How was Dillo Day 53? Why is Daniel Biss running for Congress? What happened to the ETHS teacher who was reprimanded by administrators over ‘Jewish acts of dissent’ poster? The Daily answers these questions and recaps other top stories from the last week.
DOV WEINSTEIN ELUL: On today’s episode:
Dillo Day 53.
Daniel Biss announces a campaign for Congress.
And an ETHS teacher gets reprimanded by administrators over a ‘Jewish acts of dissent’ poster.
From The Daily Northwestern, I’m Dov Weinstein Elul.
RUBY DOWLING: And I’m Ruby Dowling. This is The Weekly, a breakdown of the top headlines from the past week.
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DOV WEINSTEIN ELUL: First up I spoke to Arts and Entertainment Editor Emily Lichty to hear about how Dillo Day 53 went.
Just on Saturday we had probably one of the biggest arts and entertainment ticket events of the year: Dillo Day. For those who don’t know, why don’t you just start with a little introduction about what Dillo Day is.
EMILY LICHTY: Absolutely. So, Dillo Day is a student-run festival that we have here at Northwestern. It’s run by Mayfest Productions, and they are an organization that’s responsible for putting on events. Most notably is Dillo Day every year and this year was the 53rd Dillo Day. It’s just a whole festival at NU with a variety of different artists that come and visit. It’s really one of the NU student community’s favorite days of the year, because it’s just a day that everybody gets to come together, enjoy music, check out some really cool up and coming artists. So, Mayfest puts together a whole lineup of different artists, some newer ones that they’re discovering before, maybe they blow up, and a headliner who might be a bit of a bigger name.
And so in past years I know they’ve had artists like the Black Eyed Peas, people that their career trajectory really shot off after Dillo Day, even Briston Maroney a couple of years ago. After he came to Dillo, he ended up being at Lollapalooza, I think the summer following. So, it’s a really exciting time for everybody at NU because it’s this big student music festival, we all get to come together and listen to a bunch of really cool music.
DOV WEINSTEIN ELUL: So why don’t you tell us a little bit about some of the artists this year who performed, and what did people think?
EMILY LICHTY: Absolutely. So one of the first artists that we had was Slow Pulp, and they are this indie band that I think was a really popular choice for the NU community because I think we have a lot of people who are into indie music, and artists such as Slow Pulp. So I hear that they were really great and went over really well with the student body. They performed in the afternoon, which I think is the perfect time for them to have kind of this cool, slower indie kind of folk vibe. I know people said that it was just a pretty magical moment on the lakefill out in the sun. So I think that was great.
We were set to have BigXThaPlug come for Dillo, but last minute he ended up being double booked for a performance in Alabama, so that was definitely a big surprise. I know people were definitely disappointed by that. Stuff like that absolutely does happen when you’re working with artists who have, different contracts and stuff like that happening, especially, bigger artists, so people were disappointed by that, but I think it was really impressive that Mayfest got Iann Dior in last minute to come and perform, and I heard good things about that performance. I caught a little bit of it and it definitely, I think, fulfilled, kind of more of that rap need that we have at Dillo Day. And so I think that was good that they found somebody to kind of step in for that slot so last minute.
One of the first artists who was announced was Ravyn Lenae, and she is an R&B singer-songwriter. One of her most well-known songs is “Love Me Not,” and that’s kind of blown up recently on the radio, on TikTok. She’s definitely an up and coming artist who’s really gaining popularity right now. So, I think she’s a great example of Mayest predicting up and coming artists to bring to Dillo and securing her before she really gets her name big.
And then our headliner was Natasha Bedingfield. And she was awesome. She is the first female performer of Dillo Day as a headliner. So she was really awesome. She did a lot of covers, which I know was really popular with a lot of people. So she did “Purple Rain” by Prince and “Zombie” by The Cranberries, were like two notable ones. And then of course, the three songs that people really know, those were really fun to kind of sing together on the Lakefill. I know people really enjoyed it. So all around a great day for music at NU.
DOV WEINSTEIN ELUL: So another important part about Dillo is the theme. Why don’t you tell us a little bit about what the theme was like this year and how it was implemented on the actual day?
EMILY LICHTY: Absolutely. So this year’s theme was “carnival,” which people took to interpret a lot of different ways. And I know that’s something Mayfest does on purpose because everyone has their own sense of style, and so one thing that might be appealing to one person might not be appealing to everybody else, plus they’re trying to come up with a theme that NU students can put together without having to go out and buy stuff. And I think Carnival was kind of a great one because you could interpret it in so many different ways.
