Evanston selected three Northwestern students to serve as reparations research interns, according to a Monday city news release. 

SESP sophomore Imani Billups, Weinberg sophomore Michaiah Ligon and SESP sophomore Damilola Olabanji earned the positions.

“I believe the only way to rectify the atrocities committed towards the Black community is through a continual effort to support and advance the Black community,” Olabanji wrote in the release.

At NU, Billups serves as the Associated Student Government senator of For Members Only, the University’s Black student alliance. Ligon is one of 17 Brady Scholars, a scholarly community focused on ethics and values, for the class of 2025. Olabanji is a mentor with NU’s Black Mentorship Program, the release said.

The three students are interning as Evanston’s reparations program makes plans to provide direct cash payments to recipients. When City Council passed the initial program in 2019, reparations funding from the Restorative Housing Program was restricted to home mortgages, down payments or home improvements. However, City Council voted to expand the program in late March, now hoping to grant cash payments to descendants of people impacted by racist Evanston policies. 

The interns’ work includes conducting historical research and interviewing community members.

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