own name, image and likeness (NIL). Many felt the decision was a long time coming, as studentathletes previously had not been able to profit from their own success or participate in brand-affiliated programs like the one Crompton was interested in.

Now, some students in big-name athletic programs like football are making millions of dollars.

University of Alabama quarterback Bryce Young has already made nearly

$1 million in NIL signings, while Clemson University quarterback DJ Uiagalelei has appeared on television advertising Dr. Pepper soda. Though Northwestern athletes are not raking in millions from national brands, local and smallscale deals are increasingly common for the school’s varsity players. The NIL decision also means players like Crompton can engage in outside marketing activities, such as social media giveaways.

The new legislation is a step in the right direction, according to Medill thirdyear Harrison Larner, cofounder of 8 in the Box Productions, a company that helps student athletes build their brand through video content.

“Things aren’t perfect now, but with this ruling, we get a lot closer to proper treatment of studentathletes,” Larner says.

Compared to other Northwestern sports, the Court’s decision has been more lucrative for players on the football team. 2020 All-American safety Brandon Joseph has accepted several deals for cash and other rewards — the most notable being an Alfa Romeo car, given to him by a dealership in Ohio.

Graduate kicker Charlie Kuhbander has signed deals with businesses like local pizza joint Cantuccio’s.

“I think in Evanston, local businesses are motivated by [making deals with athletes as] ways to connect to the University because they know students are a big opportunity, and studentathletes are an excellent way to connect with the community,” Larner says.

Athletes in sports with less name recognition, such as fencing, tend to seek out deals from independent startups, often financed by fellow students. Crompton, for example, has sourced most of her NIL engagement from social media. Through her accounts, she has become a “Barstool athlete,” meaning that Barstool, an online sports media company, sponsors her social media and engages with her content. Crompton has also connected with independent startups on campus. She is currently working with Litterbox, a startup storage company at Northwestern, about being in an advertisement.

“We’re just in the process of setting up how we’re going to incorporate fencing

into the commercial. Are we gonna stab or carve boxes?”

Crompton says.

Athletes also have the chance to use their status for other jobs and professional opportunities, from small roles as recreational leaders to more powerful networking opportunities.

Former Northwestern swimmer DJ Hwang says the decision has allowed new flexibility for athletes hoping to promote their services.

“If I was to give out lessons in any sport, before I’d have to be like ‘Hey, I can offer some lessons. I have a background with swimming.’ With [NIL], I could say stuff like, ‘I’m a [Division-I] student-athlete from Northwestern.’ You can advertise yourself from a certain institution and use that to your advantage,” Hwang says.

The choice between focusing on one’s sport and giving time to outside opportunities is a difficult one for most studentathletes.

“A vast majority of athletes [are generally] not going to make millions of dollars,” Larner says. “I think it’s another thing that’s piled on top of them.

It’s really difficult, and so many of them don’t have time.”

Larner says while most athletes are not impacted significantly by the decision, there is a small percentage who want to market themselves. The University provides these athletes with stepping stones to be successful in their self-promotion, according to Paul Kennedy, the athletic department’s communications director.

“To come here, and basically study the basics of small business in which you are the small business, I think we have a lot of opportunity here,” Kennedy says.

Kennedy also identifies resources for athletes on campus, including The Garage, where students can pitch and begin working on their own startup opportunities, as well as the Farley Center for Entrepreneurship, another campus resource for students to test their ideas.

When deciding which brands to represent on the playing field, Northwestern athletes are limited in the amount of support they receive from the school’s administration.

NIL legislation requires schools to follow individual state guidelines — in Illinois, that means the University’s administration cannot serve as a negotiator for the student-athletes.

“They’re entrusting the universities with the bookkeeping and compliance part of it. We need to make sure that [athletes] s e l f - r e p o r t ,” Kennedy says.

“So that’s the involvement that we have: You educate the partners, you educate the studentathletes, you make sure everybody’s following the rules, because if we slip up, it’s gonna be a problem.

We can’t be involved

anywhere in the middle, which complicates the matter.”

The lack of negotiation assistance from the University places more pressure on studentathletes to make sound decisions regarding which brands and products they associate themselves with.

Kennedy recommends that the athletes surround themselves with good people and opportunities.

“Make sure you have people that are looking out for you, would be my advice,” Kennedy says. “I don’t think it’s going to be a big deal for [the majority of athletes], but for the people that it is, I hope they’ve got a core support system around them, just to make sure that somebody is advocating on their behalf.”

ILLUSTRATIONS BY ANDREW KWA PHOTOS BY MAREN KRANKING

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A

fter disaffiliating from her sorority, Medill fourth-year Eden Hirschfield felt inspired to offer students social opportunities outside of the Greek life environment. She had several ideas in mind, including the possibility of opening her own bar in Evanston, and took her concepts to The Garage.

At the end of last year, she applied for and was eventually awarded a grant from the Propel Program, which she used to start her organization, the Indigo Social Club (ISC).

“Even when I was in a sorority, I was always like, ‘I feel like I could make a social club that takes the good parts of being in a sorority, which is having community, meeting older members, having a social schedule — and kind of ditch the bad,’” Hirschfield says.

Following the COVID-19 pandemic and Abolish Greek Life movement at Northwestern, only 20% of Northwestern students are currently affiliated with Greek life, according to Evanston

Now. This is a significant decrease from the 20192020 academic year, during which Chicago magazine notes that 3540% of undergraduates were affiliated with a fraternity or sorority.

In the wake of these changing dynamics, as well as an increasing awareness of systemic issues within Greek life as a result of the Abolish Greek Life movement, some students are looking for community elsewhere. Northwestern has nearly 500 clubs and organizations that appear ready to fill the social role.

The Northwestern Club Swim Team’s membership has almost doubled this year, from 54 registered members in the 20192020 academic year to a current total of 98.

Membership is open to swimmers of all skill levels, with around four meets per season.

Weinberg fourth-year and Swim Club Social Chair William Paschke says that he and other members of the club's executive board have made conscious efforts to create a sense of community.

SOCIAL Where students are finding a place in the University’s new social scene.

WRITTEN BY MIA WALVOORD // DESIGNED BY GRACE WANG

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“[Some members] have said it’s been very nice to have a place where you can have consistent social opportunities and parties,” Paschke says.

“It’s not necessarily as intimidating as going to some random event with people you may or may not know.”

Paschke plays an important role in organizing social events for club members. Swim Club hosts a variety of events including holiday celebrations, team dinners and parties.

Such gatherings are only open to team members.

“Everyone is looking out for each other and just creating an environment where people do feel safe. And none of the issues you might run into at a traditional frat basement party, none of that goes,” Paschke says.

“We don’t really have open parties, and a big part of that is to foster that community and family. It’s not us trying to be exclusive. Anyone who wants to join the club and wants to come to practice can join, as long as they can swim.”

T F I H S

Paschke often sends out polls and surveys to get a sense of what kind of activities members are interested in. He is committed to ensuring that all members feel their social needs are being met. Events often come with a theme, which Paschke believes contributes to their success and light-hearted atmosphere.

One of Paschke’s favorite social events is “Swimsgiving,” which is always held the weekend before Thanksgiving break.

“We all go to someone’s house and cook a big meal together,” Paschke says.

“Sometimes we’ll literally talk about what we’re thankful for — thankful for the team, so you know, it gets cozy. That’s a nice tradition.”

Some students have found other Northwestern clubs that provide safe and exciting sources of community.

McCormick second-year Derek Yu is a member of several organizations, including Northwestern Formula Racing, Swim Club, Associated Student Government and Chinese Students Association (CSA).

Yu joined CSA last spring after some of his friends who were members spoke highly of the organization.

Since joining, he says he has enjoyed forming connections with students who he might not have met otherwise.

“For CSA, I’d really say that [my favorite aspect] is the community, hanging out with people who have a similar demographic as myself and similar culture and

shared experiences,” Yu says.

“I definitely found one of the closest communities within CSA.” In addition to pre-existing organizations, new groups like Hirschfield’s Indigo Social Club are forming on campus with the goal of helping students socialize in safe environments. ISC aims to not only support Northwestern students but also introduce them to local businesses.

Under Hirschfield’s model, Evanston venues allow ISC

"Everyone is looking out for each other and just creating an environment where people do feel safe."

- Weinberg fourth-year William Paschke

to host events free of charge, and in return, business owners gain a new pool of repeat customers.

According to Hirschfield, hosting events at Evanston businesses also serves to create a safe environment for all attendees. Under ISC’s model, all events are hosted at venues that have liquor licensing and employees who have been

trained to serve alcohol and check IDs. “I think that’s a big difference between our events and Greek life events," Hirschfield says. "It’s like these random frat boys are serving you from this giant waste bin of punch, whereas if you’re at a bar and you’re ordering a drink and the bartender is handing you a drink and you’re watching him pour it, it’s a different experience.”

After noticing many issues with Greek life's process for reporting inappropriate behavior and sexual assault, Hirschfield has been working to develop a reporting system within the Indigo Social Club that shows more compassion and support.

“There is a no-tolerance policy for events. If anyone has ever filed a complaint against you, you’re never coming to an Indigo Social Club event again,” Hirschfield says. “It’s not going to be some long, drawn-out process where the person has to fight to prove that someone else made them feel uncomfortable.”

As Northwestern’s social scene evolves, students are seeking to foster community and social connection outside of Greek life. Yu says he didn’t consider Greek life when coming to Northwestern and believed joining student organizations would be more fulfilling.

“I found other clubs to be more interesting since they were usually focused with a bigger goal in mind,” Yu says.

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Redefining research The funding opportunities for Northwestern undergraduates’ academic interests go far beyond lab work.

WRITTEN BY IRIS SWARTHOUT DESIGNED BY EMMA ESTBERG

“

For every big success I’ve had, there’s dozens of failures and dozens of hours of work. It’s hard not to let failure discourage you, but it shouldn’t.

“

Mackenzie Gentz, Weinberg fourth-year and Circumnavigator Grant winner

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T

he call Weinberg fourth-year Mackenzie Gentz received last January from the Chicago Chapter of the Circumnavigators Club was a long time coming for the linguistics, German and oboe performance triple major. After years of applying for grants and canceling multiple study abroad trips due to COVID-19, Gentz won an award with a unique agenda: to travel the globe.

The Circumnavigators Travel-Study Grant is one of Northwestern’s largest research funds. Winners receive $9,500 toward 10 weeks of travel to at least five countries and three continents while studying whatever subject they desire. Gentz plans on using her grant in summer 2022 to visit

Peru, Portugal, Germany, the Czech Republic and Japan. Her research will follow students who speak English as a second language.

