Doug Bruno recognized in Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame, the fourth episode of the The B-Side, Kim Foxx visits DePaul
and a fire destroys a beloved local brewery
Welcome back to ‘In the Loop’! It’s your newsletter team — Claire, Cam, Grace DV., Sadie, Anna, Mariah, Maureen, Emily, Grace V. and Aneesah — here with all the city news and campus updates you need to start your week.
Today, we’re closing out our Beyond Sports issue with the fourth episode of The B-Side, which features a story about DePaul’s untold football legacy, and a feature story on DePaul Women’s Basketball Head Coach Doug Bruno’s induction into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame.
If you want to check out some of our other sports stories, you can read all of the pieces published in our Beyond Sports issue last Friday, here.
Lastly, we want to take a second to thank you all — our readers — for your continued support. You’ve kept this newsletter going over the past two years and we can’t thank you enough. If you want to increase your support for 14 East and “In the Loop,” we invite you to donate directly to our newsroom. Whether it’s a one-time contribution or a monthly gift, every cent helps us build a newsroom that serves you, our community, and we get 100% of your donation.
We’re sure you want to get right to it, so without further ado, here’s the news!
The Fourth Episode of The B-Side
By Cam Rodriguez with Grace Del Vecchio
Our fourth episode of The B-Side features the untold history of DePaul’s football team, and the attempt to bring the sport to the university since its dissolution in 1938. In “The Un-Undefeated Gridders of Lincoln Park,” complete with photography straight from DePaul’s archives, Managing Editor Cam Rodriguez details the start, end and importance of DePaul’s forgotten team in this homage to the early football players of Lincoln Park.
Story by Cam Rodriguez
Recorded by Cam Rodriguez
Produced by Grace Del Vecchio
Doug Bruno to be Recognized in the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame
By Sadie Fisher & Anna Retzlaff
Doug Bruno, DePaul’s women’s basketball coach of 36 years, is being recognized in the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame this year.
Bruno has an exhaustive list of achievements within coaching women’s basketball. Most notably, he was on Team USA’s women’s coaching staff for the 2012 and 2016 Olympics, and is also a six-time Gold Medalist Coach with the team. In 2010, the basketball court at McGrath-Phillips Arena, where the women’s team has practiced and played for years, was named the “Doug Bruno Court” in his honor.
Bruno’s connection with DePaul basketball goes all the way back to his college years. As a student, he played basketball under the infamous Ray Meyer at DePaul. Before coaching at DePaul, Bruno started his career in 1973 as the assistant coach for the boys’ basketball team at Francis Parker High School. After one season, he left to become the head boys’ basketball coach at St. Vincent DePaul High School for the 1974-1975 season.
Bruno transitioned to women’s basketball in 1976, when he joined the Blue Demons as head coach. He left DePaul in 1978 to coach the Chicago Hustle, the Windy City’s team in the Women’s Professional Basketball League.
On December 9, 1978, he coached the Hustle in a game against the Milwaukee Does — which not only became the inaugural game of the league, but the first professional women’s basketball game in the United States. He left the team in 1980 and joined the Loyola men’s basketball team as associate head coach. Bruno was there for eight years before returning to coach the Blue Demons.
Bruno has been consistently coaching basketball at DePaul since 1988, as he is the winningest coach in school history, taking the women’s team to the NCAA Tournament for 24 total seasons.
Under Bruno’s coaching, the DePaul women’s team continues to flourish. This season, the women’s team is 21-8. They are one game away from standing in first place in the Big East conference. This upcoming Wednesday, DePaul plays against Marquette at Wintrust Arena, a game that could bring them to the top ranked spot in their division.
Beyond his coaching, Bruno is also an advocate for women’s basketball and for gender equality in sports. Bruno is a director of the Doug Bruno Girls Basketball Camp in Naperville, which has helped over 84,000 female athletes improve their skills, according to the camp page.
With such an abundance of achievements and strides towards equality in women’s basketball, this level of recognition is a well-earned honor for Bruno. The Hall of Fame induction ceremony will be held in Knoxville, TN on June 11.
