What is Envision Evanston 2045’s timeline? What was different during this year’s Early Decision admissions? What goes on behind the scenes of NU’s 82nd Dolphin Show? The Daily answers these questions and recaps other top stories from the last week.
ANAVI PRAKASH: Envision Evanston 2045 takes the main stage as it reaches its fifth and final planned phase.
Early decision results came out, accepting about 55% of Northwestern’s Class of 2029.
And the Dolphin Show is gearing up for opening night on Jan. 24.
From The Daily Northwestern, I’m Anavi Prakash.
DOV WEINSTEIN ELUL: And I’m Dov Weinstein Elul. This is The Weekly, a breakdown of the top headlines from the past week.
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ANAVI PRAKASH: Today, we’re starting with Assistant City Editor Sophie Baker to discuss the city’s latest undertaking: Envision Evanston 2045.
The zoning code and comprehensive plan was launched publicly in February 2024. It focuses on several aspects of life in Evanston, from public health to affordable housing to racial justice.
Envision Evanston 2045’s timeline has five phases. The first, from February to March of last year, was for residents to share their thoughts on the plan as a whole. Phase 2 involved meetings for the community to share their vision for the city. Phase 3 was to strategize how to approach the plan and Phase 4 was time for the city to finalize the plan and code. Phase 5, the current phase, is when the city is supposed to adopt the code.
The city released the draft comprehensive plan in November and the draft zoning code in December. The Land Use Commission will continue discussing these drafts at its January meetings.
Councilmembers are also sharing their thoughts on the drafts and are holding ward meetings to discuss them.
Ald. Clare Kelly (1st) held a meeting Thursday. Sophie, what did people think of the plan?
SOPHIE BAKER: I’d say it was contentious and overwhelmingly negative. Not a single person at the meeting actually spoke in favor of the current draft plan.
Residents are upset because they feel that their desires are not accurately reflected in the draft plan. I think what’s important to note about this is that the initiative is supposed to be driven by community input. So, it’s therefore somewhat ironic that this would even be a complaint.
There’s one particular line in the draft plan that encapsulates, I think, what many residents took issue with. The plan states that there should be many tall buildings in the downtown Evanston area, and the goal upset environmental activists most because, as a researcher at the meeting said, high-rise buildings are more energy-inefficient than low-rise buildings.
And additionally, the zoning code is said to not include a definition of “family,” which, according to an attorney at the meeting, would allow developers to build unrestricted community residences in downtown Evanston. It’s supposed to be a way to increase affordable housing because policymakers think that creating more housing will force the price of the housing down. However, residents think that this will actually lead to abusive housing policies and that developers will create these units just to charge students outrageous prices.
ANAVI PRAKASH: In a May op-ed for the Chicago Tribune, Mayor Daniel Biss called the plan “yes in my backyard.” In December, Biss’ competition for mayor, Jeff Boarini, said the plan’s increased development and compact areas were a bad decision. He has also called for city officials to revise Envision Evanston. However, he said the process should not be squeezed in before the election.
You already mentioned that no one was really in favor of the plan, but were Boarini’s sentiments expressed at the meeting at all?
SOPHIE BAKER: Yeah, I think so. I think people were mainly concerned that it was being rushed in front of the upcoming mayoral election, and some residents were concerned that current mayor Daniel Biss is attempting to push the plan through before April 1, and many residents say the plan should be voted on after the election so that it can be fairly discussed.
They said in relation to Biss and Boarini and the mayoral election that it was becoming politicized, which many of them took particular issue with because they thought it was supposed to be a reflection of their interests and now they were seeing it as this political tool for Biss to kind of further his own agenda.
ANAVI PRAKASH: Phase 5 of the plan was established as being between October and March, when Envision Evanston 2045 is supposed to be adopted. We are currently in Phase 5, but considering the political implications of the plan, what are the next steps being taken?
SOPHIE BAKER: Alderman Clare Kelly has issued a motion for the Monday City Council meeting to rethink the timeline. And if she gets enough votes to pass that, then I think she’s hoping to push the plan by up to a year, which I don’t know if that will actually happen, if she has the votes to do that.
Otherwise, the plan will continue and the Land [Use] Commission will continue to look at the zoning for the rest of this month.
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ANAVI PRAKASH: Thanks so much, Sophie.
DOV WEINSTEIN ELUL: Next, I spoke to Nineth Kanieski Koso, who along with last quarter’s Campus Editor Jerry Wu, has been reporting on Early Decision results since they were released in the middle of December.
NINETH KANIESKI KOSO: Hi, I’m Nineth Kanieski Koso, and I’m one of the newsletter editors this quarter.