Gentz’s project proposal stood out among an application pool of 12 students, according to Northwestern University’s Office of Undergraduate Research (OUR) Director Peter Civetta.

While Gentz’s opportunity is unique, she is certainly not the only Northwestern student receiving grants to conduct this kind of research. Northwestern advertises itself as a “leading research university,” and that research goes far beyond STEM-centered lab work.

Students like Gentz are also given opportunities to explore their passions within the liberal arts field.

Applying Humanities: Support and funding that go beyond STEM Peter Civetta is among those who work behind the scenes to help make Northwestern an elite research institution at the undergraduate level. In addition to providing support through advising and various workshops, Civetta created the Undergraduate Research Assistant Program at Northwestern. He was recruited by the University to increase participation in the humanities, social sciences and arts during the academic year and summer Undergraduate Research Programs (URG).

Civetta’s role is pivotal, as the URG board initially consisted mostly of STEM faculty members who were unfamiliar with projects in the arts, humanities and social sciences.

“In theory, [URGs] funded artistic projects,” Civetta says. “Except they didn’t, because [board members] didn’t know how to evaluate them.”

Civetta worked to add URG board members from more University departments so that STEM professors wouldn’t be the only ones deciding whether or not a humanities research proposal received a grant.

Associate History Professor Keith Woodhouse is one of the URG faculty committee members who determines whether grants in the humanities, arts and sciences should be accepted.

He is especially passionate about undergraduate research, as he was a faculty mentor for history students in the past.

Finding students who are passionate about arts, humanities and social sciences research is relatively easy, according to Civetta, but communicating the abundance of opportunities available for students is harder.

“Even though humanities research has a tremendous impact on our lives, a fair number of people don’t actually know a lot about it because it isn’t depicted in the news,” Undergraduate Research Workshops Coordinator Evangaline Su says.

Weinberg fourth-year Chayda

Harding, who has conducted history research since the end of their first year, agrees that it’s easier to know what STEM research is and how to approach it.

“It’s a little less obvious what humanities students can do,” Harding says. “Even now as a senior, some of my friends that are history majors didn’t know they could do history research and didn’t know what it was.”

Weinberg third-year Daniel Seog, who studies the relationship between neuroscience and language, also feels that STEM research seems much easier to pursue. However, Seog is in a unique position. He is planning to incorporate music intervention research into his STEM work. His lab, run by Dr. Borna Bonakdarpour, specializes in neuroscience, but his principal investigator (PI)’s background in piano gives Seog an outlet to explore neuroscience research through a more artistic lens.

“My [PI] worked with Northwestern Memorial Hospital. … He would collaborate with musicians from the Chicago Symphony Orchestra [to conduct neuroscience research],” Seog says. “If things didn’t work out with the current PI I work for, I don’t know how successful I would have been in finding other professors that do similar research.”

the Beyond vigator a n m u c r Ci rts, Grant: A s tie humani ial and soc s grant e c n e i c s nities opportu Summer Internship Grant Program A stipend covering living, traveling, internship and research expenses related to an independent summer experience. $4000

Emerging Scholars Grant Provides funding for first-year students up until the summer after their second year for arts, humanities, journalism and social sciences research. $3500 during each of the two summers and $2000 during academic year Franke Undergraduate Fellowship for Innovative Humanities Scholarship Provides fourth-years with faculty mentorship on a yearlong project and a senior humanities seminar. The program brings an interdisciplinary approach to humanities research. $3000 Posner Research Program Students spend eight weeks during the summer working on a research project with a faculty mentor, concluding with a symposium where they present their research. $3000 Undergraduate Language Grant Students choose an intensive language program around the globe that is equivalent to a full year of college-level language instruction. $5000 Undergraduate Research Grant Directed at providing funding for students not yet ready to complete independent research projects either during the summer or academic years. Academic Year Undergraduate Research Grant provides up to $1000 of funding for a quarter of research in any academic topic, and the Summer Undergraduate Research Grant provides a $3500 stipend to cover living expenses for eight weeks of research. $1000 or $3500

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Writing a grant proposal and receiving an award is only the beginning. While Gentz says applying for the Circumnavigator Grant was an ordeal, planning and accomplishing the task of conducting her research over 10 weeks is proving more difficult.

Humanities research takes on one of two forms: a faculty member facilitates an undergraduate student’s project, such as with the Circumnavigator Grant, or an undergraduate student carries out a faculty member’s work.

The Leopold Fellowship program exemplifies the latter by providing an hourly wage to students across campus looking to do archival history research for professors in the field, according to Assistant Director of the Nicholas D. Chabraja Center for Historical Studies Elzbieta Foeller-Pituch.

The fellowship is granted to roughly 20 students every year, but each researcher works with their own faculty member. Although faculty members decide what project their mentees work on, the program gives plenty of flexibility to its fellows. It allows students to conduct research for at least two quarters either during the academic year or during the summer.

Students can also extend their fellowship beyond two quarters.

For the last three years, Professor of History and African American studies Leslie Harris has worked with current fellow Abigail Roston on her project surrounding the impact of climate change on the history of New Orleans since the 19th century.

Roston, a Weinberg fourth-year, says her history skills and classroom learning experiences translated into Harris’ project.

“I thought it was incredible that [Harris] was engaging in autobiographical history while also being incredibly forward-looking with what happens with climate migration in coastal cities and climate refugees,” Roston says.

As a history and legal studies double major, Roston acquired skills from

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research in the Leopold Fellowship program applicable to future career opportunities. She believes her work with Harris could translate into future work as a legal research assistant or lawyer.

Other students are using their work domestically to gain knowledge and skills that are not taught in the classroom.

Medill fourth-year Cassidy Wang and her research partner examined the relationship between private equity purchases of distressed mortgages and foreclosure rates. This summer, their work won them the Fletcher Award, a $250 prize funded by the Fletcher Family Foundation for undergraduate researchers, in the social sciences and journalism category.

Wang, a journalism and legal studies double major, says an interdisciplinary approach to her work aided her success. While her previous experience working as a research assistant on a project for the American Bar Foundation helped prepare Wang for her solo research project now, she feels that journalism also added a valuable component to her work.

“Journalism teaches you how to frame ideas and make ideas accessible to the public,” Wang says. “And I think we are hoping to do that with this project … bridging all the different methods that we use and making that into a published piece.”

This end goal of accessibility and intentionality is ultimately how humanities, arts, and social sciences research can have a profound impact on society. For students looking to do a senior thesis and continue work postcollegiately, previous experience with academic writing and research is crucial.

According to Professor of History and Leopold Fellowship faculty mentor Henry Binford, while transferable skills do arise from aiding faculty members in their work, there’s an inherent benefit to students building their own projects.

“They are encountering and having to solve the kinds of problems that researchers like me always do,” Binford says. “I’ve had undergraduates who worked with me… when they were sophomores or juniors and then went on to apply those skills when they did their own senior thesis work afterward.”

While Gentz’s success is a testament to her own academic and intellectual achievements, support from the Undergraduate Office of Research has shaped her experiences.

“

In theory, [URGs] funded artistic projects. Except they didn’t, because [board members] didn’t know how to evaluate them.

w

“

The benefits of conducting unconventional research

Peter Civetta, director of Northwestern University’s Office of Undergraduate Research

Gentz said Civetta was one of many instrumental advisors in helping her attain the Circumnavigator Grant.

Still, Gentz has faced setbacks.

Her first application for the Undergraduate Language Grant in 2019 was unsuccessful.

“For every big success I’ve had, there’s dozens of failures and dozens of hours of work,” Gentz says. “It’s hard not to let failure discourage you, but it shouldn’t.”

I N T H E F A M I LY Northwestern students tackle the statistics and realities of being first-generation.

WRITTEN BY ALI BIANCO // DESIGNED BY MAREN KRANKING

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aniya Hester, Chloe Fisher, Eric Loza-Corona and Mia Castle live separate lives at Northwestern.

Hester is a Communication third-year trying to demystify the business world, who changed career paths in the middle of the pandemic. Fisher, a Weinberg second-year, is a physics student from Michigan who wears a Canada Goose coat and loafers in the winter. Loza-Corona, a McCormick second-year who stayed at home for the pandemic, is a Los Angeles native who is only now meeting his Zoom friends in person. And Castle, a Weinberg second-year studying math, started at Northwestern as pre-med and now spends her free time in the Henry Crown Sports Pavilion for swim club.

They have had all diverging NU experiences. But they do have two things in common.

None of them had parents who went to college. And by going to Northwestern, they are also part of the 23% of firstgeneration students in the US who attend a highly selective institution.

The term first-generation applies to students “where neither parent has obtained a college degree,” according

to Northwestern’s Student Enrichment Services (SES). SES organizes campus programming and resources for firstgeneration, low-income and/or Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) students.

According to statistics from the Pew Research Center, only 26% of adults in the U.S. with non-college-educated parents have obtained a bachelor’s degree. This number drops to 21% and 15% for Black and Hispanic populations, respectively, and the first-generation student dropout rate is four times higher than that of students whose parents have degrees.

The Center for First-Generation Student Success says, “The term ‘firstgeneration’ implies the possibility that a student may lack the critical cultural capital necessary for college success because their parents did not attend college.”

Hester, Fisher, Loza-Corona and Castle all fit this simple definition, but being first-generation means more than wearing the label — it creates communities that combat stigmas. And, sometimes, being a first-generation student means using these statistics as fuel to succeed.

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Kaniya

on being the first

The summer before her first year, Kaniya Hester often found herself combing through pages of Reddit and College Confidential for college tips and advice columns. In between these deep dives, she received an email from Student Enrichment Services (SES).

She skimmed through the text when she was confronted with a concept she hadn’t read about before: first-generation student. The first in your family to go to college. A part of Hester’s upbringing that she had never named but whose implications she was starting to understand.

“It was nice to have a label to really describe the experiences I was having and the challenges I was facing, because when you have language to describe what you’re going through, it can be validating and pretty powerful, too,” Hester says.

Hester identifies as both a firstgeneration and low-income (FGLI) student — and she’s one of many.

Based on the most recent data, 15.2% of the class of 2025 identifies as firstgeneration, up from 13.2% from the year before.

When applying to college, Hester knew she wanted to leave her hometown of Indianapolis and become a speech language pathologist. But when the pandemic hit, she started reevaluating her career options, adding an economics major and exploring the business world.

Before she considered economics, Hester was regularly confronted by the hidden curriculum — the unspoken behaviors of students looking to get ahead in their academics, internships and careers. These behaviors were something she thought she had learned in her College Confidential sleuthing sessions. But when she switched to business, she found a new world of more unwritten rules and concepts that

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Kaniya Hester. (photo courtesy of Kaniya Hester)

others expected her to know.

