West Cook News

Basketball is one way to make River Forest more "diverse and inclusive."

Lawyer and River Forest resident Tim Brandhorst made the recommendation at the Oct. 5 meeting of the village's Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Advisory Group.

The group, which started meeting in June, broke into groups Tuesday to brainstorm "specific" ideas the group could implement or recommend that would lead to more diversity.

"One specific thing that we could do right away is to unlock the basketball hoops," Brandhorst said.

Committee Chairman Erika Bachner said she thought the idea would have community appeal.

"I’m going to put that down," she said.

Other members built upon Brandhorst's idea, suggesting the group spearhead creation of a teen basketball tournament in River Forest, sponsored by the fire and police departments of River Forest and neighboring Maywood.

River Forest currently has seven parks, none of which have basketball hoops. 

Keystone Park, the village's largest, has soccer fields, baseball and softball diamonds, batting cages, five tennis courts and four paddle tennis courts.

Other proposed group ideas: evaluating all Village Board and Village Staff decisions to ensure "DEI (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion) is taken into account," and training members on Robert's Rules of Order and "how to respond to each other respectfully."

The fact that some members don't know how to behave with proper decorum at a government meeting itself is "an equity issue," Bachner said.

The citizen's group, which started with 46 members, has shrunk to 42. Members Doug Garcia-Luce, Susan Lucci, Claudia Moreno and Roshni Ricchetti have resigned since its last meeting on Aug. 17. 

Ricchetti led member opposition to reciting the Pledge of Allegiance at the start of each meeting, objecting to the Pledge's reference to God as "introducing magic into the equation." Members voted 20-6 against reciting the Pledge.

But after Bachner opened the Tuesday meeting with her "land acknowledgment" claiming River Forest residents live on land that was "colonized," member and Pledge supporter Mindy Credi started reciting it anyway. She was joined by several other group members.

This was the fifth meeting of the group, attended by 26 members. Two members-- Cecelia Graham and Susan McAuley-- have yet to attend a meeting. Four members-- Guillermo Arauz, Anja Herrman, Jessica Iverson and Farzad Khaledan-- have attended one of the group's five meetings.

In his 1993 book, Hang Time: Days and Dreams with Michael Jordan, Chicago Tribune columnist and author Bob Greene recounted Brandhorst's story of playing pick-up basketball with Jordan, during his prime, at The Athletic Club in Illinois Center.

Althea Gibson, who in 1956 became the first black athlete to win a Grand Slam tennis tournament, the French Open at Roland Garros, learned the game playing paddle-tennis on the streets of Harlem.

Attendance by River Forest's "Diversity, Equity and Inclusion" Citizen's Advisory Group

First Name	Last Name	June 7	June 22	Aug 2	Aug 17	Oct 6
Dwerti	Addy	P	A	A	A	P	40%
Stacey D.	Austin	P	P	P	P	P	100%
Erika	Bachner	P	P	P	P	P	100%
David L.	Bonner	P	P	P	P	P	100%
Tim	Brandhorst	P	P	A	P	P	80%
Mindy	Credi	P	P	P	P	P	100%
Alexandra L.	DeSorbo-Quinn	P	P	P	A	P	80%
Renee	Duba-Clancy	P	P	P	P	P	100%
Chuck	Foster	P	A	A	P	P	60%
John C.	Grant	P	P	P	P	P	100%
Kenneth J.	Johnson	P	P	P	P	P	100%
Kirk	Johnson	P	A	P	A	P	60%
Megan	Keskitalo	P	P	P	A	P	80%
Kent	Kirk	P	P	P	P	P	100%
Rosey	McAdams	P	P	P	P	P	100%
Sharon	Oates	P	P	A	P	P	80%
Christina	Papirnik	P	P	A	A	P	60%
Teresa	Peavy	P	P	A	P	P	80%
Anthony	Riley	A	P	A	A	P	40%
Abigail	Rogers	P	P	P	P	P	100%
Lisa M.	Scheiner	P	P	P	P	P	100%
Liz	Simon	A	P	A	P	P	60%
Dorota	Szerszenowicz-Olweny	P	P	A	P	P	80%
Glen	Weissenberger	P	A	P	P	P	80%
Sun-Hee	Yoon	P	A	P	P	P	80%
Guillermo	Arauz	P	A	A	A	A	20%
Tina L.	Baird	P	A	P	P	P	80%
Laurel	Burkett	P	P	A	A	A	40%
Holly A.	Economos	P	P	A	P	A	60%
Cecelia	Graham	A	A	A	A	A	0%
Jessica	Hartshorn	P	P	P	P	A	80%
Anja	Herrman	A	P	A	A	A	20%
Jessica	Iverson	A	P	A	A	A	20%
Stephanie	Kang	P	P	A	A	A	40%
Farzad	Khaledan	P	A	A	A	A	20%
Brett	Kreisman	P	P	A	A	A	40%
Susan	MacAuley	A	A	A	A	A	0%
Robert	Navarro	P	P	P	P	A	80%
Nancy	Nicolas	P	P	P	P	A	80%
James E.	Norman	P	A	P	A	A	40%
Richard	Schumacher	P	P	A	P	A	60%
Cindy	Shea	P	P	P	P	A	80%
Doug	Garcia-Luce	P	P	P	P	Resigned
Susan	Lucci	P	A	P	P	Resigned
Claudia	Moreno	P	P	P	P	Resigned
Roshni	Ricchetti	A	A	A	P	Resigned
		39	33	25	30	25
		85%	72%	54%	65%	60%	% Attendance

Source: Village of River Forest