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Wednesday, February 4, 2026

DAILYNORTHWESTERN.COM MULTIMEDIA / ICE Protest

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Scan for more about the student-led ‘ICE OUT!’ protest at The Arch

Music and political activism collide at the 2026 Grammy Awards

Northwestern will return to Ryan Field on Oct. 2 to host its Big Ten home opener

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Students share their wishlist specifically refPresidential search administration, erencing the agreement. committee solicits “I want somebody who will stand to the Trump regime,” community input Simonupsaid. “I want somebody

As the presidential search committee solicits input from the Northwestern community, some students expressed they want to see academic independence from the federal government and support for diversity, equity and inclusion in the University’s next president. NU hosted two virtual listening sessions: one for undergraduate students on Jan. 26 and one for graduate and professional students on Jan. 28. Outside of the sessions, students’ wishlists were largely shaped by national politics.

who is going to defend Northwestern against the attacks on academic freedom, civil rights and freedom of speech, especially.” Simon pointed to specific policies around transgender students, which she feels amount to erasure. She also said protections for Jewish students that she, who is Jewish, will instead politically endanger them. Weinberg first-year Xander Hampton echoed similar concerns about the deal compromising NU values. “We’re heading toward the trend of giving in to authoritanism, which is not something that I nor do any of my classmates support,” he said.

Independence from federal government

DEI protections for research, University programs

Many students brought up academic freedom, especially in response to the University’s Nov. 28 deal with the Trump administration to restore federal funding and end civil rights investigations into the University. Communication sophomore Holly Simon criticized what she called “cooperation and appeasement politics” with the Trump

Several students also expressed hope that the next president will stand up for social justice and DEI issues on campus. Hampton emphasized the need for a president who responds strongly to fears surrounding Immigrations and

By TAARIQ AHMED

the daily northwestern

Christina Lin/The Daily Northwestern

Plex West has the first IFANCA-certified halal station at NU.

Plex halal accessibility expands Compass Group explores addition of station to second dining hall By ISABELLA JACOB

daily senior staffer @isabellaj313

The Islamic Food and Nutrition Council of America approved a halal station at Foster-Walker Dining Commons in October to

improve reliable access on campus after The Daily reported food identified as halal was mislabeled and cross-contaminated multiple times in dining halls over the past couple years. The possibility of adding a station to another dining hall is being explored, according to a Compass

Group spokesperson. Weinberg sophomore Yalmaz Javaid, a member of the Muslimcultural Students Association, said halal accessibility has improved in the past year. “It would be very rare to find a halal section, and now every day I find at least two options,” Javaid

said. “I definitely see the impact.” Pork, meat that is haram, or considered forbidden in Islam, was found in the halal section at Allison dining hall in the fall of 2024. After the incident, two

» See HALAL, page 10

» See SEARCH, page 11

D65 board adds $11 million floods congressional race seventh member Abughazaleh, Biss, Fine led candidates in 2025 campaign fundraising Chris Van Nostrand to be sworn in on Feb. 9 By ANAVI PRAKASH

daily senior staffer @anavi_52

Chris Van Nostrand (Kellogg ’09) has been appointed to the Evanston/Skokie School District 65 Board of Education, Board President Patricia S. Anderson and Board Vice President Nichole Pinkard wrote in a message to families Monday. He will be sworn in at the board’s Feb. 9 Committee of the Whole meeting, according to their letter. April Jordan, the district’s regional superintendent, informed the board of her decision earlier in the day, the board’s leadership wrote. “We believe that Chris’s perspective as a D65 parent and his administrative experience will be extremely beneficial to our governance discussions,” Anderson and Pinkard wrote. Van Nostrand will fill the seat vacated by former Board member Omar Salem in November and

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serve for the remainder of his term, which ends in April 2027. Salem stepped down, citing a “unique opportunity” taking his family out of Evanston for several months. Salem announced his resignation in a Nov. 2 letter published by the Evanston RoundTable. The parent of two District 65 students and founder of Strength Wise Barbell, Van Nostrand was the sixth runner-up for the District 65 board in the April 2025 municipal election, which elected four new members. “The most unbiased and democratic approach to fill the vacant seat, and still honor the voice of the community, was to rely on the 2025 school board election results and pair that information with those who formally applied with the Evanston-Skokie School District 65 Board of Education to fill the seat,” Jordan wrote in a Tuesday statement to The Daily. Van Nostrand focused his April campaign on improving students’ experience amid the district’s budget shortfall. In a Monday statement to The Daily, Van Nostrand called being

» VAN NOSTRAND, page 11

By YONG-YU HUANG

daily senior staffer @yong_yuhuang

With the March 17 primary election less than two months away, candidates running for Illinois’ 9th Congressional District have filed reports with the Federal Election Commission for the last quarter of 2025. More than $11 million in funds has flooded the 19-candidate race to replace U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Evanston), who announced in May that she would not seek reelection. Mayor Daniel Biss, progressive content creator Kat Abughazaleh, State Sen. Laura Fine (D-Glenview), State Rep. Hoan Huynh (D-Chicago) and former FBI hostage negotiator Phil Andrew have all raised more than $1 million, according to reports from the FEC. Abughazaleh reported a yearly total of $2.7 million, Biss raised $1.98 million and Fine raised $1.92 million, while Andrew collected $1.21 million and Huynh’s haul totaled just over $1 million. According to a spokesperson for Abughazaleh’s campaign, the campaign is “encouraged” by its

fundraising lead. “It aligns with expectations for a grassroots campaign that relies on broad participation rather than corporate or special interest donors like AIPAC,” the spokesperson wrote. “The scale and consistency of small-dollar support at this stage reinforces confidence in the campaign’s strategy and trajectory.” According to FEC filings, Fine ended the year with the most cash on hand, with over $1.43 million — just ahead of Biss’ $1.37 million, followed by Andrew with $961,000, Abughazaleh with $810,000 and Huynh with $737,000. A spokesperson for Andrew’s campaign partly attributed the fundraising numbers to previous government experience. Andrew is a first-time political candidate. “I think you can see a difference in the various campaign funds between the candidates, those who have held office before — clearly in Senator Fine and certainly in Mayor Biss,” they told The Daily. “So there’s certainly some fundraising advantage, I would imagine, because people know his name.” The spokesperson said that as the last few weeks of the race approach, Andrew’s campaign will focus its spending on both digital

File illustration by Cayla Labgold-Carroll

According to a news release from the Biss campaign, the mayor boasts the highest in-state donor ratio of any candidate.

and mail communications. Fine has faced criticism from opponents, including Biss and Abughazaleh, for accepting donations associated with AIPAC, the country’s largest pro-Israel lobbying group. AIPAC has not publicly endorsed Fine but has sent at least two fundraising emails on her behalf. AIPAC also drew attention after former candidate Bruce Leon accused the group of pressuring him to withdraw from the primary race. In a statement to The Daily, a spokesperson from Amiwala’s campaign wrote she had completed her 270th meet and greet in the district

and has one of the “strongest indistrict donor bases and grassroots operations.” “We’ve been thoughtful and responsible with every dollar because this is a people-powered campaign, backed by neighbors across IL-09,” the spokesperson wrote. A spokesperson for State Sen. Mike Simmons’ (D-Chicago) campaign wrote in a statement to The Daily that Simmons would never be “the candidate that appeals to the wealthy and powerful or raises the most money from them,” based on his life and work.

» See FUNDRAISING, page 11