In 2004, a judge told then 19-year-old Benard McKinley he would spend his next 97 birthdays behind bars. Last month, however, McKinley turned 39 as a free man and opened a hard-won birthday gift: an acceptance letter from Northwestern’s Pritzker School of Law.
With a legal career ahead of him, McKinley wants to give back to the community he once took so much from, he said.
Picked up by Good Morning America, NPR, The Guardian, People and The Washington Post | Winner of the Chicago Journalists Association’s Student Journalism Award | SPJ Mark of Excellence Finalist | ACP 2024 Story of the Year Finalist
Pope Leo challenges American Catholics on immigration
As President Donald Trump ordered federal troops into Chicago to assist with deportation efforts, immigrants and their advocates found an ally in Pope Leo XIV. A native of the city, the new pope urged U.S. bishops to confront the government’s escalating targeting of migrants. Continue reading.
Democrats refute claim they want “Health care for Illegals”
The White House on Wednesday accused Democrats of forcing a government shutdown over “free health care for illegal aliens,” echoing Republican lawmakers. But the Affordable Care Act subsidies at issue have never been available to undocumented immigrants… Continue reading.
Northwestern’s U.S. News & World Report ranking, by category
Alongside the usual back-to-school excitement, Northwestern undergraduate students had extra reason to celebrate on the first day of classes last September. Their University reached its highest-ever spot — number six — in U.S. News & World Report’s 2025 rankings. Continue reading.
Published in conjunction with The Post, Nov. 4, 2025
Nov. 19, 2025
WASHINGTON — The National Task Force to Combat Antisemitism, a conservative-led initiative previously housed at the Heritage Foundation, met Tuesday to confront what members say can no longer be ignored: antisemitism within the conservative coalition.
The shift in priorities follows the task force’s break from Heritage after its president, Kevin Roberts, declined to condemn Tucker Carlson for hosting Nick Fuentes — a far-right livestreamer, who has publicly praised Adolf Hitler and denied the Holocaust — on his podcast. Roberts defended the interview, saying Fuentes’ several million followers “ideologically, philosophically, are on our side.”
Naomi Taxay 