NBN Magazine Winter 2025

northwestern WINTER 2025 Rebuilding

Evanston

As the dust settles, the city unveils its new face. | pg. 44

Navigating neurodivergence

Northwestern students find community and opportunities for advocacy. | pg. 20

Protecting the paperless

Students mobilize for the undocumented community at the onset of Trump’s second term. | pg. 38

What’s an essential part of your winter wardrobe?

NORTH BY northwestern WINTER 2025

print staff web staff

EDITORIAL

PRINT MANAGING EDITOR Mya Copeland

ASSISTANT MANAGING EDITOR Gabby Shell

SENIOR PREGAME EDITORS Jessica Y Chen, Indra Dalaisaikhan, David Sun

ASSISTANT PREGAME EDITORS Sarah Jacobs, Olivia Teeter

SENIOR DANCE FLOOR EDITORS Eleanor Bergstein, Sarah Lonser

ASSISTANT DANCE FLOOR EDITORS Laura Horne, Sophia Memon, Helen Ryan, Heidi Schmid

SENIOR FEATURES EDITORS Noah Coyle, Sarah Lin, Mitra Nourbakhsh

SENIOR HANGOVER EDITORS Bennie Goldfarb, Natalia Zadeh

CREATIVE

CREATIVE DIRECTORS Jessica J Chen, Allison Kim

ASSISTANT CREATIVE DIRECTOR Leila Dhawan

DESIGNERS & ILLUSTRATORS Claire Boma, Grace Chang, Bennie Goldfarb, Laura Horne, Sarah Jacobs, Sammi Li, Linda Montejo-Bartolon, Juliana Proctor, Dallas Thurman, Ilse von Heimburg

PHOTOGRAPHERS Olivia Brown, Jessie Chen, Sammi Li, Maya Mukherjee, Pierson Strandquist, Margarita Williams, Sarah Yoo

FREELANCERS

Mariana Bermudez, Greta Cunningham, Gavin Fisk, Iliana Garner, Talia Jackson, Andrew Katz, Zoe Kulick, Desiree Luo, Maya Mukherjee, Isabel Papp, Natalie Roots-Nowakowski, Jahnvi Sampat, Margarita Williams

COVER DESIGN BY JESSICA J CHEN

COVER PHOTO BY SAMMI LI

MANAGING

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Conner Dejecacion

EXECUTIVE EDITORS Mya Copeland, Arden Anderson

MANAGING EDITORS Indra Dalaisaikhan, Sammi Li

DIVERSITY, EQUITY AND INCLUSION EDITORS

Indra Dalaisaikhan, Sammi Li, Jezel Martinez

WEB DESIGNER Arden Anderson

SECTION EDITORS

NEWS EDITOR Gaby Striano

POLITICS EDITOR Jezel Martinez

ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR Angela McKinzie, Mary Amelia Weiss

LIFE & STYLE EDITOR Jacqueline Emerson, David Samson

SPORTS EDITOR Mariana Bermudez

INTERACTIVES EDITORS Annabelle Sole, June Woo

FEATURES EDITORS Maya Mukherjee, Sara Xu

ASSISTANT FEATURES EDITOR Lindsey Byman

OPINION EDITOR Cassandra Brook

CREATIVE WRITING EDITOR Mark Wang

ASSISTANT CREATIVE WRITING EDITOR Ava Paulsen

AUDIO & VIDEO EDITOR Dallas Thurman

ASSISTANT AUDIO & VIDEO EDITOR Olivia Teeter

GRAPHICS EDITOR Leila Dhawan

GAMES EDITOR Gabby Shell

SOCIAL MEDIA EDITORS

EDITORS Cydney Waterman, Sara Xu-

CONTRIBUTORS Katie Tsang, Madelyn Yu, Jane Yu

CORPORATE

PUBLISHER Alice Tao

AD SALES Christine Shin, Jane Yu

OUTREACH Cydney Waterman, Jaharia Knowles

EVENTS CHAIR Jaharia Knowles

My RBF

The Lazy Oaf sweater that I never gave back to my ex-boyfriend. I pull more girls than he did with this sweater.

Midwestern pride in not wearing a heavy enough coat

Printed copy of “Tulips” by American poet Sylvia Plath, my muse

Xanax Aquaphor

The hat and gloves I left in an Uber (RIP) Uber app

Big Yellow Coat TM

Readers, Dear Mya

Walking down Central Street in north Evanston, you see colorful stripes running down the sidewalks. Initially painted as part of a “JOY on Central” initiative meant to encourage safe engagement after the COVID-19 pandemic, the stripes still remain as a testament to the community. As I was thinking about the focus of this issue, I kept coming back to one word: rebuilding.

Evanston and Northwestern are intertwined and yet fundamentally distinct; both are central to the student experience. In this issue, North By Northwestern highlights the ways Northwestern and Evanston are building — and rebuilding — community.

In our Pregame section, we found ways Northwestern students find and maintain connections during Winter Quarter. From club athletes in ‘Breaking the ice’ to students in long-distance relationships in ‘TL;DR,’ the cold months of Chicago winter have never felt warmer.

Dance Floor took a look into small pockets of community on campus. ‘Navigating neurodivergence’ dives into finding meaning and connection through other students (and snails). In ‘With the assist,’ you’ll see the passion and enthusiasm of the team behind one of Northwestern’s biggest sports.

Our Spotlight section opens with Northwestern field hockey in ‘One of 28,’ looking at how one of our best teams is still struggling for recognition on campus. ‘Protecting the paperless’ highlights how the Advancement for the Undocumented Community organization strengthens connections. Finally, our photo story is the prime example of the theme of this issue: ‘Rebuilding Evanston’ down Central Street and beyond.

The issue concludes with a hand extended across the political aisle, as Hangover pens a poetic offering of peace. Throughout it all, this magazine finds community in the places you might not know to look.

We would be remiss to center this issue around community without mentioning the tragic loss of Britney Perez. From supporting Northwestern Athletics as a basketball student manager to helping undocumented students seek support, Britney actively made campus a brighter place every day. In these pages, you will find just a few of the many ways she touched the lives of people around her, and we hope these stories honor her legacy.

As you follow the stripes across this issue, our very own nod to Central Street, I hope you enjoy the stories of Northwestern’s community in all its forms.

BY

BY

PHOTO

SAMMI LI

PHOTO

JESSIE CHEN

6

PREGAME

7

8

PHOTO BY MARGARITA WILLIAMS

10

Breaking the ice TL;DR Lights up

11 Anushka eats

We’re kind of a big deal…

HAnushka eats

Recommendations from Northwestern’s biggest foodie.

WRITTEN BY SARAH LIN // DESIGNED BY LINDA MONTEJO-BARTOLON

ave you tried kangaroo in Australia? Grasshoppers in Vietnam? Camel in Morocco?

Anushka Agarwala has. The Communication fourth-year builds her brand by eating and reviewing foods all over the planet. Hailing from India and Singapore, Agarwala shares videos, pictures and thoughts about her dining experiences on her verified foodstagram, @anushkaeatstheworld, and her blog, anushkaeatstheworld.com. To date, she has logged over 1,200 restaurants on the food review app Beli, crowning her Northwestern’s No. 1 Beli reviewer.

Editor’s note: These interviews have been edited and condensed for clarity.

When did you begin your food content creation journey?

During my six months at home in Singapore during COVID-19, I was eating out all the time and making content about it. That’s when I shifted into the content creator phase. When I started, it was a

fun, silly thing to do on the side, because I was traveling and going out anyway. But now, as I’m graduating and thinking about what I want to do in the future, I’ve started focusing more on creating highquality content for restaurants. I go out of my way to find places and experiences that are special, rather than doing content as a byproduct of my regular life.

What is your warmest food memory?

When I was a kid, my extended family and I used to go out on a boat on the Ganges River for the Indian festival of Holi. On the boat, we would eat pani puri, which are hollow, puffed-up dough balls that you put spiced potatoes and spicy mint water in. It’s a really fun thing to eat because you’re making and eating it at the same time. My cousins and I would have competitions in who could eat the most before feeling sick.

What have you learned about yourself through this process?

One thing I’ve learned about myself is that I’m really comfortable talking to strangers and new people. My parents say it’s something I’ve always done, but I wasn’t conscious of it until I started chatting with others through food blogging. I like to talk to restaurant

hosts, wine directors, executive chefs and other people at restaurants. I eat out alone a lot for my blog, and I strike up conversations with people around me when I get invited to events. I learned I’m very comfortable in that situation, so I use it to my advantage when I’m trying to network and build my brand.

What are your plans after graduation? I’m exploring wine marketing. I’m most likely going to grad school for marketing, but I’m also getting my sommelier certification. I want to work for a big wine brand, like Moët & Chandon, but even working for a small, family-owned vineyard where you work closely with winemakers could be really interesting.

Anushka’s Evanston Favorites

Best savory: TOMO Japanese Street Food

Best sweet: Frida’s Breakfast and Lunch

Food has played a central role in creating community throughout Agarwala’s life.

COURTESY OF ANUSHKA AGARWALA

Breaking

the ice

Winter club athletes find family in the freezing cold.

WRITTEN BY GRETA CUNNINGHAM

DESIGNED BY GRACE CHANG

Weinberg third-year Michelle Lu was 5 years old when she first took to the ice. That initial lap turned into private lessons, competitions and solos at her local rink’s ice shows — until high school and COVID-19 hit.

As her schedule filled and the pandemic made it difficult to get ice time, Lu only laced up around once a week. She didn’t have plans to continue skating in college until she found Purple Line, Northwestern’s synchronized skating team, at the student organization fair her freshman year.

“I really did fall in love with it the first day,” now co-president Lu says. “The girls were all so nice, and it was a really great atmosphere where there wasn’t so much of the competitive pressure that I felt growing up between other skaters.”

For many Northwestern students, winter club sports like figure skating, hockey and skiing provide an opportunity to reconnect with their childhood passions. The time commitment is serious, but the camaraderie and range of experience create a different atmosphere than the pressures of high school sports. Between weekly practices and competition road trips, club teams become tight-knit communities that can reinvigorate students’ love for their sport.

Tyler Brown wanted to continue playing hockey, but after experiencing the intensity of his boarding school team, the Medill second-year chose not to pursue a higher collegiate level. Northwestern club hockey’s schedule allows him to spend time on the ice and still prioritize his academics.

to some of his best friends. Brown connected with two teammates on social media the summer before his freshman year and has stayed close with them ever since. Now, they’re in the same fraternity and will live in a house together next year.

is really unique and one of my favorite parts about the team,” Brown says.

practices twice a week and travels across the Midwest, playing upwards of 25 games a season. On bus rides and in between games, players cram in homework and enjoy each other’s company.

balance class work and the competition schedule. For Northwestern’s ski team, Winter Quarter is packed with six weekend race trips.

“Everyone is really committed to the sport, but they’re also really committed to academics,” says co-president and SESP fourth-year Skylar O’Brien.

Not all ski team members are competitive racers, however. The other ski team co-president, McCormick fourthyear Kayla Tillman, was an avid skier but had never raced competitively before coming to Northwestern.

“[I love] getting to enjoy the outdoors and have fun in those cold environments,”

dine out together after games. Each Purple Line skater has a “buddy” from another grade who they complete off-ice workouts with during the week. The ski team plays intramural sports together in the spring to foster a year-round connection.

“I really wanted to join a community where I could find people that love to ski and help people remember why they like to ski,” O’Brien says. “I wanted to create a community that fostered that kind of love for snow sports.”

TL;DR TL;DR

Talking long distance

relationships.

WRITTEN BY OLIVIA TEETER // DESIGNED BY DALLAS THURMAN

Northwestern students know Winter Quarter can be tough.

With its short days, gray skies and unrelenting wind chill, many people seek out warmth from their loved ones to get through the harsh cold. But between strenuous workloads and active on-campus social lives, it can be hard for personal relationships to remain a priority.

Still, students find innovative ways to maintain contact with long-distance friends, families and partners, proving that with creativity and care — and a good Wi-Fi signal — love can flourish anywhere, even in the middle of winter.

During his first quarter at Northwestern, Weinberg first-year Luke Sadalla saw how the transition to college life disrupts the familiarity of childhood friendships.

For long-term romantic relationships, this new lifestyle can also be jarring. When Medill second-year Cassie Sun first went long distance with her boyfriend Kiran Garre, the transition was “strange.”

“It was weird to go from seeing him every day, going to school with him, to only being able to communicate through phone or FaceTime,” Sun says.

Beyond romantic and platonic connections, students also struggle with distance from family.

Medill third-year Chloe Mintz says she was initially not prepared for the physical distance between her and her twin brother Zach, a current third-year at the University of Florida. Despite their best efforts, their busy schedules posed a challenge for regular communication, Chloe says, describing a several-week period in their second year where they didn’t talk to each other at all.

“I didn’t feel as close [with him], which is a really uncomfortable feeling with a twin because there’s literally no one else you will ever be closer to, no one else you’ve spent so much of your

The Mintz twins eventually adapted, sending each other songs and calling each other at midnight every year on their birthday. After three years of communicating over the phone, Chloe says their conversations have become

“It’s odd because we are closer, just in being more vulnerable with each other and what we’re sharing. There’s more substance there, like ‘I love you,’ ‘I miss

you,’ ‘You mean a lot to me,’” she says. “We do cherish the time that we are able to talk to each other more.”

The growing reliance on technology to maintain relationships is somewhat novel, and younger generations are constantly finding new ways to communicate. A report from the Journal of Social and Personal Relationships found that a higher frequency of texting, video and phone calls correlates to greater satisfaction in long-distance relationships.

Coming into college, Weinberg second-year Grace Bray already knew a thing or two about maintaining a far-away relationship. Her move from Minnesota to New Jersey in the summer before ninth grade meant leaving behind her best friend. While initially she wasn’t sure how the friendship would pan out, Bray says it eventually became “standard” for them to communicate by phone. But the two friends still run into roadblocks at times, especially when

It can be hard to relay stories to each other because “there are always so many characters I don’t know,” Bray says. However, through some careful social media research (sometimes while on FaceTime with each other), they can provide advice and commentary on each other’s lives.

Technology also helps couples spend quality time together while apart. Sun says she and her boyfriend watch Chinese dramas together over Zoom so he can learn the language and connect with Sun’s culture. Even simply texting each other updates, Sun says, offers reassurance and insight into the other person’s life.