“People here know about things like consulting and different career fields that I had no clue about until this past summer,” Hester says. “And I think that probably is a result of me being from a background where you don’t have as much exposure to different sorts of jobs, especially in business and finance.”

Higher education, Hester explains, is riddled with expectations that can go uncommunicated to first-generation students. Small gestures, such as writing thank you letters after job interviews or developing connections with professors who can provide future letters of recommendation, are the kinds of insider information that the hidden curriculum provides to those with access to it.

Today, Hester is involved on campus as a member of the Minority Business Association and a research team leader.

She helped start a Northwestern chapter of the National Student Speech Language Hearing Association (NSSLHA) for human communication studies majors. In her two years on campus, she’s learned the unwritten rules. And that isn’t sheer coincidence.

The email that taught Hester the word “first-generation” was the same email that helped her work against the statistics that come with it. It provided her with a link to an application for Compass, a mentorship and leadership program for FGLI students.

SES director Kourtney Cockrell says that the programming and resources in SES were created as a “first-stop

shop” for first-generation students.

Specific application and selectionbased programs, like Compass and Knight Community Scholars, identify FGLI students in each incoming class from a list provided by Northwestern’s financial aid department. Cockrell says these programs hand select students so they can be proactive about meeting their needs.

After she was accepted to Compass, Hester was matched with a mentor and went to workshops that taught her a host of skills, from completing internship applications to establishing credit independently. SES even helped Hester secure a laptop for her studies, which she has now been using since

Chloe Fisher. (photo by Maren Kranking)

her first year.

“I have only good things to say about Compass,” Hester says. “I think had I not had a first-generation space as a freshman, I would probably be describing more negative experiences.”

Cockrell describes being firstgeneration as an “invisible identity.” It’s not something that can be directly seen and, according to Hester, it’s a label that many students on campus may not have encountered before.

“If I just tell someone on the street or see someone walking by at Northwestern and say, ‘I’m firstgeneration,’ there’s a chance they may not even know what that means,” Hester says.

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Chloe

facing the stigma

In December of 2019, Chloe Fisher opened her admissions portal to find she had been admitted to her dream school. When the Northwestern letter came back with “Congratulations!” in the first sentence, the screams of celebration affirmed Fisher’s family’s long-standing belief that she would not just go to college, but a great college.

Walking into her high school in Ann Arbor, Michigan the day after her acceptance, Fisher announced, “I got into Northwestern!” But her teacher’s “Oh my gosh” sounded less like congratulations and more like shock. They were surprised. Surprised that the first-generation student from Ypsilanti, one of the city’s lower-income districts, had gotten into one of the top universities in the country.

Fisher’s math teacher, who wrote her letter of recommendation, told Fisher that after hearing of her acceptance, the other teachers asked if she had done something to help Fisher be admitted.

As news of her acceptance spread, Fisher encountered more people who questioned if she deserved to get in.

“One of my closest friends told me that I got in because I was Mexican and I was poor,” Fisher says.

Even worse than questioning her accomplishments, Fisher explains, is the moment of pity she would get when she shared that she is first-generation.

“The overall feeling that firstgeneration students feel and that I felt is less than,” Fisher says. “It dehumanizes me. They didn’t see me as an equal, they saw me as someone they should pity and someone they should give charity to. That messed with me a little bit.”

Fisher says the negative stigmas of being first-generation can manifest in common questions like “What do your parents do?” The question comes with stereotypes, such as the idea that Fisher’s parents did not work hard FEATURES

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enough to get a degree, or that firstgeneration and low-income people cannot achieve the same success as higher educated people, Fisher says.

Fisher says there have been multiple times when she has faced these stereotypes. When Fisher’s high school started to enroll more students from her district through a new school-choice policy, her classmates questioned whether the school should admit kids from the “poorer” area. Fisher worked hard to get good grades and take higher level classes, so she was privy to her classmates’ conversations about kids from her hometown.

“I constantly felt like I needed to prove something to everyone,” Fisher says. “I think this maybe is a combination of me being a firstgeneration college student from a poor area. Hanging around certain crowds that I connect with gave me a certain reputation that I was loud or ghetto or trashy, just definitely not the kind of person that would succeed.”

Eventually, Fisher explained, the pity, stereotypes and stigma spiraled into anger and self-doubt. At Northwestern, Fisher often overhears conversations about the legacy status of other students or which Ivy League school their parents attended. When she sees these students who “have it all,” she fights the part of her brain that feels like she can’t compare.

“You start to become your environment and you become the stereotypes that people say you are,” Fisher says. “You’re told that you can’t do it because your parents weren’t successful in their definition of success.”

For Fisher, the elitism at Northwestern is material and permeating. Seeing everyone wearing a Canada Goose jacket, Fisher impulsively used her stimulus check to buy herself one. This purchase, which today feels incredibly silly to Fisher, seemed vital in the moment. She could have gotten a cheaper jacket and saved the rest of the money. But she needed to wear the same name brand to feel like she fit in.

Fisher no longer wants to feel ashamed or hide her identity. Both her struggles and her motivations have stemmed from her FGLI status. Being

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Eric Loza-Corona. (photo by Ali Bianco)

told by her family that she was destined to go to a great school pushed her to succeed in Ann Arbor. Shortly after her acceptance to Northwestern, she was distinguished as a Ryan Scholar. Before even stepping foot on campus, Fisher was selected to receive financial support funded by Northwestern donors Patrick and Shirley Ryan and programming for “high-achieving, lower-income students with exceptional leadership potential.”

“When I think of first-generation, it’s hard because it’s something that as a kid you’re embarrassed,” Fisher says.

“But it’s something that you should feel proud of, that despite not having the opportunities in the past, you’re the generation that your past can look at and say, ‘Wow, they finally got the opportunity.’”

Riding down Sheridan Road on his longboard, headphones on, swerving

E

Eric

a community just like me

past the cracks in the roads and narrowly avoiding campus rush hour, Eric Loza-Corona has a million places to be. From long hours of McCormick classes to Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers meetings, LozaCorona spends half his day in Tech and the other half speeding across campus, hopefully sparing enough time to meet up with his friends by the end of the night.

But it wasn’t always like that. LozaCorona spent the better part of his first-year away from Evanston. Even

after Northwestern allowed students to return to campus in January 2021, he stayed home in Los Angeles because of concerns over the pandemic, experiencing college from his childhood bedroom. During his busiest days, he

“

program at the University of Southern California, which helped minority and FGLI students write college essays and learn about potential universities, Loza-Corona learned he could compete for admission at a selective school.

... it’s something that you should feel proud of, that despite not having the opportunities in the past, you’re the generation that your past can look at and say, ‘Wow, they finally got the opportunity.’ - CHLOE FISHER

hardly left his room at all.

Loza-Corona is the first in his family to attend a selective school like Northwestern. His brother, who went to a public college in California, set the example of higher education, but the challenging academics at Northwestern, especially over Zoom, are unfamiliar territory.

However, it is Loza-Corona’s status as an FGLI student that has given him the support system and community on campus that he cherishes today.

In his junior year of high school, Loza-Corona was doing well academically, but in the back of his mind he considered trade school.

Attending a selective university was not a pervasive expectation in his community, where he estimates about 70% of his high school classmates were also FGLI. “I think of it more as a community where you’re able to connect with people who, from their childhood, didn’t really have that experience of being pushed to go to college,” LozaCorona says.

“When I was young, my parents always wanted me to do as good in school as possible, but it was never like, ‘We’re going to shoot for these top institutions.’”

After a summer college prep

”

From there, Loza-Corona was selected as one of the final 10 contenders for Northwestern’s cohort of Posse Scholars. The Posse Foundation organizes pre-collegiate training and helps pair students from diverse backgrounds with their partner universities, with the goal of increasing minority representation in colleges across the country.

When he started at Northwestern, Loza-Corona joined Compass. He says participating in Posse scholars and Compass not only made his transition to college easier, but also helped him cultivate a life in college surrounded by first-generation students like himself.

The most impactful part of these programs, Loza-Corona explained, was having other students echo the same setbacks he had struggled with.

Knowing there were other students like him at Northwestern, he didn’t feel isolated while doing school entirely online.

“I’m not only able to put myself out there and find my community, but I’m also able to learn from other people,” Loza-Corona says about the FGLI spaces on campus. “They’re some of the most amazing people I’ve talked to.”

The only exclusively first-generation space in SES is the “I’m First” campaign, which is a social media campaign that

promotes first-gen stories and provides merchandise. Not all first-generation students on campus are low-income, but the lack of a physical space for just first-generation students is something that Cockrell attributes to the small size of both communities. According to SES, around 20% of all Northwestern students identify as low-income. In bringing both identities together, Cockrell says there can be larger community-building.

“I think on the flip side it’s really important to not conflate those communities,” says Cockrell. When Cockrell first started with SES, she says many people would conflate students of color with first-generation students, or low-income students with students of color. “We’re really thoughtful about how we are honoring those individual identities and those joint identities as well,” she says.

As most of SES’s programming outreach comes through financial aid, Cockrell admits there are firstgeneration students who may “slip through the cracks” and not receive the same emails with supporting resources.

To remedy this, SES also engages in Wildcat Welcome programming and open houses.

“I think of it more like a big community where you try to truly be proud of who you are and what you’ve accomplished,” Loza-Corona says.

M

Mia

defying the statistics

Most days, Mia Castle walks out of the Norris Aquatics Center with a pool towel in hand, heading from swim club practice back to her suite in Lincoln.

After a quick shower, she is ready to tackle the night’s problem set. Castle has always split her time between studying and swimming. Before coming to Northwestern, she earned an academic and athletic scholarship to a suburban boarding school one hour FEATURES

41

from her home in Plato Center, Illinois.

Despite her last name, which she describes as very white-sounding, Castle is Asian-American and was adopted from China. Because she is a mathematics major at a top institution, Castle says she is stereotyped as the Chinese “model minority” — the Asian student who excels at academics. Rarely is she stereotyped as a first-generation student, even when she was one of few first-gen students at her high school.

When asked what she thinks of when she imagines a first-generation student, her answer is simple: “Not me!”

At her high school, Castle had

Mia Castle. (photo by Maren Kranking)

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access to better college counseling resources than in Plato Center and was recommended to participate in Chicago Scholars, a college admissions program for minority, low-income and/or firstgeneration students in Chicago. The program was helpful in her application process, as it got her interviews with admissions officers. But the experience also instilled doubt in Castle about the validity of her first-generation status.

“One girl I went on the trip with, she asked me, ‘Why are you here? You’re not poor,’” Castle says. “Most of the people there identified as African American or Latino/Latina, and I was none of those

things. So, she was thinking that I took someone else’s spot. But I fit exactly what they want, I just am not the ‘typical’ first-gen student.”

