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Mack Jones Walking off the train at the Central Street L station, you would have no idea there was a college football game just down the road. 

It’s the middle of September, prime college football season, and Northwestern is playing its third game, the second in Ryan Field. The Wildcats’ opponent is an FCS school, the Southern Illinois Salukis, and out of 150 Big 10 – FCS games, the Big 10 has only lost eight. So it should be an easy win, even for a Northwestern team that went 3-9 in 2021. 

The scene at Ryan Field elicits pity more than anything else. The game isn’t exactly a big occasion. Some fans are tailgating in the pothole-littered and too-small parking lot, but it’s usually just a lot of Northshore families looking to say, “Wow, isn’t this lovely?” and then leave at halftime. That’s just the committed fanbase Northwestern has built over the years.

Kids are out playing cornhole, but it’s difficult when the board has as many cracks as the asphalt underneath their feet. The plastic pellets rustle inside the bag as it hits the ground after an airmail, but no one knows how to keep score except for frat boys, and none of them are here, so the kids just keep playing with their own count. 

Even though Ryan Field is empty for around 360 days of the year, it seems as worn down as the 12th-century plans the gothic architecture was based on. The cracks in the concrete aren’t from how crowded the five home games get. 

As cool as the design could be, something about it is off. It could be the stadium’s defining monotone beige making the place look like dried-out mud. It could be a lack of character. The smell of barbecue is absent, and the arguments over gas or charcoal grills are gone, too. 

To be fair, it’s a non-conference game against an FCS school. It’s not like Northwestern was dead last in attendance in the Big 10 in 2021 and hasn’t sold out a home game since 2019 against Ohio State, where there were more Ohio State fans than Northwestern ones.

Gates open around 90 minutes before kickoff, and fans meander through one of the most cramped concourses in college football. It’s like a high school stadium, not the facility of a D1 program.

Kevin Vedder It seemed like they just weren’t prepared. And maybe, you know, that’s just how it was. They didn’t come prepared because they didn’t have the number of fans. I don’t know what to pin it on.

Mack Jones Beams are exposed above the heads of people trying to find something to drink to take their minds off the game, which the Wildcats are losing midway through the third quarter. Northwestern doesn’t sell alcohol at Ryan Field, so they’ll wander forever.  

After giving up and heading back to the bleachers, one kind of depression is replaced by another. It’s still bench seating. Everyone stands at other college football games with the same type of seating, so they don’t notice the uncomfortable bleachers.

No one is standing for this Northwestern game, especially not after Southern Illinois takes a 14-point lead with five minutes left. To be honest, practically no one’s seated either, so it won’t be a nightmare getting out of the parking lot.

By the time there are zeros on the scoreboard, the Wildcats head to the locker room with a 31-24 loss to the Salukis. Now it’s nine losses for the Big 10 against the FCS, and this was the third one by Northwestern. 

At least no one was there. If a tree falls and no one sees it, does it still make a sound?

That game was a far cry from the highs in the mid-to-late nineties, reaching the Rose Bowl, obtaining success in the complex college football landscape and renovating Ryan Field. The years of conflict between Evanston and the University appeared to have ended in Northwestern’s favor, but since then, the team and the stadium have fallen apart.

Which is how we arrived at ABC7 reporting this. 

ABC7 Chicago Digital Team Northwestern University releasing design renderings for a new Ryan Field. The proposed design includes capacity for 35,000 people, that is actually 12,000 less than the current field. But the new Ryan Field stadium campus will be built on the current stadium footprint and be funded entirely by private dollars.

Mack Jones It all seemed so simple. Northwestern University planned to update its broken-down stadium to compete with the blue bloods and catapult itself into the college football conversation. The sport is massive, and with the economic impact of NIL deals looming for schools across the country, there seemed no better time for Northwestern to invest in a state-of-the-art stadium that would make them boatloads of money. 

They had the means after Patrick and Shirley Ryan made the largest donation in Northwestern’s history and one of the biggest to any university ever. Their $480 million gift would be enough to finance the stadium privately, meaning construction wouldn’t use taxpayers’ money. 

There should have been no controversy. 

At least, that’s what I thought when I first took on this story. I had heard some buzz about zoning laws and alcohol issues, so I went to a listening event held by Northwestern in a building just north of Ryan Field to hear people’s arguments and do some research for a potential feature story on it for the student newspaper at my high school, the Evanstonian. 

