Issuu

Serving the Northwestern and Evanston communities since 1881

The Daily Northwestern Find us online @thedailynu

Wednesday, October 29, 2025

DAILYNORTHWESTERN.COM

NUGW stages campus work-in Members call on NU to reject Trump compact By YONG-YU HUANG

daily senior staffer @yong_yuhuang

The doors to the Technological Institute opened Friday to Northwestern University Graduate Workers members in bright yellow shirts on their laptops, as they staged a campus-wide work-in from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. The work-in was the final day of NUGW’s “Workers Over Deals” Week of Action, which included events like walk-throughs, flyering and phonebanking. The week was a response to the Trump administration’s recently proffered “Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education,” according to thirdyear art history Ph.D. candidate Amanda Alvarez. The compact asks universities to comply with various points, such as limiting international student enrollment and fostering “a vibrant marketplace of ideas on campus” in exchange for preferential access to federal funds. “These are such vast overreaches of government power,” Alvarez said. “We are basically trying to get people to be aware that if the University signs this, they are signing away their rights.”

Initially offered to nine universities on Oct. 1, the administration extended the compact to all higher education institutions less than two weeks later. As of Oct. 23, at least 11 universities across the country have refused to sign the current version of the compact, according to Inside Higher Ed. At a faculty meeting earlier this month, interim President Bienen said he would not take a deal that would sign away the University’s autonomy or First Amendment rights. Fifth-year chemistry Ph.D. candidate Kristen Beckett said she joined the work-in to urge NU to reject the compact, pointing to peer universities that have already done so. She added that she was concerned that Bienen has expressed interest in some sort of deal to facilitate the return of Northwestern’s federal funding. Beckett has seen the loss of funding in the chemistry department, noting that although her group’s grants have not been canceled, some of them have been flagged because of DEI statements. “But signing a deal, we’ve already seen, doesn’t really do anything, and it basically just brings the federal government into our university,” Beckett said. “Just because we sign this, it doesn’t mean they’re gonna stay away.” At least 20 NUGW members

» See ACTION, page 9

Siddarth Sivaraman/The Daily Northwestern

Protestors’ chants projected hopes for a united front against closing schools.

Two-school closure on the table

D65 Board changes course in light of new financial projections By SIDDARTH SIVARAMAN and JACK BAKER

daily senior staffers @sidvaraman / @jdowb2005

The Evanston/Skokie School District 65 Board of Education reached a consensus to explore a two-school closure plan and

model staggered shutterings at its Monday night meeting. The board switched course after focusing on a three-school closure plan since district administration first announced closure scenarios at the board’s Sept. 29 meeting. Outlining potential options to reduce the district’s

need for $12.1 million in cuts by Fiscal Year 2027, the district’s Structural Deficit Reduction Plan consultant, Susan Harkin, recommended the board close two schools to balance enrollment across the district while maintaining flexibility for the future. She encouraged the board

to continue its commitment to transparency and communication following feedback sessions on the board’s previously preferred three-school scenarios in October. The board is slated to choose one option at its Nov. 17 meeting.

» See SCHOOLS, page 9

Fountain Square water still shut off Clubs regain afterCouncilmembers, residents debate repairing the namesake feature By KAMRAN NIA

daily senior staffer @kamran_nia

When Fountain Square was renovated in 2018, the installation of a zero-depth fountain promised to invigorate Evanston’s downtown, as then-Mayor Stephen Hagerty and then-Ald. Judy Fiske (1st) oversaw a festive opening, with dozens of children playing in the heart of the city. But about six years later, the fountain has been shut off longer than it was on. As residents use the space to gather for events, protests and relaxation, some councilmembers and residents are debating the need for a fix. Repairs amounting to $2.5 million to fix the fountain are part of the city’s proposed 2025 Capital Improvement Plan. Ald. Shawn Iles (3rd) told The Daily he wants the city to take a closer look at its costs, echoing what he said at an Oct. 13 City Council meeting. At the meeting, Iles suggested that the restoration is unnecessary and costly for taxpayers. Meanwhile, Ald. Clare Kelly (1st) told The Daily the city should not neglect the project, which she said would improve downtown

Recycle Me

vibrancy and quality of life. At the meeting, she said the city owes it to residents to maintain the fountain that cost over $6 million to install. According to a city spokesperson, the Fountain Square Improvement project’s original contractor, Copenhaver Construction, installed the wrong waterstop, leading to concrete failure in underground channels that collect the fountain’s water. Since then, the city hasn’t been able to operate the fountain due to “excessive water loss.” In 2024, Evanston settled with Copenhaver Construction and Christopher B. Burke Engineering for a total of $800,000. At a September 2024 Council meeting, city engineer Lara Biggs offered several options ranging from $1.4 to $2.5 million to address the waterstop issues, with higherpriced choices presenting as more comprehensive solutions. Kelly said she impartially surveyed residents about different types of fountains in the square — including above-ground options — and heard many positive sentiments, including about seeing children play in the zero-depth fountain. “The fountain is at the core of our downtown,” Kelly said. “It’s

hours shop access Summer layoffs resulted in loss of 24/7 entry By NATALIE KIM

the daily northwestern

Kamran Nia/The Daily Northwestern

The fountain in Fountain Square has not been turned on since 2021.

a symbol of our city’s core of our downtown vitality, and we should be protecting this investment.” Iles noted that Fountain Square has attracted residents to gather regardless of the water feature, including events like the No Kings protest on Oct. 18, which he attended. He said new or renovated police and fire headquarters are higher on his priority list than other projects in the CIP, like the fountain. The previous fountain in the plaza was above ground, limiting the area for people to assemble. Iles said it is vital to maintain the space’s ability to act as a gathering place, so

any renovation would have to preserve the zero-depth feature, which is usually more costly than standard water features. “The square is really important,” Iles said. “It’s an important gathering place for the community. It serves the community well… Whether the water feature works or not, in a perfect world, if we had an unlimited budget, sure it would be nice if it sprayed water.” If the city were proposing an entirely new fountain, Kelly said she might not have supported it. Still, given how much it cost to

» See FOUNTAIN, page 7

When Baja SAE members tried to access the Ford Prototyping Lab after hours at the end of the second week of Fall Quarter, their card access was denied, McCormick senior Ryan Kelly said. Last academic year, the shop was open to any NU student from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. However, trained students were granted 24/7 afterhours key-card access to specific spaces, according to Kelly, a Segal Design Institute shop manager and manufacturing lead of Baja SAE. The change came after Joe Kuechel, the former operations director of the shop, was laid off in July. He was responsible for handling after-hours access for club members, according to Kelly. After talks between engineering clubs and NU administration, after-hours shop access was

reinstated Oct. 17, McCormick Prof. Greg Holderfield, the executive director of the Segal Design Institute, confirmed in an email to the Daily. On July 29, Northwestern announced that NU would reduce the budget attributable to staff, resulting in layoffs — including Kuechel. “The reaction was pretty immediate,” said Ezra Danzig, a McCormick senior and Segal shop manager. “Why is this suddenly implemented? When will we have access back? Will we have access back? All of these questions were shared among a lot of the clubs. I think the thing to know is, these clubs are a huge part of why people come to McCormick.” In an email to The Daily, Senior Associate Dean Richard Lueptow wrote that the restructuring of the shop’s support team led to a review of after-hour access policies by the leadership team. Lueptow wrote the policies were reassessed to ensure student safety, after which conversations were held with engineering teams

» See FORD, page 9