The distinction between firstgeneration and low-income, according to Castle, is important because there are levels of privilege and intersectionality involved with being first-generation that cannot be judged or assumed.

Having college prep counselors who helped her with college applications, or the ability to swipe away from Northwestern SES emails about winter gear and food drives, are advantages that Castle knows have made a large difference for her.

“I don’t think anybody fits the typical mold to be honest,” Castle says.

“Everyone has little intricacies in the way they identify.”

But even with these advantages, Castle is still a first-generation student, and the identity has still impacted her college experience. During Wildcat Welcome, Castle’s mother ensured she could watch her daughter March Through the Arch via the livestream — a college tradition she wanted to live vicariously through Castle. Her parents also doubted her switch from pre-med to mathematics, not only because they were more familiar with pre-med, but because they were afraid that her chance to go to college would be wasted.

Like many of the other firstgeneration students around her, Castle knows the statistics. She knows about the assumptions, stereotypes and expectations for first-generation students to fall behind students with college-educated parents. And on some days, that doubt in herself and her identity is more powerful than others.

The important thing for Castle is that on those days when she starts to overthink the statistics, she won’t let herself shut down. She won’t let herself prove the statistics to be right.

“I want to defy the crap out of them,” Castle says. “Being told I can’t do something, it fires me up. I know for some people it shuts them down. For me, I just immediately want to hop to it and tell you why you’re wrong. And I’m not just going to tell you, I’m going to show you.”

THE EXPENSE OF EXPERIENCE The financial strain some students face at University-sponsored internships.

WRITTEN BY TRENT BROWN // DESIGNED BY AGNES LEE

O

ne of the main reasons Medill fourth-year Chloe Hilles chose to attend Northwestern was the University’s journalism residency program. The program, often referred to as JR, is a quarter-long internship program offered to journalism students in the Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications. It stood out to Hilles as a unique opportunity for students to gain real-world experience in professional newsrooms that other journalism schools could not provide. But despite not taking any classes and working full-time at her JR, Hilles pays her regular tuition to Northwestern. While she received a stipend and a grant, she does not make an hourly wage.

The JR program isn’t Northwestern’s only internship program. Students in the School of Education and Social Policy (SESP)

go on a quarter-long practicum during their third year, and students in all schools can intern at companies in the Chicagoland area through the Chicago Field Studies (CFS) program. While these programs present opportunities for academic enrichment and career advancement, inequities arise in all three programs when it comes to financially compensating students for their work.

Hilles is doing her JR at Injustice Watch, a nonprofit Chicago journalism organization, where she reports on criminal justice and the prison system. She’s one of several recipients of a one-time $1,250 stipend from Medill intended to “help offset relocation and living costs,” according to Medill’s Support & Resources page on the Student Enrichment Service’s website.

Despite these goals, Hilles says the payment only covers about one month of her Evanston rent.

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=

The JR program is designed to give journalism students access to real newsrooms so they can gain experience, make connections and jumpstart their careers. Some students are compensated handsomely for their work — tech company Zendesk offers a $35 hourly wage to its JR students.

Students who only receive the stipend and work full time for eight hours a day for entirety of the 11-week quarter will make $1,250 for about 440 hours of work. This amounts to $2.83 hourly, about 39% of the federal minimum wage and 22% of Cook County’s — and Evanston’s — minimum wage. The stipend provided by the University pales in comparison to sites that pay students upwards of $20 per hour.

“It is a quote-unquote graduation requirement, but we know it’s not really,” Hilles says. “You can take an alternative path, but if you come to Medill, you’ve heard about the JR your entire experience.”

Hilles is correct — despite its ubiquity, the JR program is technically not a graduation requirement for Medill.

As an alternative to JR, students can gain professional experience through an approved outside internship and take on a regular quarter of four classes, at least three of which must be in Medill. Medill students must complete seven core classes before they can go on JR, and any student who earns a C or lower in a 300-level Medill course in the two quarters preceding their JR cannot go on their JR. But many students, like Hilles, were drawn to Medill because of the JR program.

Medill fourth-year Margo Milanowski, who is completing her JR by working full-time at Popular Science, a digital magazine that focuses on science reporting, also received the stipend.

Milanowski normally receives money through the federal work-study program, which provides students with a yearly allotment of financial aid they can earn

YOU CAN TAKE AN ALTERNATIVE PATH, BUT IF YOU COME TO MEDILL, YOU’VE HEARD ABOUT THE JR YOUR ENTIRE EXPERIENCE.

=

- CHLOE HILLES, MEDILL FOURTH-YEAR

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through work-study jobs. Milanowski says she was unable to receive her workstudy allotment this fall because of her full-time work commitment. While she would normally only work parttime for work-study, Milanowski said the compensation she received for her full-time JR was almost equivalent to the amount she would regularly receive from work-study each quarter.

“It’s not like I’m being compensated for my work,” Milanowski says. “I just have enough money to exist and to do what I need to do, which is how a normal quarter at Northwestern is. But normally I’m not working [full time], I’m doing classes.”

Hilles also forfeited her work-study job on campus this quarter to focus on her full-time internship, so she decided to apply for additional funding available to low-income students. Originally, Hilles says, she was advised that she did not qualify because the aid is mainly intended for students whose JRs would take them out of the Chicagoland area.

Still, she managed to secure additional funding after explaining how much income she would lose.

THE SEARCH FOR HOUSING

Medill fourth-year Ata Shaheen had no idea that he was eligible for additional funding when he was applying for his JR. Then the process got even more complicated.

Shaheen’s JR took him to Bremerton, Washington, where he worked as a reporter for the Kitsap Sun. In a small town like Bremerton, which has an estimated population of 43,000, he struggled to find online housing listings that weren’t fake or outdated. While he managed to find a sublease near his workplace, Shaheen had to navigate the entire process on his own.

According to an email from Medill Professor Karen Springen, director of the JR program, the University does not formally provide housing for JR students.

“We share a housing sheet with links suggested by past JR students,”

= I’M NOT SUPER SURE HOW FAR THE [$1,250 STIPEND] WOULD TAKE ME IF I DID HAVE TO CONSIDER HOUSING AND OTHER EXPENSES IN ADDITION TO TRANSPORTATION. - TIFFANY XU, MEDILL FOURTH-YEAR

=

Springen wrote in the email. “We suggest students reach out to alumni in the area and to co-workers at their JR sites for housing advice and information.”

Medill fourth-years Alexi Sandhu and Tiffany Xu share a JR site. Both students were assigned to SimplyBe., a personal branding agency, where they work three days in-person and two days remotely each week. The agency is based in Chicago, so the two are able to live in Evanston.

Still, their workplace isn’t easily accessible via public transportation, Sandhu says. To get to the agency in Wicker Park, the two interns would have to ride three separate CTA lines or walk about 20 minutes from the nearest Metra station. As a result, Sandhu and Xu, who both receive the University stipend, carpool on the days they work in-person, a solution that comes with its own set of challenges.

“I have a car, which is lucky, but most of the time I have to pay for parking, and that comes out to $20 a day,” Xu says, although she has since found a free parking lot. “I’m not super sure how far the [$1,250 stipend] would take me if I did have to consider housing and other

expenses in addition to transportation.”

Because of the stress and financial strain associated with finding new housing, some JR students opted for remote internships this quarter.

“It was sad for me that I didn’t end up going anywhere, but I ultimately decided to stay remote because it would keep me at break-even,” Milanowski says. “Because of the pandemic, I’ve lost so much of my college experience, so doing a remote position offered me the opportunity to stay in Evanston and experience more college life with my friends, even if it’s not in a classroom setting.”

(IM)PRACTICAL PRACTICUM?

Outside Medill, SESP students are required to complete a quarterlong internship during their third year. This internship, known as the Junior Year Practicum (or practicum for short), has a goal similar to that of JR — giving SESP students the opportunity to get work experience in their intended career area before they graduate.

While JR students generally work full-time and do not take classes, practicum students work about 30 hours per week

and take one three-hour course that meets on Fridays.

Like the JR program, the SESP practicum has its issues regarding student compensation. According to the SESP website, students can, but are not required to, receive compensation from their practicum site. However, SESP students who receive aid under the federal work-study program can receive their quarterly work-study grants during their practicums.

SESP fourth-year Lucas Vime-Olive did his practicum last spring at Holistic, a diversity and equity consulting firm.

Vime-Olive says he was able to recoup the work-study funding from the University that he otherwise would not have received.

“But even with that, I have to pay my own rent, so [the work-study funding] isn’t really gonna cut it. So I did the 30 hours, but then I would work [a different job] at night,” Vime-Olive says.

“It wasn’t a very great system set up [by the University].”

SESP third-year Helen Foster is also doing her practicum at Holistic. While Foster isn’t paid directly by the firm, the University gave her the full amount of her Fall Quarter work-study allotment, which she would otherwise have been unable to access without work-study.

Foster had the choice between a traditional in-person practicum or a remote practicum. After commuting to Chicago for a summer job, she was content with a remote position.

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SESP fourth-year Beatrice Chao did her practicum in Summer 2020 at the Ministry of Health in Singapore. While most practicums were remote, Chao, an international student from Singapore, was able to secure an in-person internship to use as her practicum.

Chao saved money on food and housing by living with her mother.

Each month, she was paid $1,000 Singapore Dollars, or about $740 USD, a sum that Chao describes as “really pathetic.”

CHICAGO FIELD STUDIES

Northwestern’s CFS program connects students to Chicago-based companies and organizations, where they intern for a quarter or over the summer. While it is not a program requirement for any degree, it allows students to gain professional work experience and also earn academic credit. Like SESP students, CFS students secure their internships the quarter beforehand and take a related class at the same time as the internship. They also aren’t guaranteed payment for their work.

Weinberg fourth-year Bibi Belknap Fernandez interned with the Chicago Bar Foundation, the charitable branch of the Chicago Bar Association that focuses on improving accessibility to the justice

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system, during Summer Quarter 2021 through CFS. “I figured I would not be able to find a paid internship, and I knew that CFS could at least give me class credit if I did an internship,” she says.

Aside from compensated fare on a Ventra card supplied by the Chicago Bar Foundation, Belknap Fernandez’s internship was completely unpaid. On top of this, because she did her internship over the summer, Belknap Fernandez and her family had to pay summer tuition to cover the two-credit class she was required to take as part of the program.

Weinberg third-year Anna Wang did an internship through CFS the fall of her second year at the private equity branch of Accelerated Growth, a consulting company.

For her work at Accelerated Growth, Wang was paid a $2,000 stipend, or an estimated $4 hourly wage, but she still made more than other CFS students.