There was almost no one there. It was a couple of reps from Northwestern, me, my dad and this one season ticket holder that worked on SoFi Stadium and was trying to get a contract on Ryan Field, too. I almost dropped the piece, figuring a vocal minority was blowing the conflict out of proportion. 

But instead, I dug a little deeper and uncovered a fractured town-gown relationship, a little bit of lying and a lot of angry people. 

Over this past year of research and reporting, there’s been a hazing scandal, accusations of stolen property and more than 700 pages worth of public comments at council meetings.

I’m Mack Jones, and this is the first episode of the Field of Broken Dreams.

(Music)

Mack Jones Northwestern was making a lot of promises. 

(Northwestern | Ryan Field Announcement)

Mack Jones That was a clip of the Ryans, the donors making the proposed 800 million dollar stadium possible, in an announcement video from Sept. 2021. Patrick Ryan, the namesake for Ryan Field and many other things around Northwestern’s campus, is a founding member and former CEO of the AON insurance company. 

This is Teddy Greenstein, who wrote a profile for the Chicago Tribune on Ryan in 2017 while Northwestern renovated the Wildcats’ basketball stadium, Welsh-Ryan Arena.

Teddy Greenstein I give 100 bucks to Northwestern, actually, maybe I give like 75 bucks Northwestern every year. So that’s not a world I know about in terms of what you give to get your name put on something. You know, if the school asked you to, I don’t know anything about that, but they’ve just been like, unbelievably generous. When you’re that generous, you can call the shots.

Mack Jones The vision for the new Ryan Field, with a gigantic sum contributed by the Ryan family, was christened Rebuild Ryan Field by Northwestern and contained assurances on improved aspects of the stadium. Outside of basic structural improvements, there will be a state-of-the-art canopy with the aim of keeping noise and light inside the stadium.

This is Amy Blackbourn, an associate director of the athletics department at Northwestern, speaking about the plans at the listening event I mentioned earlier.

Amy Blackbourn So what it’s going to do is control the sounds. We’re digging into the ground to basically help control the light and the noise. So that’s one of the biggest concerns for the community. How it’s currently built is it is loud, it’s bright blur, you know, that’s been a problem for us. So it’s going to help us control the light in the sound. It also is going to protect people from weather. About 90% of the seats will have a coverage from inclement weather, which is great. So it’s going to help us control light sound, as well as just as an add-on projectile from bad weather, which is really nice when coming to a game.

Mack Jones There will also be a new student section based on other sports.

Jared Tucker I hope they kind of do a better job making them a more appropriately sized students section. it’s more of like one big grandstand that can be used for students. So because like, you don’t want to have like a student section that’s like 15 rows tall on the sideline. Yeah. So like, it’d be cool to have it in the endzone. I mean, based based on the mock up and on official design, like that’s where we go.

Mack Jones That was Jared Tucker, a Northwestern superfan, overflowing with excitement about the new stadium renderings. A former Evanstonian staff member, Tucker’s in a uniquely qualified position to talk about anything Northwestern. For the past few years, he’s been running an Instagram page dedicated to Northwestern sports. He’s obsessed. 

Jared Tucker I just have on Northwestern stuff every day.

Mack Jones But despite the bias, Tucker’s hype for the new features in the stadium isn’t entirely misplaced.

There will be chair backs for every fan, clear sightlines to the field and an upgraded concourse with tweaked concessions, potentially featuring local restaurants. Games already offer an economic boon for many businesses in the downtown Evanston area, and the impact of that could be increased with an outlet inside the stadium.

Here’s Eddie Lakin, owner of Evanston staple, Edzo’s.

Eddie Lakin I would be interested to see what if they’re doing concessions. Like if maybe we could do a satellite location event those in the stadium, maybe I don’t know, if they’re, maybe they would have some sort of local representation among the vendors that they have in the city. It seems like it would be kind of fitting in, in keeping with the kind of local and independent vibe that restaurant Evanston has been cultivating. We could we could have a Mustard’s Last Stand, we could maybe have, they could do hotdogs and burgers. And we could do a Buffalo Joe’s stand. Maybe a Hecky’s Barbecue or a Chicken Shack? Get all the favorite Evanston places.