DePaul News
By Mariah Hernandez
Kim Foxx Speaks as Guest Lecturer for the DePaul Center for Journalism Integrity and Excellence
Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx visited DePaul on February 17 as a guest speaker for the DePaul Center for Journalism Integrity and Excellence (CJIE). The event was hosted by CJIE directors and DePaul professors Carol Marin and Don Moseley. Marin and Moseley had students of their Advanced Reporting class ask Foxx questions off the record about her interactions with journalists as a political public figure, and afterward members of student media were able to ask Foxx a few on the record questions. Past events hosted by the CJIE can be found here.
Queer Prom: Starry Night being held on February 25
DePaul’s Student Government Association announced this years Queer Prom theme, Starry Night. Last year’s Queer Prom was hosted virtually over Zoom, but this year the event is slated to be held in person, located in the Student Center Room 120AB. The event will take place from 7 to 10 pm, and you can RSVP for the event here. Stay tuned for 14 East’s coverage of the event.
The Search for DePaul’s Thirteenth President Continues
DePaul President A. Gabriel Esteban announced his plan to step down at the end of the 2021-2022 academic year in June of 2021. The decision to extend the search for a new president was announced in early February, due to complications to secure four finalists to present to the Board. In a message addressed to members of the University Community, Chair of the Search Advisory Committee Judy Greffin clarifies that despite setbacks, she still has a goal of electing a new president before the end of the school year. Greffin’s Presidential Search Update can be found here.
Lastly, here is your weekend sports update (February 19 to 20):
The men’s basketball team lost to Seton Hall 66-64 on Saturday.
The women’s basketball team lost to Villanova 73-64on Sunday.
Chicago Headlines
By Maureen Dunne
Content warning: the final headline in this section has graphic descriptions of police brutality.
Albany Park Fire Topples Twisted Hippo Brewery, Apartments — An early morning fire that began in an Albany Park apartment building spread to local businesses — including Twisted Hippo Brewery and Ultimate Ninjas Gym on Montrose Avenue. Neighbors and State Rep. Jaime Andrade attributed the blaze to an apartment owned by problematic landlord Gary Carlson, whose more than 60 properties in Albany Park have a long history of building violations and allegations of crime. One man was hospitalized for smoke inhalation. Red Cross volunteers are working to help seven people displaced by the fire find alternate housing. Colin Boyle and Alex V. Hernandez of Block Club Chicago report.
City Denies Metal Scrapper’s Permit to Operate on Southeast Side After Years of Protests, Public Opposition — The Chicago Department of Public Health denied a permit for a controversial metal scrapper, Southside Recycling, formerly known as General Iron, intended to operate on the Southeast Side after years of protests. Southside Recycling had planned to relocate its facility from Lincoln Park to the Southeast Side, an area community members said is already concentrated with industry — bringing further water and air pollution. Activists cited environmental justice concerns and environmental racism in years-long protests which included a hunger strike. Maxwell Evans of Block Club Chicago reports.
NHL Hall of Famer Bobby Hull Removed from Ambassadorship with Chicago Blackhawks in Light of Racist Comments, Domestic Abuse — Former Chicago Blackhawk Bobby Hull has a well-documented history of domestic abuse allegations and racist comments — none of which stopped the Blackhawks from awarding him an ambassador position in 2008. Hull and the team “mutually” parted ways earlier this season, thus terminating any of his official duties with the team. His statue still stands outside the United Center. Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times reports.
City Council Committee Awards $1.67 Million Settlement to Five People Police Dragged from Car During 2020 Unrest — Five North Lawndale residents who drove to Brickyard Mall in Belmont-Cragin in May 2020 to shop at a Target may receive over $1.5 million in a settlement with the city. Instead of baby items and party supplies, one woman left with damage to her eyesight after police accused the group of looting, dragging the woman from her car and kneeling on her neck and back. Heather Cherone of WTTW reports.
