15 minute read
Pregame
A damNBN way to start the party
5 Life advice from Mary Pattillo
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6 Sugar high
8 Little shack of wonders
9.Ca$h flow
10.Seabury, unburied
Life advice Mary Pattillo
BY ELIZABETH GUTHRIE
Mary Pattillo, the Harold Washington Professor of Sociology and African American Studies, is an esteemed professor, researcher and author. Her work examines race, segregation, urban life and the Black middle class, digging deep into America’s legacy of discrimination.
NBN: How has the knowledge that you’ve gained through your research and work influenced the way that you live your life?
Pattillo: It creates a lot of guilt. Everything from knowing the disparities between what I make as a tenured full professor to what the people who work on Northwestern’s campus make, who pick up the trash in the offices or work in the food service places or do the landscaping. Oftentimes I’ve organized my guilt into action. I’ve been involved over my time at Northwestern in living wage campaigns and helping students facilitate those social movements to some success a couple of years ago … In my personal life, I give a lot of money away to organizations that I believe in and that I know are doing good work. I’m involved in a struggle to preserve public housing on the North Side in a place called the Lathrop Homes. All of that comes from what I know about American society, but what I know is daunting. Attacking the depth of the disparities and real suffering on the low end of the socioeconomic scale seems daunting frequently. Sometimes it just kind of paralyzes you.
With events like bringing Ta-Nehisi Coates to campus and having Black Lives Matter weeks, how do you think that relates to what’s been going on politically and socially?
I think flying a Black Lives Matter flag and having two weeks of thinking about Black Lives Matter is exactly what some Trump supporters would say alienates them. I’m not at all affirming that alienation, I think that alienation is misplaced and misguided, but when people feel their power being eroded ... then something like two weeks of a discussion of Black Lives Matter at Northwestern is proof for them of the erosion of that power. I am searching for a good analysis of how not to placate that kind of rhetoric of fear – that if Black lives matter, that must mean that now I no longer matter – while simultaneously giving space to groups who haven’t much had space. I think it’s a double-edged sword in that these kinds of activities are the exact things that people who feel aggrieved point to as to why they feel aggrieved.
Like you said, it is oftentimes a double-edged sword, and it’s difficult to find the answer. What do you think that Northwestern students and other young people can do to figure out the answer?
I think what students can do is be leaders of a kind of charismatic message that says, “Okay, let’s look at two things.” One, is there any empirical evidence that men are losing power, that cisgender folks are losing power? “No.” And that’s not to say that’s a good thing, like to say, “Hey, look, you’re still in power, you can be okay.” But rather, let’s have a real discussion about power, and let’s have a real discussion about how we can have a more economically, politically, culturally egalitarian place that’s not built upon the unhidden privileges of the folks who now feel scared they might lose them.
How can students use the knowledge and skills they learn at Northwestern to affect real change in their communities?
Any kind of major at Northwestern can lead to some kind of social good, and really what it takes is a commitment to doing it. It just takes getting up out of our chair and stop talking about it and actually doing it. And it takes sacrifice, because it’s a sacrifice of our time, of our money, of our time with our family, of our sleep, so it’s a decision to make that sacrifice.
Editor’s note: This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
Sugar high
BY AINE DOUGHERTY
Strawberry sparkling wine hard candies
Marijuana lovers should have high hopes for the future, thanks in part to Chicago-based pastry chef Mindy Segal.
Segal isn’t afraid to push the boundaries – that’s probably why she won the highly acclaimed James Beard Foundation’s “Outstanding Pastry Chef” Award in 2012 (after being nominated five times previously). The owner of Mindy’s Hot Chocolate in Wicker Park and author of “Cookie Love” has concocted delicious hot chocolate, cookies, cakes and ice cream over her career. Now, she makes edibles. That’s right. In 2016, after 30 years of experience in the pastry industry, Segal decided to partner with one of Illinois’ leading cannabis cultivators, Cresco Labs, after they approached her about starting her own line of cannabisinfused sweets. Illinois legalized medical marijuana in 2013 and decriminalized possession of small amounts of the drug in 2016, but has yet to give the go-ahead on recreational use, sale
Chicago pastry chef Mindy Segal makes edibles for a refined palate.
Dark chocolate almond toffee and cultivation. So for now, medical marijuana dispensaries are the only place you’ll be able to buy Segal’s product line, dubbed Mindy’s Artisanal Edibles.
