People
After reporter Lauren Chooljian published a story on a COVID outbreak at New Hampshire’s Granite Recovery Centers (GRC), clients and employees of GRC began reaching out to her, alleging that GRC CEO and founder Eric Spofford had been sexually harassing and assaulting clients and colleagues — and paying people to keep quiet. Reported and produced by Chooljian, The 13th Step podcast delves into the allegations against Spofford and why sexual misconduct is pervasive in recovery settings.
When the Northwestern alum left journalism in 2018, he joked to a friend that he would only come back to news if he could report on Taylor Swift every day. Five years later, his dream is a reality.
Chicago has welcomed more than 35,000 migrants since the state of Texas began busing migrants to “sanctuary cities” as part of his border security initiative Operation Lone Star. A longtime knitter, Margie Chan knew she could rally the crafting community to help keep Chicago’s migrant population warm this winter.
Northwestern alum Aspen Buckingham ’23 and senior economics major Steven Jiang are the creators of Intervallic, a new video game changing the way aspiring musicians can practice their skills. Both musicians, Buckingham and Jiang are making practice into entertainment.
Mimi Scheffler Gordon ’94 dreamt of working in Africa one day when she visited for the first time as a Northwestern undergrad. Nearly three decades later, she’s spearheading a sustainability project in Kenyan communities, building up local economies with an unlikely partner: local bees.
Lauren Dandridge Gaines ’04 is co-founder and principal of Chromatic, a Los Angeles–based lighting design firm working at the intersection of architecture and social justice.
After learning to DJ during quarantine, Karen Valencia ’15 broke into Chicago’s nightlife scene, bringing reggaeton beats to some of the trendiest clubs. She shares how Northwestern shaped her worldview, what she loves most about DJing and more.
Jennifer Keishin Armstrong ’96 has written seven books on pop culture history, including So Fetch: The Making of Mean Girls (And Why We’re Still So Obsessed With It), which comes out this January. Armstrong identifies five TV and movie moments that have influenced today’s popular media.
In her 19 years in the U.S. Postal Service law department, Michelle Ochs Windmueller has argued cases before federal judges and educated attorneys across the country.
A U.S. Marine veteran and former logistics officer, Matthew Vacca didn’t think twice about taking a break from his full-time job and heading straight into a conflict zone.