“Some [CFS interns] go completely unpaid for very technical work,” she says. “But, for example, Goldman Sachs does $36 an hour for a private wealth management role. The amount that students are paid doesn’t necessarily reflect how hard the work is.”

FUTURE EXPERIENCES

Wang pointed out that CFS has an

Employer Advisory Board, made up of various outside partners whose job is to improve the CFS experience from a partnership perspective, but notes the volume of students makes it hard for the Board to mitigate issues with individual internship opportunities. Issues with CFS that the University could address include the number of staff and the funding the program receives, Wang says.

“CFS is also a bit understaffed of a program, and I think [CFS Associate Director] Karen Allen was saying how funding has become kind of limited,” Wang says. “It’s just understaffed and underfunded to some extent.”

To improve the SESP practicum, Vime-Olive says he wishes the site selection process was more lenient with its timing so that students would not have to take time during school breaks to start their internship search.

“It just wasn’t feasible with the time constraints that I had at the time, and I think that that’s applicable to most Northwestern students, just being busy and not really having the space or energy to look things up like that,” he says.

For Hilles, the most important aspect to change about JR is ensuring that students are fairly compensated for the work they do, either by their employers or by the University.

“These internships need to be comparably paid to working fulltime, because you cannot expect students who have to pay for tuition, who have to pay to live here, in expensive Evanston, to take these unpaid internships,” she says. “Whether it’s a stipend or whether it’s hourly, however that’s done, Northwestern has a lot of money, and I think they can figure that out because we shouldn’t be paying tuition to have these unpaid internships.”

Reconciling religion LGBTQ+ Northwestern students reflect on finding their place in — or outside of — religion.

WRITTEN BY SHANNON COAN // DESIGNED BY HOPE THOMPSON Content Warning: This article discusses instances of homophobia and transphobia.

H

annah Travali-Peacock grew up going to church. The Weinberg second-year was the kid at Sunday school who knew all the answers, went to youth group every week and always read her Bible. But in 10th grade, she stopped going.

At a church retreat, a youth group leader compared being gay to being an alcoholic or having cancer. Travali-Peacock, who identifies as queer, came home from the trip and told her mom that she wouldn’t go to church anymore.

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as part of the LGBTQ+ community, according to the Associated Student Government’s Analytics Survey in 2020. Some have found acceptance and community in religious groups on campus by joining affirming organizations where they can openly discuss their identities. Others, though, found that their faith and sexuality conflicted with one another — and some left religion behind altogether — before they reached Northwestern’s campus.

“It was very negative. Not always ‘going-to-hell’ type of messages, but very, ‘This is a sin. You can control yourself; you can be gay, but don’t be [outwardly] gay,’” Travali-Peacock says.

She describes this experience as her “final straw” and quit going to youth group. “It made it very hard to engage with faith and my conception of the text whatsoever because of the amount of delusional messaging I got,” TravaliPeacock says.

She only attended services for Christmas and Easter until this past year, when her mom found a more inclusive church.

“More recently, it’s less about, ‘Is God against this thing?’ and more about ‘How do I feel about God overall?’”

Travali-Peacock says.

Historically, many LGBTQ+ people have had traumatizing experiences in religious spaces due to their identities, causing outsiders to question why they don’t leave. Ashley King, a visiting assistant professor of religious studies who received her doctorate from Northwestern this summer, says leaving is often not a viable option because of the ways religion is tied to one’s identity and community.

“That’s why religion can be so traumatizing to so many queer and trans people, because it does have that characteristic of being inside and outside, attached to us and deeply woven within us,” says King.

Approximately 25% of Northwestern University undergraduates identify

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"It’s a conflicting balance."

- Communication secondyear Marlene Alanis

When Communication fourth-year Ilana Abusch told her grandparents that she had a girlfriend, their first question was, “Is she Jewish?”

“I personally don’t think that my queerness and my Judaism come into conflict at all,” says Abusch, who identifies as bisexual. “The messaging I got from all of my Jewish educators, my Jewish parents and Jewish family friends was always supportive.”

SESP fourth-year Bobby Read also received affirming messages from his religious community at home. Read, who identifies as gay, grew up in the United Church of Christ, which he describes as open and supportive.

Due to the accepting messages he heard growing up, Read tries to share that queer people can have positive experiences in the church when given the opportunity.

“I’m not trying to change anyone into religion or impose my religion on them, but, at the same time, I want them to know that not every person experiences the same things in churches,” Read says. “Being

able to share those positive experiences with [other LGBTQ+ people], it’s powerful for me.”

Not all LGBTQ+ students heard such reassuring messages from their religious communities back home.

Medill second-year Maggie Sullivan, who identifies as lesbian, grew up attending an Episcopalian church that didn’t openly discuss queer people.

“A couple of years ago, somebody was being confirmed and they were misgendered during the confirmation, and so that was extremely painful to watch,” says Sullivan, who was on the church altar at the time. “That affirmed that at the highest level of the bishopric, there would be no affirmation.”

Similar to Sullivan, Communication second-year Marlene Alanis grew up in a Catholic congregation where nothing blatantly homophobic was ever said.

However, she says, the underlying messages were negative and reinforced the gender binary.

Alanis, who identifies as bisexual and nonbinary, describes their parents as supportive of the LGBTQ+ community.

Still, they haven’t come out to their parents yet, a decision somewhat influenced by their Catholic faith.

“Even if I was straight, for Mexican Catholic parents to have a daughter who even addresses having a sexuality at all is so taboo,” Alanis says. “To be not straight on top of that, I

fe e l like it’s kind of a lot to give them.”

LGBTQ+ students who didn’t hear affirming messages from their faith often turned to the internet to learn about gender and sexuality. Sullivan’s questions about faith and sexuality started in middle school. She remembers reading a Tumblr post that referenced Leviticus, which contains some of the most frequently cited verses to justify homophobia in the Old Testament. The post argued that the interpretation of those verses as condemning homosexuality was a misunderstanding of the original Hebrew, which actually referred to pedophilia.

“That thought broke my brain,” Sullivan says. “Hearing that there was the possibility that there was a textual basis for that stance, I was so shaken by that in a good way.”

From there, Sullivan did her own research and talked with people who she knew were safe resources to form her view that all sexualities are valid in God's eyes. Similarly, Travali-Peacock found others to talk with while exploring her own understanding of the intersection between religion and sexuality.

“I’ve found some friends who are queer and Christian as well, and talking to them about it has made a difference,” Travali-Peacock says. “It’s been helpful to explore theology in a way that I know in a safe space.”

"This is an accepting place."

- Julie Windsor Mitchell, University Christian Ministries Executive Director Walking through the doors of Lutheran Campus Ministries (LCMNU) at Northwestern University, a certificate to the left proudly proclaims they are

Reconciling in Christ (RIC).

LCMNU has held this designation since 2004, which signifies their commitment to welcoming people of all sexualities and gender identities. Every January, LCMNU joins all other RIC communities on RIC Sunday to acknowledge and recommit to these values.

"Everything is open, and everybody is welcome, but if everybody doesn’t know or think or feel that they are welcome, perception trumps reality."

- Kristen Glass Perez, University chaplain

“I don’t think the Bible says anything about committed homosexual relationships,” LCMNU Pastor Deanna Langle says. “I think our world and our communities and our church often like to point fingers. They will point fingers at women, they will point fingers at LGBTQ+ people. We’ll find a way to blame someone else for being more sinful than us.”

At Northwestern, the Office of

Religious and Spiritual Life serves as a resource for students regardless of religious identity.

The Office’s programs are open to people of all identities. Publicizing this is a “growing area” for the department, says Kristen Glass Perez, the University chaplain and executive director of religious and spiritual life.

“Everything is open, and everybody is welcome, but if everybody doesn’t know or think or feel that they are welcome, perception trumps reality,” Glass Perez says.

Northwestern’s five campus-affiliated religious centers are LCMNU, Hillel, University Christian Ministries (UCM), Sheil Catholic Center and Canterbury.

They are all affirming spaces, meaning they welcome and support LGBTQ+ members. Religious leaders at each center emphasize that they want to meet every student regardless of identity or religious background.

“Historically, the church has said, ‘All are welcome,’ but then they mean except if you’re LGBT,” says Rev. Julie Windsor Mitchell, the campus minister and executive director of UCM. “I want students to know if they identify as queer, that this is a place where they’re going to be fully loved and embraced.”

For Jessica Lott, the campus rabbi at Hillel, this is especially important because not every Jewish student comes from the same denominational background or identifies as religious.

“I come from a tradition that says that we’re supposed to constantly adapt to the reality of the world,” Lott says. “We are the inheritors of Jewish tradition, and we are the creators of what Jewish tradition should be today.”

Hillel is working to establish a queer affinity space this year that will become a central part of its marketing. Natalie Dibo, the director of engagement at Hillel, hopes it can be a space where

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students learn about the intersection of their Jewish and queer identities.

Dibo, who identifies as queer, tries to make her queer identity known to students whenever possible to model that queer people can live fulfilling Jewish lives.

“Hillel would not be doing our job if this isn’t a priority,” Dibo says. “I’ve come to see the two, not as interchangeable — because they’re very unique — but interdependent. You can’t really break my queerness away from who I am as a Jewish person and how I came to be that person.”

Each center is impacted by the views of the religious denomination they fall under. LCMNU belongs to the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, a progressive wing of the Lutheran Church that has ordained LGBTQ+ ministers since 2010.

Meanwhile, Sheil Catholic Center is a member of the Archdiocese of Chicago, which welcomes LGBTQ+ people but

"These people understand and accept me for who I am, and that was really important to me in finding that faith-based community on campus."

- SESP fourth-year Bobby Read

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can’t bless samesex unions due to regulations passed down by the Vatican.

“The church isn’t going to change her teaching on marriage tomorrow and probably not in a year, probably not in five years, but I think in the meantime, you don’t just abandon a whole community,” says Chaplain and Director of Sheil Bradley Zamora. “Queer people enrich the fabric of life that is the Catholic Church.”

At the clubs and organizations fair earlier this year, Sheil, LCMNU and UCM made it a point to display a rainbow somewhere on their promotional materials.

“It’s critical to have the rainbow out somewhere, so [students] know that it’s a safe place, and that they hear themselves named in worship, that they hear LGBTQ students preaching, leading, doing all kinds of things here,” Langle says.

"I never felt like I needed to hide it from anyone."

- SESP fourth-year Bobby Read

After coming out the summer before his first year at Northwestern, Read knew that he wanted to join an affirming group on campus. He tried out various Christian student groups that promoted themselves as open and accepting, but he says that some of the ways they talked about Bible verses made him question that messaging.

