When Evanston150 unveils its top 10 ideas for the city’s future Nov. 10, project organizers will conclude their months-long effort to solicit input from all residents, from Howard Street dog walkers to Central Street shopkeepers.
Still, some Northwestern students say they see few signs of widespread on-campus involvement, despite repeated efforts to engage NU’s more than 8,000 undergraduates.
Weinberg junior Ethan Merel, for example, said he had been only “vaguely informed” of the initiative even though he served as the student government’s designated liaison with city officials.
“The project itself is a great way to get students involved in the Evanston community,” said Merel, last year’s vice president for external relations for Associated Student Government. “However, I’m not 100 percent sure it’s been properly publicized or advertised to garner student interest.”
In recent interviews with The Daily, several organizers said student feedback has always been a primary goal of the project.
“Generational perspectives are as important as any other cross-section of the community,” said Sara Schastok, steering committee member and executive director of the Evanston Community Foundation.
Evanston and NU officials have taken steps in recent years to improve a sometimes rocky relationship, but disputes about off-campus partying and the so-called “brothel law,” which prohibits more than three unrelated people from living together, have demonstrated challenges remain.
Against that backdrop, Evanston150 organizers have urged students to make their voices heard, but some on the project’s steering committee said it’s difficult to gauge the level of NU student involvement. Organizers said they do not actively track who exactly contributed the more than 2,200 ideas collected since early spring.
University spokesman Al Cubbage, who also sits on the E150 steering committee, said he “just doesn’t have a sense” of the level of NU student participation, especially since he has not seen every individual idea.
“I think the challenge, obviously, is Northwestern students are always busy,” Cubbage said. “I certainly think we made an effort to engage Northwestern students. I don’t know whether we’ve been successful or not.”
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Evanston150 launched March 26 as a community-based initiative to celebrate the city’s 150th anniversary in 2013, according to its website.
Through online submission and idea generation sessions, steering committee members throughout the spring and summer gathered 2,201 proposals for how to generally improve Evanston, topping their initial target of 2,013.
Two days of public voting have been slated for mid-October, when community members will be able to select the top 30 ideas from a pool of 100 ideas curated by a 21-member selection jury.
From early in the planning process, organizers identified soliciting student support as an important aspect, said Stephanie Kulke, its project director and spokeswoman.
And the project reached out to NU in several ways.
Organizers held two on-campus brainstorming meetings during Spring Quarter, and they have recruited student volunteers from undergraduate classes at the University. NU is also a primary funding partner for the project.
Additionally, Kulke said there is a college student on the selection jury and it is a “safe bet” the student attends NU, but she would not disclose any more details. Members of the selection jury have decided to remain anonymous to avoid outside influence.
Despite these efforts, however, student involvement in the initiative seems to be modest.
At the on-campus sessions, about 20 students joined E150 and Evanston Community Foundation representatives in community dialogue, said Sourav Bhowmick, NU Dance Marathon public relations chair. NUDM co-hosted one of the two meetings, both held May 20.
Kulke acknowledged attendance was “a little small” at the on-campus brainstorms but said they were nonetheless productive.
She chalked up the underwhelming turnout to the same obstacle cited by Cubbage – catching the attention of students constantly on the go.
“My view is that they’re very involved, either with coursework, on campus or elsewhere,” Kulke said, adding she doesn’t believe students are opposed to influencing city life.
“I think everyone wants to work together and find ways we can make the city better,” she added.
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However, for many not directly involved, Evanston150 remains a hazy topic.
Associated Student Government off-campus senator and Daily columnist Steven Monacelli said he had only heard about Evanston150 through his predecessor, who once “mentioned it offhand.”
Communication senior and off-campus resident Ben Millstein echoed Monacelli’s unfamiliarity with the ongoing program.
His first exposure to Evanston150 was when he applied for a summer internship with Kick Start Marketing Chicago, which is handling the project’s public relations side. That work opportunity never transpired, Millstein said.
He was particularly concerned the bulk of the selection jury’s deliberations occurred over the summer, when many NU students leave Evanston for their respective hometowns.
“That it was in the summer – it seems like they’re avoiding us,” Millstein said. “Certainly, within the Northwestern community, I didn’t hear about it.”
Schastok agreed the “timing was not optimal to involve Northwestern students.” Still, she said she “probably wouldn’t change” the project schedule if she could do it all again.
“We’re really trying to say, ‘What are the thoughts?’ not ‘Who thought them?'” she said. “I don’t feel that we have disenfranchised participation. I think there’s been opportunities to participate in every way.”
Millstein conceded Evanston150 has the “right idea” but faces a daunting challenge in trying to include 8,000 temporary residents of the North Shore suburb.
Dan Selinger, a Communication junior who lives off campus, downplayed the perceived necessity for student input in a program that encompasses the entire city.
He emphasized that although NU is an integral part of Evanston, it should not dominate idea generation.
“Evanston is a huge city, so I’m torn,” Selinger said. “There are parts of Evanston that are really far from Northwestern that could really use a community-improvement initiative.”
He specifically cited Evanston’s south side as an oft-overlooked region – or at least glanced at through train windows and never in person.
“A lot of Northwestern students, when they ride the Purple Line, don’t realize what’s between Davis and Howard,” Selinger said.
Kulke agreed city residents often harbor a “pretty localized perspective on Evanston” based on where they live, which can contribute to neglected considerations.
But E150 volunteer Torin Dupper said he saw no such narrow-mindedness while soliciting suggestions outside the downtown Barnes & Noble, 1630 Sherman Ave., over the summer. The residents he spoke with suggested improvements from beautification to accessibility that could benefit the whole city.
The Weinberg sophomore added his very involvement indicates that Evanston150 has adequately attracted NU students – or at least actively tried to.
“I think that seems fair – having Northwestern students involved is a good idea,” Dupper said. “I think they definitely realize Northwestern is part of the city and they need to involve us in this process.”
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In retrospect, steering committee members expressed little regret about the idea-collecting process and student engagement.
Schastok urged NU pupils to turn out for the public votes on Oct. 15 and 16, which Cubbage also touted as the greatest possibility for student influence.
Patrick Keenan-Devlin, a former ASG president and current E150 steering committee member, pointed to the two brainstorming sessions he led as prime examples of effective student outreach.
“Evanston150 has certainly reached out to all facets of the community,” he said. “We, especially me, definitely want Northwestern students involved in the public vow and implementation of the 10 ideas.”
But for some students, Evanston150 remains relatively unknown, even in its final stretch.
Millstein said most students would “leap at the chance” to have a say in Evanston’s future, especially given ongoing University-City friction.
That very opportunity, he added, has not yet expired.
“There’s still time,” Millstein said. “I mean, we’re all back now. It’s a crucial time.”
