The Office of Community Relations will on Sunday welcome residents of Tufts' neighboring Medford/Somerville communities to the Hill for Tufts' eighth annual Community Day.
The event, hosted in conjunction with the Cities of Medford and Somerville, will feature free lunch, activities and performances by student groups on the Academic Quad from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Director of Community Relations Barbara Rubel expects 1,500 guests to be in attendance.
"The idea of the day is to open up the campus and be generous and hospitable and welcome people," Rubel said. "We hope that this event opens doors for people and they realize there is a lot to take advantage of on campus."
Rubel said that Community Day was designed to appeal to local residents who live near the Tufts campus.
"We hope we are reaching out to people who have never been here before," Rubel said. "Its always really interesting to run into people who live near campus but have never actually seen the campus. We try to make people aware of all the resources available."
Representatives from approximately 30 departments and student groups will staff tables at the event, as will 36 community organizations in Somerville and Medford, Susan DeAmato, the administrative assistant in the Office of Community Relations, said.
"They will each be explaining what they do and have some fun sort of activity or giveaway," DeAmato, who is the main organizer of the event, said.
More than 10 campus groups will perform on the main stage, and several others will teach dance lessons or perform on a side stage throughout the day, according to DeAmato.
"We will also have two large kids' activities tents with things like pumpkin painting, face painting and cookie decorating available," DeAmato said.
Organizers will place more emphasis this year on highlighting the achievements of faculty and academic groups on campus, Rubel explained.
"This year we made a real push to get more faculty groups to come and display their research," Rubel said. "A number of members of the engineering department are going to be on hand as well."
The Office of Community Relations also focused this year on publicizing the event extensively, according to Rubel.
"We have really tried to get the word out," she said. "It's been in the newspapers, and there was the mailing of postcards to several thousand Somerville and Medford residents."
Rubel said that she had seen enormous growth in attendance since the event's inception seven years ago. That year, only 200 residents came to campus.
"It has definitely grown over the years both in the number of groups presenting and in the number of residents attending," DeAmato said. "A large part of the success is thanks to the student volunteers who are just willing to help out."
Besides the students from performing groups, over 70 student volunteers participate in Community Day, helping run the activities tents and manage other logistics, according to DeAmato.
University President Lawrence Bacow is expected to appear at the event, Rubel said. She credited Bacow with helping initiate the original Community Day.
"Larry Bacow started this event … and it's because of his desire to make this happen that it does," Rubel said. "He spends a lot of time at this event and gets to know the neighbors."
Rubel said she has heard positive feedback from members of the community who have participated in Community Day in the past.
"We hear from people who are making this a tradition and want to come every year," Rubel said. "We hear from people who staff the community tables that it's an effective way to get their message out to the campus."
Some campus groups are intent on making their participation in the day an annual tradition.
"We make sure we do it every year; it's definitely a priority of ours," senior Malcolm Kearns, a member of the percussion group BEATS, said. "Kids have the most fun watching us, so it's always a great experience."
Another group that will be performing is the Beelzebubs, commonly referred to as the Bubs. Having appeared on the NBC singing competition "The Sing−Off" in the winter, the Bubs have newfound, broader name recognition and are likely to draw a crowd, Rubel said.
"The whole purpose of the day is to bring the outside community into Tufts," Beelzebubs Public Relations Representative Sam Cantor, a sophomore, said. "What better way to do that than to perform and really make them feel welcome? It's a good gig. It feels good to perform at a day like Community Day."
Rubel encouraged students to attend the event and take advantage of the free activities, food and performances as well as the opportunity to meet area residents.
"We love the idea of having students wander through and get to know the neighbors," she said.