When technology isn’t an option, like for Weinberg second-year Kenneth Stewart and his twin brother Nicholas, students are forced to get more creative. When Nicholas first entered the Air Force in September, he turned in his phone, leaving Kenneth in near-radio silence. They decided to go old school and write letters to each other, something Kenneth appreciated.

“It felt a little bit more personal and intentional,” Kenneth says. “Texting, you

“ Texting, you could just mindlessly do it, but sending a letter, you’re actually handwriting it, stamping it and sending it out.”

Kenneth Stewart Weinberg second-year

LIGHTS UP

A&O sets the stage for live entertainment.

WRITTEN AND PHOTOS BY MARGARITA WILLIAMS // DESIGNED BY SARAH JACOBS

Word travels fast on campus, and nothing gets students buzzing like a mysterious event. Sleek flyers around Northwestern, an interactive poster at the Rock, clever Instagram clues — all evidence of A&O’s ability to build hype about a complete mystery.

Founded in 1969 as an alternative to Greek life on campus, A&O Productions celebrated students’ eccentricity and elevated smaller, nonconforming artists. More than half a century later, A&O has grown into an over-100-person operation, regularly bringing big-name acts to Northwestern undergraduates free of charge.

But A&O is not only big names — in February, the Concert Committee held Benefit, an event for charity. Before crowds could pack in for the performance, organizers had to answer two crucial questions: Who would the student body know, and who would put on a great show?

“In the past, we’ve been very R&B and hip-hop focused, which is something that I definitely think appeals to a large part of the student body,” A&O co-chair and Weinberg fourth-year Sereniti Williams says. “But we’ve gotten feedback that people wish we could diversify the types of artists that we’re bringing in.”

The performers for each event are decided through a general vote; recently, the Committee has leaned more toward popular artists.

“One of the hardest parts about being on Concerts is seeing all the people we could have had,” Williams says. Her personal pick, Del Water Gap, was struck down in the general vote.

Unlike A&O’s bigger events, the winter Benefit concert has a Chicago focus. The city’s legacy as the birthplace of house music influenced Concert Committee cochair and Medill fourth-year Eva Putnam.

“I think that the city doesn’t get enough love for the musical acts it creates,” Putnam says. “I was inspired by Boiler Room.”

Repopularized in 2022 by DJ Fred again.., Boiler Room sets take place in confined spaces, packed with people dancing to electronic mixes.

Putnam followed this thread to Instagram, where she found DJ Anastazja. Although the Committee usually reaches out to talent agencies for artist recommendations, Putnam’s organic discovery seemed like fate. Within days, DJ Anastazja signed on as the headliner.

Evanston SPACE, a local concert venue, hosts Benefit annually. The small space was perfect for a Boiler Roomstyle set; attendees danced alongside performers under colorful strobe lights.

The new genre and niche headliner came with a new marketing strategy: advertise the event theme and obscure the artist to create intrigue. Putnam hopes to see more concerts embrace innovative ideas, especially after Benefit’s payoff.

“The Benefit this year was definitely a risk, it was not something we’ve done before [or] something we normally do,” Putnam says. “But we’ve never sold out Benefit before [either].”

DJ Anastazja headlined the A&O Productions Benefit, “The Icebox,” on Feb 6, 2025.

Bienen fourth-year Lucy Rubinstein, known as r00bies4ever, opened for “The Icebox.”

As seen on Season 3 of The Bear. Can we get Jeremy Allen White to visit campus next time, please?

And yet Smino came back to perform for us…

BIG DEAL... We’re kind of a

Every time this T-6 institution made its way to mainstream media.

PREGAME EDITORS GRACE CHANG

Princess Diana’s most iconic fashion statement? And yes, that’s including the

Mean Girls is set in Evanston, of course, and Aaron Samuels attends Northwestern at the end of the movie (but we’re not quite sure how).

Andy Sachs from The Devil Wears

is proof that even editors-in-chief at The Daily Northwestern have to beg for jobs in the industry.

Prada

The crying kid ended up going to Harvard. Traitor.

Somebody get Joey Tribbiani an honorary degree!

See also: NBN Spring 2024

We know The Douche from Parks and Recreation was a WNUR regular.

DANCE FLOOR

PHOTO BY JESSIE CHEN

Joy in every Joy in every

Student orchestra members find harmony between their studies and their music.

WRITTEN BY DESIREE LOU // DESIGNED BY LINDA MONTEJO-BARTOLON // PHOTOS BY JESSIE CHEN

On Mondays and Wednesdays, students carry instrument cases to dinner at Norris University Center. They have just come from practice for Philharmonia, Northwestern’s symphony orchestra for non-music majors.

Philharmonia hosts rehearsals twice a week through the whole quarter that culminate in showcases at the end of Fall and Winter Quarter. Most of this quarter’s preparation for the concert on March 9 focused on the famous “Symphony No. 5” by Ludwig van Beethoven.

For the first half of each rehearsal in the Pick-Staiger rehearsal room, 132 students drill various spots in the 40-minute piece under conductor and Orchestral Conducting graduate student Diego Hernandez’s guidance.

The only sounds during breaks in playing are the rustling of pages turning and the twang of bows adjusting, with intermittent feedback from Hernandez.

After several rounds of the same section, Hernandez announces they will move to the piece’s third movement. He keeps his eye on the clock; rehearsals last just 75 minutes.

Weinberg third-year and principal bassist Benjamin Auby says Philharmonia’s low commitment makes it manageable with his rigorous course load as a Computer Science and Math double major.

Sometimes, Auby practices between classes, which he treats as his breaks from academics. The same goes for rehearsals.

“I always come out of Philharmonia in a better mood than when I went in,” he says.

Auby played bass in his high school orchestra and joined Philharmonia at the start of his freshman year. Like Auby, many Philharmonia members played for their high school orchestras but do not study music at Northwestern.

McCormick first-year Jillian Tabak joined the orchestra this fall as a violist. She began playing her freshman year of high school.

Even though Tabak started playing later than some other members, she says the ensemble welcomes all musicians. Because Philharmonia is so large, players don’t dwell on individual mistakes.

“Everyone’s there to accomplish the same goal, to make music,” Tabak says. “It doesn’t really matter how old you are, how much experience you have.”

Nowadays, students pack rows of chairs on the Pick-Staiger stage. That wasn’t always the case.

Former Bienen professor Robert Hasty conducted Philharmonia for 23 years. It had about 70 members when he took over the orchestra in the fall of 2000. After the COVID-19 pandemic, that number doubled to over 120.

“My non-scientific response is simply joy,” Hasty says. “People wanted joy back as soon as possible.”

By the time he left Northwestern in 2023, membership had increased to 135. The variety of instruments had expanded beyond strings and woodwinds. Gone were the days of recruiting Bienen bassoon players.

Until a decade ago, Philharmonia included Evanston residents, a math department faculty member and a graduate student’s wife.

Philharmonia students take a break from studies to come together for rehearsal.

“I did my best to make sure as many people could be in it as possible, almost to a fault,” Hasty says.

Even for students with performancebased majors, Philharmonia offers new outlets for expression. Communication second-year Zakariah Massoud narrated “Carmen” by Georges Bizet during the concert at the end of Fall Quarter last year.

Massoud has acted in plays and musicals and started playing violin at age 8 but prior to that concert, he had never narrated for an orchestra.

“Seeing how my narration of the story elevated everyone’s understanding of the music … was really cool,” Massoud says. “It perfectly combined two things that I love.”

Weinberg third-year and violinist Eden Crumbly also played in youth orchestras nearly all her life. In fact, she grew up around musicians. Her mother teaches piano, her younger brother plays the cello and her two younger sisters play the violin.

“And my dad plays the radio,” Crumbly says. “That’s what he always likes to say.”

Crumbly joined Philharmonia and became concertmaster Fall Quarter last year, when she transferred to Northwestern. As concertmaster, she was the principal violinist and the orchestra’s second-in-command.

The academic transition from high school to Northwestern was difficult. In Philharmonia, she found a familiar environment that helped her adjust.

“It’s a ton of people not talking to each other, but communicating in a way that you don’t really need words for,” Crumbly says.

Weinberg second-year Isaac Lageschulte was concertmaster Winter Quarter last year, following Crumbly. After watching Crumbly lead the ensemble, he realized how much the orchestra relied on energy from the concertmaster and conductor.

From Crumbly, he learned to maintain his composure as concertmaster, even when he was unfamiliar with a piece or the orchestra did not sound its best. He also learned not to overthink.

“Sometimes it feels different sitting first chair,” he says. “You’ve got to remind yourself that it’s the same exact notes.”

Bienen graduate student Jalen Dobson works as Philharmonia’s personnel manager. He played the trumpet in other ensembles and understands the challenge of gauging necessary practice for a concert.

“There is a certain element of ‘It comes together last minute’ to every ensemble that I’ve ever been a part of,” Dobson says.

Even though Philharmonia requires less commitment than other musical ensembles on campus, Dobson says the atmosphere makes improvement easy.

“You’re still going to be able to get better even if you’re only dedicating just a little bit of time, simply because you’re playing with other people,” he says. “That makes it a little more fun than trying to play music by yourself.”

Christopher Nowak has played viola in Philharmonia throughout his entire time at Northwestern except Winter Quarter this year. The Chemistry graduate student currently plays in the primarily Bienen Northwestern Chamber Orchestra. Low on viola players, the Chamber invited several from Philharmonia.

It’s a ton of people not talking to each other but communicating in a way that you don’t really need words for. “ ” Eden

Nowak says many graduate students can fall into a monotonous routine. The graduate curriculum centers around one subject as opposed to the variety in undergraduate coursework. Rehearsals offer him a respite from work.

“Music is not just the extra thing that people do but a fundamental need for humans,” Nowak says.

This need is what brings many students to Philharmonia — and what makes the ensemble so special, Hasty says. Players aren’t there for a credit or a grade, they’re there to make music with their friends.

“There’s nothing like standing on a podium when everybody there elects to be there,” Hasty says.

Crumbly Weinberg third-year

Strings players find community and harmony through music.

Studies in Swahili

Northwestern’s only African language course immerses students in communication and culture.

WRITTEN BY NATALIE ROOTS-NOWAKOWSKI // DESIGNED BY CLAIRE BOMA // PHOTOS BY SAMMI LI

You already know Swahili.

Jambo, chai, safari, simba, hakuna matata, jenga — these are phrases in Swahili, a Bantu language spoken widely in East Africa. It’s also Northwestern’s only African language program.

While other universities struggle to maintain their numbers in Swahili courses, Swahili professor Peter Mwangi says, Northwestern’s elementary-level sections and second-year sequence consistently reach their 15-student maximum. Northwestern’s program thrives because it is more than just a language class; it offers an immersive slice of East Africa.

Mwangi, Northwestern’s only Swahili professor, believes the unity of language and

culture is critical to achieving what he calls “intercultural competence for the 21stcentury realities.”

Swahili is the most popular African language program in Western universities, offered by over 100 higher education institutions in the United States. Northwestern’s Swahili program was up and running by the early 1990s, thanks to the Department of Education. It operates under the first federally-funded Program of African Studies, founded in 1948.

Northwestern is also home to the Melville J. Herskovits Library, housing 3,187 Swahili items, the largest collection in the world. According to the exhibit’s website, it uses videos, books and posters to “give a sense of the number and range of languages spoken in and across Africa … and the ideas and histories [that] languages hold within them.”

Medill first-year Brielle Lowry took Swahili to fulfill her language requirement. She left her first class raving,

looking forward to gaining a skill that is rare among American students.

“I’ve never heard of [Swahili] being a language taught in schools, especially Western schools,” Lowry says.

Every Swahili course features relevant storybook readings, singing sessions and role-plays of life in East Africa. McCormick first-year Joelle Bikoba grew up speaking Swahili in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. With no language requirement, Bikoba is taking Swahili to communicate with her family and connect with her heritage.

“That, to me, is way more important than what learning a language for a career would give me,” Bikoba says.

Unlike Bikoba’s previous language classes, she says Northwestern’s Swahili program exposes students to a new culture. Fulbright Scholar, cultural ambassador and foreign language teaching assistant Staicy Okech says learning Swahili is an active cultural exchange.

“As you learn from them, they also learn from you,” Okech says.

The Swahili program adapts to students’ interests. Plant Biology and Conservation graduate student Evana James is taking Swahili to communicate with local collaborators while researching in Tanzania. Mwangi readily responds to her inquiries about colloquial terms in their sessions.

James believes learning turns of phrase brings a “cultural spice” to conversation and hopes to build meaningful relationships with the Tanzanian community. Northwestern’s Swahili program ensures “you build your language repertoire based on the cultural things you’re interested in,” James says.

Swahili majority

Learning doesn’t stop in the classroom. Weinberg first-year Jacqueline Caglar took Swahili to complement her interest in Chinese and East African relations. Now, she’s applying for the FulbrightHays scholarship — an 8-week intensive immersion program in Kenya. Caglar says Mwangi’s enthusiasm for the language motivated her to take the leap.

Swahili minority

“If he trusts me enough to go to Kenya by myself, learn the language, and he thinks that I’m a good fit for this program … then I’m going to trust his judgment,” Caglar says.

Mwangi is optimistic that more students will take advantage of scholarship opportunities and use their knowledge in the real world.

The Swahili program constantly opens new opportunities for student engagement. At weekly language tables, students and guests of all levels gather to converse in Swahili, eat samosas, drink chai and learn something new about East African culture. Weinberg fourth-year Edwin Pokisa is a native Swahili speaker from Kenya and volunteers weekly to help newer students at the table.

“It gives a sense of belonging and a sense of pride knowing that your language is being taught, or you get to share your culture with other students,” Pokisa says.

Mwangi says that through opportunities like chatting at the language table, attending the African Student Organization’s annual Jabulani Culture Show and going on field trips to predominantly Swahili-speaking churches, students connect the language to their local communities.

Caglar recently co-founded Swahili Club, which offers students an

opportunity to celebrate East African culture outside the classroom through movies, songs and food.

She says the club is an opportunity “to get to know your fellow Swahili classmates more, aside from just the language tables and also practice your Swahili skills more in-depth.”

Many students use Swahili to meet the requirements of the African Studies major or minor. To compete with increasing Soviet investment in African Studies leading up to the Cold War, the U.S. Department of Education poured funding into universities to start offering these degree programs.

