With a $250,000 donation and support from alumni, Macalester College will offer housing and meal plans to international students between semesters as federal changes leave many concerned about their ability to return to the U.S. if they leave for the summer.

In an email to alumni requesting donations on Tuesday, Macalester College President Suzanne Rivera, said that the school has started a fund to provide free room and board for international students that can support 65 students as of Tuesday. As of fall last year, Macalester enrolled 321 international students from 85 countries and 2,138 total students.

President Suzanne Rivera (Macalester College)

“Throughout the semester, we’ve been in touch with our international students to protect their safety and support their well-being in light of the rapidly changing visa landscape,” Rivera wrote. “Many of them are scared, and we’re worried that our visa holders may not be able to get back into the United States to continue their education if they go home for the summer. For this reason, we’ve pledged to offer housing and meal plans for international students who need a safe place to stay between semesters.”

Rivera urged alumni to contribute to the fund, with a goal of raising an additional $250,000 by the end of the month to help Macalester provide housing and food, as well as stipends so students can take unpaid internships. Most are not authorized to work in the U.S., she wrote, and college officials plan to provide $6,250 stipends to at least 12 students.

She also encouraged alumni with local organizations that can provide students with internships or volunteer opportunities to connect with the school or for alumni to spend time with international students, such as taking them to sporting events or hosting them for a meal.

“Contact your elected officials and tell them how you feel about threats to students, and attacks on academic freedom and autonomy at American colleges and universities,” Rivera also wrote.

Monitoring policy changes

At least 1,220 international students in the U.S. have had their visas revoked or legal status terminated since late March, according to the Associated Press, with some colleges cautioning international students against travel abroad.

In addition to creating the fund, Macalester officials are monitoring federal policy changes, working with those affected by them and engaging with national associations and coalitions, Rivera wrote in the email to alumni.

Macalester College has joined the Presidents’ Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration and other organizations on an amicus brief in AAUP v. Rubio and in April, Rivera signed a statement opposing “undue government intrusion in the lives of those who learn, live, and work on our campuses,” according to the statement, along with other college leaders.

“I want to be very clear: at Macalester, we remain committed to the principle of academic freedom, the rights of free speech and assembly, and the importance of respecting different perspectives, points of view, identities, and experiences,” Rivera wrote.

Macalester leadership initially went to the college’s trustees for contributions before turning to its alumni network, Rivera said Thursday.

Students also stayed during pandemic

It’s not the first time the college has had to look into summer housing and resources for international students, Rivera said. When Rivera first began at Macalester in 2020, international students also stayed on campus over the summer during the pandemic when international travel was restricted.

“But that summer, there were federal relief funds that the college was able to access in order to meet the financial demands of that unbudgeted expense,” she said. “But right now, in this moment, there is no federal source of funds to support these students, and that’s why we’re looking to philanthropy to help support the unbudgeted expense of giving our international students a safe place to stay over the summer.”

Macalester has a history of commitment to global citizenship and internationalism and the response from alumni has been gratifying, she said.

“But I can tell you that we’ve been really encouraged by how many people have signaled to us that they felt this was the right thing to do and consistent with our mission and values,” Rivera said. “… And we take really seriously our obligation to support them and take good care of them while they’re here. And none of us anticipated at the start of the school year that we would be facing these particular challenges with regard to international students and their visa status.”

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It didn’t take long for Chicago Cubs fans to welcome the first American pope into their arms, or for White Sox fans to claim him as their own.

When Pope Leo XIV’s election was announced Thursday, ABC News reported Robert Prevost, of Dolton, was a Cubs fan.

The jokes were flying on social media, many of them suggesting Pope Leo XIV was a perfect choice to heal the world’s suffering, thanks to his allegiance to the Cubs.

That begged the question: Would the Cubs ask the new pope to throw a ceremonial first pitch at Wrigley Field?

A message to the Cubs got a quick response.

“Not only would we welcome Pope Leo XIV to Wrigley Field, he could sing ‘Take Me Out to the Ballgame,’” Cubs Chairman Tom Ricketts said in a statement.

“Or, since three of his predecessors visited Yankee Stadium, including Pope Paul VI, who delivered the 1965 ‘Sermon on the Mound,’ we would invite the Pontiff to do the same at the Friendly Confines.”

The Wrigley Field marquee changed to “Hey, Chicago, He’s a Cubs fan!” after the news Thursday afternoon.

“Hey, Chicago. He’s a Cubs fan!” reads the Wrigley Field marquee after Cardinal Robert Prevost, a Chicago native, was chosen as the 267th pontiff on May 8, 2025, in Chicago. (Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune)

But the Sox might have a better claim. His brother, John Prevost, told the Tribune that the new pope was “always a Sox fan.”

