The lone Northwestern student in the audience of the Oct. 8 Evanston City Council meeting stepped up to the microphone and addressed the row of aldermen.
The previous month had further strained the rancorous relationship between the university and the city: Ald. Ann Rainey (8th) had once again voted against allowing NU’s Homecoming parade down Sheridan Road, and Ald. Joseph Kent (5th) had proposed limits on “rooming houses,” or groups of people sharing the rent on a home.
The student, Weinberg sophomore Brian Miller, studied the face of each alderman before launching into a prepared speech.
“Never have I seen two sides express the same inability to compromise,” said Miller, who told the council he wanted to serve as a bridge between students, NU administrators and city officials.
As Miller settles into the newly created position of Associated Student Government liaison to the City Council, he faces overwhelming hurdles in his quest to improve the relationship between the university and the city.
“The wrong path has been taken,” Miller said. “But don’t focus too much on that. Focus on the positives. I really want to put the past behind us.”
During Spring Quarter, Ald. Art Newman (1st) defeated Kellogg Prof. Alan Drebin by 57 votes after a contentious campaign that brought the issue of town-gown relations to the foreground. And Evanston recently filed a motion for summary judgment in NU’s lawsuit against the Northeast Evanston Historic District, claiming that NU administrators demonstrated open hostility toward the city.
Miller said the lawsuit must be settled before NU and the city can work together on other issues.
“We need to solve this problem first,” he said. “I don’t know if it can be solved, but it has to be attempted. We need to start mending the past.”
In the next month, Miller said he plans to present his own settlement to the historic district stalemate, which he said likely will propose a limit on NU’s movements west of Sheridan Road in exchange for removing some university buildings from the historic district.
After meeting with Newman and Eugene Sunshine, NU’s senior vice president for business and finance, Miller said both the city and the university have committed to working with students.
“We need a combined effort of Northwestern and Evanston trying to improve from the mistakes of the past,” said Miller, who refused to take sides on the hot-button issue because he did not want to anger either side. “We’re going to have to find a way to work around the historic district problem. It has become too personal to find a compromise.”
Miller rattles off a list of administrators and city officials he plans to meet and shares gossip and anecdotes from council meetings.
On a campus where many students cannot name the alderman who represents them, Miller can cite obscure voting statistics and the history of town-gown relations dating back to 1990, when the council approved a 1 percent tuition tax on students.
The measure was vetoed by the mayor, and the Illinois General Assembly later banned future tuition taxes.
But although Miller admits to being a political junkie, he said he does not let his love of policy get in the way of having fun.
“I spend my whole life trying not to take things too seriously,” he said. “The ability to laugh is an art form. In City Council or whatever else you’re involved with, you can’t expect perfection. The most successful people know when it’s time to be serious and when it’s time to relax.”
In addition to his ASG responsibilities, Miller is a member of Kappa Sigma and helps out with Niteskool Productions videos.
“I’m dorky. I can’t deny that,” he said. “I’m really not a cool guy. Cool is kind of laid back, nonchalant, has a bit of arrogance about you. I really am none of those things when you get right down to it.”
In fact, Miller’s roommate, Dan Lee, jokes that Miller is “too nice” and too “tolerant of sucky people.”
Those who work with Miller have positive things to say about his ability to work with all sides.
Sunshine met with Miller last month to discuss the university’s position on issues ranging from the historic district to parking on campus.
“He’s out there trying to build relationships, and he’s off to a good start,” Sunshine said. “It’s a position that’s needed. … These are issues that in the short run and the long run that impact students. This is a way for the students to get involved.”
A student government representative in high school, Miller joined ASG last year as a senator for Shepard Residential College.
Soon afterward, he became interested in the City Council and attended his first meeting this summer.
“If it interests me, I’ll get involved,” he said. “It’s not that I want to be an alderman someday – and the more I go to City Council meetings, the more I think I don’t. I see my role as the facilitator who presents the will of the students to the City Council.”
But despite Miller’s talk of compromise, NU’s lawsuit against the city remains a major sticking point in town-gown relations.
In the motion for summary judgment filed Oct. 26, Evanston called the lawsuit “frivolous.” If the suit goes to trial, Miller said, it likely will ratchet up the hostility even more.
“The comments have been heard and the daggers have been pushed into the stomach,” he said. “There’s so much animosity in the depositions, but I think we can put it behind us. Both sides are willing to work with the students.”
Newman, who has gone butted heads with NU administrators on a variety of issues, called Miller “open-minded” and “fair” and said he seems committed to working with both sides.
After the tense election campaign, Newman said he has put several ideas geared toward students at the top of his agenda. Despite the occasionally hostile relationship with a couple of NU administrators, Newman said he has a good relationship with students.
“I’ve put lighting on the top of my list and am looking for crossover issues,” he said. “Parking is another issue. Brian is the first person from ASG to come to council meetings, and I respect the time he’s putting into the position.”
Still, Miller’s task remains daunting. Although he has held the position since Spring Quarter and has met with leaders on both sides, he has not developed specific ideas to make changes.
Sunshine said he plans to work with Miller to improve the university’s day-to-day relationship with the city.
“It’s not just animosity,” Sunshine said. “You read about the lightning rods in the relationship, but there’s a lot going on daily where animosity is not a part of it. There are aspects of the relationship that are quite complimentary and quite productive.”
Miller said he plans to spend the remainder of the quarter learning about Evanston’s history and encouraging both sides to work with students.
“It’s not that the cooperation between Evanston and Northwestern doesn’t exist, but let’s improve from where we are now,” he said. “There will be improvement. We’re not going back.”