Mack Jones One thing that cannot be disputed is the impact of Northwestern events on local businesses, and business owners like Lakin are happy to vouch for that. This is Daniel Kelch, owner of Core & Rind Hospitality, which includes four restaurants: Taco Diablo, Five & Dime, The Blue Horse Tavern and LuLu’s. The restaurants are all under one roof two miles south of Ryan Field. 

Daniel Kelch Oftentimes, you know, because if you get a lot of customers that are coming in, and they’re Northwestern associated with a student’s or whatever, they’re oftentimes wearing color, right? Northwestern T-shirts, sweatshirts, and all that kind of thing. So the benefit that that university brings here, and to my 100 employees is just massive.

Mack Jones However, the total economic impact of Northwestern is hard to grasp because the school was here before the town. Evanston would likely not exist, at least not close to its current state, if Northwestern didn’t exist, making the school’s contributions to the city unknown.

A link between the school and the city was formed due to the close relationship, but that bond has shown cracks in recent years through a lack of faith between the two parties. Here’s Sixth Ward Alderman Tom Suffredin.

Tom Suffredin The way that they’ve tried to frame this discussion like they’re not they’re spending their money on public relations, paid, paid, canvassing, like media events, they’re not bringing in like, independent economist verify any of the numbers that you’re throwing out there. They’re expecting us to pay to do that. And they’re not being entirely forthcoming with some of their numbers that they’re using for calculation. So, you know, like, if they were if they want us to believe them, they could do a better job of being credible.

Mack Jones Suffredin was referencing the economic impact report that Northwestern released with their announcement of the new stadium renderings. The report, conducted by consulting firm Tripp Umbach, seemed to many as ambitious as the plans.

The report claimed that Ryan Field will generate $1.3 billion in economic impact in Cook and Lake counties, that the total economic impact of visitors at Ryan Field on the City of Evanston will grow from $50.4 million in 2021 to $65 million annually by 2031 and that the addition of special events held at Ryan Field will contribute another $35 million in new annual economic impact to the City of Evanston.

That’s a lot of money, but Sufferdin wasn’t the only alderperson to question the report’s validity. Seventh Ward Alderperson Eleanor Revelle, whose ward includes Ryan Field, also had concerns. 

Eleanor Revelle We, the city, we need to do our own independent economic analysis? Because I truly don’t believe the economic impact study that was done for Northwestern. It’s, I think the numbers. And so I think so it projects, just millions and billions of dollars of wonderful new things for the city. And I just don’t believe those numbers.

Mack Jones Revelle, and others in the city, are so skeptical of the Northwestern report that the city is working on its own economic research into the stadium. 

And they may have been justified when critiquing Northwestern’s reports. For context, if the Evanstonian wants to release the results of a survey of the ETHS population, there need to be at least 400 responses out of around 4,000 students for us to feel good about the results. Northwestern put out a report saying people in Evanston favored the stadium by a 2:1 ratio. They only got 500 responses for the survey. In a city of nearly 80,000. In a ward of nearly 9,000. Many are concerned that the lack of care shown for that report could apply to the economic one too.

There is also the question of a “magic multiplier” being used. In any economic study such as this, the amount of money generated is multiplied by a value because, as the theory goes, the person that the money immediately goes to will spend it in the surrounding area. So every dollar generated is multiplied by another number to arrive at the conclusion. Northwestern doesn’t need to tell anyone anything about what this number was set at. It could have been one, or it could have been a million. 

It is also ironic that the study heavily references tax revenue generated by the stadium for the city, even though Northwestern does not pay property taxes. Northwestern does pay a form of a payment in lieu of taxes, though, which Eighth Ward Alderman Devon Reid explains.

Devon Reid A lot of folks say that Northwestern isn’t paying its fair share and property taxes. And that’s one of the frustrations that folks have with this new field is that they feel like this, again, folks aren’t already aren’t contributing enough to the fabric of our community through through their financial means. And we’re going to give them you know, this new stadium, which is going to allow them to make even more money from their sports program.

So, when you when you look at it, cities, like Boston, Massachusetts, for example, Massachusetts has really strong what’s called a payment in lieu of taxes or a pilot law. And in the in their state, the institutions such as, you know, Harvard or whatever, they pay 25% of what they would pay in property taxes annually to the municipality with the option to cut that in half. That 25% in half based on good neighbor agreements.