The Sox were of the firm belief that a brother knows what kind of fan his own brother is and made it clear they were claiming the pope as their own.

“Family always knows best, and it sounds like Pope Leo XIV’s lifelong fandom follows a little closer to 35th and Shields,” the Sox said in a statement, referring to Rate Field. “Some things are bigger than baseball, and in this case we’re glad to have a White Sox fan represented at the Vatican. A pinstripe White Sox jersey with his name on it and a hat already are on the way to Rome, and of course, the Pontiff always is welcome at the ballpark.”

Sox fans jumped on the news, posting tweets that the Cubs’ claim was premature. If it’s true he’s a Sox fan, Pope Leo XIV would be the team’s second representative of the Vatican after former Sox pitcher “The Pope” Donn Pall.

Getting the new pope to the ballpark could be a stretch for either the Cubs or the Sox, but if he does come to Chicago, at least he’ll have his choice of baseball activities.

The Cubs have had many celebrities perform the stretch after Harry Caray’s death in 1998 began the tradition of guest singers, from Mike Ditka to Hillary Clinton. But they’ve yet to have a pope in the booth singing and then imploring the Cubs to “get some runs.”

If his North Side fandom is confirmed, Pope Leo XIV would automatically become the world’s most famous Cubs fan, eclipsing Bill Murray for the top spot.

The Cubs have a team chaplain, Rev. Burke Masters, who celebrates mass at the ballpark on Sundays with Wrigley Field employees, including players, team personnel and ushers. During the Cubs’ playoff run in 2016, Rev. Masters was asked if praying was going to help the Cubs win the World Series.

“Ultimately, I don’t think God cares who wins or loses,” Masters said. “But it can’t hurt.”

The Cubs are in first place in the National League Central and now might have a connection with the Big Guy in Pope Leo XIV. If he really is a die-hard Cubs fan, Pope Leo XIV probably can let his followers know with a familiar Latin phrase that every fans knows:

“Eamus Catuli” … “Lets go Cubs.”

The Sox, meanwhile, are in last place in the American League Central with a 10-28 record after Thursday’s 10-0 loss to the Kansas City Royals.

If Pope Leo XIV is truly a Sox fan, a downtrodden team is counting on him to come through with a miracle or two to salvage the season.

President Donald Trump has nominated Minneapolis commercial litigator Daniel Rosen to be the next U.S. Attorney for Minnesota.

Earlier this year, Rosen, of Rosen LLC, was one of three candidates recommended for the position by Minnesota’s Republican congressional delegation to replace Andrew Luger, who stepped down as the state’s top federal prosecutor before Trump’s inauguration.

The nomination was referred Tuesday to the U.S. Senate’s Committee on the Judiciary, which will review Rosen’s qualifications before it goes to the full senate for a vote.

The congressional delegation — Reps. Tom Emmer, Brad Finstad, Michelle Fischbach and Pete Stauber — issued a statement Wednesday calling Rosen “one of the sharpest legal minds in the entire country.”

“With over three decades of experience as an attorney and a proven commitment to public safety, Dan will uphold the rule of law and keep criminals off our streets,” the statement says. “As fraud and crime run rampant under Governor Walz’s watch, we urge our colleagues in the Senate to act quickly to confirm Dan’s nomination.”

The delegation’s other nominees sent to Trump on Jan. 27 were Erica MacDonald, who he appointed as Minnesota’s U.S. Attorney during his first term as president, and Ronald Schutz, who has held senior leadership roles at Robins Kaplan LLC in Minneapolis for nearly three decades.

Rosen is a U.S. Navy veteran and University of Minnesota Law School graduate who has over 30 years of practice focusing on commercial litigation in federal and state courts, according to the delegation’s letter to Trump.

“He has used his expertise to advocate for community and charitable issues, especially matters of particular interest to the American Jewish community,” the letter continues.

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Rosen previously served as a partner of the Parker Rosen firm and was partner-in-charge when Miami-based law firm Kluger Kaplan opened a satellite office in Minneapolis in 2017.

If confirmed, Rosen will oversee a U.S. attorney’s office with about 140 staffers, including more than 70 attorneys. The office is headquartered at the federal courthouse in Minneapolis, and a branch office is maintained in St. Paul.

Under Luger’s leadership, the attorney’s office prioritized the prosecution of crimes related to gun and gang violence while also tackling the $250 million Feeding Our Future fraud scheme.

Lisa Kirkpatrick is the acting U.S. attorney.

Not only did Eagan native Eva Erickson make it through this week’s episode of “Survivor 48,” she now finds herself seemingly guaranteed to make it to the final four thanks to the two advantages she holds.