Eventually, he went to UCM and stayed.

“There’s rainbows on all the logos and they’re like, ‘We are queer-affirming and accepting,’” says Read, who now serves on the board of directors at UCM. “The fact that we’re so open about that and so loving and caring and affirming in that message, I think that really stuck with me.”

At Hillel, Abusch feels similarly, having always found it to be a “community where queerness

is wholeheartedly accepted.”

“They make it their priority that if you are queer and if you are Jewish and you want to figure out what that means to be both, then you can do that and you should do that at Hillel,” Abusch says.

Last year, Abusch helped teach Hillel’s quarter-long seminar “Sex, Love and Relationships.” The International Hillel curriculum had one specific day designated for LGBTQ+ relationships, but Northwestern’s Hillel team felt it aligned more with their values to have examples of queer love integrated throughout. Abusch enjoyed assistant teaching and appreciated that her queerness was able to come into the conversation.

For Read, little things, like having a rainbow flag in the corner, go a long way in making a religious space feel safe.

From his perspective, sexuality isn’t a ‘hot topic’ at UCM because everyone recognizes that although they may interpret things differently, they’re all supportive.

“It’s just a very safe space for that dialogue to take place and happen,” Read says. “These people understand and accept me for who I am, and that was really important to me in finding that faith-based community on campus.”

"These can’t coincide for me."

- McCormick second-year Ben Lankfer

Until Northwestern, Communication third-year Dani Goldberg had only gone to Jewish schools. While they never doubted that they would be accepted as the first student in their

school to come out as gender non-conforming or nonbinary, they had to work with administration to accommodate their identity.

At Goldberg’s school, male students were required to wear kippahs. Students also participated in various Jewish practices, including tallit, a prayer shawl worn during morning prayers, and tefillin, a set of small black boxes containing scrolls with Torah verses that are wrapped around the arm and forehead. Male students were required to participate in these rituals, while female students were exempt but could participate if they wanted to.

“It was just uncomfortable for me to be so grouped in with the men in such a binary way,” Goldberg says. “Because I wasn’t identifying as a woman, technically I wasn’t exempt, and so there was a lot of pushback.”

Goldberg was eventually allowed to not participate in the gendered rituals, but convincing the head rabbi was difficult, something they think was more due to tradition than actual beliefs. As Goldberg grew older and realized they were more interested in the cultural aspects of Judaism, they stopped attending weekly temple.

McCormick second-year Ben Lankfer also grew up in a religious environment, attending Catholic school from sixth grade through high school. While he didn’t come out as gay until his senior year, he says that “everyone knew” before then.

As Lankfer began coming to terms

with his sexuality in middle school, he tried reconciling his queerness with his faith. As the teachings around homosexuality in his religion classes became more blatant, he realized the two identities couldn’t coincide for him. He stopped identifying as Catholic his junior year of high school and now identifies as agnostic.

“Whenever I go to a church now, there’s just parts of me that they objectively disapprove of,” Lankfer says.

“I know of some gay Catholics that are okay with living a life of chastity and are able to put the church first, but that just doesn’t really seem ideal for me.”

Travali-Peacock still identifies as Christian but describes herself as a “doubting Thomas,” a Biblical reference that refers to skeptics who refuse to believe without direct personal experience.

Both Lankfer and Goldberg don’t think they’d still be religious even if they weren’t members of the LGBTQ+ community. Lankfer has other problems with the Catholic Church, and Goldberg

describes themself as “not a spiritual person.” Travali-Peacock wonders if she even would’ve started questioning her faith had the church not been a source of negativity.

Even for those who have reconciled both identities, that potential conflict remains present. For some, it manifests in being careful about the kind of religious spaces they enter. For others, it’s about knowing they can’t change everyone’s mind.

“There have always been queer and trans people in every single religious tradition who have found ways of making it work, or, at the very least, constructed that kind of provisional balance or acceptance of the contradiction between those things,” King says. “[They] have, nevertheless, been able to contribute both to their religious tradition’s history as well as to queer and trans history.”

FEATURES

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Pierce at the Hobart House piano, where she worked on many songs for her album Forever.

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Olivia Pierce The Bienen second-year on writing and producing her own music.

WRITTEN BY JULIANNA ZITRON // DESIGNED BY GRACE WANG & S. KELSIE YU

O

n a chilly January day last year, Olivia Pierce stood at the south edge of the Lakefill, the Chicago skyline glowing in front of her and the reflective building housing the Bienen School of Music to her right. At the time, she was an African American Studies major in Weinberg with a minor in music, but she had always pictured herself on the other side of the building's panes pursuing a major in the school. Nearly a year later, Pierce stands in that same spot, the peaceful atmosphere of the Saturday evening accompanied by the sound of her acoustic guitar. Now, not only is Pierce a musicology major studying the intersections of music and history, she also has her own album on the way.

When she isn’t in the classroom or practicing with the a cappella group Soul4Real, Pierce works on music under her stage name, Moyana Olivia. Moyana, Pierce’s middle name and her mother’s maiden name, is a popular name in Zimbabwe, her mother’s home country. Adding it to her first name was a way to distinguish herself as an artist.

To create her album, Pierce gained access to multiple recording locations, including her own makeshift home studio, a recording studio at the Best Buy Teen Tech Center in her hometown of Minneapolis and the University Library recording booths. These locations, in addition to campus landmarks like the Lakefill, Bienen practice rooms and Hobart House, were integral to Pierce as she wrote, recorded and produced her 11-track album titled Forever. She also collaborated with Communication second-year Kay Cui, Weinberg second-year and music tech minor Josh Fleckner and Weinberg second-year Emilio Cabral. Forever currently has no set release date, but Pierce’s first two singles on the album,

“Long Distance” and “Missing You,” are available to stream on all platforms.

Pierce’s inspiration to make music started in high school as she watched other teenagers post their own work on Instagram. But even before that, she grew up surrounded by music.

“My dad is a very musical person,” she says. “He recorded a bunch of CDs of covers of him singing Nat King Cole, and he would play them in the crib for me and my sister to fall asleep to. We still listen to them.”

Her first real experiences playing music took place in her church. As part of her church’s band, she would practice every Sunday, learning how to play different chords.

She was also a member of several choirs.

Though music has always been a part of her life, Pierce has received very little professional instruction aside from a year of vocal lessons and a year and a half of piano lessons. However, her lack of formal training did not stop her from applying and being accepted into Bienen’s musicology major in the Spring Quarter of her first year.

After the Lakefill, Pierce's next stop is a practice room in the Bienen building, a space the

Guitar is one of the many instruments Pierce plays.

PHOTO STORY

53

Pierce strumming her guitar in front of the Chicago skyline.

size of a small walk-in closet housing a piano, music stand and full-length mirror. She spends seven to nine hours each week in practice rooms like this one to practice for her major.

When the inspiration strikes, she sits at the piano and plays around with chord progressions until she develops a melody that suits her Neo-soul sound. A fusion of several genres that combines traditional R&B with modern jazz, hip-hop, pop and African music, Neo-soul reminds her of “Sunday morning, you’re making tea or coffee.” She then either puts that melody to lyrics she previously wrote with Cabral or comes up with lyrics on the spot.

“That takes like two hours tops, [but] if I don’t feel inspired to finish it, I’ll just finish it another day. Because I think that’s more productive than trying to force it,” Pierce says.

Her interactions with friends about her music have influenced how she approaches songwriting.

She wants to write songs that have multiple interpretations, so even if they hold a specific meaning to her, her listeners can still connect in their own way.

“Hearing people listen to it for the first time and having them come up with their own stories about it from listening to it is the best part, because then you’re also kind of listening to it for the first time,” she says.

Pierce uses her lyrics to pay homage to other Black artists that came before her. She takes inspiration from hip-hop and rap

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to include clever wordplay in her songs. Lyrics like “No more standing by the phone / Saving cents back to my senses” from her song “Long Distance” demonstrate the intentional wordplay in her songwriting.

“We were using a payphone, but you're not anymore, because you're mad at the person because they're not picking up. So you're saving your cents, but you're back to your senses,” she says.

After the song is written, her production process begins, starting with an often hours-long process of recording piano, bass, acoustic guitar and sometimes electric guitar. Taking inspiration from Prince, Pierce plays all her accompaniments herself. She then records the lyrics and harmonies with the help of Cui. Finally, Pierce or another photographer takes pictures for her cover art while Fleckner masters the song.

Pierce playing piano in a Bienen practice room.

Cui explains that her role was to help Pierce re-record her songs with a better quality microphone. They would record the song verse-by-verse and then combine their favorite takes to include in the finished product. Fleckner’s role was the post-production side of the song-creation process. He describes his job as “finding the right balance of making her quiet parts loud enough that they’ll sound decent, but not so much that you don’t notice the crescendo and the exciting rise and fall and emotion in her voice.”

Both Fleckner and Cui are proud of their work with Pierce and have high hopes for her future in music.

“I’m excited to see where the song goes and where Olivia goes as an artist,” Cui says. “And [I’m excited about] being able to say I had a part in making that happen.”

Long Distance Missing You Pierce is not focused on the potential fame her music could bring her. Instead, she hopes to create music that fosters social change. She wants to provide the same opportunities that she’s received to younger students, especially Black children, so that they can make their own music too.

“Anybody can figure [out how to make music], and everybody should have the opportunity to do that,” Pierce says.

Pierce then makes her way to Hobart House, the women’s residential college where she lived last year. She sits at the piano, playing selections of her music, reminded of how out of tune the instrument used to be when she lived there. Playing at this piano garnered her the praise of several students and faculty, and the encouragement

Pierce singing at the mirror in a practice room.

that she received is what gave her the confidence to apply to Bienen.

Although she started working on Forever prior to her acceptance to Bienen, the mentorship that she found in her voice teacher Patrice Michaels made her feel more secure in her artistic process. According to Pierce, Michaels sees the value in musical artists who might take less traditional approaches to music than what is taught in a Bienen classroom.

“At the end of lessons, she’ll teach me how to do something classical and then be like, ‘Let’s sing a verse of your own songs, just to make sure that you still have your own style,’” she says.

The professional training that Pierce has undergone at Bienen helped her to hone her natural talent and build on her existing skill set.

“The way that [Michaels] thinks of it is she’s teaching me to be like a light board, like switching on certain things for different styles and being able to navigate between them, versus just, ‘Forget everything that you knew how to do, ‘cause we’re starting from scratch,’” she says.

Though she doesn’t have extensive musical training and the multi-step production process can be long, Pierce has no problem

finding motivation for her projects. For her, music is an escape from academic pressures.