Former Director of the Program of African Studies and current Political Science Chair Will Reno says Northwestern’s reputation as a research university in the 1990s essentially required them to add an African language program. Reno says Swahili was chosen because many Africans learn it as a second language, widening the scope of its utility. It’s currently spoken by more than 200 million people worldwide.

Knowing Swahili enables new connections with native speakers. After years of research in Africa, Reno noticed people are less willing to share when speaking in a colonizing language.

“It’s not sufficient to just have European languages that Africans happen to speak,” Reno says.

As interest in Northwestern’s program grow, students are looking for more African language offerings.

“We only have one language from a big continent that speaks so many diverse languages,” Bikoba says.

Okech highlights the educational and cultural potential of teaching other African languages, like Yoruba, Wolof and Zulu. Still, funding is limited, and Reno says the administration needs money and interest to make the investment.

Whether or not more African languages are added to the program’s slate, offering Swahili opens doors at Northwestern and beyond. Students are “better positioned to deal with the globalized world through Swahili instruction,” Professor Mwangi says.

After coming to the U.S. to learn about its diverse heritages, Okech praises Northwestern’s commitment to sharing culture through language. She promises students that when they take Swahili at Northwestern and engage with the community, “they’re not going to leave empty-handed.”

Students watch the Tanzanian film “Chumo,” a love story sponsored by USAID to raise awareness for malaria prevention.

Weekly Swahili language tables include food, drink, entertainment and conversation among students of all levels.

Northwestern’s

global gateway

The Buffett Institute for Global Affairs aims to involve undergraduates in international conversations.

WRITTEN BY DAVID SUN // DESIGNED BY LAURA HORNE

Baku, Azerbaijan, was the furthest Talia Ginsberg had ever been from home. After 26 hours of travel, the Weinberg fourth-year arrived at the annual United Nations Climate Change Conference. Walking up and down the rows of booths sponsored by countries, coalitions and interest groups, Ginsberg was struck by how unified the world could be.

Ginsberg was there thanks to Northwestern’s Buffett Institute for Global Affairs, which connects the campus community to international research, teaching and travel opportunities. The Institute brought undergraduate students to the UN conference this past fall. This was one part of Buffett’s effort under director Deborah Cohen to expand its presence on campus for undergraduates.

“We want to become an important part of the undergraduate experience,” says Samantha Nissen, Director of Strategic Initiatives and Undergraduate Programs.

COURTESY OF BUFFETT INSTITUTE FOR GLOBAL AFFAIRS

“Our philosophy is, no matter what your major is, you have the opportunity to engage in global work.”

The Buffett Institute was created in 2015 with an endowment by alumna Roberta Buffett Elliott, a longtime supporter of international studies at Northwestern. The Institute seeks to advance global research and teaching.

Last fall, the Buffett Institute moved from off-campus offices to a temporary office at 720 University Place, near Lutkin Hall. Nissen describes this move as the first step in being a bigger part of student lives. This building will serve as Buffett’s home until the completion of the Jacobs Center in late 2026.

Buffett’s second-floor reading room and basement lounges are “wonderful opportunities for gathering and informal meetings between students,” Cohen says.

Buffett emphasizes undergraduate involvement in global affairs through quarterly symposiums and events. In the fall, the Institute hosted an event centered around global abortion access, inviting lawyers, activists and academics to speak. Buffett is currently running a yearlong initiative on international diplomacy that includes speaker sessions, panels on specific issues and workshops for undergraduates.

“I hope we can create a welcoming space where everyone wants to be a part of these conversations to create a better world,” Nissen says.

This spring, Buffett will host a two-day symposium on peacemaking, bringing together diplomats, negotiators and academics to examine peace processes in recent decades and how they can be applied to ongoing conflicts. A month later, they will run an interactive peace conference simulation for

undergraduates, led by Danielle Gilbert, assistant professor of political science.

“I hope students can see how delicate these deals can be,” Gilbert says. “It requires a lot of very careful work to bring a range of people with very different interests on board with something that satisfies everybody.”

This event, like many of Buffett’s programs, allows students to play an active role in international diplomacy and research. The Institute also offers undergraduate research opportunities, coursework and an international senior thesis grant of up to $6,000 for eight weeks of independent research.

“We want to serve as a connective institute that brings together Northwestern’s 12 undergraduate and graduate schools, tackling topics from the environment to AI to peacemaking,” Cohen says.

The Buffett Undergraduate Research Fellowship Program awards yearly grants for faculty to hire undergraduate research assistants. This program began last year with 32 undergraduate research assistants working on 21 faculty projects across all six of Northwestern’s undergraduate schools.

Weinberg second-year Ady Lam is working with assistant professor Oscar Stuhler in the Sociology department. Her project explores the temporality and geography of climate change in U.S. news from 2000 to 2021.

Lam says the Buffett Institute provided her with a great opportunity to do research that has tangible effects.

Through the fellowship program, McCormick third-year Evan BertisSample is currently working with RTVF professor Ozge Samanci to make computer graphics.

Director Deborah Cohen speaks at a Buffett symposium on reproductive rights.

“We’re building interactive art exhibits to spread awareness about climate change and microplastics,” Bertis-Sample says. “We’re trying to make a statement that [humanity] has reached a point of no return.”

Like Lam, Ginsberg has also worked on environmental research. She studied linguistic representations of water at the UN conference, cataloging an inventory of how people were talking about the natural resource — whether it was for energy production, human need or infrastructure. Her trip was fully funded by the Buffett Institute.

“It would have been eons more difficult to go to that event without Buffett’s support,” Ginsberg says.

McCormick third-year Kevin Zhang also traveled with Buffett. Last September, Zhang visited Sweden to learn more about how European countries are advancing hydrogen-based economies — nations where hydrogen replaces traditional fossil fuels in sectors like transportation, power generation and industry.

Zhang’s research is looking to bring some of these advancements back to the Midwest, enabling decarbonization through strategic hydrogen use in various industries, including steel and glass-making. With the help of Zhang’s research, strategic hydrogen usage in the Midwest may reduce carbon emissions by around 3.9 million metric tons per year.

This hands-on learning can often shape students’ future aspirations.

“This experience opened my eyes,” Ginsberg says. “I feel like I have a renewed hope in international governance, and

it makes me want to work in climate resilience in the future.”

The Buffett Institute has introduced new opportunities to get students involved in global affairs and build an international community. The Chai and Chats program offers an informal space for international students receiving financial support to get to know each other. The Institute launched the Elliott Scholars program this year, where a select group of undergraduates have enrolled in a two-quarter sequence on international development, followed by a fully-funded summer internship abroad.

Buffett has also begun creating undergraduate focus groups to help plan next year’s initiatives.

“We want to make sure that we are hearing from students about what would be valuable to them,” Nissen says.

At the Buffett Institute, students are active global citizens. The Institute hopes to be a space that fosters creativity and interdisciplinary ideas, where no problem is too big to tackle.

“Roberta Buffett said that she wanted to change people’s minds when she made her donation,” Cohen says. “We want to show [students] all of the different ways in which your work can make a difference.”

Upcoming events

April 3-4

Buffett Spring Symposium on Peacemaking

April 17

Buffett Conversation with Liane Huttner

May 1

Elliott Speaker Series: Vijayendra Rao

May 21

Buffett Book Talk: Heaven Has a Wall

Buffett hosts event for undergraduates that span from environmental policy to international law.

COURTESY OF BUFFETT INSTITUTE FOR GLOBAL AFFAIRS

The institute brings together leaders across a variety of fields to discuss the most pressing issues of the age.

COURTESY OF BUFFETT INSTITUTE FOR GLOBAL AFFAIRS

Navigating n e u rodivergence

Northwestern students find community and opportunities for advocacy.

WRITTEN BY ILIANA GARNER // DESIGNED BY JESSICA CHEN

Idragged my pencil across the paper in a swirl, the fluorescent lights of the cramped room illuminating my work. It must have been my 20th snail drawing, interspersed with periods of intensive IQ tests and tiring conversations.

The psychologist I had been working with for the past three hours came back into the room, manila folder in hand. I started on another snail: this time, the cone-shaped shell of the Achatinella apexfulva (a tree snail found on O’ahu before its extinction). Next came a pair of eyestalks and a muscular foot, which it uses to crawl from place to place.

As the woman sitting across from me explained the instructions for yet another task, I finished my 21st snail.

A few months later, I received a letter in the mail confirming what I already knew: I had autism.

After learning of my diagnosis during the spring of my second year at

Northwestern, my sense of self clarified. Suddenly, my difficulty making friends and understanding my professors’ vague instructions made sense.

It’s estimated that between 10 and 30% of students in higher education are neurodivergent. Neurodivergence refers to a range of conditions that can affect the way people process information and interact with others, and can impact a student’s success in university.

McCormick third-year Edwin Mizen was given a provisional diagnosis for Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in his first year at Northwestern after struggling to keep up with the Applied Math program’s rigorous and fastpaced curriculum. His diagnosis motivated him to take action and make adjustments for himself to succeed academically.

“That knowledge is the first step in being able to do something about it,” Mizen says. Since his diagnosis, he’s

Weinberg third-year Erica Cao, who was diagnosed with ADHD in her first year at Northwestern, finds the quarter system challenging.

“Having so many assignments all the time puts a lot of stress on you to multitask every day,” Cao says.

Often it’s not the content that she struggles with, but the “hidden curriculum,” a collection of unstated discipline and timemanagement skills students need to have to thrive in higher education.

“[The higher education system] is built to be so chaotic and so hard to manage that it forces you to be able to learn those skills,” Cao says. “I think that it wasn’t built for neurodivergent people.”

Amelia-Marie Altstadt, a Disability Studies graduate student at the University of Illinois Chicago, says the hidden curriculum can also inform the way students succeed socially in university.

“It depends on the neurodivergent student, but a lot of those social interactions are part of the hidden curriculum of navigating college landscapes and navigating friendships,” they say. “If it’s not explicitly taught, then you run into those consequences over and over again.”

Mizen says the challenge of

At the age of 3, Zimmerman was diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), which makes her sensitive to sound and touch.

Still, she doesn’t regret living at Bobb-McCulloch Hall despite its reputation for late-night noise and the occasional bathroom flooding. She says she wants to see the University create more spaces for people with neurodiversity.

“I would love to see more university events talking about [neurodivergence],” she says. “However, it’s often not encompassed when you think about diversity because it’s not a physical trait.”

Cao has found success in building connections with other neurodivergent students and wants to start a club where neurodivergent students can connect through crafts.

“We could all come together and learn different crafts, but also be able to enjoy the space as people of a marginalized identity,” Cao says. She explains that while neurodivergence isn’t outwardly visible, it definitely impacts daily life.

Altstadt facilitates the Chicago Coalition for Autistic and Neurodivergent

to see the joy in the world around me.

As I sat down to conclude this story, I stared at the blank wall in front of me. I got up and gained the courage to read my autism diagnosis all the way through for the first time. I flipped through pages detailing my aversion to eye contact and repetitive behaviors before I landed on the final paragraph.

“Iliana has a number of strengths. She is a bright, determined and principled young woman with strong intellectual curiosity, creativity and a sense of justice. It would be beneficial for her to learn more about her diagnosis of ASD.”

I tucked the document neatly into a wooden frame I’d been holding onto and hung my diagnosis on the wall in front of me.

An inside look at the world of Northwestern’s teaching assistants.

WRITTEN BY JAHNVI SAMPAT AND MAYA MUKHERJEE // DESIGNED BY ALLISON KIM

Professors may take the stage in Northwestern’s lecture-based courses, but it is the professors-in-training who often make up the bulk of students’ course interactions. As the first point of contact in bigger classes, teaching assistants (TAs) lead discussion sections, grade papers and hold office hours. The job, however, is more complicated than meets the eye.

“We’re students on one hand, and we’re learning, especially when we’re in coursework for the first two years,” says Gabriel Ben-Jacob, a History graduate student. “But then also we’re teaching, so we’re also workers for the University.”

TAs are meant to learn from the professors they work with, but often teach classes in specialties different from their own. They must use their judgment when grading but also standardize with other TAs and professor expectations. Additionally, they must handle the bureaucratic aspects of the course but also remain accessible resources for their students. These parallel obligations mean TAs live in a gray area; they make the role simultaneously rewarding and challenging.

By choosing to pursue a Ph.D. or master’s degree, graduate students are in the process of becoming experts in their chosen fields. Their roles as TAs, however, sometimes force them to branch out.

This winter, History graduate student Anastasiya Novatorskaya is assisting professor Jeff Eden in his “History of Russia, 1991-Present: After Communism” class. The subject aligns with her research on gender in modern nationalist European regimes, but teaching within her area of expertise is more the exception than the rule.

“I study mainly 20th-century modern European history,” she says. “I’ve done early modern European history and early modern global history, which are vastly different. So in that respect, I’m learning along with the students.”

In the spring, Novatorskaya will TA the course “Pirates, Guns, and Empires,” taught by History professor Scott Sowerby.

“I don’t know a whole lot about pirates,” she says. “So it’s going to be me taking the readings, coming in along with the students, and learning, and applying this historical methodology to the text to help draw out the nuance and help them understand it better.”

She says preparing for that course will take more time, but she can still effectively generate questions for her discussion sections because her role is to teach them to think like a historian — a skill that transcends content.

Novatorskaya explains that in the History department, TAs work with as many professors as possible. The goal is to expose them to various teaching styles, an experience she sees as a valuable opportunity to learn about different fields and observe how professors tackle sources and arguments.

Not all specialties have the option to rotate TAs as much as the History department does. When “Introduction to Hinduism” professor Mark McClish first arrived at Northwestern in 2015, he says no graduate students were studying Hinduism. These days there are two, and they have both served as his TAs.

“My relationship with them as my students and their advisor, and as scholars of Hinduism is very different than with

“When you first start out, you tend to be harsh. As you teach more and more, you tend to understand that undergraduate standards are not the same as graduate standards — you need to recalibrate your approach.

Anastasiya Novatorskaya History graduate student

graduate students that have been assigned to my class, who are specialists in other areas,” McClish says.

Ben-Jacob points out that having an established relationship with the professor can be beneficial. In the first class he TA’d for, the professor was BenJacob’s own doctoral advisor, with whom he’d already worked extensively.