So in Evanston, that means that Northwestern you know, there’s a study now this is starting they get older and older. And so this number would creep up a bit, but I’m just gonna say, and even $40 million annually is what Northwestern would pay in property taxes. And that’s what a staff study from, you know, five, maybe at this point going on 10 years ago said. So if Northwestern paid $40 million annually, well, let’s say Northwestern is a good neighbor, and you cut half of that off, well, let’s just start with the 40 million and so $40 million, if they paid that annually, well, the city of Evanston would only get you know, okay, so $40 million.

A fourth of that $40 million, which is right, the Massachusetts law, which is 25% of a 25%. So that’s $10 million that you pay, if they would pay, if they paid property taxes annually, then if you remember, the city of Evanston only gets about 20% of anybody’s property tax bill. That means the Northwestern pays $2 million to the city of Evanston annual, and then you calculate in there, that maybe they’re a good neighbor, so they get half of that chopped off, and they’d be paying a million dollars a year. Northwestern pays about a million dollars a year to the Good Neighbor fund.

And so, you know, for folks saying that Northwestern isn’t paying their fair share in property taxes, sure, but they just about are by giving the million dollars a year in the Good Neighbor fund. Now that number should creep up again, right, that 40 million is based on, you know, some aging numbers. And so it should creep up. And, you know, maybe they’re not the greatest neighbor in the world. And so they should pay the full 2 million. But they’re paying nearly their fair share to the city of Evanston.

Mack Jones The economic impact study conducted by Northwestern also could include the economic impact of a controversial decision, the sale of alcohol. No one knows whether or not they will be allowed to sell liquor at the stadium, especially when considering the history of Evanston and prohibition.

Paul Hletko When Frances Willard kind of was the Dean of Women students at Northwestern and then changed her own personal interest to temperance. That’s when Evanston as being the home of prohibition really kind of took off.

Mack Jones That was the owner of the grain-to-glass distillery FEW Spirits, Paul Hletko, who has dealt with the complications created by Evanston’s history with alcohol when creating his business.

Evanston was the birthplace of prohibition and continued it well after the nationwide movement ended in 1933.

Evanston kept its alcohol-free status until the City Council approved the sale of liquor by an 11 to 8 margin, with one abstention, in 1972.

Many opinions people in power formed when Evanston was a dry city still show up in opinions today, but for Second Ward Alderperson Krissie Harris, it’s a personal choice.

Krissie Harris If I had to choose, Evanston might still be a dry city, right? Because drinking isn’t that big of a deal to me.

Mack Jones Northwestern’s alcohol policy was similar to the City’s; its charter initially banned alcohol on campus.

Fiona McCarthy They’ve changed their charter before. And now they want to actually sell alcoholic or football games. So for them to say that, Oh, this goes back to our charter. And, you know, we should be able to do whatever we want, they’re being hypocritical.

Mack Jones That was Evanston resident Fiona McCarthy.

Northwestern continued temperance on its campus for three years after Evanston transitioned from a dry city to a wet one and then changed its charter to allow liquor on college grounds. 

Alcohol, if sold at the stadium, can heavily impact its economics through tax revenue, and even if alcohol is not allowed to be sold at Ryan Field, it will always be present in some way.

Jared Tucker This is a big 10 University. You’re lucky it’s not Ohio State or Wisconsin. Where it’s like, the students actually have like real parties every day. It could be so much worse. But all she would want to do is complain with everything like yet also with drunk people. Like there are hundreds, okay, compared to other schools, tailgating sucks. There are still hundreds of tailgaters at every game. Do you think those people are not drinking alcohol? Like seriously, like those people are all still drinking alcohol. They’re also walking around, and most of them go into the game and they just leave.

Mack Jones Tucker has had plenty of experience being around Northwestern games and tailgating, as he walks to the stadium every time he goes. Alcohol is a big thing at all major sporting events, and Northwestern ones aren’t an exception.

Scott Kenemore Evanston, you know, is famous for having tried tee-totaling, and whatever it was supposed to do didn’t work. And that was, that is an argument on the losing side of history. I think that there’s ample evidence that people can enjoy sporting events or concerts and consume alcohol responsibly, and it doesn’t necessarily change the tenor of the city.

Mack Jones That was Evanston resident and author Scott Kenemore, who looks forward to the new stadium.

