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Thursday, January 12, 2023
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NUGW holds election to authorize union More than 1,600 graduate workers pledge to vote yes By FIONA ROACH
daily senior staffer @fionaroach03
Daily file illustration by Olivia Abeyta
Criminal justice efforts delayed
State continues passing reform as court order blocks cash bail ban By KRISTEN AXTMAN
the daily northwestern @kristenaxtman1
Content warning: This article contains mentions of child sexual assault.
Illinois was set to be the first state to eliminate cash bail at the start of this year, but a December circuit court ruling halted the reform. The Pretrial Fairness Act would allow defendants to be released as they await trial, rather than having to pay a cash
bond for release — as long as they don’t pose a threat to others or a risk of fleeing. But the Kankakee County circuit court ruled that the Pretrial Fairness Act violates the powers given to the judiciary by the state’s constitution, preventing the change
from being implemented. State Attorney General Kwame Raoul announced on Dec. 30 that he would appeal the lower court’s decision to stay the act. Without the Pretrial Fairness Act, low-income people accused
» See CASH BAIL, page 6
Northwestern University Graduate Workers kicked off its union election Tuesday, the first of two days of voting in Evanston and Chicago. The election, moderated by the National Labor Relations Board, is the product of years of grassroots organizing by graduate workers. If a majority of voters vote “yes,” the NLRB will authorize the United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America as NUGW’s collective bargaining body. All NU graduate workers are eligible to vote. More than 1600 graduate students have publicly pledged to vote yes, according to NUGW. “We want to have recognition and status as a union of graduate workers, because then there are certain requirements for us to have a seat at the table and have Northwestern bargaining with us in good faith, instead of just picking and choosing when they want to listen to us,” said Emilie Lozier, a fifthyear Ph.D. candidate in chemistry
and NUGW co-chair. NUGW’s efforts to unionize center on a five-point platform based on a survey sent out to all graduate students last spring. Lozier said the organization collected about 1900 responses. Goals include competitive pay, professional standards in labs and classrooms, power to address misconduct, comprehensive healthcare and financial support for international students. “Graduate students are not only just students, but also employees performing valuable labor for the universities who employ them,” Lozier said. “We’re all people doing research, not just disembodied brains.” NUGW chose to pursue a union election after the University refused to voluntarily recognize the organization’s union with UE in November. Lozier said this was not unexpected, as university administrations rarely recognize a union effort without an election. Lozier and other NUGW members have been negotiating the terms of the election with the University and encouraging students to vote since. But organizing among graduate workers has been ongoing since before NUGW was founded in 2016.
» See NUGW ELECTION, page 6
Niles parents fight McKenzie reflects on years at NU racism in school Wildcat Welcome organizer set to leave position after Jan. 18 Report finds Niles over-disciplines Black students By LILY CAREY
daily senior staffer @lilylcarey
Content warning: this story contains discussions of racism. Amid reports of ongoing anti-Black racism at Niles North and Niles West High Schools, several parents urged Niles Township High School District 219 Board of Education members to make systemic change at the Board meeting Tuesday. For several years, Black and brown students have continuously reported experiences of racism at school. Members of the Niles North and Niles West Black Student Unions spoke at a Dec. 6 board meeting about those experiences, which included use of racial slurs in and out of the classroom and discrimination by security guards. Angela Sangha-Gadsden,
Recycle Me
a member of advocacy group Abolition Coalition of Skokie, said many parent advocates came forward at the meeting to demand concrete, policycentered change. “What we heard (BSU members) share is that, when they raise their voices against racism, they are disciplined. When they find safety with each other, security is called,” she said. “They are constantly under attack by this multiheaded monster of systemic racism.” A study by Hanover Research, a third party consultant hired by District 219 to examine racism in its schools, also showed Black students in the district are over-disciplined and that students of many marginalized identities face academic achievement gaps. Skokie Schools Equity Collaborative organizer Maggie Vandermeer said advocates suggest mandatory hate speech training for staff and students, hiring a second district equity officer, addressing racial discrimination by lunch staff and
» See D219, page 6
By PAVAN ACHARYA
daily senior staffer @pavanacharya02
Alabama native Josh McKenzie knew no one in the Chicago area when he arrived at Northwestern in July 2010 to take on the position of Assistant Director of Leadership Development. “I was so nervous stepping into this very first role because it was a place I’d never been to,” McKenzie said. “It was a role that had never existed before and I was going to be tasked with creating a lot of things from scratch.” Fast forward almost 13 years later, and some students consider McKenzie, now Assistant Dean of Students and Director of Student Transition Experiences, a campus celebrity. McKenzie, whose last day at NU is Jan. 18, has led Wildcat Welcome since 2020 and has helped plan it since 2010. Wildcat Welcome, the annual student orientation experience, typically occurs during the week leading up to Fall Quarter and features
older students acting as peer advisors to help freshmen and transfers acclimate to campus. The 2020 Wildcat Welcome experience was virtual due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which presented challenges for the Student Transition Experiences team and peer advisers, McKenzie said. McCormick graduate student Jay Zou, who was a peer advisor in 2020 and 2022, said McKenzie was a strong leader throughout the virtual Wildcat Welcome experience. “Josh was able to emanate positivity across the entire structure of the organization,” Zou said. He said McKenzie had an ability to make every peer advisor feel special. If you waved, McKenzie waved back, Zou added. Weinberg freshman Faith Khiet Nhi Do said she appreciated McKenzie’s engagement with students through “Purple Prep” email reminders prior to Wildcat Welcome in 2022. “I feel like (Wildcat Welcome) would have been less comfortable without him,” Khiet Nhi Do said. McKenzie helped develop
Elisa Huang/The Daily Northwestern
Director of Student Transition Experiences Josh McKenzie has spearheaded the Wildcat Welcome orientation since 2020.
the Purple Prep checklist to serve as a centralized system for prospective NU students, making for a more organized transition to the University.
He said one of the accomplishments he was most proud of during his time with the
» See MCKENZIE, page 6
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