DOV WEINSTEIN ELUL: Can you break down the numbers for me? How many applicants were there? How many got in? What other statistics should we know about that are available to us?
NINETH KANIESKI KOSO: So, just above 6,000 applicants applied to Northwestern’s early decision, and this is a 15.5% increase from last year’s pool. And our Northwestern admission rate lulled around 20% consistent with the prior two years of admissions. And this cohort of students will comprise about nearly 55% of Northwestern’s class of 2029. We also saw almost 140 QuestBridge scholars that were admitted for the class of 2029.
DOV WEINSTEIN ELUL: This is the second year since affirmative action was overturned. Looking back at last year, what demographic changes did we see with the Class of 2028?
NINETH KANIESKI KOSO: So, Class of 2028 was our first admitted class after the overturn of affirmative action, and unlike many other top schools, Northwestern actually saw an increase in underrepresented minorities. We also saw a rise — a 40% rise — in the number of students from rural or small communities.
DOV WEINSTEIN ELUL: So I know you also spoke to some students who were admitted Early Decision. Can you give me a sense of what some of those emotions were like and some of what these students were feeling?
NINETH KANIESKI KOSO: So every student I talked to was incredibly excited to be admitted to Northwestern. I had even one student say it was a dream come true, and they were looking forward to classes and clubs and just meeting others in the Class of 2029. I spoke to two students who are excited to come to Northwestern because Northwestern has such a diverse student body when compared to their high schools. I also spoke to another student who’s really excited to join The Garage and start working on business ventures and maybe do a couple startups here. Many of the students I spoke to are also very excited to be on the lake and visit the beach and also be near Chicago.
DOV WEINSTEIN ELUL: Awesome. Nineth, thank you so much.
ANAVI PRAKASH: Next up is Assistant Photo Editor Gabe Hawkins, who has been following this year’s Dolphin Show, “Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella.” The 82nd Dolphin Show — the largest student-produced musical in the U.S. — opens on Jan. 24.
Last year’s show, “Kinky Boots,” was the highest-grossing Dolphin Show ever.
The Dolphin Show also does more than put on the main stage production. This year, its team participated in Downtown Evanston’s Trick or Treat Stroll and hosted a storytime at the Evanston Public Library.
Now, preparations for the show really started last March and April, when the show’s executive board, director and artistic leads were announced.
The cast was chosen in October.
What part of the production process is the show in now?
GABE HAWKINS: The Dolphin Show just underwent Winter Build, which is basically a week-long process of building the set, solidifying lighting details and planning the logistical elements of the show.
I spoke to the associate lighting designer who was busy that week with brainstorming lighting ideas and taking notes on the lighting design and working with the lead lighting designer.
Winter Build is a great opportunity for the production team to bond together because they’re creating something so large and so intricate. It’s a lot of people who are coming together. I was told it was over 100 people who were all involved with this process.
This first week post-winter break, the production team is wrapping up the set-building process.
ANAVI PRAKASH: Once set building is done, what’s next before the show opens?
GABE HAWKINS: This week the production is going to finish building the set ahead of tech week and then during tech week, final logistical details will be sorted out. During tech week, cast and crew members and basically everyone who was involved with the show are expecting to attend.
One of the production members told me they were eager for “Cinderella” to outsell “Kinky Boots,” which you said set the record.
ANAVI PRAKASH: You’re taking photos of the show later this month — what are you most excited to photograph?
GABE HAWKINS: I definitely want to capture as much of the set as possible. I think the set is going to be really cool and I’m really excited to feature all the moving parts of the show.
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ANAVI PRAKASH: Thanks, Gabe. Here are the other top headlines from the week:
The Dittmar Memorial Gallery’s newest exhibit, “Regal Adornment,” displays large fringe pieces honoring the culture of Native American Powwows.
Both men’s and women’s swim and dive beat Southern Indiana, UChicago and Penn State at meets this weekend.
And Atlanta-based chain Tropical Smoothie Cafe is surfing into downtown Evanston.
From The Daily Northwestern, I’m Anavi Prakash.
DOV WEINSTEIN ELUL: And I’m Dov Weinstein Elul.
Thanks for listening to another episode of The Weekly. This episode was reported by Anavi Prakash, Dov Weinstein Elul, Sophie Baker, Nineth Kanieski Koso and Gabe Hawkins and produced by Anavi Prakash and Dov Weinstein Elul.
The audio editor is Anavi Prakash. The multimedia managing editors are Kelley Lu and Jillian Moore. The editor in chief is Lily Ogburn.
Our theme music is “Night Owl” by Broke for Free, used under a Creative Commons Attribution License and provided by the Free Music Archive.
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— Dolphin Show students work magic over winter break to bring ‘Cinderella’ to life
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