Seven castaways remain in the game, and Erickson’s got the numbers behind her thanks to her still-strong alliance of day-one ally Joe Hunter, debate professor Shauhin Davari and lawyer Kyle Fraser. Fraser has a secret and equally strong alliance with software engineer Kamilla Karthigesu. That leaves substance abuse counselor Mary Zheng and physical education coach Mitch Guerra.

Guerra comes across as a nice guy who has no idea how to play the game, so he’s not much of a threat. Zheng is the obvious choice to get voted out.

That inevitability felt even more so when producers chose to show a lengthy discussion of coconut etiquette — which happens to be the title of this episode — between Zheng and Erickson, who called Zheng out for eating the tribe’s last coconut.

“We’re not going to have any food for the rest of the time,” Erickson told her. She then spoke to the camera: “We have very limited number of coconuts left and Mary has been just chopping them open left and right and eating them all for herself. She clearly is just being spiteful and knows she’s going home and so is trying to screw us all over.”

From there, we watched Fraser grapple with his two alliances while lamenting the fact he’ll have to vote out people he’s become close to. “There is no moral escape for me,” he said before wiping tears from his eyes.

Journey to a challenge

Midway through the episode, a boat arrived at camp, which the players knew meant one of them would be going on a journey, where you are whisked away to a remote location to tackle a challenge. At risk is your vote at tribal council if you’re unsuccessful.

Erickson, who is the show’s first openly autistic player, explained it to viewers: “I’m taking a nap and I, like, literally sprint out of the hammock, come running down and we’re like, ‘oh my God, a journey is about to happen.’ But the thing is, we’ve discovered if you go on a journey, you could possibly lose your vote. But you also get the opportunity to gain an advantage. So that’s something that is very scary, because I hold a lot of power in this game and a boat pulling up potentially gives somebody that’s not in my alliance the opportunity to gain power.”

The seven castaways are given the choice of unanimously selecting one of them to go on the journey. If they can’t, they must pull rocks from a bag, with the sole purple rock signifying the winner. Of course, they all wanted to go on the journey and, after a rock pull, Erickson found herself on a boat on the way to challenge.

“I’m so pumped to go on the journey,” she said. “It’s so cool to get to be out in the open water. I’m so excited to see what the journey has in store.

“I feel so pumped because, yeah I might lose my vote, but I have two advantages so I know I’m safe regardless. But the thing is, in a tribe of seven when I’m in that majority alliance with four people, we can run the game. But if I lose my vote, then it’s three and three and anything could happen.”

Erickson must build a house of cards with tiles while perched on a balance beam. Once she gets to four levels, her vote is safe. If she makes it to eight levels before time runs out, she gets the “knowledge is power” advantage, which would allow her to steal an advantage from another player.

“As I’m getting higher, stacking on now slightly wobbly tiles, I’m struggling,” she said. “But I have the ability to be fixated on a goal. I have this mindset of not giving up and getting so focused on something. I get to that level four and I’m like, ‘yep, got my vote back.’ Do I keep going?

“I have a lot of power and the idea of having even more power is very nice, so I don’t want to quit now. Maybe I should go for that eight. Maybe I could do it. But the thing is, if the tiles fall down while I try to go higher than that level four, I’m going to lose my vote. … I’m so competitive, but I know it’s just gonna get harder as I go up, and so for my team, I need to stop being stupid and not be greedy to go after the ‘knowledge is power’ and just let it be.”

‘Care more about my team’

Erickson stayed steady at four levels, won back her vote and, after returning to camp, told her fellow players exactly what happened.

“I have a strong team of people that I can go forward in this game with. I care more about my team than I do about myself in this moment. And so I’m gonna keep my vote so that me and the three boys that I trust with my entire life in this game can make it to the final four together,” she said.

Throughout the episode, Zheng attempted to get one of Erickson’s alliance members to flip and vote out Hunter. But no one bit and after Karthigesu won the combined reward/immunity challenge, Zheng’s fate was sealed.

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During tribal council, host Jeff Probst asked Erickson if her game was shifting from an “us” to a “me.”

“My game has not shifted to a ‘me.’ I still see an ‘us.’ And so the conversations I’m having are ‘what can I do to help us?’ Because I see that there’s no way for me to get to the end without using other people I trust,” she said.

Erickson has a hidden immunity idol that she openly said she’s going to play on herself or Joe. She’s also got another advantage that allows her to walk out of a tribal council. She won’t get to vote, but she’s safe from getting voted out. They both expire after the final five tribal, meaning she is safe during the next two tribals if she uses them.

“Survivor 48” airs at 7 p.m. Wednesdays on CBS and streams the next day on Paramount+.