Lisa Kamerad, edibles general manager for Cresco, says the company is trying to “break away from some of the stigma surrounding that ‘bad brownie’ experience, and the most professional way to do that was to align with an expert.”
So forget about that nasty, burned pot brownie mess you just took out of your oven – Segal crafts high-end, artisanal products like chocolate brittle, caramels and hard candies infused with Cresco’s flavorless, odorless cannabis extract. Because of her pastry chef background, Segal says her line of edibles is very focused on flavor and quality, and it incorporates ingredients like Belgian chocolate and real vanilla bean.
“It’s a chef-driven product,” Segal says. “So it’s using my knowledge of being a chef and a pastry chef and bringing that to the marijuana culture.”
Little shackof wonders
Dilapidated but beloved, Shanley Pavilion is home to countless student-run productions.
From the outside, Shanley Pavilion looks like the kind of shed someone would store their lawnmower in during the winter. When you step inside the structure between performances, it’s devoid of light because every surface, even the windows, is painted black. Shanley looks like it was abandoned years ago. It’s hard to believe that anything exciting has ever happened in such a dark and small place, yet it currently hosts a constant rotation of fine arts performances, from comedy groups to dance troupes to theatrical productions.
“You think of [Shanley] as this jack-ofall-trades,” says Communication senior Will Altabef. “You can kind of make it do whatever you want.”
But most students don’t know just how versatile this space truly is. Originally built in 1943, Shanley Hall housed a dining hall and recreation center during World War II for the men of the V-5, V-8 and V-12 Navy Programs. Between the war and the early 1970s, it became two classrooms for post-war students, then a lunchroom for commuters, a university book store and even a student-run hippie coffee shop called Amazing Grace.
Many students haven’t been particularly fond of the building’s aesthetic. In 1966, former student and associate editor for The Daily Northwestern David Nelson ranted, “The squat, wood frame building is not attractive! No matter what season, or what time of day, it looks like a shadow, or outgrowth of Lunt Hall.” Shep Shanley, son of the building’s namesake, told The Daily in 1983 that “the building is a shack” and “should have been destroyed in 1946.”
Despite the lack of appreciation, Shanley remained on campus as the university tore down and replaced other buldings. After a short stint as the home of the Interpretation Department’s Food and Fiction Dinner Theater Program, it became a popular site for all kinds of student productions.
In fact, various different groups book Shanley almost around the clock. According to Communication freshman Jeremy Pesigan, performance groups often step in Shanley on Sunday afternoon, right after the previous group has performed their show and broken down their own set. Then, they only have a week to put a new set together, have dress rehearsals, perform their show and break down their set. By that time, the next group will be waiting to move in, starting the process all over again.
“What kind of makes it special is the fact that so many students have passed through there and worked so hard,” says Heather Strauss, a Communication junior and co-chair of the Northwestern Student Theatre Coalition (StuCo). “It’s very much a scrappy place where a bunch of broke college kids come out with no money and no direction and just make art. You can feel the love in the building.”
But no one could have foreseen Shanley becoming the creative hub it is today – the building was never supposed to sustain anything more than the barracks of NROTC. According to Harvey Young, chair of the Northwestern Theatre Department, the building was meant to be temporary, but over time the Northwestern community repurposed it.
“There’s always been this idea that Shanley is a temporary structure and that maybe one day it will go away,” Young says. “And it’s still here.”
While Shanley has managed to stick around, it’s also started to break down. In 2004, a a falling light hit a Northwestern senior, who had to go to the hospital. Two different renovations, one in the summer of 2002 and
one during the 2005-2006 school year, were desperately needed. According to current students, Shanley needs further repair – the dressing rooms are falling apart, toilets break in the middle of shows and the floor is patchy from all the different sets.
“There are screws and hooks in the ceiling where we don’t know where they came from or if they’re going to fall out if we try and tie something to them,” says Communication junior and StuCo equipment manager Isadora Porte. Describing what sounds like a quirky shot in a Wes Anderson movie, Strauss says the only way to control the heat is to stand on a toilet in the boy’s bathroom and pull a lever from the ceiling.