“My advisor was more comfortable with me to give me stronger feedback,” he says. “Because we were already in the type of relationship where she is giving me advice all the time, she has an interest in my performance as an academic and as an educator.”

Teaching under a variety of professors means TAs must adapt to a variety of teaching styles, grading standards and levels of oversight, which can also present a challenge — or an opportunity.

Some professors dictate how many A’s a TA can give out, or have TAs compare samples of an A paper, a B paper and a C paper and check them for consistency. Novatorskaya says these guidelines can be helpful, especially for newer TAs who haven’t adapted to grading standards.

“When you first start out, you tend to be harsh,” she says. “As you teach more and more, you tend to understand that undergraduate standards are not the same as graduate standards — you need to recalibrate your approach.”

Smaller classes with only one TA, like the one Novatorskaya is teaching right now, don’t require as much grading regularity. When there are two or more TAs for one lecture, the problem of standardization arises.

To address this, professors meet with their TAs and review the grading process. In one class, Ben-Jacob says he would grade several papers and submit them to the professor for feedback. As a team, they would reach a consensus or he would implement changes the professor suggested, controlling for regularity across the other TAs’ and the professor’s grading.

Professors also differ in how much autonomy they give TAs when it comes to leading discussion sections.

“Sometimes, professors will want to meet more and discuss lesson planning more than others,” BenJacob says. “Some are more laissez-faire, and they’ll give teaching assistants a lot of authority to do what they will in class.”

Playing the role of middleman in between professors and students can also be frustrating. Ben-Jacob says he has to deal with lots of questions that could be avoided if students just read the syllabus.

“You’ll get emails from students about their excuses for not coming to class or their notifications that they’ll be absent, and often their excuses are either flimsy or super

last-minute or too detailed,” Ben-Jacob says. “That bureaucratic, administrative stuff is the biggest hassle.”

Ultimately, TAs are in the business for a reason. Though grading can be tedious, it can be especially rewarding for TAs to see students’ effort — and their own — pay off. Novatorskaya says she loves learning from her students as well. Sometimes, they come to her with information she didn’t know and she ends up doing a deep dive into a new topic.

“It’s fun to be at the caliber of a Northwestern student who is just really well-read, engaged and has good broad intellectual horsepower,” Novatorskaya says. “It’s a very rewarding experience that I get to be around such brilliant people.”

With the

ASSIST

Behind the scenes with basketball student managers.

WRITTEN BY MARIANA BERMUDEZ // DESIGNED BY LAURA HORNE

In loving memory of Britney Perez. This story was reported in January, before Britney’s passing in February. With permission from her family, NBN wanted to print this piece to recognize her dedication to and impact on the Northwestern community. We are deeply saddened by this loss and hope this story can contribute to commemorating her bright spirit and lasting legacy.

The shot clock wound down in WelshRyan Arena. In seconds, Northwestern men’s basketball would pull off a second consecutive upset against thenNo. 1 Purdue. One moment, Medill secondyear Kishan Malhotra mopped sweat from the court. The next, the buzzer went off and a storm of people ran to surround Northwestern’s players, trapping him in an electrified crowd.

Wrapped up in the team’s success, Malhotra couldn’t help but smile. Standing in the mass of excited students, he knew he had made the right choice in becoming a men’s basketball student manager.

“My heart was racing, and it was such a close game,” Malhotra says. “The team was so excited they had beat the number one team in the country.”

When students attend a men’s or women’s basketball game, they might overlook the team behind the studentathletes. In addition to the coaching staff, student managers play a crucial role in training and preparing athletes for the game.

There are over 20 multi-skilled and passionate student managers who aid Northwestern men’s and women’s basketball teams. While their responsibilities differ from practice to game day shifts, student managers assist with a bit of everything. They help run practice drills, pass out basketballs and keep time on the clock; organize and edit videos of the players; prep water bottles and pass out towels; and even load and unload buses with

equipment when traveling to away games. Each manager has a unique schedule, and commitments vary from two or three-hour afternoon practices to five to 10-hour game day shifts.

“We’re our own little community,” SESP second-year and women’s basketball student manager Britney Perez says. “No one else will understand what we do.”

Student managers undergo a quick transformation from cheering in the stands to sitting courtside with the coaching staff and team. Beyond the uniform of slacks and purple Northwestern gear, the job of a student manager is more than what meets the eye.

Why basketball?Northwestern

Malhotra and Perez both came to Northwestern with previous experience working in athletics.

While in high school, Malhotra knew he wanted to pursue a career related to the sports industry. During his junior and senior

PHOTO BY PIERSON STRANDQUIST

years, he worked as a team attendant for the Maine Celtics, the G League affiliate team for the Boston Celtics. Even in high school, he started thinking about finding a way to work with the Northwestern men’s basketball team.

“I’ve always wanted to work in sports,” Malhotra says. “Being here and seeing the firsthand operations day in and day out, and being a part of it, is a dream I’ve always had.”

Perez followed a similar path throughout high school. She played basketball during her freshman year and stayed close to the sport as a manager for the women’s and men’s junior varsity and varsity teams as an upperclassman.

Being a manager for Northwestern’s women’s team has allowed her to experience the University’s athletic culture more personally. Clocking in her first few days, she saw the life of a student athlete up close, familiarizing herself with their routines.

“It’s like getting to know a whole new part of Northwestern,” Perez says. “It really answered a lot of questions for me

in the sense of ‘Oh, why do the players eat separately?’ or ‘Why do they have other academic advisors?’”

Through her role, Perez has learned the keys to a successful basketball team. From catered food for game days to homemade Pop-Tarts, mealtimes are an essential part of the job. And, to stay on track with academics, athletes work with special advisers and enroll in classes early. The best part? Student managers enjoy these perks, too.

“Being [on the court] and seeing the firsthand operations ... is a dream I’ve always had.”

Kishan Malhotra Medill second-year

Both Malhotra and Perez are in their second years as student managers, so they have adjusted to the role. Medill firstyear Mintesinot Sturm and Weinberg first-year Jessica Webber are in their first seasons with women’s basketball. For them, the problem wasn’t fitting the job into their schedule, but fully integrating with the team.

“It’s a little intimidating, being on the sidelines, not really sure what to do — and all the players are super tall,” Webber says. “After a couple practices, you get the hang of it.”

Tip off time

Basketball stars aren’t the only ones who play overtime.

Perez says game day shifts depend on the time of the game. If a game is at 7 p.m., student managers arrive at Welsh-Ryan

Becoming a student manager gives these students an inside look at the world of Northwestern athletics.

PHOTO BY PIERSON STRANDQUIST

PHOTO BY PIERSON STRANDQUIST

PHOTO BY PIERSON STRANDQUIST

Arena around 1 or 2 p.m. and leave around 11 p.m.

From the stands, fellow students can see managers sitting in the second row of seats on the sideline, right behind the players. When full timeouts are called, they unfold chairs and hand cups of water and Gatorade to players who are subbed out. But Sturm says there is a lot more to it, especially before the clock starts.

“People get to the court and everything is set up. The ball racks are out, the towels are out, all the cones are out,” Sturm says. “That doesn’t just happen magically.”

In preparation for a game, student managers arrive 30 minutes before the team’s shootaround. During shootaround, they rebound basketballs and pass them back to the players. Next, a much-needed meal break for players and managers alike. Ninety minutes before tip-off, players get back on the court to warm up; managers rebound balls and wipe the floor. After the game, student managers

set up the postgame meal in the locker room and clean up afterwards.

Malhotra says a major difference between working a practice and working a game is the excitement and energy all the managers put in. He says he doesn’t feel the effect of the long shifts because, in the moment, all he can do is enjoy himself.

“The music is always blaring, always going,” Malhotra says. “The crowd is getting into it, and we’re just out there enjoying the game experience and helping out in whatever we can.”

When games go into overtime, the atmosphere only doubles. Webber says the close games are the ones that get everyone standing and cheering on the stands and on the staff.

Beyond the uniform

At the end of the day, student managers know the importance of getting the job done while still having time to chat and relax. Working this job has improved their diligence and motivation, and they have made friendships with other managers they say they otherwise would not have.

“It’s nice knowing you have a sense of community with your managers,” Webber says. “Getting to know them better and hear about their different backgrounds.”

COURTESY OF NORTHWESTERN ATHLETICS Britney

“It really feels like they’re my team. I’m very Northwestern proud.”

Between

COURTESY OF NORTHWESTERN ATHLETICS

the effort they put into being the best team possible.

Student managers value the small details and interactions with players and coaches, from having head coaches Chris Collins and Joe McKeown know their names to participating in drills during practice shifts.

Perez fondly remembers exchanging letters with the women’s basketball players at the end of the 2023-24 season and the annual postseason managers dinner. She says interacting with players on a near-daily basis and seeing their effort come together on the court has cultivated a feeling of pride she didn’t have before.

At first, Webber says she often found herself intently watching the games. Now, she tries to put the players first and focus on tasks that need to be done. Similarly, Sturm tries his best to differentiate the side of him that is a fan and the side that is an employee. He says being a student manager has given him the opportunity to grow with the players and appreciate

“It really feels like they’re my team. I’m very Northwestern proud,” Perez says. “I know their names; I see them practice every day. It’s definitely a different feeling.”

Malhotra says despite being officially on the clock during games, he maintains his fan mentality. After all, purple is his favorite color.

“At the end of the day, all of us are fans,” Malhotra says. “Wherever we are, we’re cheering on the team.”

Student managers help run drills for the men’s and women’s basketball teams.

the long game shifts and shared love of the team, student managers form their own tightknit community.

Post-election blues

How first-time Democratic voters are grappling with a red win.

WRITTEN BY ELEANOR BERGSTEIN // DESIGNED BY DALLAS THURMAN // PHOTOS BY MAYA MUKHERJEE

On a cold November Wednesday morning, Weinberg first-year Gina Cervantes was slowly pulled out of sleep by the familiar sounds of her suitemates getting ready. Her alarm wasn’t set to go off for another hour, so she tried to let herself drift back asleep with the soft murmur of their voices in the background.

But one sentence jolted her awake: “I just can’t believe he won.”

This was how Cervantes found out Donald Trump had been re-elected to the presidency. She felt chills run down her spine and broke into a cold sweat. She pulled her blanket up over her face in disbelief, wondering if this could really be true. Upon establishing it was, her next thought was; “OK. Now it’s time to get to work.”

Cervantes and many other young Democratic voters experienced mixed reactions to the results of the presidential election, ranging from dejection to motivation. Young Americans who voted in their first presidential election last November are navigating uncharted territory, making sense of what the results mean for the country and their personal lives.

Several trends in American politics may help explain the diversity in the response of young voters, says Laurel Harbridge-Yong, professor of political science and associate director at Northwestern’s Institute for Policy Research. She says a rise in affective polarization — dislike of members of the opposing party — makes elections feel more intense for the losing party than in years past.

“The high levels of polarization, the ways in which candidates talk about the opposing party [and] talk about political opponents is very different from how politics was,”

Harbridge-Yong says. “I worry that some students in your generation see this and think that this is normal politics.”

Young voters are coming into their political consciousness alongside this rising polarization. Harbridge-Yong says first-time voters may react more strongly and unpredictably to losses than older partisans.

“For some people, it may demobilize and draw them out of politics,” Harbridge-Yong says. “For others, it may spur them into further political activity or activism.”

After campaigning for former Vice President Kamala Harris this fall, Medill second-year Kyla Brown says she initially felt shocked and dejected when Trump won.

“I was out there in the streets of Wisconsin, talking to people. I was really doing it because I thought it was making a difference,” Brown says. “And for Wisconsin to still be red after the election, I was like, ‘Oh, wow. What am I doing?’”

She says watching Harris lose struck a personal chord as a young woman of color.

“It was the epitome of the struggle of being a woman of color in this country: You can be perfect, and it’s not good enough,” Brown says. “I just remember thinking, there is nothing harder than being a woman in this country who cares.”

Brown struggled to search for hope and optimism in the weeks after the election. She says it is especially hard to watch adults in her life give in to political apathy.

“This is the point in my life where I thought I was supposed to get inspired to be active and everybody’s kind of given up,” Brown says.

“I just remember thinking, there is nothing harder than being a woman in this country who cares.”

Kyla Brown Medill second-year

As the weeks went on, Brown shifted her perspective. She focused on the fact that Harris got as far as she did. For Brown, the election has become a reminder that progress is slow, but it is more imperative than ever to commit to her values.

“As time has gone on, I think that it’s even more important for me to be studying political science, and for me to want to pursue a career, whether it be in policy or politics,” Brown says. “People are always going to need someone to advocate for them, and I want to be someone who advocates for people.”

Dr. Matthew Pryor, a visiting assistant professor of political science and founder of Northwestern’s Political Psychology Lab, says much of the reaction of young Democrats this year is in line with typical responses from the losing party of an election. He says losing parties typically go through a “postmortem” phase of analyzing what went wrong internally. Still, he was surprised by the intensity of his students’ initial reactions.

“The class the day after the election was much rougher than I thought it was going to be,” Pryor says. “I had students in tears.”

He suggests this may be due in part to the low quality of political media young people consume. Since the election, many dejected young voters have responded by reducing news or social media consumption. Brown deleted all social media except X. Cervantes says she is trying to spend less time scrolling. These actions align with a general feeling of uncertainty as young Americans ask themselves what comes next. Pryor says first-time voters may

experience more extreme emotions to the results of the election than their older Democratic counterparts.

“Older generations have experienced gut-wrenching losses, everything from the Gore election or the loss of Supreme Court nominations under Obama. And so they’re more inclined to think, ‘OK, well, let’s just be patient’,” Pryor says. “Whereas a lot of younger people react like it’s the end of the world.”

Elections may feel more pressing to younger Americans because they are not yet set in their careers and lifestyles. Before the election, Medill second-year Aidan Klineman was considering applying for internships and jobs in Washington, D.C., doing work in policy, law or as a congressional staffer. Now, he is pursuing

“Part of me is really frustrated, because [the young] age group has the most to gain and lose.”

Dr. Matthew Pryor Assistant professor of political science

other career paths where he can indirectly impact the political world.

“I am less interested in being close to actual political happenings,” Klineman says. “I definitely am interested in finding a way to apply my passion for news and politics in a way that’s not writing legislation or getting personally involved in the fight because it’s just demotivating and sad.”