So, there were some people who kind of went the more carnival route with it, like bright colors, maybe kind of circus themed, and then other people kind of took maybe a bit of a more Western-inspired route with it, kind of a state fair type of vibe, which I think was really fun. This was one of the first years that I really felt like we saw that much variety in Dillo fits because you had people dressed up as elephants. I saw somebody who was dressed up like the duck game at a state fair, but then you had other people and their neon outfits, so I think that was really fun. I know there were some mixed reactions to the theme. Sometimes the Dillo theme, I think before you see it all come together can sound a little random. I know last year’s “camp” theme was similar but then looking back on it, it’s always really fun to see what people came up with and I don’t think this year was an exception.
DOV WEINSTEIN ELUL: Emily Lichty, thank you so much.
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RUBY DOWLING: Next, I spoke to the Daily’s Assistant City Editor Sophie Baker about Evanston mayor Daniel Biss’ recent announcement of his campaign for Illinois’ 9th congressional district seat.
Hey, Sophie, thanks for being here.
SOPHIE BAKER: Thank you for having me.
RUBY DOWLING: You report a lot on local politics and especially on Mayor Biss, so I’m curious to hear what’s the background to this announcement and why is it coming out now?
SOPHIE BAKER: That’s a great question. We were a little bit surprised, to be honest, because he was just reelected mayor. We kind of expected a congressional announcement at some point, but didn’t expect it so soon to the reelection. I think, well, Jan Schakowsky just announced that she’s retiring, she’s a long-term representative, she has been kind of vocal about their partnership, she’s — she’s been supportive of his past campaigns, and it makes sense that he’d kind of want to step up to that role based off of his past like trajectory through state Congress and now as mayor. But again, it was interesting to see that so close to the reelection, and I think it’ll be interesting to see community reaction to that as well.
RUBY DOWLING: Could you just walk us through maybe some of the main issues that Biss has championed in his tenure as mayor of Evanston and maybe how they’re expected to shape his congressional campaign?
SOPHIE BAKER: So one of the main things that Biss has been kind of highlighting recently is opposition to the Trump administration, and that was very central in his campaign announcement. I don’t remember the exact wording, but I think he said at some point that he wanted to “stand up to Trump and his MAGA cronies.” And another thing, he has like a pretty progressive kind of agenda items, and throughout his tenure as mayor, he’s kind of championed these reforms like the Healthy Buildings Ordinance, which was recently passed, kind of decreasing Evanston’s carbon emissions.
And, most recently, I guess that’s been kind of central in discussions of Evanston politics has been Envision Evanston 2045, which is the city’s comprehensive plan and rezoning overhaul. He received a little bit of criticism for that from the community because of the plan’s perceived rushed timeline. He’s also kind of pushed the city to revamp their Inclusionary Housing Ordinance, which they did. Yeah, just a lot of, like, what he’s considered, what he’s kind of framed as progressive forward thinking policy initiatives.
RUBY DOWLING: Are there any controversies or points of tension in particular that might cause a challenge for him?
SOPHIE BAKER: So as I mentioned, kind of the whole thing with Envision Evanston, when the plan was initially put forward, he kind of wanted it to be wrapped up and passed before the April 1 municipal elections, which didn’t end up happening because the community was like, ‘Hold up, we need time to read through the document kind of process, give community feedback.’ And he’s been receiving pretty vocal backlash for the way that he handled that because people were like, ‘He’s rushing us, we need more time.’
I guess another thing would be that his tie-breaking vote in the whole Ryan Field rebuild agreement. I don’t know as much about this because I wasn’t here, but from what I understand, he was a tiebreaking vote to basically decide the commercial rezoning process, and the community again didn’t like that.
RUBY DOWLING: Right. And as mayor of Evanston, how does Biss’ background set him apart from his opponents like State Senator Laura Fine or Kat Abughazaleh?
SOPHIE BAKER: I think he particularly has a distinct amount of experience from his opponents, particularly Kat, just because he’s been doing this for so long. He served in the Illinois House and State Senate, so he has that experience.
He also obviously has a lot of experience as Evanston’s mayor, and I think political experience can kind of shape the trajectory of a campaign because it kind of gives you something to rest that campaign on. I don’t know if people will be more receptive to him because of that experience.
RUBY DOWLING: Thanks for taking the time to speak with us, Sophie.
SOPHIE BAKER: Of course, thank you for having me.
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DOV WEINSTEIN ELUL: Last up today, I sat down with Assistant City Editor Jack Baker to learn about some recent community debate surrounding an Evanston Township High School teacher.
DOV WEINSTEIN ELUL: You reported on some recent news at ETHS. One of the teachers at the school, Andrew Ginsberg, was reprimanded by the school’s administration for a poster he put up in the school. Why don’t you just start by explaining, what did this poster actually say?
