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Social Issues

Increased financial aid has made a Northwestern education more accessible and ushered in a student population that is more diverse by almost every measure. More than $200 million in aid is awarded annually to thousands of undergraduates, and the University is one of just 19 institutions in the country that are need-blind in their admissions processes, meet full demonstrated financial need for domestic students and offer no-loan financial aid packages.

Learn about the impact of financial aid at Northwestern

Arch Hero
New works by Northwestern alumni challenge history, celebrate activists and uplift mundane, everyday moments.

Learn about these alumni authors

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Dwight White II’s new mural in the renovated Black House is about what you can see — and so much more.

Watch the mural develop

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This past summer, women’s tennis star Naomi Osaka and Olympic gymnast Simone Biles launched a movement in Black women’s mental health by choosing not to compete in order to care for their mental health. In this essay for Northwestern Magazine and in her recent book, professor Inger Burnett-Zeigler shows the other side of what strong Black women display to the outside world.

Read more from Inger Burnett-Zeigler

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A Safe Haven

Winter 2022
In 1983 Nedda Jefferson Simon opened Freedom House, a walk-in domestic and sexual violence shelter in Wyanet, Ill., a village two hours west of Chicago. Serving more than 30,000 survivors to date, the shelter has moved three times to expand its services.

Read about Nedda Jefferson Simon

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What are the reasons people choose not to get vaccinated against COVID-19, and what are parents’ top concerns about vaccinating their children? Since its inception in March 2020, the COVID States Project has answered these questions and more, surveying adults across all 50 states and making that data freely available on the project’s website.

Read the story

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Pulitzer Prize–winning columnist Michael Paul Williams pushed Richmond to topple its Confederate statues.

Get to know the Richmond Times-Dispatch writer

Michael Paul Williams
Gabriel Neely-Streit ’16 is co-owner of Colores Mexicanos, an importer of handmade art, clothing and accessories from Indigenous communities across Mexico. By working directly with dozens of artisans and artisan cooperatives across 11 Mexican states, Colores Mexicanos aims to help preserve the cultural diversity of Mexico, which is home to more than 60 living Indigenous languages and a wide variety of folk art.

Learn about the business

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Northwestern President and Professor Morton Schapiro marks the conclusion of a historic fundraising campaign with celebration and appreciation for the University community.

Learn more about We Will

Morty President Letter
As the Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications celebrates its centennial, Charles Whitaker is incredibly bullish about the future of media and the school’s role in shaping that future.

Read more from Charles Whitaker

Charles Whitaker Hero