National Headlines
By Grace Vaughn
Conclusion Nears in Arbery Trial — During closing arguments of the Ahmaud Arbery federal hate crimes trial, prosecutors argued the three men involved in the death, Gregory McMichael, Travis McMichael and William Bryan, were racially motivated. Evidence of their collective history of using derogatory language and posting racist statements online backed this claim, but defense lawyers argued they confronted Arbery over trespassing suspicions. All three defendants were convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison by the State of Georgia late last year. Deliberations began this afternoon, David Nakamura of the Washington Post reports.
U.S. Officials Prepare for Russian Invasion of Ukraine — U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan stressed the likeliness of Russia invading Ukraine within days or even hours as 190,000 Russian forces moved towards the border. Based on intelligence obtained by government officials, Russia may plan to force cooperation through targeted violent acts on opposition leaders and groups. This comes as Russia has instructed troops to enter pro-secession sections of eastern Ukraine under the pretense of “peacekeeping efforts” earlier today. The U.S. encouraged organizations working with vulnerable populations to create contingency plans as soon as possible. Myah Ward, Nahal Toosi and Paul McLeary of Politico have the story.
New Form of Omicron Detected Across Country — Researchers fear BA.2, a more contagious strain of the omicron variant, could spark a new surge of COVID-19 infections throughout the U.S. The virus accounted for 3.9% of all national new infections. While the vaccinated and prior infected appear to remain protected from BA.2, the remaining antibody treatments appear to be less effective, according to new studies. Rob Stein of NPR has the details.
Police Officers and Mental Health Workers Deployed by Mayor to NYC Subways — In an effort to address transit crime, New York City Mayor Eric Adams and New York Gov. Kathy Hochul created a safety plan that began being implemented throughout the city today. A large focus of this approach centered around an effort to remove over 1,000 homeless people sheltered in the subway system. This is despite only one attack from this weekend involving a suspect appearing to be homeless out of eight total, but also follows on the tails of the stalking and murder of Christina Yuna Lee last week by a man identified to be homeless. Read more from Jonah E. Bromwich of The New York Times.
Hey, Check This Out!
With Featured Columnist Emily Soto
This quarter, I’ve been taking a class called Social Justice Reporting, taught in partnership by Judith McCray and Maurice Bisaillon. For the course, we were assigned the book Biased by Jennifer Eberhardt, a professor of psychology at Stanford University. Eberhardt uses this book to discuss the topic of unconscious bias from both a scientific and personal lens. While we analyzed this book from the perspective of reporting and how it can be affected by unconscious biases, discussions of the book’s topics made us realize it was still very relevant in all aspects of our lives.
Eberhardt begins by sharing her own story about growing up outside Cleveland, Ohio and navigating a new, all white environment as a 12-year-old Black girl. She said that despite being worried she would be singled out or made fun of, she remembers being welcomed by new classmates. Over time, her fears began to fade away, but she still felt overwhelmed by this environment. She noticed that she couldn’t distinguish the faces of her white peers and relied on things like clothing or very distinctive features to tell people apart. Meanwhile, she realized that she never had to do this to remember fellow students in her previous all Black neighborhood.
It’s the personal experiences like this, from both Eberhardt and many others, that drive the questions in the rest of the book. Do racial perceptions affect some of our most basic functions such as memory or emotions? Or, as Eberhardt asks, “How does race shape who we are and how we experience the world?”
Her answers come from years of scientific studies conducted by herself and other social psychologists to show how these small behavioral changes exist and can make consequential impacts on everyday decisions. Many of these tests were very simple — they used things like word and image associations to understand where our unconscious tendencies lie.
But in the end, Eberhardt leaves you with a feeling of hope. She says there are ways for us to combat this — we do not have to be doomed to a world where we are led by unconscious bias.
To take an implicit bias test similar to some of the ones mentioned in the book, visit: https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/takeatest.html
Resources
Need resources regarding warming centers, rental assistance, COVID-19 testing and vaccines or mental health? Check out our complete list here.
That’s it for today. Now get outside and enjoy this warm spell before it gets cold again! We’ll see you next Monday.
The 14 East Newsletter Team
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