Pryor says because young people will have to live with the consequences from this election the longest, the Democratic party should focus on engaging their youngest demographic.

“Part of me is really frustrated, because [the young] age group has the most to gain and lose,” Pryor says. “You’re going to to be under these constraints, whether it’s

Different student groups painted and repainted the Rock with contradictory political messaging in November.

In the days following the national election, the Rock alternated messages like “CATS 4 TRUMP” and “Only when it’s dark enough can you see the stars.”

the Supreme Court or these laws or this climate and economy and paying off debt for the rest of your entire life.”

Not all college students are paying as much attention to politics as Brown, Klineman and Cervantes, who say they are disheartened by peers who don’t see political engagement as important.

“As college students, it’s important to be tapped in,” Brown says. “You need to know what’s going on in the world that we’re about to enter, because even though [college] is a bubble, this isn’t a bubble that is going to last forever.”

While Klineman is committed to staying politically active, he understands why some young adults feel the need to decrease the amount of time they spend engaging with or thinking about politics.

“I don’t know how to reconcile it. It makes me sad that people are so accepting of this, but I also kind of understand,” Klineman says. “I mean, it’s not your fight, personally and individually.”

But for many, including Cervantes, this is a personal fight.

“My family’s from Mexico, and Donald Trump said we’re taking away birthright citizenship. My dad is still having kids,” Cervantes says. “This is something that directly affects me. When things directly affect you and the people that you know, you have a reason to fight for it.”

She hopes -those not directly impacted still feel the empathy to pay attention.

“It’s definitely disheartening because not having to worry about politics is a position of privilege,” Cervantes says.

“ This is something that directly affects me. When things directly affect you and the people that you know, you have a reason to fight for it.”

Gina Cervantes

Weinberg first-year

Despite the instinct to feel demotivated by national news, many young Democrats seem to share a resolve that the most important work lies ahead.

Attendance at weekly Northwestern College Democrats meetings has dropped since the election. But co-president and Weinberg third-year Clark Mahoney says the club will continue providing a stable community of young Democrats that can also be a base for action.

“Our immediate focus is on maintaining the community we built for Democrats,” Mahoney says. “During these next four years, it’s going to be very tough for many Democrats to see what’s going on. To have a place where every week you

talk about what’s going on in the news and how you’re feeling and your worries or your frustrations and your hopes, it’s a very critical role.”

Klineman says he will be back on the streets canvassing in four years if there are Democratic candidates he can get excited about. In the meantime, his focus is on having productive conversations with people with different opinions.

“There are little battles to be won with every conversation you have, just to get people to … think a little bit differently than they do,” Klineman says. “It can be equally as important to be a chill Democrat who’s interested in having conversations. I think that’s big for the brand.”

Harbridge-Yong, the faculty adviser to Northwestern College Democrats and Bridge NU and the former Northwestern Republicans adviser, says college campuses can be the ideal place to engage in constructive conversation across the political divide if students seek opportunities to do so.

Like Klineman, Mahoney’s fight didn’t stop in November. Despite feelings of powerlessness and despair, he hopes young Americans struggling with Trump’s re-election realize this is not the time to give up.

“It takes some effort and some determination to realize, ‘Yeah, things suck right now,’” Mahoney says. “But even if I’m not changing the world, I can still try to make it a better place.”

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SPOTLIGHT

PHOTO BY SAMMI LI

One of 28

With two National Championships under their belt, Northwestern field hockey is still fighting for recognition on campus.

WRITTEN BY ANDREW KATZ // DESIGNED BY LEILA DHAWAN

Northwestern midfielder

Maddie Zimmer sat in a hotel, trying to forget the day’s events and drown out North Carolina’s celebration.

The University had not booked the field hockey team’s ticket back to Evanston, and with no remaining flights that could fit the whole team, they were stranded. The team had just lost the 2022 National Championship and could hear the victors’ celebrations from across the hall.

“We were at the National Championship, and I felt like no one cared,” Northwestern midfielder Jordan Carr (Weinberg ‘24) says.

This past November, two years after their loss in Connecticut, the Northwestern field hockey team won the National Championship, marking the second time in four seasons that the Wildcats have won the NCAA Tournament. Since 2021, Northwestern holds an 82-13 record and has reached the tournament final each season.

Head coach Tracey Fuchs has built a powerhouse, establishing Northwestern as one of the premier field hockey programs in all of college athletics. Fuchs and her coaching staff were named the 2024 National Field Hockey Coaches Association Division I National Coaching Staff of the Year, winning it

for the second straight year and the third time in the last four seasons.

“We were at the National Championship, and I felt like no one cared.”

Jordan Carr Weinberg ‘24

‘IT JUST TAKES TIME’

The team’s success has earned them trophies and accolades and yet has not garnered the internal support and praise some of their stars hoped for.

Before their heartbreak against North Carolina and before they were two-time National Champions, the Wildcats were a team fighting to escape the middle of the pack in the Big Ten.

Zimmer, a Sports Administration graduate student, says even after Northwestern’s strong 2020 season in which they finished 12-6, she was not expecting this level of success.

“I’m really proud of what we accomplished that spring, but I don’t know if anybody could have foreseen the success we would have in the next four years,” Zimmer says.

Zimmer’s high school athletics career was cut short after she tore her ACL midway through her senior year. The

COVID-19 pandemic was “a blessing in disguise” for her recovery. The 2020 season was delayed to the spring of 2021, allowing Zimmer to fully heal before joining a star-studded recruiting class to begin her Northwestern career. That year, she earned Big Ten Freshman of the Year and First Team All-Big Ten honors.

A part of the same class, goalkeeper Annabel Skubisz did not expect to see the field her freshman year. She originally planned to redshirt, sitting out a season to maintain an extra year of eligibility, but an injury to Northwestern’s starting goalie brought Skubisz onto the field.

She had a standout performance in her freshman campaign, recording 65 saves, four shutouts and a 77.3 save percentage. She notched seven saves in Northwestern’s season-ending loss to Iowa in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

Fuchs became the head coach of Northwestern in 2009 and immediately delivered the program’s first winning season since 1995. She’s the program’s longest-tenured coach since its founding nearly 50 years ago and for good reason: The Wildcats have only had one losing season under Fuchs and have a record of 240-102 since she was hired.

“You have to start from the beginning and build a great culture,” Fuchs says. “Like all good things, it just takes time.”

After noticing an internal disconnect during the 2021 season, players refocused to remind themselves they are all ‘one of 28’ team members.

THE NEW CARDIAC ‘CATS

Expectations were at an all-time high for Northwestern going into the 2021 season. Fuchs had assembled a superb roster with experienced veterans, elite transfers and talented underclassmen.

Despite high expectations within the program and across the field hockey world, the Wildcats got off to a lackluster start. Northwestern was winning, at times handily, but internally there was a disconnect. The team was 12-4 and preparing for a game in Iowa City against the No. 1 ranked team in the country when players called a meeting.

The players met with a sports psychologist, and the scout team — players who are given key insights and opponent structures to replicate for practice — let the rest of the roster know they felt they were not getting the recognition they deserved from teammates or coaches.

Carr, who spent part of her four years with Northwestern on the scout team, says it was tiring to have to forget the tactics they had been taught and “pretend to be another team” to put the core team in the best position possible.

She and the scout team led a separate meeting with the coaching staff where they shared potential behavior changes that could make the space feel more inclusive for everyone. After those meetings, Carr says there was a noticeable difference in their practices.

Zimmer says the team developed a mantra after those meetings: “One of 28.” This meant no one was any more or less important in any facet of the game. She says the team had always known that, but explicitly stating it in that meeting led teammates to take action to achieve the mantra, which shifted how the rest of the season went.

“That helped our performance,” Zimmer says. “Once everybody understood their role and understood their value within the program, we reestablished that we were a team of 28 and needed to play like 28.”

After that meeting, Northwestern defeated Iowa and crushed Indiana to close out the regular season. In the first round of the Big Ten Tournament, they lost in a double-overtime shootout to Michigan.

The Wildcats entered the NCAA Tournament 14-5 and were matched up in the first round with North Carolina, the three-time reigning champion. Where other teams might have been nervous, Zimmer says they “had nothing to lose at that point” and were excited to face the defending champions.

The Wildcats upset the Tar Heels before defeating Iowa and Harvard to

reach the tournament final. Carr says Northwestern’s run to the championship that season did not feel real.

“That postseason was such a high because each win was just crazier and crazier,” Carr says. “We were like, ‘How are we still playing after losing in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament? How is this our season?’”

As the wins piled up, Zimmer says the Wildcats developed an underdog mentality. This, plus their reaffirmed team mantra, pushed them further.

“Nobody thought we were going to be here,” Zimmer says. “‘Let’s just keep rolling. Who knows what’s going to happen?’ That belief took us into the championship.”

“We reestablished that we were a team of 28 and needed to play like 28.”

Maddie Zimmer Sports Administration graduate student

The Wildcats developed an underdog mentality during the 2021 field hockey season, eventually taking them to the National Championship and helping them bring down opponent Liberty.

Northwestern secured its first-ever national championship with a 2-0 victory over Liberty. They finished 18-5, tying the 2001 Michigan field hockey team f or the most losses ever by a national championship team.

“Nobody thought we were going to be here.”

Maddie Zimmer Sports Administration graduate student

“By national championship-winning standards, it was a pretty average regular season,” Zimmer says.

Fuchs says the team really embraced the term “Cardiac ‘Cats,” a moniker originally coined by Northwestern’s 1996 football team, who won five of six close games in dramatic fashion. The 2021 field hockey team was the term’s second coming, as they won tight matches until it netted them a championship.

“Don’t ever underestimate the power of culture and team chemistry,” Fuchs says. “It means a lot when you’re out there and you’re willing to sacrifice for your teammates and your coaches. You’re able to bring your game to that higher level.”

After the team’s national title, a new standard was set — and they did not disappoint: Northwestern went 20-5 in 2022, notching key victories over Michigan, Penn State and Princeton.

Zimmer says she is proud of how the team responded after winning the championship in 2021 and knows they could have crumbled under the pressure and expectations of having to win again. Zimmer says her field hockey IQ grew immensely over her first few years at Northwestern. In high school, she did not watch any game film; now she watches tape two to three times a week and hashes out matches with her teammates.

The Cardiac ‘Cats fought their way through the 2022 NCAA Tournament, defeating Miami of Ohio in shootouts in their first game and Iowa in shootouts

the following round. In the Final Four, they defeated Maryland to return to the National Championship.

Yet, they were not able to cap off their season with another championship, losing a heartbreaker against North Carolina.

Looking to rebound after this loss, the roster underwent a few key changes entering the 2023 season. The team received an influx of talent from their freshmen class, including Weinberg second-year Ilse Tromp and Medill secondyear Olivia Bent-Cole, who finished second and third in team goals that season.

These additions helped offset losing Zimmer, who redshirted her fourth year to join the U.S. national team in preparation for the 2024 Paris Olympics. Zimmer says she started having conversations with Fuchs about what the 2023 season would look like as the national team tried to qualify for Paris.

Fuchs, who played on the U.S. team in the 1988 Summer Olympics, 1994 World Cup team and 1996 Summer Olympics, fully supported Zimmer’s decision.

The U.S. team finished ninth in the 2024 Olympics after not qualifying at all for the 2020 games. Despite being away from Northwestern, Zimmer

watched the Wildcats constantly and visited several times throughout the season.

While Zimmer was training in Charlotte, N.C., with the national team, Fuchs, Skubisz and the Wildcats pushed on. Fueled by the National Championship loss in 2022, Northwestern posted its best regular-season record to date, finishing 16-1, winning the Big Ten and clinching the No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

Northwestern went on to defeat Miami of Ohio and Louisville to return to the Final Four. There, they defeated Duke with a dramatic fourth-quarter goal to set up an inevitable rematch with North Carolina in the National Championship.

After heartbreak the year prior, the feeling of another loss was indescribable.

The Northwestern field hockey team has taken home three Big Ten Championships and two NCAA National Championships since 2021.

North Carolina prevailed again, defeating Northwestern in double-overtime shootouts. The Wildcats were a goal away from claiming their second championship in three years.

Despite the pain of how the season ended, Carr says the 2023 season was the highlight of her Northwestern career.

“I am most proud of the 2023 [Big Ten] trophy,” Carr says. “Our culture was better than it had ever been. I was having fun every single day at practice, and the girls were some of the greatest people I could be surrounded with. Everyone was so bought in and everyone knew what we could be.”

Regardless of the internal positivity, Northwestern’s spectacular season had not been enough. The team had returned to the title game in back-to-back seasons after winning it all in 2021, but they could not get over the hill.

That offseason, the team practiced shootouts endlessly, determined not to have their season end the same way. BentCole, a forward, took the loss hard. Though she did not have the same scars upperclassmen had from the year prior, she had missed her penalty shot in overtime — a costly mistake.

Focusing on conditioning and physicality, the Wildcats set themselves up for a dominant season. Northwestern finished the 2024 regular season 18-0, outscoring opponents by a total of 56 goals.

They entered the NCAA Tournament as the No. 2 seed and once again crushed Miami of Ohio 9-2. The team narrowly

defeated Virginia in overtime to advance to the Final Four for the fourth straight season.

The Wildcats defeated Massachusetts in the semifinals and anticipated a rematch with North Carolina in the finals for the third straight year. Instead, they met St. Joseph’s, who had upset North Carolina in the semifinals. Across the field was a familiar face — Carr, who transferred to St. Joseph’s for her final year of eligibility, had a National Championship matchup with her alma mater.

After four years of increasing responsibility with the Northwestern team, Carr anticipated that her role might shrink in her fifth year.

“I just had an ability to lead on and off the field, and I was wary that that wouldn’t happen at Northwestern,” Carr says. “I just really, really wanted to play. So I was like ‘If that means I have to leave, I have to leave.’”

Carr and St. Joseph’s had one of the team’s best seasons ever, reaching its first national championship in program history. However, Northwestern proved to be too much, dominating them

“Everyone knew what we could be.”

Jordan Carr Weinberg ‘24

5-0 and securing its second national championship in four years.

Northwestern finished 23-1 on the year, outscoring opponents 86-15. They had four players named to the All-American First Team and a fifth on the Second Team.