Norris University Center has controlled Shanley since the 1970s, but Young thinks of it as mostly a “student-controlled space.” Besides the check-ins that happen for an hour between shows, the maintenance staff comes in three days a week just to clean the bathrooms and replace the paper towels. This gives student performance groups more freedom to create, but has also contributed to the breakdown of the building, as students are responsible for the majority of the cleaning and upkeep.
But according to Communication sophomore Chloe Howard, it’s all part of Shanley’s charm. There have only been four major renovations in the building’s 73-year history, and another is definitely needed. But until then, Shanley will continue to serve as the dysfunctional yet beloved home to many of NU’s student productions.
Ca$h Flow
NBN follows the money of your profs’ campaign contributions.
BY TREVOR LYSTAD | ILLUSTRATIONS BY EMMA KUMER
ALUMNA Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Actress Julia Louis-Dreyfus is by far the biggest donor on our list. More than $58,000 of the money she donated was through joint fundraising contributions, which collect money and redistribute it to other candidates. For example, she donated $30,000 to the Obama Victory Fund 2012. All of her direct donations have been donations of $1,000 or more to Lois Capps, the former
FORMER PRESIDENT Arnold Weber
In contrast with Bienen, former President
Arnold Weber has consistently donated to Republican candidates throughout the 2000s, including $750 for former Illinois senator Mark Kirk’s failed campaign in 2016. Notably, Weber donated to both John
McCain’s and Mitt Romney’s presidential campaigns, but not Donald Trump’s.
NOTABLE CONTRIBUTIONS: Sen. John McCain • Sen. Mark Kirk • Sen. Mitt Romney • Republican National Committee
ALUMNUS George R. R. Martin
Instead of writing the sixth Game of Thrones book, alumnus and author George R.R. Martin has been busy donating to two prominent
Democratic Senators: Tom Udall and Elizabeth Warren. Martin’s biggest donation was $2,000 in 2014 to Udall, who represents his home state of New Mexico. He donated $500 to Warren for her senate race in 2012.
CURRENT PRESIDENT Morton Schapiro
Morty’s donations went to Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc., a PAC that donates to both Republican and Democratic candidates. (He's been on the board of Marsh & McLennan since 2002.)
In 2016, the PAC donated $195,000 to Republicans and $140,500 to Democrats.
ONLY CONTRIBUTION: Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. Political Action Committee (MMPAC)
FORMER PRESIDENT Henry Bienen
Former President Henry Bienen has been an active donor since the 90s, donating to a wide range of Democratic candidates as well as the Democratic Party of Illinois. In 2008, Bienen donated the maximum amount ($2,300) to the Obama campaign. He also donated to Democrat Bill Bradley’s failed presidential campaign in 2000.
NOTABLE CONTRIBUTIONS: Democratic Party of Illinois • Barack Obama
ALUMNUS Stephen Colbert
Comedian Stephen Colbert’s only political donation went to the losing congressional campaign of Elizabeth Colbert Busch, one of his 10 siblings. Colbert Busch, a Democrat, ran in South Carolina’s first district in the 2013 special election, losing to former Republican governor Mark Sanford.
PROVOST Dan Linzer
Provost Dan Linzer has donated $2,250 over the past 10 years, all to Democratic institutions or candidates (other than one donation to the University Public Issues Committee, which donates to both parties). His biggest donation came in 2008 when he donated $1,000 to Barack Obama’s presidential campaign.
PROFESSOR Gary Saul Morson
Popular Russian Literature professor Gary Saul Morson contributed a total of $571 between 2015 and 2016 to the National Republican Congressional Committee, National Republican Senatorial Committee and former Sen. Mark Kirk (R-IL). Interestingly, Morson donated almost biweekly in increments between $25 to $75.
NOTABLE CONTRIBUTIONS: National Republican Congressional Committee • Mark Kirk
Seabury,unburied
NBN explores the other seminary on Sheridan.
It was the seminary on Sheridan. No, not Garrett. The other one. The one across the street. Until 2009, Seabury Hall, now known as 2122 Sheridan, was home to the Seabury- Western Theological Seminary, an Episcopal divinity school. Seabury-Western was born from a merger between Seabury Divinity School and Western Theological Seminary in 1933. The campus took up most of a city block (creatively dubbed “the block”) but throughout the years, it educated, fed and housed between 50 and 100 students per year, their families and faculty. Seabury Hall, added in 1956, provided a student commons, more classrooms and more library space to the campus.