JACK BAKER: Yeah, so Andrew Ginsberg is a social studies teacher who’s taught at ETHS for nine years and at public comment during the District 202 Board of Education meeting this week, he said that parents had complained that this poster, which he referred to as a “Jewish acts of dissent poster,” that he had put in his classroom in February, was offensive. And after that complaint, school administrators asked him to take it down. And so in response, after that, Ginsberg replaced the poster with a letter to his students and said that it had been “censored” at the insistence of the administration. And the poster itself depicts a menorah and the candle, like part of the menorah spells out the word dissent, but also other messages on the poster speak to sort of like the importance of dissent as a philosophical concept in Judaism specifically.
And since public comment has happened, the artist who actually originally created the piece that became Ginsberg’s poster has put out a statement. So it was originally published in a magazine called Jewish Currents, which basically describes itself as centering the Jewish left’s rich tradition of thought, activism and culture. And the artists themselves said basically all of the words on the poster that speak to the importance of dissent in Judaism came from anti-war activists during the Vietnam War era and sort of like repurposing those expressions as a means to oppose Israel in the Israel-Hamas war.
DOV WEINSTEIN ELUL: So he took the poster down, replaced it with the statement. What happened after that?
JACK BAKER: So after that, Ginsberg said that he was taken out of class by school administrators who then gave him a written warning. So basically like formally reprimanded him for posting that letter and he said that after that, the administrators asked him to review the school’s policies on teaching controversial topics and also maintaining appropriate contact with students. So, Ginsberg said that he has filed a formal complaint with the school board and wanted the board members to hear from him directly. So this week Ginsberg, several ETHS students and parents as well as a lot of members from Evanston Ceasefire, which is a local pro-Palestine organization, showed up to basically decry the decision by school administrators to reprimand Ginsberg.
DOV WEINSTEIN ELUL: Why don’t you tell us a little bit about some of their responses? What were some of the people that attended this meeting saying?
JACK BAKER: So Ginsberg himself in his prepared remarks — so he began a statement that was then finished by another speaker because there’s limits on how long people can speak. But, basically his remarks concluded with a list of demands that included the district remove the reprimand from Ginsberg’s personal file and issue a public apology to him as well as sort of ceasing what they call the “suppression of free speech about Palestine” at ETHS. They specifically cited experiences of pro-Palestine student activists at ETHS as well, and many parents basically brought up the fact that the school district has taken a really strong stand against the Trump administration’s executive orders recently about restricting the use of federal funds to support diversity, equity and inclusion programs in public schools, and said that the school administration is really faltering in this instance by reprimanding Ginsberg. So Ginsberg himself called the school district’s actions very Trump-ian as it relates to like responding to pro-Palestinian activism in the school. And then other parents also spoke to sort of the importance of protecting free speech.
DOV WEINSTEIN ELUL: Has Ginsberg said anything else?
JACK BAKER: So there’s been no recent developments really. We had a quick conversation after the meeting wherein Ginsberg said he currently plans to return to ETHS next year. But that’s about it. The only thing that’s really taken place since the meeting itself was the statement that the artist released, sort of condemning the administrator’s decision to reprimand Ginsberg over their art.
DOV WEINSTEIN ELUL: Jack Baker, thank you so much.
DOV WEINSTEIN ELUL: Here are the other top headlines from the week:
NU spends record amount on lobbying in early 2025 amid federal scrutiny.
NU redesigns homepage to spotlight research amid federal funding freeze.
Chicago Stars FC requests a zoning analysis to play at Northwestern’s Martin Stadium in 2026.
Cook County is set to offer cash relief to homeowners amid long-term property tax reforms.
And Reza’s Restaurant is closed ‘until further notice.’
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DOV WEINSTEIN ELUL: From The Daily Northwestern, I’m Dov Weinstein Elul.
RUBY DOWLING: And I’m Ruby Dowling.
Thank you for listening to another episode of The Weekly. This episode was reported by Dov Weinstein Elul, Ruby Dowling, Emily Lichty, Sophie Baker, and Jack Baker and produced by Isabella Jacob, Dov Weinstein Elul and Ruby Dowling.
The Audio Editor is Isabella Jacob. The Multimedia Managing Editors are Anavi Prakash, Misha Manjuran Oberoi and Danny O’Grady. 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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— The Daily’s guide to Dillo Day 2025’s performers and their music
— Mayor Daniel Biss announces campaign for Congress
— ETHS teacher reprimanded by administrators over ‘Jewish acts of dissent’ poster, prompting backlash
