Northwestern’s Evanston campus has seen minor drizzles in the last day. (Jerry Wu / The Purple Wire)

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Welcome back to The Purple Wire. This is your hosts Jerry Wu and Lily Ogburn. In the last few days, there’s been a few rapid developments at Northwestern Qatar’s campus amid the ongoing war between American, Israeli and Iranian forces. We’re here to bring you up to speed.

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1. Northwestern’s Qatar campus moves to remote operations amid Iranian missile strikes

The U.S. and Israel launched a joint attack against Iran on Saturday, which triggered the country to fire retaliatory missiles across the Middle East. (Lily Ogburn / The Purple Wire)

Northwestern’s Qatar campus shifted to remote operations this week after the U.S. and Israel launched a joint attack against Iran on Saturday, causing the country to retaliate with missile strikes and plunging the Middle East into war.

Both Northwestern and Qatari state officials have issued a series of shelter-in-place orders.

Since the interregional war devolved over the weekend, many of Iran’s missiles have targeted U.S. military bases across the Gulf states, including the Al Udeid Air Base to the southwest of Doha, Qatar — about 16 miles from Northwestern’s campus — according to Al Jazeera. Airports and hotels have also been reportedly hit in the country.

On Saturday, university officials announced that classes would be moved online, before later announcing there would be a temporary “pause in operations.” Later, officials said that the campus would shift to remote operations at least until the end of this week.

“We understand the fear and anxiety created by the violence and uncertainty of war, and we ask everyone on our campuses to keep our friends and colleagues who are affected by this conflict in your thoughts and in your hearts,” Interim President Henry S. Bienen wrote in an email to the campus community Wednesday.

The Daily Northwestern reported that several students on Northwestern’s Qatar campus said they could hear and see explosions nearby. 

One student described hearing “a huge boom sound” and seeing “the floors vibrate.”

Northwestern Qatar’s campus has an estimated enrollment of around 500 students, welcoming over 100 new students annually.

2. Women’s basketball coach Joe McKeown takes his final bow

McKeown has coached the Northwestern women’s basketball team for 18 years. (Lily Ogburn / The Purple Wire)

Northwestern women’s basketball coach Joe McKeown coached from the floor of Welsh-Ryan Arena for the last time on Sunday, marking the end of his 18-year tenure at the helm of the program. 

McKeown has coached at Northwestern for 18 years, after a previous 19-year stint at Georgetown University. He is the Northwestern women’s basketball head coach with the most wins, according to Northwestern Athletics. He had 785 career wins as a head coach. 

McKeown’s team has struggled through this season. With a 8-21 record, the ’Cats ended their season and McKeown’s career with a 62-67 loss to Purdue. 

“I just want to be remembered as somebody that cared about his players and did everything we could to make them better,” McKeown said at a postgame press conference on Sunday. 

Though McKeown’s last few seasons at Northwestern have been losing ones, he led the team to two NCAA tournament appearances and a Big Ten conference title in the 2019-2020 season.

Northwestern has not yet named a replacement for McKeown.

3. Meet Northwestern’s 2026 honorary degree recipients

Northwestern will grant honorary degrees to four individuals this year. (Jerry Wu / The Purple Wire)

Every year, Northwestern distributes a small number of honorary degrees to individuals who have made significant contributions in their respective fields, whether it be musical theatre or medicine. 

This year, the university is granting honorary degrees to four individuals: Michael Graetzel, Heather Headley, Sarah Jessica Parker and David Skorton. 

  1. Michael Graetzel: A professor at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne in Switzerland, Graetzel will receive an honorary Doctor of Science degree in recognition of his research in solar energy conversion and storage. His award-winning work is helping address the urgent need to develop low-cost and efficient ways of converting sunlight to electricity and chemical fuels. 

  2. Heather Headley: Headley (Communication ’97) will receive an honorary Doctor of Arts degree in recognition of her career as a Tony and Grammy Award-winning performer spanning Broadway, music and television. She rose to fame as Nala in the original Broadway production of “The Lion King” and has since appeared in other theatre productions, acted in TV shows and released music.  

  3. Sarah Jessica Parker: Parker will receive an honorary Doctor of Arts degree in recognition of her career as an actor, producer and businesswoman, earning her four Golden Globe Awards, three Screen Actors Guild Awards and two Emmy Awards. Best known for her iconic role as Carrie Bradshaw in “Sex and the City,” she will also be the class of 2026’s commencement speaker. 

  4. David Skorton: Skorton (Weinberg ’70, Feinberg ’74) will receive an honorary Doctor of Science degree for his leadership and contributions in medicine and higher education. Currently president and CEO of the Association of American Medical Colleges, he previously served as secretary of the Smithsonian Institution. He was also president of Cornell University and the University of Iowa.

~ Thanks for reading. See you next time!