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The Daily Northwestern Monday, April 15, 2024
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5 A&E/Pity the Woman
AUDIO/Podculture
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New Vertigo production portrays high school life
Hear the sounds of Tonik Tap’s “Timeless” spring show
Baseball takes first Big Ten series since 2023
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Activists urge climate equity Environmental justice series has its inaugural event By HANNAH WEBSTER
the daily northwestern @hannahe_webster
Kaavya Butaney/Daily Senior Staffer
To open Arab Heritage Month, MENA Students Association hosted Weinberg junior Ritaj Abdulquani for a henna workshop Thursday.
Students reflect on Arab heritage MENA Student Association to host cultural events througout April
By KAAVYA BUTANEY
daily senior staffer @kaavya_butaney
When she was eight years old, Medill junior Daniella Karras immigrated from Egypt, her
home country, to the United States. In California, she found connections and community within her church. But, when she came to Northwestern, she said her home away from home became the Middle Eastern North
African Student Association. Karras, now MENA Student Association’s co-president, is not the only one who feels this way. When Weinberg sophomore and MENA Student Association co-president Lucas Kritz transferred to NU, he said
the organization welcomed him with open arms and bonded him with his culture. “Arab Heritage Month is a month where we show our presence on campus, and we get to
» See ARAB HERITAGE, page 6
The Evanston Environmental Justice Conversation Series hosted keynote speaker Cheryl Johnson, executive director of People for Community Recovery, and a panel of environmental activists Saturday for its inaugural event at the Fleetwood-Jourdain Center. Conversations centered around the disproportionate effects of climate change on marginalized communities and measures activists have taken to address these issues. “The environment is us,” Johnson said. “Either we’re going to get it right, or we’re going to continue to do it wrong, and we’re going to experience some of the devastation that comes along with it.” The Evanston Environmental Justice Conversation Series is a biannual series created by The Center for the Church and the Black Experience and the Stead Center for Ethics
and Values at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary in collaboration with the Evanston/North Shore NAACP. According to the event’s website, the series serves to foster “rich conversations between community members, environmental justice advocates and civic, religious and academic leaders.” In her address, Johnson reflected on the work People for Community Recovery — a Chicago-centered environmental nonprofit founded by her mother in 1979 — has accomplished to combat discriminatory environmental issues over four decades. She said she grew up in a “toxic doughnut” between landfills, leaking underground storage tanks and hazardous operation facilities, which motivated much of her mother’s initial work. Johnson said the organization was responsible for several environmental health reforms, including removing lead and asbestos from public housing in the South Side of Chicago. “The only way to improve the quality of life — in not just my neighborhood, but for every neighborhood — is that we unite and come together,”
» See CLIMATE EQUITY, page 6
NU to renovate Evanston Made hosts art workshop Deering Library Community invited to create communal projects, find their inner artist the Martin Reading Room to Construction to more seating opporbegin this summer, create tunities. Deputy University D.J. Hoek said the last through 2025 Librarian plan is to restore the layout By BEATRICE VILLAFLOR
daily senior staffer @beatricedvilla
Northwestern will close Deering Library for the first time in over a decade during the 2024-2025 school year to undergo renovations, the University announced Thursday. The renovation will focus on the Martin Reading Room, the third floor lobby and Room 208. It will feature restored woodwork, furnishings and flooring. They will also introduce an elevator to the space. Construction will begin after this year’s commencement and is expected to conclude in September 2025. According to the news release, funds for the renovation come from philanthropic gifts. Construction will remove non-original shelving from
Recycle Me
of the room to its original state. Hoek added that maintaining Deering’s history is an integral part of the renovation. In Room 208, fluorescent lighting will be removed. Plans include bringing new technology into the room, offering it more flexibility as an event and gathering space. “We really see 208 as a key part of the renovation, because in its renovated form we hope (it) really becomes a very active center of activity, not only for the library, but for the whole university,” Hoek said. Lastly, Hoek said, NU will add digital screens to the third floor lobby to provide context on current exhibits on display. Plans for the renovation were approved in Spring 2022, according to Hoek.
» See DEERING, page 6
By AVIVA BECHKY
daily senior staffer @avivabechky
On Saturday afternoon, children and adults alike crouched along 25-feet-long pieces of blank paper on the floor at the Robert Crown Community Center. They drew circles and filled them in with colorful paint before adding petals, stems and leaves. Soon, a cheery, whimsical design emerged. The event was Evanston Paints, a workshop hosted by the local arts group Evanston Made to encourage people of all ages to get creative with a communal project. Over the course of Saturday afternoon, about 70 people painted six strips of paper, each one bright with spirals, flowers and dots. Evanston Made plans to hold a similar workshop again in May and then display the works of art at the Evanston Art Center starting June 1. Kathe Stoepel, a member of Evanston Made, suggested holding the event, inspired by the communal art project Ideal Exhibition with Hervé
Tullet. Years ago, she did a similar event in Lake Forest, Illinois, and wanted to bring something similar to the Evanston community, she said. “Kids’ art is great — I just like how they’re uninhibited,” Stoepel said. “We’re also making the point that everybody’s an artist. So, anybody that wants to come and draw can do it.” Evanston Made member Sholo Beverly directed the workshop. She guided everyone through the activity step by step, instructing people to start with circles, switch places along the paper and add decorative flourishes. Both she and Evanston Made artist Liz Brent said they were excited to see how everyone turned Beverly’s instructions into pieces of art. “This is a very loose and free art experience where everybody’s working on circles and lines,” Brent said. “So, it’ll be interesting to see how people create their own.” For Delphine Declerck, who turns 7 this week, adding her own flourishes meant painting green squiggles and purple raindrops. She said her
Aviva Bechky/Daily Senior Staffer
Maeve Bowen, 7, helps paint a communal project at the Robert Crown Community Center on Saturday.
favorite part was turning her drawings into flowers. Delphine’s mother, Evanston resident Ke Gong, said she found it meaningful to create a work of art with so many other people. The event, she said, was definitely up her family’s alley.
“(Delphine) loves to draw,” Gong said. “We both draw at home, so I figured it’d be a fun mother-daughter bonding experience.” Elsewhere, Brian Bowen and Caroline Kerns brought
» See EVANSTON MADE, page 6
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