Scott Kenemore 99% of America is dark and quiet and boring. Moody around a lot in my life. And I’ve lived in a lot of places that aren’t Evanston and Chicago area, and you want dark, boring quietness, with no noise. There’s so much of it out there. But there are just a few places in all of the United States where there is awesome fun, cool stuff, things to do, convivial people. That is actually pretty rare

Mack Jones All of these benefits can come with a downside. People have had negative experiences with alcohol around the stadium, even as it is currently. This is Laurie McFarlane who lives close to the stadium in the Seventh Ward.

Laurie McFarlane So there’s a lot of activity that goes on around their neighborhood, for a long time has been an area that people often walk through on their way to other places. And there’s a lot of trash and a lot of drunken behavior, and just a lot of bad behavior by people who have had too much alcohol, even without them selling alcohol.

Mack Jones In isolation, the frequency of these problems seems insignificant. There has been no prior backlash regarding alcohol issues around Ryan Field. If an unwanted incident comes up, it’s resolved locally. 

But there is concern among the residents of Evanston surrounding how as many as 12 concerts in Ryan Field and Welsh-Ryan Arena will impact things. Eight football games are fine for many people living around the area, but potentially 20 events, some think are too many. Those events coupled with liquor consumption could increase the probability of unsavory behavior by visitors to the stadium.

Emily Levin First name is Emily, last name is Levin, and my pronouns are she/her. My biggest objection is the concerts. If they weren’t planning to host these concerts, I literally wouldn’t care. The thing is, I moved here from the Ravinia neighborhood of Highland Park, because once they started having all these huge performers at the concert, and they started having indoor dining, which is what Northwestern also wants to do, the local restaurants, all these businesses closed down. So you know, if they want to renovate the stadium, that’s great. The concerts really I just think that’s wrong. I think it’s going to put people out of business, and bring a crowd of people who are going to litter and be really loud. And the concerts themselves are going to be much louder than a football game.

Mack Jones There is also a concern about how much the economic impact report included these concerts in their estimate. More events means more money, but for-profit events haven’t been approved yet either.

Tom Suffredin If their numbers are wrong, they’re the ones who, like, deal with the deficit, not us. I mean, they’re asking us to just count on their calculations, and I don’t I just, if they’re wrong, then when the stadium is built, the zoning changes have been made alcohol sales or been allowed, and we’re just like, we probably should have really looked at that. And meanwhile, like, you know, you or your parents property taxes have gone up. Like, or, you know, 10 years from now, when you’re looking at where to live, I’d really love to get back to Evanston but I can’t afford that.

Mack Jones That was Suffredin again, explaining why the council needs to take its time with its decision. Another part of the reason the concerts haven’t been approved has been Northwestern’s status as a non-profit university. Concerts are inherently for-profit events, so many people in Evanston view the situation as Northwestern taking advantage of its not-for-profit standing. McFarlane, specifically, is very frustrated by this. 

Laurie McFarlane I don’t think it’s necessarily that the city gives them the leeway. I think the city always wants to have a harmonious relationship, which I also support. Yeah, I think it’s more that Northwestern way back in the beginning was if charter was able to negotiate certain advantages for itself, that those advantages persisted. Sort of like white privilege. It’s like he started out with most of the marbles. And if you’re smart, you can keep most of the marbles all the way through. And I feel it’s kind of what has happened. Yeah. So I feel like the city again, they’d rather work with Northwestern, but they do sometimes fight.

Mack Jones It seems as though Welsh-Ryan Arena has been something of a guinea pig for things Northwestern is planning for the football stadium. One example of this was liquor sales, and another was for-profit events. 

In 2019, the City Council voted to change the city code and allow for-profit events to be held at the arena. The pilot program was supposed to last from 2020 through 2021.

(Fox-32 news clip – Illinois shuts down all schools due to coronavirus)

Mack Jones Northwestern hosted a grand total of 0 professional, monetary events at the arena. While the University attempted to extend the pilot program for an additional year, the City Council shot it down. 

Northwestern has violated the zoning law preventing them from hosting professional events at their athletics facilities multiple times before by hosting various concerts and some select professional sports matches.

But in terms of legal, for-profit events, Northwestern is going into this endeavor blind. 

Not everyone is against concerts. Like everything else, the topic is highly contested. Northwestern Director of Institutional Research, Surveys and Data Analysis Paul Schatz, who wasn’t involved with any development for the stadium, is someone for them.