“At the end of the day, I can always just take my guitar outside and sit alone and play something and recenter and refocus,” she says. “It’s been really nice to remember that no matter what I’m trying to do in terms of promoting and sharing [my album], I can always come back to myself and be like, ‘I still have this.’”

Playing guitar helps Pierce recenter and refocus after

PHOTOS BY

a long week.

AVA MANDOLI

PHOTO STORY

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hangover

Hangover helpers 57 ‘Cats on acid 58 [Redacted] Norris courses 60 To pee or not to pee? 62 PHOTO BY CARLY MENKER

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Hey sexy ;] 63

Hangover helpers

Beating a hangover the Hangover editors’ way.

WRITTEN BY HANGOVER STAFF // DESIGNED BY HOPE THOMPSON

RX

Patient name: Instructions:

Tabor Brewster

The Fall Quarter first-year I used to be was somehow capable of pounding brewskis nightly without physical or emotional reproach the next morning. But after two and a half years of what seems like rapid bodily decay, those days are long gone. Luckily, through trial and error, I’ve found a few remedies to combat the weekend weakener:

RX

Patient name:

Hangovers are a perfect excuse to indulge in some of life’s greatest pleasures while experiencing some of its greatest pains. A delicate stomach ravaged by pangs of hangover hunger can be tempered by a full plate of Sarge tater tots, but the breakfast table recap of the previous night’s events might just make you extra nauseous. So, if you can’t get your hands on a magical hangover-fixer

RX

Step 5: Shower. Take a nice hot shower to wash away all your sweat, grime and sins.

Step 6: Watch Cars 2.

Step 7: Get out of the house. Take a walk to somewhere that’s not where you live, just to get your mind off of how bad you feel.

Step 8 (last resort): Drink again. If it’s been a whole day and you still feel like shit, quit while you’re ahead.

Get drunk enough and you won’t be hungover anymore.

elixir, here are some other ways to rejuvenate the hungover mind, body and soul: Step 1: Lie face down on your dorm room rug, which is mysteriously crunchy and still has a blue Jell-O shot mashed into it.

Step 2: Take a cold shower, specifically in the elusive Mudd showers.

Step 3: Ask a Norbucks worker to smack you across the face with one of the frozen breakfast burritos.

Step 4: Catch a Lakefill fish and grill it at the made-to-order station in Sarge.

Step 5: Build a blanket fort that’s bigger than Tech, making it the largest low-rise building based on square footage in the nation, behind The Pentagon.

Step 6: Take a hit from your neighbor’s bong, but it’s filled with Pedialyte instead of water.

Step 7: Order the MOD chocolate cake.

If none of these options work, spike a green juice and stay drunk.

my friends, pure conjecture and several TED Talks on entrepreneurship.

Step 1: Wake up before the crack of dawn and take a cold shower. The rush of satisfaction that comes with adhering to the work schedule of 19th century farmers will help take your mind off of your pounding headache.

If you have partied past dawn’s crack, resign yourself to having a hangover for the rest of the day. I’m sorry, I don’t make the rules.

Step 2: Invest in cryptocurrency. The rush of adrenaline that comes with being your own boss and making fast, easy money will help shock your body out of its drunken stupor.

Step 3: Purchase an acai bowl, take a picture with it and post it to your Instagram story with some cute stickers. Then, throw away your acai bowl and treat yourself to some real food from your favorite fast food chain.

Julia Lucas

Instructions:

Patient name:

Step 1: Get up. If you stay in bed, you’re bound to be in pain and agony for hours on end.

Step 2: Alka-Seltzer. Drop one in water and taste the soothing fizz.

Step 3: Enrich your mind with some Hemingway, Dickens or any of the Brontës.

Step 4: Eat something. Anything will do. You just need to get something in your stomach that’s not alcohol. My favorite is a dill pickle or one of those Uncrustables sandwiches.

Andrew Kwa

Instructions:

Okay, full disclosure: I’ve actually never had a hangover.

Whether that’s because I have the Dionysian alcohol tolerance of 17 heavyweight Irish men or because I’ve never actually had more than a few sips of the forbidden juice at a time is for you to decide. As such, I’ve prepared my infallible step-by-step process for curing your hangovers by cobbling together the advice of

HANGOVER

57

LSD is in our DNA. WRITTEN BY MOLLY BURKE AND CARSON BURTON // DESIGNED BY ANDREW KWA

A

man wanders around aimlessly on a snowy night in Ingraham Park. He’s wearing the essentials for a chilly day — a jacket, boxers and flip-flops — and nothing more. As he stares at the cold, wet asphalt of the parking lot, a profound thought crosses his mind: Nature is beautiful.

An hour later, Brian* sits on the floor of his apartment living room with a group of 10 friends, his mind a jumble of chaotic thoughts. He grounds himself by clutching a squash racquet with a death grip. He knows only two things: The Pro Bowl is tomorrow at 3 p.m, and this racquet is sick.

Alex*, however, has a lot more on his mind than the imminence of the Pro Bowl and the beauty of a squash racquet — namely, observing what all of his friends are doing as they’re tripping balls.

See, there was one key difference between Alex* and his friends: acid, California Sunshine, Electric Kool-Aid, Mind Detergent, LSD. Whatever you call it, Brian* and his friends were on it. They were on it hard. Like Doctor Strange levels of hard.

And they were loving it.

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Brian* (The Tree-Hugger) Brian* decided to try acid out of curiosity. The idea of dropping tabs with his friends as other sober friends watched them seemed both fun and not too risky.

It’s not like he would do anything stupid, right?

As he stood half-naked in sub-freezing temperatures, it was clear that was not the case. But something about braving the winter’s fury in nothing but your knickers changes you. In Brian’s case, his eyes were opened to the true beauty of nature.

“It was so beautiful. I’ve never seen anything more beautiful in my entire life, probably, than the snow falling outside,” Brian* says.

Brian* stuck out his tongue, catching the snowflakes in his mouth as they fell. As he watched them melt, he grew frustrated with himself for disturbing the beauty of nature.

Brian’s* one warning for using acid: avoid mirrors. He quickly learned that the drug could elicit fear of your own reflection.

“There’s something probably profound about looking in a mirror when you’re tripping,” Brian* says. “It probably reveals some shit inside you that you don’t wanna see.”

Oscar* (The Laborer) Oscar’s* trip was pure euphoria, though it was pretty clear he was really high.

As Oscar* sat on the beat-up couch in his friends’ living room, a brilliant idea suddenly occurred to him: With the help of his fellow acid-tripping friends, he had to move the wall. One might ask why moving the wall was so incredibly vital in the moment, or how they planned to do it. LSD was probably the answer to both.

Oscar*, Brian* and others stood and pushed as hard as they could against the walls of the crowded living room but noticed that the room would quickly shrink back to its original size.

Curious. But mission accomplished! Thank goodness they got that out of the way.

Harry* (The Entrepreneur) While most students consult friends, family, the internet and even the Northwestern Career Advising office to figure out what they want to do after graduation, Harry* had a different advisor: acid.

Harry*, who was a second-year pre-med student at the time, began questioning his major, his identity and post-college life goals. He wrote down a set of questions and decided that acid just might help answer them.

And it did. Harry* found exactly what he was looking for.

“It really does feel like you’re looking at something from an entirely different perspective,” Harry* says. “For the identity shit, for example, it definitely feels like you pull back the curtain on reality, and you sort of get to the heart of like, what really matters, right?”

He emerged from his trip with clarity, understanding and newfound appreciation for the relationships he had in his life.

Oh, and he also wanted to study economics.

*Subjects have been given pseudyonyms to preserve anonymity HANGOVER

59

[Redacted] Norris courses

[Redacted] Norris courses First rule of Norris courses: don’t talk about Norris courses.

WRITTEN BY TABOR BREWSTER // DESIGNED BY JUNTANG QIAN

T

he overwhelming majority of “mini courses” offered at Norris this year have been bad. Some might even argue they are an insult to our intelligence as Northwestern students. Beginner Guitar? Waste of time. Wine Appreciation?

Pretentious. Drawing and the Color Wheel? Downright offensive. Perhaps the reason these courses are called “mini” is because the morons who conceived of them have miniature, teeny-tiny, pea-sized brains. Yet, amidst this dense fog of abhorrent academia, there are a few hidden gems — some rare, must-take courses found deep in the building’s ancient catacombs. To aid you in your pursuit of educational excellence, we’ve gathered the very best, top-notch, creme de la creme of courses offered at Norris this year.

Mud Wrestling Ever feel the need to get down and dirty in some stinky, slippery sludge, all while trying to eviscerate your enemies with a gut-busting elbow drop or two? This is the course for you, bro! The inaugural season of the Norris Xtreme Professional Mud Wrestling League (NXPMWL for short) starts SUNDAY, SUNDAY, SUNDAY. Join your expert personal trainer, two-time undisputed mud rasslin’ world heavyweight champion Billy “Beef Brain” Hendrix, for a deep dive into the ins and outs of pig pen PAIN. Learn signature moves like the diving pork chop, the atomic belly flop and the triple inverted intestinal suplex (The quadruple inverted intestinal suplex was banned for safety reasons). Got what it takes? TIME TO GET MUDDIN’. And just as Beef Brain’s infamous catchphrase goes, “If it ain’t mud, it ain’t crud. See YOU in the mud pit, weakling!!”

Mud provided.

Disclaimer: Northwestern University takes no responsibility for bruises, bunions, lacerations, wounds, parasites, flesh-eating amoebas or any other possible injuries attained during this course or at the hands of Billy "Beef Brain" Hendrix.

Marijuana MasterChef You smoke? Noice. Same. Do you ever find yourself post-toke in the kitchen at 3 a.m. like, contemplating life while jamming to whale noises and pairing peanut butter with dill pickles? Same dude. You may very well be a connoisseur of cannabis cuisine. Come chill with us in this crash course on how to bake and get baaaaaked, from THC brownies to marijuana meatloaf. Set the stovetop burner to “high” and get started today.

Class Syllabus: Week 1: Sativa Shrimp Scampi Week 2: Indica Indian Curry Week 3: Kush Calamari Week 4: Mary Jane Matzo Ball Soup Week 5: Reefer Red Beans and Rice Week 6: Mixed Greens Ganja Salad Week 7: Pot Pumpkin Pie BYOW. Week 3 will feature guest lecturer Snoop Dogg (via Zoom).

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Introduction to Writing Erotic Literature Warm blue ink seeps from the pen and penetrates the skin of the paper, flowing hard but gently into an undulating river of words. Words that start as mere seeds deep in the temporal lobe blossom into beautiful poetry and prose. But not far from those seeds are intense desires, fantasies and secrets, tied up and locked away firmly in the bending cylinder of the hippocampus. In this course, you will learn to untie those subconscious thoughts begging and pleading to be set free and allow them to finally shine on paper in their raw, naked glory.