Zimmer, who was named the 2024 National Field Hockey Coaches Association Player of the Year, scored two goals in the National Championship and assisted on a third. She was First Team All-American for the third time in her career and was named the NCAA Tournament Most Outstanding Player for the second time.

Skubisz had an incredible final season; she led the nation in save percentage and was named First Team All-American.

The field hockey team had officially cemented itself in history, becoming only the sixth school to ever win two or more National Championships.

The victory was the fruit of their hard work. The team’s dedication and their success were undeniable, but had anyone at Northwestern noticed?

‘WHERE’S

THE LOVE?’

Before the 2023-24 school year, Northwestern announced a meritocracy point system for students to secure men’s basketball tickets, newly in high demand. Students received four points for attending field hockey games.

This new system encourages students to attend other Northwestern sports that don’t see as high of attendance, but it also shines a light on the inequity between sports.

“It’s a little bit of a double-edged sword,” Zimmer says. “It’s cool people are there, but also knowing they’re only there to get points … I have to commend the University for trying.”

Zimmer says the sport has not grown in popularity in the U.S., and while they’re trying to grow interest, “it’s not going to happen overnight.”

“We’re a small sport, and we’re just kind of finding our footing and gaining some recognition and success here in the Midwest,” Zimmer says. “It’s going to take some time, but hopefully, we’re getting the ball rolling for future programs at Northwestern.”

Skubisz says it would be amazing to draw a crowd as large as the field hockey teams at North Carolina and Michigan do, but knows that is not achievable at a small school like Northwestern.

“In all fairness, we have a shorter history of success,” she says. “It’s been a lot of success in four years, but I feel like typically it takes a little bit longer to generate a really strong fanbase.”

Still, Skubisz and others share that, at times, they feel a lack of support from the school. When the women’s lacrosse team won the Big Ten Tournament in 2023, the school immediately released T-shirts celebrating their victory. Yet, a few months later, when the field hockey team capped off their dominant season with a conference championship, they did not receive the same treatment.

“We’re a small sport, and we’re just kind of finding our footing and gaining some recognition and success.”

Maddie

Zimmer Sports Administration graduate student

“It was kind of like, ‘We’re doing the same things,’” Carr says. “‘Why is [the women’s lacrosse team] getting something we’re not?’ Where’s the love?”

This past season, the University constructed a temporary stadium for the football team as the “New Ryan Field” is built. Northwestern Medicine Field at Martin Stadium became an attraction as students and Evanstonians flocked to see the new lakeside stadium the school assembled. Meanwhile, the field hockey team has played lakeside since 1975.

“It’s funny to see how big of a stadium they’ll build on the lakefront, and we still have bleachers,” Zimmer says. “That is something we have discussed and would love to maybe see change going forward. Hopefully, our success the past couple of years can kickstart that, but we’ll see.”

The field hockey and football teams’ practice schedules overlapped this past season. If the football team had an upcoming road game, artificial crowd noise designed to prepare them to play

in a hostile environment was blasted through the speakers. Skubisz says the cheering was “ear-deafening” and she could not hear her teammates or coaches who were inches away from her.

“We know we’re not the school’s priority because, at the end of the day, we’re not the ones bringing in money,” Skubisz says. “It does kind of suck, but at the same time, we don’t really play for the fans. We’re here because we enjoy the sport, and we want to win, and we enjoy each other.”

ONLY THE BEGINNING

Like Skubisz, most of the team plays for each other, not the fans. Zimmer says fan support is not a pressing topic for them because the team is so focused on themselves that the external factors do not affect how they play. The team hopes to spread their love for the sport to the rest of Northwestern.

It is a slow process but Carr and Bent-Cole say they have seen a growth in attendance, and, even if it is just to collect points to go to the basketball games, they are happy more people are coming.

“I just hope that maybe two out of the 80 or 100 people who go like field hockey and want to stay,” Bent-Cole says. “That’s how I feel we have to grow the game.”

Zimmer does not think she will be one of the figures that will eventually popularize Northwestern field hockey, but she hopes the past four years are not a blip.

“We have such a historic women’s lacrosse program here, and it is amazing to see what they’ve done, but that took time too,” Zimmer says. “So I hope this is our beginning of that story.”

While the past four years have been a huge success, the field hockey team is not content with two championships. Zimmer is returning for her final year of eligibility, and Bent-Cole is set on leading Northwestern back to the title game.

“It doesn’t stop here. We won a national championship last year, and we’re trying to win one next year and the year after that,” Bent-Cole says. “Our goal is to be number one every single year.”

COURTESY OF ANNABEL SKUBISZ

Despite not pulling the same crowds as other Northwestern sports, the field hockey team finds joy in each other and their victories.

PROTECTING

the PAPERLESS

Students mobilize for the undocumented community at the onset of Trump’s second term.

WRITTEN BY TALIA JACKSON AND ISABEL PAPP DESIGNED BY ILSE VON HEIMBURG

It was the first week of college, and campus buzzed with nervous excitement as new students dove into Wildcat Welcome. For Weinberg thirdyear Yoel Sanchez, freshman orientation was more than just settling into college — it was when his hopes of U.S. citizenship became reality.

His 14-year path to citizenship started in 2009 when he moved from Honduras to Texas. There, Sanchez became a permanent resident, giving him legal

eventually to Centro Romero, a Rogers Park organization supporting immigrant and refugee populations. This connection proved pivotal, guiding Sanchez through the complex naturalization process until he became a U.S. citizen in 2023.

Now co-president of the Advancement for the Undocumented Community (AUC) club at Northwestern, Sanchez provides resources for undocumented students. AUC

including his attempt to end birthright citizenship. Most notably, Trump has empowered ICE to pursue immigrants in areas that the Biden administration had set aside as safe zones, including churches and schools. This action has facilitated raids all over the country, including many in Chicago, and brings Trump’s pledge for mass deportations one step closer to fruition.

During such raids, ICE agents will typically approach a housing complex, workplace or parking lot with an arrest warrant for one undocumented immigrant. While searching for this individual, they’ll ask surrounding people questions that can be invasive.

“If they volunteer answers admitting that they’re in the country without legal

authorization, they’ll get arrested on the spot,” says Jacqueline Stevens, a Political Science professor at Northwestern specializing in immigration, rule of law and citizenship. “Those kinds of roll-outs are very television-friendly and are designed to terrorize local communities.”

Stevens is in charge of the Deportation Research Clinic at Northwestern, and with the help of undergraduate research assistants, she looks into requests from immigrants who have been wrongfully detained. Through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), they request documents from governmental agencies to research deportation operations and detainment facilities and to advocate for citizens who have been detained or deported unlawfully.

“The more people researching this topic, demanding information from the government, demanding their transparency, the more policymakers can rely on this research to attempt to change the deportation regime,” says Caitlin Jimmar, a Weinberg fourth-year helping Stevens with research.

Jimmar predicts the Trump administration will lead to more

Evanston churches have promised

“The more people researching this topic, demanding information from the government, demanding their transparency, the more policymakers can rely on this research to attempt to change the deportation regime.”

Caitlin Jimmar Weinberg fourth-year

In January, AUC held a meeting to debrief the inauguration. Sanchez says the meeting focused on how people were feeling and how they can take care of each other.

“There’s a lot of fear. A lot of people are scared,” Sanchez says. “Part of the meeting was taking that into account and not trying to give false hope — like, everything’s going to be perfectly fine — but rather shifting the idea of what can we actually do to prevent this or protect ourselves.”

Promoting mental health while acknowledging the uncertainty of the situation is a tough balancing act.

“It’s about opening both spaces,”

Sanchez says. “One where people can get information and are up to date with things that are going on, and the other one where people can express themselves.”

Currently, AUC is running “survival training” programs, which include events that keep people informed about what rights they have when interacting with ICE. For Sanchez, it’s important to get into the “nitty gritty” about what protections undocumented students don’t have in these encounters.

The Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights’ “Know Your Rights” guide emphasizes two crucial points: the right to remain silent when questioned or arrested by ICE regarding immigration status and the requirement for ICE agents to have a warrant signed by a judge before entering

Beyond knowing what rights they have, Sanchez says it’s important to do “preplanning for the worst-case scenario.” In the event of deportation, families and students must face the challenge of arranging care for those left behind.

“I am very worried about students who will feel that they have to drop out of college if their parents are deported and they have siblings they need to take care of and show up for,” says Daisy Hernández, associate professor of English and a faculty member who has been closely involved with organizing events for AUC.

Under ICE’s 2017 Detained Parents Directive, immigration agents should “generally accommodate” the parent’s desire to make childcare arrangements. If no plan is set up, the children will be placed in Child Protective Services while the parent goes through immigration proceedings. Parents with final deportation orders will have to decide between leaving their children with citizenship behind or taking their families with them, a reality that weighs heavily on the minds of students who come from families with mixed citizenship status, Sanchez says.

“Fear for themselves, fear for their families,” Sanchez says. “They’re trying to survive right now.”

Pre-pandemic, AUC served as a hub of information for students navigating the complexities of life with varying forms of legal status. The organization became the campus go-to resource for everything from legal advice to family support.

Almost every fundamental process — from financial aid and job applications to housing and government assistance — requires going through separate, intricate channels for undocumented students and their families. Language barriers can further complicate the process.

“They might be trying to explain their life story, but their life story might only be in another language,” Sanchez says.

When Medill third-year Maria Jose Arango joined AUC, there was only one member: a senior, looking for executive members that could replace him in order to keep the club alive. She and

Sanchez stepped up to breathe new life into the organization. With renewed energy and additional support from designated faculty, AUC’s current goal is still to share resources, but to foster community as well.

Building on this momentum, Sanchez worked with faculty advisor and associate professor of Molecular Biosciences Marcelo Vinces to get a website up for AUC. The site launched last November to provide students with around-the-clock access to AUC’s entire resource library. As one of the first tangible forms of support AUC has received from Northwestern, the website centralizes the avenues of support AUC and the University provide students and faculty members.

“It’s a big deal, but it’s also a first step,” Vinces says.

The next step for Vinces is making sure all the people and resources on the website are in communication with each other. Vinces says it is essential to cultivate familiarity and trust

among students, faculty and service providers. For some students, seeking help can mean exposing their own or their family’s legal status. Without an established relationship, it is more difficult for students to feel comfortable seeking support.

“They’re not just going to go to an office without knowing who they’re going to be talking to and that they’re receiving good information,” Vinces says.

In the past, students have sought out University resources and been turned away, sometimes because the person helping them didn’t have the bandwidth or the knowledge to deal with their unique needs, Arango says.

Vinces, who was undocumented himself, says there is little to no faculty training on the realities of being undocumented, so staff lack knowledge on how to assist students and offer the necessary support.

“I’m in the Weinberg advising office, [and] we’ve started a conversation of just the basics, of what is DACA, what does it protect, what it doesn’t do, what are students eligible for or not,” Vinces says. “That’s the foundation. Then we can get creative.”

Hernández and 32 other faculty members wrote an open letter announcing their commitment to supporting students

and workers amidst the start of Trump’s immigration raids. The letter, published in The Daily Northwestern on Jan. 20, urged the University to guarantee the safety and security of its students’ and employees’ immigration statuses and to resist cooperating with federal authorities.

The University president and provost have yet to honor her request publicly, Hernández says. Provost Kathleen Hagerty responded in an email to Hernández and cosigners that they will “continue to carefully monitor developments out of Washington, D.C., and respond in the best interests of our entire community.”

While conversations are beginning to happen, it’s not enough to support the immediate needs of students, Arango says.

On Jan. 13, AUC was scheduled to have an internship and job workshop for undocumented students with Northwestern Career Advancement (NCA). But the person from NCA never showed up, despite multiple emails in which AUC provided the date and NCA agreed. It wasn’t until two weeks later that Sanchez received the prepared slides for the event from NCA, and he says they were not helpful.

Another disconnect in support occurred, Hernández says, when University President Michael Schill said at a public faculty meeting that undocumented or DACA-protected students could easily get support at Northwestern’s Pritzker School of Law’s Seigle Clinic for Immigrant Youth and Families or the Bluhm Legal Clinic.

people at the clinic who seemed like they could help, Hernández finally found the right person.

With ever-changing immigration policies, confusing legal systems and constant application deadlines for legal status, Sanchez says “it’s hard to keep up unless you’re specifically in the immigration business.”

Northwestern has a system that will help students pay for citizenship applications, but Sanchez says he didn’t use the support because he didn’t know it existed when he was applying for citizenship.

Navigating the University’s resources is a complex process, Arango says. Students must first know where to find the AUC or Student Enrichment Services (SES) website, then contact a point person at SES to schedule an appointment and finally, connect with a specialized immigration attorney.

“Being undocumented is such a unique experience,” Arango says. “Northwestern is not equipped right now and it’s not going to be equipped tomorrow, but we can’t wait years for that to happen.”

Noticing these faults, Arango collaborated with ASG Senators to draft an emergency resolution for AUC on Jan. 20, asking Northwestern to

“Although we can’t dismantle the system tomorrow, calling that friend or taking care of each other is how we one day will.”

Maria Jose-Arango Medill third-year

The resolution passed on Jan. 22. Sanchez calls it an “amazing win,” but says it’s still unclear whether Northwestern will implement it. The resolution pressures the University to partner with immigration centers and enact structural changes, but students and faculty aren’t waiting for institutional action. Instead, they are actively building their own support networks.

CREATING AND CULTIVATING SPACE

A big part of providing support and bringing change is making sure members of your community are OK, Arango says. “Although we can’t dismantle the

system tomorrow, calling that friend or taking care of each other is how we one day will,” Arango says, “But if we don’t start now, then when?”

Weinberg third-year and former Resident Assistant Grace Yu has a similar mindset. When Yu saw the news of immigration raids starting in Chicago, she began sharing resources with her residents. She hosted an open discussion event in the South MidQuads common area to “get the word out.”

“It’s important that the community is working together,” Yu says. “Not just students who are affected by it, but everyone.”

Community plays an essential role in the mental health of students without citizenship, says Northwestern Feinberg School of Medicine research associate professor Dr. Ida Salusky. In institutions of higher education, undocumented students often engage in a practice called “patchworking,” or carefully assembling support systems to ensure they confide in trustworthy individuals.

“There’s always a sense of caution in terms of who you’re opening up to, who you’re sharing with, who you’re connecting with,” Salusky says. “I don’t think that piece is new. I think it’s probably just heightened.”

