The Daily Northwestern — February 18, 2026 by The Daily Northwestern

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Wednesday, February 18, 2026

DAILYNORTHWESTERN.COM 4 A&E / Reel Thoughts

9 FEATURES / Basketball

10 CAMPUS / ASG

‘Wuthering Heights’ falls short of its source material’s quality, but it’s not a withering mess

How former lacrosse star Pat Spencer’s drive took him from Evanston to the NBA

Data shows Adarsh-Sisco won slim victory against ‘joke campaign’

High 57 Low 43

NU replaces housing vendor New vendor to better international student support By TAARIQ AHMED

the daily northwestern

Daily file photo by Shun Graves

In his letter to Walberg, Biss wrote he “remained in close contact” with EPD officials throughout the encampment, noting they did not consider the demonstration a threat to students or the broader Evanston community.

Mayor to brief House committee Lawmakers to question Daniel Biss on city response to encampment By JACK BAKER

daily senior staffer @jdowb2005

Mayor Daniel Biss responded to a Jan. 28 letter from U.S. Rep. Tim Walberg (R-Mich.) on Monday, defending his decision not to deploy Evanston Police Department officers to make arrests and clear the pro-Palestinian encampment on Deering Meadow in April 2024.

Biss agreed to brief the House Education and Workforce Committee, which Walberg chairs, “as soon as practicable” to outline “local law enforcement coordination” between the city and Northwestern during the protest. Biss, a Democratic frontrunner in the crowded race to represent Illinois’ 9th Congressional District, called Walberg’s inquiry “a dishonest political attack” during a news conference last month. The mayor’s written response comes

Potential Stars move scrutinized

hours but noted her 7th Ward meeting construction position was not “an endorseon Ryan Field ment of nonstop construction.” Instead, Davis wrote she recplan draws critics ognized the city was “boxed” into By YONG-YU HUANG

daily senior staffer @yong_yuhuang

At a virtual 7th Ward meeting on Monday night, community members debated the Chicago Stars’ unique use permit application to host professional soccer matches at Northwestern’s Ryan Field, which is nearing completion, from 2027 for up to five years. The Stars are scheduled to play 15 games at Martin Stadium during the 2026 season, but current zoning regulations prevent NU’s forthcoming facility from hosting professional sports. Debate over the Stars’ potential relocation to the 7th Ward dominated the meeting, with Ald. Parielle Davis (7th) proclaiming she is “very unlikely” to support the team’s unique use permit application. In a Feb. 9 email to 7th Ward residents, Davis wrote that she supported NU’s request to extend

Recycle Me

approving working hours of up to 16 a day, six days a week, to maintain funding. Davis described existing construction as “an extraordinary burden” for the neighborhood. Given city promises to residents in the area, she wrote that she does not plan to support the Stars’ application to play at Ryan Field, emphasizing that her opposition is “not about women’s soccer.” “It is about whether a taxexempt educational institution engaging in for-profit activity should continue to add new impacts to a neighborhood that has already absorbed years of construction and expanded stadium use,” the councilmember wrote. Davis said a 2024 Memorandum of Understanding between the city and NU outlines at least four deliverables for the Ryan Field Community Advisory Council — a concert operations plan, a traffic management plan,

» See SEVENTH WARD, page 11

about a month before the March 17 primary election. A spokesperson for Biss’ campaign told The Daily on Monday that it remains unclear when the briefing will happen or whether it will be held publicly. The spokesperson added “we are waiting to hear more details from the committee.” In his response, Biss wrote he “remained in close contact” with EPD officials throughout the encampment, noting they did

not consider the demonstration a threat to students or the broader Evanston community. He reiterated that EPD leadership cautioned that “forcibly clearing the encampment could escalate tensions and increase the risk of unrest.” “I did not, and would not, direct the Evanston Police Department to disperse a protest or arrest protesters against the advice of

» See DANIEL BISS, page 11

Northwestern will switch its off-campus housing vendor to a new platform run by Off Campus Partners, which is expected to launch in March. The website will offer a cleaner digital appearance and new features to better support international students, said Assistant Dean and Director of Strategy and Operations in the Dean of Students office Jason McKean, who also directs NU’s Off-Campus Life office. McKean said the baseline services — including a property search tool and a roommate finder that connects students for sublets — will remain the same. However, he said aesthetics and accessibility were major factors in the University’s decision to move from Places4Students, its former vendor. “It wasn’t the most beautiful thing out there,” McKean said. “Some of their competitors had much cleaner layouts that felt a little bit easier to navigate, so that was part of it.” He added that the new Off Campus Partners platform will

resemble that of the University of Illinois Chicago. Another major factor in the switch was the platform’s international student-friendly filter. International students often lack documentation required by landlords, such as a Social Security number or U.S. credit history. “International students may not have a social security number, right?” Nadirah Muhammad, a marketing manager at Off Campus Partners, said. “Those properties understand that and already have that within their process, which is really nice.” The filter allows owners to indicate whether they accept alternative documentation instead of requiring a Social Security number, including financial aid as proof of income, flexible credit checks, flexibility with guarantors and alternative identification such as a passport or visa. Medill sophomore Junseo Lee, an international student from South Korea, said he used Places4Students to find housing for next school year and has already signed a lease. He said the platform was helpful, but he sees the value in adding a feature tailored to international students. “The biggest obstacle is when

» See OCL VENDOR, page 11

Adarsh-Sisco win ASG presidency

In their second attempt, the duo barely beat out Hu-Cohrs ticket By JOSHUA SINGER

daily senior staffer

Weinberg junior Gauri Adarsh and Medill junior John Sisco won this week’s election for the Associated Student Government presidency. The two ran a campaign that promised to increase opportunities for student engagement with ASG officers, writing a resolution to express their feelings toward Northwestern’s administration, placing ASG’s funding into an interest-bearing trust account to enable more spending, as well as other policies. Adarsh and Sisco defeated the tickets of McCormick sophomore Nicholas Johnson and SESP junior Nur Yalinbas, SESP sophomore JJ Nabors-Moore and McCormick sophomore Patrick Eleazar, and Weinberg sophomore Alan Hu and SESP junior Noah Cohrs. Two thousand thirty-nine students voted in this year’s election, an 11% increase from last year’s election. “It’s a massive relief,” Adarsh said. “This has been one of the longest weeks of our life. We’re so thankful for everyone who voted

Photo courtesy of Gauri Adarsh

Adarsh and Sisco won the 2026 ASG presidential election.

for us. We promise we will make due on what we’ve said.” Hu and Cohrs led Adarsh and Sisco by 0.6% through round one of voting. Hu and Cohrs led throughout the ranked choice vote until the final round, when Yalinbas and Johnson were removed from the ballot. By the end of the final round, Adarsh and Sisco defeated Hu and Cohrs 52.89%

to 47.11%. Hu and Cohrs ran what they referred to as a “joke campaign,” with policies such as putting deer on Deering Meadow, banning Jeffrey Epstein from campus, annexing the University of Chicago and destroying the Technological Institute. This year was the second straight year with four tickets

on the ballot. Adarsh and Sisco were on last year’s ticket, but were defeated by then-McCormick junior James La Fayette Jr. and then-Weinberg sophomore Jamal Omoniyi.

j.singer@dailynorthwestern.com

» For ELECTION RESULTS BY THE NUMBERS, see page 10