If interested, please contact the instructor, Prof. Grey.

Disclaimer: This course is not endorsed by the English Department and DOES NOT count toward the creative writing major or minor.

Moonshine Distillin’ Reckon you ever feel madder than a wet hen, no bigger than a minnow in a fishin’ pond, just darn near about ready to kick the can till the cows come home? Well, butter my buns and call me a biscuit ‘cause I sure do declare I have the opportunidy for you! Lucky my old man had the gumption to create his one-of-a-kind, good ole ass-kickin’ “mountain dew”! I swear this moonshine’s so strong it’s sure to put some whiskers on yer chin. Now I need a few good, still hands to help me with the stir stick, turnip stills and the like. Availerbel jobs listed below.

Puzitions Availerbel: ‘Shine Taster Mash Musher Dubbler Bubbler Fiddel Player (for my personel entertainment while the shine’s distillin) Propane Runner Lookout (for Johnny Law) Scapegoat (for when Johnny Law catches us) If interested, please visit Old Man Wilkinson on Norris East Lawn.

Disclaimer: Northwestern University’s Alcohol Amnesty Policy does not cover incidents related to the production, distribution or consumption of moonshine.

Virtual Reality Cane Toad Spear Hunting Want to help Australia limit the spread of one of their most invasive species? Join Northwestern University in our environmentally-conscious efforts to exterminate the poisonous and ecologically devastating cane toad (virtually, of course). Strap on your VR headset, grab your virtual spear and get to hunting! Our team of game designers have created the most accurate virtual cane toad hunting simulation to date. This experience will take you across the Australian Outback where you will track, stalk and spear cane toads one by one. But crikey, be careful mate! Those little buggers have quite the hippity hop in ‘em! Can you beat the current record for fastest successful cane toad hunt (4.25 hours)? Rack up points for cane toad kills and redeem them at Norris for rewards!

All proceeds will go to the Cane Toad Elimination Society of Australia. Points redeemable at the Market Salad Bar and the Environmental Science section of the Norris Bookstore.

Mime School The mimes insisted (nonverbally) on keeping the course description blank.

HANGOVER

61

To pee or not to pee?

Northwestern students are caught in a classic "will wee, won't wee" situation.

WRITTEN BY JULIA LUCAS // DESIGNED BY ANDREW KWA

T

he communal living style that college dorms thrust upon students tears us from our childhood bathrooms and forces us into public, shared spaces in our most vulnerable moments.

A whole new world awaits, boasting near-transparent toilet paper that only comes out in dime-sized pieces and mysteriously slimy shower curtains that seem to reach out to grab you at your most defenseless. As you venture toward the showers amidst this chaos, a singularly important question emerges: to pee, or not to pee?

Peeing in the shower is more than a situational choice. It is a decision that reflects one’s ethical boundaries. Philosophical reflection can help us navigate these troubled yellow waters.

Thomas Hobbes once said, “Leisure is the mother of philosophy,” and peeing in the shower is the epitome of bathroom leisure.

Northwestern University students engage in this debate, expressing

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conflicting philosophical outlooks on the impact of peeing in communal showers.

Weinberg second-year Tinkle Winkle* is a “loud and proud” shower-pisser, she says. She explains that, at this point, it’s habitual.

“I’ve been ‘Pavlov-dogged’ into knowing that it’s time to pee,” says Winkle.

Winkle’s roommate, Medill second-year Penelopee Pea*, echoes this sentiment, saying, “Of course I pee in the shower — it just happens.”

When asked about potential differences between peeing in a shared shower and a private one, Pea sees few.

“I feel worse about it when I pee in a shared shower, but I do it anyway,” she says.

Clearly, our resident shower-pissers understand the gravity of their actions but demonstrate such bold disregard for the social contract of communal bathrooms that they feel no remorse.

However, there are benefits to peeing in the shower, such as reduced toilet paper use, saving water by not flushing the toilet and some more subversive pros, according to Weinberg second-year Uri Nater*.

“My pee cannot be the worst fluid or substance that has touched that shower,” Nater says. “There are some cases where my pee might be cleaner than whatever’s already there. So honestly, I’m doing the residents of Bobb a favor.”

Regardless of a shower’s relative cleanliness, no one wants to set foot in a remnant puddle of piss when they’re already braving a public bathroom. Although shower shoes abound and some students might have impeccable aim, it’s about the principle.

As Weinberg first-year Krissa Pissa* explains, the showers are “a shared space.”

Her roommate, Communication first-year Wanda WeeWee*, notes that they no longer share

a shower with only family members. Pissa chimes in, “Yeah, family can step in my pee.”

This distinction between familial and public spheres is a more tempered perspective than Pea’s*.

“Some people think it’s gross, even though I don't,” Pea says. “So those people I just don’t tell.”

Hate to break it to you secret pissers, but the watchful eyes of the bathroom spiders see all, and they know when you’re painting the shower walls with your urine.

So the ultimate question remains: to pee, or not to pee? As Pythagoras once said, “Choices are the hinges of destiny.” So next time that golden shower tempts, choose carefully. The impact of your bathroom etiquette touches not only the unsuspecting feet of your hallmates but also your moral compass. *Names changed to protect sensitive information and/or cowardice

Hey sexy ;)

Which sexy Northwestern icon are you?

WRITTEN BY SAMANTHA STEVENS

N

It’s the weekend!

What are you looking forward to doing?

DESIGNED BY EMMA ESTBERG

ow that Willie the Wildcat has been voted sexiest college mascot in a recent national survey by Quality Logo Products, who says other Northwestern staples can’t get it too? More importantly, which sexy something are you? Are you the Kellogg Global Hub at sunset? Are you Josh McKenzie? Take this quiz to find out what part of our sultry school matches you!

Getting dinner with friends

Hanging out on the Lakefill

Going to a party

Which Evanston restaurant?

What will you do?

What will you wear?

Flat Top Grill, love all the options

Tapas Barcelona, for the margaritas

Did you actually read One Book Northwestern? Be honest. And, no, just because you get the emails doesn’t mean you read the book.

Yes, and loved every second of it

Taking pics of the Chicago skyline to send to my parents

Could you go for a "chill night in"?

Yeah, totally down for a movie sometimes

Can’t stand it, TGIF!

What’s that?

Josh McKenzie

You’re LOADED with positivity and countless ancient proverbs turned contemporary. Although you may come off as clingy to some, it’s what makes you sexy. Own it. And if anyone needs to be in the know, they need not look further than your welcoming arms, Josh McKenzie.

The Caspian Pizza at Mod

Ooey, gooey, saucy and packed with protein — that’s you! You’re the furthest thing from boring, and whoever can’t handle you should just stick to a regular ol’ cheese pizza.

Even though there may be a line of people waiting for you, the patience is worth it.

North Beach! The northernmost of our two beaches. North Beach is sunny, sandy and right next to the lovely and beautiful Lake Michigan. Take a dip in the water, play some Spikeball or try to tan in the UV-3 sunshine. The world — or North Beach at least — is your oyster!

Hammocking #hangloose

What do you prefer?

Being in nature

Being around people

A Saferide that arrives in less than 30 minutes

Whoever said “Good things come to those who wait” clearly has never ordered a Saferide at Northwestern. You can often be unpredictable and a little flaky, but that doesn’t make you any less desirable! In fact, you’re a hot commodity on this campus. You’re hard to pin down, but you certainly bring the party.

BONUS! Which Northwestern beach are you?

Which side of campus do you live on?

North Campus

Boyfriend jeans with some rips — to keep things caj (casual)

South Campus

A cute skirt

What would you do in Chicago?

Go get cultured at a museum

Go to a trendy coffee shop and stroll through Millenium Park

Kellogg Global Hub at Sunset

OooOoo, girl, you’ve got CURVES! You’re the promised land that all undergrads wish they could enter. Your mystery allures all who walk by — some may even say that you play hard to get. People may look at you with envy, but don’t let that get to you. Just remember it’s because they either want to be you or be inside you.

South Beach! The southernmost of our two beaches. South Beach is sunny, sandy and right next to the lovely and beautiful Lake Michigan. Take a dip in the water, play some Spikeball or try to tan in the UV-3 sunshine. The world — or South Beach at least — is your oyster!

HANGOVER

63

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Evanston Community Bank & Trust is a branch of Wintrust Bank, N.A. Northwestern Athletics trademarks and copyrights proprietary to Northwestern University. Used with permission. Mastercard is a registered trademark, and the circles design is a trademark, of Mastercard International Incorporated. 1. Fees. Overdraft fees may apply. 2. Northwestern Wildcats Checking Bonus Information. This Northwestern Wildcats Checking bonus offer is valid for new accounts opened January 1, 2021 through December 31, 2021. This Northwestern Wildcats Checking bonus offer is not available to existing or closed checking account customers of Wintrust Financial Corporation (‘WTFC’) and its subsidiaries or its active employees. Limit 1 bonus payment per customer, regardless of the number of accounts opened. If you qualify for this Northwestern Wildcats Checking bonus offer, you are ineligible to receive this Northwestern Wildcats Checking bonus offer from any other WTFC location. If you qualify for any other WTFC savings offer it may be combined with this Northwestern Wildcats Checking bonus offer. Your new account must be open, in the same product, and have a balance greater than zero to receive the bonus payment. Balance is determined as of the end of each Business Day as the funds currently in your account including deposits and withdrawals made in the Business Day. The $300.00 bonus payment is subject to IRS 1099-INT reporting and may be considered income for tax purposes for the tax year in which the bonus was paid. 3. Northwestern Wildcats Checking Bonus Qualifications. (i) Open a new Northwestern Wildcats Checking account; (ii) tell us you are aware of this Northwestern Wildcats Checking account bonus offer at account opening; (iii) have at least monthly occurring direct deposits totaling $500.00 or more each month made to your new account for 2 consecutive calendar months after the calendar month your new account was opened (‘Qualification Period’). For example, if you open your new account in January, you would need to have “Direct Deposits” made to your new account in February totaling $500 or more and in March totaling $500 or more; and (iv) enroll in online banking and activate e-statements within the Qualification Period. A direct deposit is defined as any payment made by a government agency, employer, or other third-party organization that is made via an electronic deposit. A direct deposit does not include teller/ATM/mobile or remote deposits, wire transfers, online banking/telephone transfers between accounts at WTFC, external transfers from other accounts at other financial institutions or ATM/debit card transfers and deposits. After you have completed all the above bonus qualifications, we will deposit the bonus payment into your new account within 30 calendar days after the Qualification Period. A listing of WTFC locations can be found here: wintrust.com/findus/locations.html.