For people without legal status, creating a network of support is challenging. Students can’t always find the support they need from universities, Salusky says. Instead, they often seek out individuals who share similar backgrounds, legal statuses or simply those they trust, and build their support systems from these connections.

Fueled by stress caused by the threat of deportation, Salusky says people may retreat

from these support systems. The whirlwind of news and executive orders coming from the White House serves to “create and engender fear,” she says.

Withdrawal from these carefully crafted spaces won’t just affect the University sphere, but all of Chicagoland. In 2023, 1.8 million immigrants lived in the Chicago metropolitan area, with 27.2% being undocumented immigrants, according to the American Immigration Council. Undocumented family households held $13.6 billion in spending power that went toward local economies in 2023. The displacement of these communities from Trump’s immigration raids could prove detrimental to the everyday lives of Chicagoans.

“Difficult times can show us what our strengths are and can show us where our community is.”

Daisy Hernandez Associate professor

of English

“Any time you’re removing members of a community, whether it’s your nuclear family, extended family, your neighbors, the people that you would see at the grocery store, that has a profound impact on people’s mental health,” Salusky says. This level of combined short- and long-term stressors affects students’ ability to perform in school and jobs. Being in a constant state of questioning

personal or community safety keeps students in a fight-or-flight cycle.

“When we think about wellbeing and being a healthy person, safety is the most basic need that has to be met first,” Salusky says. “And people’s safety is being threatened by these policies.”

Despite high levels of anxiety and uncertainty, Hernández remains hopeful.

“I am also extremely optimistic because difficult times can be horrifying,” Hernández says. “Difficult times can really show us what our strengths are and can really show us where our community is, who we can trust and lean on. And that kind of clarity is very priceless. I think we’re already seeing that now.”

The chaos and uncertainty do not change how meaningful the community that AUC brings to campus is for Arango. Born in Colombia and raised in Miami, she says it’s hard to come to terms with the fact that a country that provided her with so many opportunities can make her feel so unwelcome. Still, she emphasizes the importance of resilience and creating a space for people to feel welcome.

“Throughout my time in this country, what I’ve learned is that when there’s no seat or space for you, you make that space,” Arango says. “AUC

Rebuilding Evanston

As the dust settles, the city unveils its new face.

WRITTEN

BY

GAVIN FISK DESIGNED BY SAMMI LI

PHOTO

Last summer, a gray cloud descended upon north Evanston as the concrete walls of Ryan Field collapsed. In its place rose fences adorned with signs warning of danger and a desolate expanse populated by construction machinery. The fog has since disappeared, allowing a clear view into the city’s Central Street district.

As Ryan Field is rebuilt from the ground up, the landscapes of Evanston and Northwestern are poised for change. On campus, the historic Deering Library has been closed for renovations since June 2024 and the East Lawn behind Norris University Center is shut down to construct a new campus hub. In the city, 16 businesses closed in 2024 and were replaced by 55 new ones. Amidst this upheaval, the city council is pushing plans to rezone Evanston. These widespread changes place the city on a precarious threshold, as Evanston eyes a promising future while hoping to hold onto its rich past.

Reconstructing

With 10 distinct districts, every cell of the city contributes to its culture. Evanston’s eclectic array of businesses ranges from The Spice House on Central Street to over a dozen rug stores dispersed throughout the city. These storefronts are monuments to the diversity upon which Evanston prides itself.

That eccentricity is what first drew local business owner John Kim to Evanston. Kim, who has experimented in an array of fields from finance to theology, now runs two coffee shops and several other storefronts around the city. Backlot Coffee on Central Street and Brothers K Coffeehouse on Main Street are both what he calls “community spaces.” In fact, the Backlot’s awning bears the slogan “Your community coffeehouse.” It is a role Kim takes seriously.

“I like serving communities,” he says. “The cafes serve a unique role in communities where you can come and sit for a long time. It’s multigenerational. If you do it right, it’s always going to reflect the neighborhood.”

In the 20 years since the Brothers K Coffeehouse opened, Kim has watched children grow up and couples get married,

befriending them all along the way. It is this quaint sense of a tight-knit community that residents have come to love.

Kevin Bond, a lifelong resident and Northwestern alumnus, believes this quality comes from the generosity residents share with each other.

“People in Evanston want their kids to grow up in a place that’s diverse, where they can meet different kinds of people and see different kinds of things,” Bond says. “It’s selfish to just focus on things like getting a bigger house for yourself, and you don’t really get that in Evanston.”

But one Evanston institution is leaning into the “bigger is better” mindset — even when that means leaving gaps in the community. Northwestern’s Ryan Field used to draw in crowds for football games and served as a site for community and family-friendly events; now, it is a wasteland. While the construction is set to finish in 2026, for now, the lot remains empty. Its temporary absence marks both a financial and communal loss.

PHOTO BY SAMMI LI

PHOTO

The Ryan Field construction has meant less foot traffic for local businesses.

Eric Green grew up in Evanston and has fond memories of biking up and down the city, stopping at businesses like a now-defunct local video store. These days, he is the general manager at 10 Mile House a few blocks west of the stadium. The restaurant alternately serves as an upscale American bistro and a lively college gameday bar. With the ongoing construction, Green is missing the electrifying event atmosphere.

“I would actually have my chef just grill onions the whole time,” he recalls, gesturing to a picture on his phone of a gameday crowd waiting outside the door of his restaurant. “With that smell going, people on the other side of the street would walk over. It was bustling, it was loud, it was fun.”

While Green misses the energy football games brought to his restaurant, the financial setback is just as significant. As a member of the Central Street Business Association Board of Directors, Green is looking for creative solutions to keep his business (and the entire Central Street district) afloat, like catering food to construction workers. But even as he confronts these struggles, Green thinks that in the long run, the Ryan Field rebuilding is a positive development for the restaurant.

“They’re going to have concerts and football games,” Green says. “It’ll allow us more opportunities to serve the public, even if we don’t have that right now.”

Northwestern touted those communitybuilding opportunities as examples of the benefit the new stadium will bring to Evanston. The University plans for the venue to hold six concerts a year alongside the existing programming, like movie nights and football games. The plan also aims to engage the community yearround by hosting a Christmas market and an ice skating rink.

These components, however, are not without controversy. Resident Maggie Gleason lives only half a block from the stadium and worries more about when the stadium returns than the time without it.

“The University is sweeping in and taking advantage by trying to zone the area for profit, entertainment, concerts and whatnot without adequately addressing the lack of parking and the congestion on the streets,” she says. “This is not a big neighborhood. These

PHOTO BY SAMMI LI

PHOTO BY SAMMI LI

PHOTO BY SAMMI LI

The University demolished Ryan Field last summer. As students and community members alike wait for the new stadium to be built, a city of construction has taken over.

PHOTO BY SAMMI LI

are little streets. I shudder to think of what logistical nightmares are gonna be involved in that.”

In addition to traffic concerns, some locals fear the Ryan Field renovations will push out small businesses and local residents in favor of apartment complexes.

Kellie Poulos was the proprietor of Then Again, a consignment store on Central Street that closed in January. In her time as a small business owner, she came to love how the Evanston community supports its small businesses. Now, she worries that new programming will excessively commercialize the street.

“I think some landlords will be happy to sell the property, and they’ll build more high rises and they’ll build bigger buildings that only chains can afford to be in,” Poulos says. “It’s really going to detract from that whole neighborhood.”

Remapping

The controversy over Ryan Field, however, pales in comparison to the city’s ambitious Envision Evanston 2045 plan. In a move to rezone the entire city, Envision Evanston would provide more affordable housing, decarbonize and expand access to utilities and transportation by 2045. These policies, at least on the surface, are politically in line with a city that prides itself on its progressive culture. The city of Evanston reached out to residents while drawing up the plan, but many still feel it does not represent their interests — only around 5% of Evanston residents actually weighed in on the plan, according to the Chicago Tribune

One worry is that Envision Evanston is not actually helping the residents most in need. Darlene Cannon, candidate for the Second Ward seat on the Evanston City Council, opposes the plan as it stands. Representing an area of Evanston historically populated by people of color, she is concerned about the neighborhood’s recent gentrification as more affluent residents move in and housing prices go up.

“I think that Evanston does a lot of talk about equity and inclusiveness and wanting Evanston to be better for all, but I don’t think that we’re addressing the needs,” she says. “What are the needs of the residents? Are we actually going to the residents and asking them what it is that they need?”

“We talk about equity and inclusivity but we put these people out like yesterday’s trash.”

Darlene Cannon

Evanston City Council Second Ward seat candidate

Cannon argues that the plan’s solutions to affordable housing will be too little, too late. In February, the city issued eviction notices to residents of 24 apartments on Wesley Avenue, citing safety concerns.

“The mayor said something along the lines of it being immoral for us to not pass Envision Evanston 2045,” Cannon continues. “I’ll tell you what’s immoral: People got put out of their houses over on Wesley Avenue. We talk about equity and inclusivity, but we put these people out like yesterday’s trash.”

The plan has yet to pass in a vote. Many of the residents who stand staunchly against it say they’re worried the plan threatens the character of the city and may bring cultural change without the promised rewards.

PHOTO BY SAMMI LI

PHOTO BY SAMMI LI

From Howard Street to the Linden Station, Evanston’s neighborhoods and business districts each retain their own character.

PHOTO BY SAMMI LI

PHOTO BY SAMMI LI

PHOTO BY SAMMI LI

PHOTO BY OLIVIA BROWN

PHOTO BY SAMMI LI

PHOTO BY SAMMI LI

PHOTO BY OLIVIA BROWN

PHOTO BY SAMMI LI

PHOTO BY OLIVIA BROWN

PHOTO BY OLIVIA BROWN

PHOTO BY OLIVIA BROWN

PHOTO BY OLIVIA BROWN

PHOTO BY OLIVIA BROWN

Preserving

Even if Evanston’s future is in contention, it does not suffer from a shortage of residents working to keep its history alive. Greg Allen opened Animal Records downtown in September, and although it’s a new business, he emphasizes the value of holding onto the essential ethos of Evanston instead of refashioning it.

Despite being the third record store in the city, Allen says Animal Records has a good relationship with their competition and the variety allows Evanston’s artistic culture to flourish. His store is a place for community building and strengthening, where music fans from any background

can get to know each other and the art they love.

Allen pulls a dusty record off the shelf; the edges of the jacket are frayed.

“DJs just take one little riff off of a record and then sample it and repeat it and put a drum beat on top of it,” he says. “They can take something old, and they can create something completely new with it.”

He’s talking about the music, but he could just as easily be talking about this city and community.

For residents like Allen, change in Evanston is indicative of a budding future. Jake Samuels is the executive director for the Evanston Folk Festival, which had its inaugural iteration last September and eyes its sophomore outing this coming fall. He hopes the event can enliven Evanston’s cultural spirit.

Samuels says a lot of Evanston’s cultural programming dried up over the last 10 years, with COVID-19 putting “the nail in the coffin,” but he hopes that work like his can bring some of that back.

“There’s a very grassroots movement happening towards having more opportunities

to go out and be among your neighbors and enjoy music and art,” he says. “Overall, it feels like a big move towards having more events like this.”

Evanston is an old city, and Northwestern is an old university. Creating something new and better for the future requires negotiation from both sides. Residents like Gleason and Bond appreciate the diversity and youth the University brings to the city, but some business owners have a higher stake in the institution’s actions.

“They can take something old and they can create something completely new with it.”

Greg Allen Animal Records owner

PHOTO BY SAMMI LI

PHOTO BY OLIVIA BROWN

PHOTO BY OLIVIA BROWN

Evanston’s thriving small business scene is central to the city’s spirit.

“We didn’t build this restaurant because Northwestern is there,” Green says. “But the fact that we’re in such close proximity means there’s a symbiotic relationship.”

Green emphasizes his role in ensuring that the University doesn’t overstep. As a tax-exempt organization working on new construction like Ryan Field, Northwestern takes more of the city’s resources each year.

That effort stands in line with the cultural legacy of a city devoted to activism. Once a hotbed for prohibition advocacy, it has held on to communityfriendly stances. Evanston was the first U.S. city to pass slavery reparations, and its high school has adopted a “Green New Deal for Schools” policy spurred by student activism.

“Evanston has always been politically active,” Gleason says. “Whenever you try to change something in Evanston, there’s no shortage of people that feel the need to speak against it. There’s a lot of

community involvement. That legacy of progressive politics still hangs on.”

Poulos sees this quality translate to community engagement. She cherishes the time she has spent building relationships with fellow business owners and frequent customers. She appreciates the opportunity to work in a culture that holds its small businesses dearly and fights to preserve them.

“What’s wonderful about Central Street is that they are so supportive,” she says, smiling. “When I was closing the door, people were very sad, but I was only on Central Street for two years. I had so many people bring me gifts. Someone brought me a bottle of champagne, someone made me a piece of pottery. It was very touching.”

Though the rest of her store is now empty, one of these farewell gifts, a bouquet of white roses, still rests in a vase on the windowsill.

PHOTO BY SAMMI LI

PHOTO BY OLIVIA BROWN

Added during the COVID-19 pandemic, the rainbow stripes down Central Street symbolize joy and community.

PHOTO BY OLIVIA BROWN

Even in Evanston, no business can last forever — but that doesn’t stop the city from continually rebuilding, finding new ways to express its enduring spirit.

Experiential Storytelling at Medill

Medill’s Master of Science in Journalism program is one year and teaches modern storytelling methods with a foundation in fact-based reporting and editing.

Students participate in a one-week immersive reporting trip (either U.S. or abroad) during winter quarter.

Pictured here: Medill graduate journalism students doing reporting in Argentina and South Africa.

55

Hangover

hate mail an ode to the conservative man

Half Baked: Hangover does drugs Match announcement Anatomy of a Northwestern student

ILLUSTRATION BY JESSICA CHEN

Hangover hate mail

From the peanut gallery.

WRITTEN BY MYA COPELAND

Bennie and Natalia —

Help! I’m just TOO good at sex now after reading the Book of Rizzlations. What do I do? My girlfriend won’t. Stop. Cumming. I’m failing all my classes because even my professors get hot and bothered at the sight of me. It’s just so distracting during my chemical engineering classes.