Paul Schatz Well, I like going to concerts. So if there’s someone I want to see, easier to, you know, ride my bike, or take the bus down central street and green Ryan field then to drive to wherever. I guess my general opinion is you know, we have been having people, you know, come to Evanston. And whether they live in Evanston or whether they’re coming from outside of Evanston. Having people come together is a good thing. You know, there’s a lot of there’s a lot of businesses that are crowded when there’s football and basketball games. So this is more events. And that feels like a good thing in general.

Mack Jones Northwestern views these for-profit events as essential to breaking even on the Rebuild Ryan Field project, and Blackbourn explains them further.

Amy Blackbourn There’s other avenues of revenue that we have. So we are going to as you can see, we had that outdoor patio where you can have a host different events, we’re going to have graduation ceremonies held there, we’re going to have people can potentially rent out a space in order to have weddings or to private parties. So there’s going to be outside revenue streams outside just concerts. So we want this to be a long-term revenue play outside of just the eight football games that we have at home.

Mack Jones But Northwestern football has survived for over a century without for-profit events. 

The first known Northwestern football game was in 1876, at what was then known as Campus Meadow. Now it’s known as Deering Meadow, the two acres of green space between Sheridan Road and Deering Library. There weren’t any permanent bleachers, and it could hardly be considered a stadium.

The sport itself was very different from what it is now, but what remained the same was Northwestern’s on-the-field struggles. They lost that first game against the Chicago Football Club by three scores. 

Northwestern needed a permanent facility, so they moved to where the fraternity quads now are and built a grandstand. Baseball manager George Muir oversaw the construction, and the field was initially planned to be named “Muir Field” because of it. Eventually, they decided on the name Sheppard Field. 

600 fans saw the first game in the new stadium on Nov. 22, 1890. The total capacity was initially 750 people, but it was later expanded to 1,000. 

The team quickly outgrew Sheppard Field, too. The next stadium was planned by William A. Dyche and was moved to the current Central Street location. The field was dubbed Northwestern Stadium, and the wooden stands held 13,000 fans. Later, more bleachers were added on the stadium’s east side, and the capacity was increased to 20,000. 

By 1925, the stadium had become decrepit. The wooden stands weren’t built to last, and Northwestern desperately needed an upgrade. Football was popular in Evanston, so Dyche returned to help construct a steel replacement for the wooden structure.

The plans were ambitious. It was intended to be the first-ever triple-decked stadium and was supposed to seat 80,000 fans. The stadium was compared to Soldier Field and could have been the future home of the Bears had things gone differently. 

But budget constraints limited the end product to less than Dyche had planned. He had organized fundraising for the stadium and contributed a sizeable sum himself, but the stadium opened in 1926 without a third deck. It had a capacity of 49,000 and was named Dyche Stadium.

That name lasted about 70 years before it was renovated again in 1996. Its new name was Ryan Field, after the man who donated an enormous sum of money to make the renovation possible. 

Patrick Ryan was practically giving out gold to Northwestern then.

In a statement in 1996, an Evanston Review article quoted Ryan about the renovation as saying, “It’s important that the community at large and alums everywhere understand we are willing to make the same kind of commitment to excellence in athletics as we do to academics. This [Dyche Stadium] has been a user-friendly stadium. To attract fans, you can’t just have a quality team on the field, but you have to have a quality field as well.” 

Ryan wanted the field to match the team since, for a fleeting moment, the people of Evanston came together to back the Wildcats for a once-in-a-generation season. That’s next time on the Field of Broken Dreams. 

(Music)

Mack Jones The Field of Broken Dreams is a podcast from The Evanstonian, the student newspaper at Evanston Township High School. It’s advised by John Phillips with executive editors Jilian Denlow, Clara Gustafson and Sophia Sherman. The Field of Broken Dreams is reported and produced by me, Mack Jones, with help from Isaac Suarez Flint. Our theme music is by Sam Persell. 

The final mix of this episode was done by me. 

We have nine more episodes coming. You’ll be able to find them all on our website, evanstonian.net, or wherever you get your podcasts. You can find more stories about Northwestern and other events pertaining to Evanston there, too. Again, it’s evanstonian.net. 

Special thanks to everyone interviewed, ABC7, Northwestern University and Fox-32.