The seminary chugged along under the radar as Northwestern University grew up around it, offering students a variety of religious graduate programs that changed in name, curriculum, rigor, prestige and demand over time. Seabury-Western students were called juniors, middlers and seniors and took classes like Elementary Greek, the Planning and Composition of Sermons and Psychology of Religion during their own version of the quarter system, known as Michaelmas, Epiphany and Easter terms (with an optional Trinity term in the summer). They were also cross-registered at Northwestern until World War II.
Seabury-Western students had access to Northwestern and Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary library collections, but they also had stacks and collections of their own. Before Northwestern turned it into a hodgepodge of storage and empty space, the Seabury Hall basement was home to thousands of books. A bragging point for Seabury-Western was its Hibbard Egyptian Library, hidden away in a side hallway on the second floor. Gifted to Western Theological Seminary by Lydia Beekman Hibbard (a wealthy Episcopalian Chicagoan), the collection included books about ancient Egypt and Assyria as well as a first-century Egyptian “portrait mummy” of a 5-year-old girl with a painted face, found in 1911 in Hawara, Egypt. Garrett would later buy the entirety of Seabury-Western’s library collection, and you can now visit Hibbard’s mummy in Garrett’s United Library on Sheridan.
By the 2000s, Seabury-Western began to feel the hurt from their relatively small endowment, and by 2008, Northwestern was leasing space in Seabury-Western for dorms. In 2009, Seabury-Western stopped accepting new Masters of Divinity students (called “MDiv,” it was Seabury-Western’s main program and the first academic stepping stone to becoming a priest). It then began selling its remaining property to Northwestern and phased out of Evanston. According to former Seabury-Western librarian Newland Smith, their endowment of $10 million paled in comparison to other seminaries (the Virginia Theological Seminary, one of the more successful Episcopal seminaries in America, has an endowment of around $140 million). The seminary’s future was in limbo until 2013, when it announced a merger with Bexley Hall from Columbus, Ohio, another economically failing Episcopal seminary, and established its current campus in Chicago’s Hyde Park.
For a while, Northwestern didn’t seem to know what to do with Seabury Hall. It functioned as a subpar dorm for a couple dozen students (24, according to its old Wildcat Connection page) for a few years before the university carried out massive renovations and rebranded it as 2122 Sheridan. It reopened in 2014 as office space, and the last few stragglers moved out of the dorms shortly after. The steeple is now silent, and the Hibbard Egyptian Library is empty and locked away from the world. The only remnants of Seabury-Western’s organs are the pipes that stick out in the Performance Hall – according to Smith, one of the organs was from the 1933 World’s Fair and was “too large” for the space, and the other is now in Alice Like a lot of architecture at Northwestern, Seabury Hall is gothic and pointy, dotted with intricate stained glass and open archways. From the outside, it looks like a chapel. And from the inside, it also kind of looks like a chapel. Pews, not benches, provide seating in its brightly lit hallways and the inconspicuous, frosted windows on the outside are bright stained glass works of art on the inside.
Back in its heyday, the 2122 Performance Space was Seabury-Western’s Anderson Chapel, a memorial to Right Reverend Charles Palmerston Anderson, the Episcopalian Bishop of Chicago for 30 years. Not only was it named after Anderson, but it was also Anderson’s postmortem home for several decades. According to the Chicago Tribune in 1930, Anderson was buried “in a crypt beneath the plain marble altar in the chapel.” He, and later his wife, remained under the chapel until his family moved them to Wisconsin before Northwestern took over, according to Smith.
No longer a burial ground (as far as NBN knows), Seabury Hall is now home to a myriad of NU offices like Residential Services, Residential Academic Initiatives and AccessibleNU, with classrooms on the second floor and the Performance Hall on the ground level. A hallway connects it to 600 Haven Street, another former Seabury-Western building. The Gregory Reading Room, a study room under Seabury-Western, is now The Graduate School commons, and the large, Hogwarts-esque study tables now reside in Garrett’s United Library.
Northwestern students occasionally wander into 2122, maybe looking for an office or hidden classroom. It’s disconnected enough from the east side of Sheridan that sometimes NU servers think you’re connecting from off campus. Its combination of regal exterior and sleek, modern interior – with a dash of vintage church – make it a unique, albeit slightly confusing, building to navigate. The days of the Northwestern Fighting Methodists are long gone, but at 2122 Sheridan, a hidden theological past flickers on.