Regretfully, Klaus

P.S. If you have any advice on ear stuff (with professors specifically) LMK because my friend is asking and needs an A in their class... I promise I’m a sex god but this is new territory for me. I mean, for my friend. Not me.

hangovereditors@hotmail.com

Your Sky Zone Membership Will Expire in 14 Days. Good.

Hi Hangover,

This is a friendly reminder that your Elite Membership at Sky Zone Evanston is about to expire. We at Sky Zone Evanston would like to encourage you not to renew. We would like to avoid getting angry calls from parents saying that a very aggressive group of college kids kept tackling their children into the ball pit. And please refrain from leaving reviews saying you ‘shit your pants’ on the slide because… we think that one was real. Seriously. That was nasty.

Kind regards, Sky Zone Evanston

Dearest Hangover,

You’ve been incredibly unfunny lately. What a disgrace to the Hangover name! ‘How to have sex?’ Hating on sororities, again? How original. Ever since your most illustrious and hilarious writer — the beautiful and perfect Julia Lucas — graduated with her newly acquired husband in tow, things have taken a turn for the worse. Please, for the love of God, get better.

— Lulia Jucas

June 10, 2024 Katie Ledecky 123 Swimmer Blvd

Dear “Hangover:”

This letter is in response to the image of myself and “Bennie Goldfarb” in your Spring 2024 issue. As is my right under the Defending Integrity in Campus Knowledge Statute (DICKS), I am formally requesting that you immediately cease and desist comparing me to “Bennie Goldfarb” because I am intimidated by his swimming abilities.

Any further use of my name must include Katie Ledecky, better swimmer than Bennie Goldfarb. I will file a complaint.

Thank you.

Regards, Katie Ledecky

Dear North By Northwest,

I would like you to know how APPALLED I am with the disgusting articles you allow in this Hungover section of your magazine I love to read your magazine because my granddaughter wants to be a writer but you should not be allowing this to be published period May our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ have mercy on your souls. Repent ..

In Christ, Bedelia Frances Williamsonton Send Siri. Siri

an ode to the conservative man

horseshoe theory.

WRITTEN

& DESIGNED

BY BENNIE GOLDFARB

Salutations, to the conservative man Whom I do not know. You voted for Trump and landed us Quite a nasty blow.

You stand shocked with such great fear, Listen to me, Hear hear!

Cling to your creed, shed your tear, open your ear, For I present an unlikely pitch to my closest peer. Now let’s kick it into first gear.

Stop listening to Joe Rogan, allow thy brain to mend, For your SNu glory days have quickly met their end. Get to know the Mangione Manifesto, Deny, Depose, Defend.

Mangione’s so criminally hot, Your Trumper bumper (sticker) will fall right off, Feel the Bern, wear 2016 merch, You intelligent, smart, beef stroganoff.

You still hate women, So watch Call Me By Your Name, Stick your dick in a persimmon, Pretend it’s all some sick game.

Quit mentioning The Godfather Set your new passions ablaze; Watch Challengers TikTok edits, Oh my godddddd, that one hot, sexy three-way.

For you are almost there, Shed that one final layer.

Terminate X, Turn to Bluesky, Adopt shitty morals, And don’t forget: You’re still a good, misunderstood guy!

Congratulations on building your shiny new bubble, Deep in research, you finally reign supreme. 4chan gone, escaped all the trouble, Yet scorn every view that dares to dream.

Repress! Repress your misogyny, But still talk over women.

White savior, you’re still deeply racist, sexist and full of cynicism. But, hey now! Welcome to extremist liberalism.

– bennie goldfarb

Half Baked:

Hangover does drugs

This and a blunt.

WRITTEN BY HANGOVER EDITORS // DESIGNED BY JESSICA CHEN

Gentlepeople and gabbagoodles, good evening! Or good morning! Or even afternoon! But not necessarily a good one. We are thrilled you have joined us. The Hangover editors have done so much and feel as though they deserve a break. While this is not remotely true, we cannot fault them. You, the reader, may be confused who is speaking to you. Never fear! My name, whispered in the heavens and in the wind, is [REDACTED]. I am the wizard who will guide you through this journey. (If you’re having trouble with a visual, Tim the Enchanter from Monty Python and the Holy Grail will do.)

Our Hangover heroes’ journey begins with two rose-infused 5mg THC edibles, several pints of Ben & Jerry’s and too many opinions about ice cream. My fairies and I were able to get a hold of their thoughts after visiting our heroes in their dreams (and gaining access to their Notes apps). I, the Wizard, whisperer of wind and aspiring comedian of stand-up, will transcribe their reviews of the ice cream provided to them by their endless college magazine budget, which is incredibly endless and also boundless.

Cherry Garcia

“What’s poppin’? My cherry!” – [REDACTED]

Gorgeous! Beautiful! Perfect, never change! The Wizard is aware that some people (derogatory) aren’t fans of this ice cream flavor, which is just objectively wrong. Maybe censorship isn’t a bad idea. I mean, come on! What’s not to love? Cherries, chocolate, lactose intolerance. It’s the perfect ice cream to share with a friend or house all on your own. Your body, your choice and whatnot.

Despite all of its virtues, the best part of this ice cream isn’t often talked about, which the Wizard thinks is a shame. “Cherry Garcia” is SUCH an ingenious name! WHO thought of that?! Of all the fruit names, Cherry is, much to the Wizard’s — I mean our heroes’ — chagrin, horribly overlooked! Why in the world would you name a child Clementine or Apple when you could name someone Cherry? Which brings us to a far more pressing social quandary: What the heavens is transpiring with celebrity naming culture these days? I knew we couldn’t trust millennials!

Plus — and please join me on this tangent that was conjured by our Hangover editors — if you ran into one in the wild, you could just tell them that you hate Harry Potter, and they’d run away mumbling and bumbling about not paying their taxes on time because they were Slytherins. Shut up! Unfortunately, now that they’ve procreated, we have to deal with the fallout from the cultural failings of an entire generation. Why are we naming children nouns? Pilot, Rumble, Cricket (Bennie interjects that Cricket is actually sort of cute. Natalia whacks him atop the head. My oh my, how dramatique!), Aire, et cetera (which isn’t a name yet but give it a year; as the Wizard, I would know). To be clear, I’m not against unique names, I love being original! After all, my name is [REDACTED]. But, whatever happened to naming your child Mark? Or Grace? Or Rachel? Actually, no, not Rachel. Rachel is a fuck-ass name that makes you sound like one of those people who records employees on Facebook Live. However (if you’re reading this) Rachel Zegler, you changed my life forever in The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes.

Much like this story, Half Baked is a bizarre, or, I mean, fascinating and inspired, combination of ingredients that shouldn’t go together… alas! Here we are. Chock full of brownie bits, chocolate chips and cookie dough, this ice cream reminds me of those ‘alt’ high schoolers who took AP Art Theory, hot-boxed their cars before first period and wore three pairs of jeans at once. There’s just so much going on! Not that I’m complaining — Half Baked is the swaggiest of the ice creams. Which poses the question, what is swag? Why do Half Baked ice cream and indie 17 year olds have swag, but Cherry Garcia inexplicably does not? Why does anyone have swag? Why can’t I walk out of my house wearing galaxy leggings and be taken seriously? Why did everyone make fun of me in seventh grade for having my Instagram handle be “MySwag2Much”? Should I change it back? Swipe up. Also I’m bored so I’m doing TBHs. Okay, person reading this, “You’re weird af but like I see you in the halls sometimes and you’re cool. Rate 7/10.”

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough

CCCD is bomb! And no, that doesn’t stand for Certified Cybersecurity Compliance Director. Or Council for Creative and Cultural Development. Or Critical Cataclysmic Charge Detonator. That’s an actual bomb. In the wake of all of these new, frankly concerning, ice cream flavors (Lobster? Earl Grey? Whose white grandma came up with those?) it has become clear that you really can’t beat the originals. Make Ice Cream Normal Again, MICNA, as they say. No, not the Mathematical Institute for Computational and Numerical Analysis, you fuckin’ nerd. Or Mechanized Inertial Chemical Neutralization Apparatus. Or Mages’ Intercollegiate Council of Noble Arcana. That’s actually the council that the Wizard himself is a part of. You can find a Groupon for the Wizard to write a story of your own for only like $10, or so I heard somewhere. Maybe the wind whispered it. Anyway, as I was saying about not beating the originals, this discussion poses the question, what is life but history repeating itself? In the words of fellow wizard, Mark (Twain), history rhymes. Clues of history repeating are all around; in fact, marks of the past exist in our very own Hangover editors. When Auguste Rodin (which, for the record, GREAT name) got handsy with “The Thinker,” who was he modeling it after? Dante? Hell no! Try Benjamin Goldfarb.

In conclusion, once upon a time, in a curious first-floor walk-up, two sexy, humble, intelligent and cool Hangover editors spoke to the Wizard, named [REDACTED], allegedly ate some ice cream and were never again the same.

YOUR MATCH IS IN THE 6.50% PERCENTILE OF ALL POSSIBLE MATCHES. THAT’S AWFUL.

WRITTEN BY ZOE KULICK // DESIGNED BY JULIANA PROCTOR

1.5.2025

If you’ve given up on love because your Marriage Pact ghosted you AGAIN, I promise that, while you may be sad, lonely, sad, single and sad, you are not alone. Even though the word “pact” is right there in the name, it seems many students here do not respect the sanctity of a promise. (Source: I’m a senior, and none of my four matches have ever worked out.) While I still can’t place the general traits about myself that make me utterly unlovable — even with compatibility scores as high as 99.5% — I’ve come to have a slight grasp on why each of my matches failed.

When Marriage Pact came out my freshman year, I was an up-and-coming Theatre major. Right after I starred in a Shanley Pavilion one-woman production of 12 Angry Men, my 98-percentiler RTVF major match professed his love for me via email, and I was hooked. Like a young ingénue in classic Hollywood, I was wooed by his promise.. He talked of creating an indie film with me as the star. He said it would be my big break. Little did I know the money I had “invested” in the project went straight into a spending account for his study abroad term in Prague. He quickly found a new muse and our project — alongside our love — died. (This all happened over the course of two weeks.)

Sophomore year, my match was looking bleaker with a compatibility rating of only 75%. However, I decided to give it a shot by emailing the lucky lad. Turns out Marriage Pact casts a wide net! This man was a 45-year-old Ph.D. “student” working on his 10th year of a thesis about rare textiles in Appalachia. When I brought up the age difference, he assured me that his soul was young and we were equals — so much so that he wouldn’t even pay on the first (and only) date.

Junior year, I got matched with my boyfriend at the time. Now, I know what you’re thinking: How kismet, that’s perfect! But this was the worst outcome of all. I had been planning to break up with him for months and hoped my Marriage Pact would present the perfect rebound. When he jokingly DMed me on Instagram like we were strangers, I blocked him and we never spoke again. He still has my travel karaoke machine in his apartment. If you’re reading this, give it back: I haven’t done an impromptu performance in forever. The horror!

I guess senioritis affects all sorts of assignments because I was super late to filling out the Marriage Pact form this year, which means I got a “friend match.” My last chance to find true love, and they give me the name of some freshman girl?! I was furious. Then, if you can believe it, she reached out to me on LinkedIn of all places. When we got coffee a week later, she grilled me about my past internships and asked if I could get her a referral. If young people are defiling the sanctity of THE Marriage Pact just to get ahead in their careers, it really makes you think about the future direction of society.

Since the Northwestern community is an undoubtedly accurate representation of the entire world, and all of my experiences with Marriage Pact have been utter failures, it is clear that I will never find love. What has my time here even been for if I have no MRS degree and future double-legacy-admitted kids to show for it?

(NORTH BY) NORTHWESTERN MARRIAGE PACT MADE WITH <3

A...Winter blows.

natomy of a Northwestern student

JESSICA CHEN // DESIGNED BY CLAIRE BOMA

inter has come and (mostly) gone at Northwestern and, per usual, the season resurrected a certain breed of students. As they try not to fall face-first on the ice down Sheridan Road, all I see are hordes of wealth in Canada Goose jackets. After several quarters of self-funding my cocaine addiction, I’ve picked up a few tricks on how to spot those with the most gilded pockets. Here’s my little guide on the typical Northwestern student skating around during Winter Quarter.

Neck

Freshly groomed hair (courtesy of Versace shampoo) hides under an Arc’teryx hat. I think they might have conditioned it with the smell of superiority. I’m transported to the highlands of Narnia every time someone removes their beanie in the middle of Tech L03. (Nothing gets me high like the aroma of full-priced tuition).

Wrist

Rolexes on top of a friendship bracelet that may or may not have been stolen from a city kid at summer camp. At least their mission trip to the South Side of Chicago really did have an impact!

Shoes

You would think for a Top 10 university (technically top six, but who’s really counting… but we are No. 6), students would be smart enough to invest in a good pair of winter boots. Unfortunately, all I see are Sambas and soggy pairs of Uggs. Whatever happened to a reasonable shoe? Occasionally I spot a pair of Golden Gooses, and that’s when I know I’ve found a stacked little nepo baby. If I track those ugly sparkle bombs down an alley, I can spook them while they’re closing a deal. And hey — maybe they’ll drop a few extra grams on the ground!

Van Cleef stacked on Van Cleef. Everywhere I look, there are four leaves in every type of stone. Onyx, agate, pearl (one for their birth month, one for their half-birth month and two for their quarterbirth months, of course)! Their necks are indented with 24-karat gold chains. Maybe if I follow them around for long enough, they’ll lead me to a pot of gold… #happysaintpatricksday

Body

God, I love when it snows. I see those Canada Goose jackets outside, and I know it’s time to play in that sweet, sweet white powder. I just love the tasteful “I dropped two bands on a coat” look that Canada Goose provides.

Pants

Baggy jeans that drag two feet on the ground with meticulously placed dirt stains and a small $400 price tag hanging from the back. Those pockets might be deep enough to hold all their limited-edition Stanleys. Stuffed in those pants are a crumpled receipt from LeTour, some napkins from Sarge and — oh my god... They’re reaching in... Is that a plume of white dust??? FUCK, it’s just Altoids. Whatever. They probably have a stack of Benjamins in there that I can use later anyway.

Well, this concludes our little rundown. I don’t know what my editors will think of this, but I sure hope you were able to find something valuable in it. Like coke! Anyway, I’m off to a SigEp party now. Bye!

THANK YOU

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