While there have been some changes made to the athletics program, such as the incorporation of female sports teams, Tufts has remained a school where students work to achieve a balance between their schoolwork and athletic commitments.
One of the biggest changes to the school's sporting scene is the number of women's sports that are now offered. In the early 1970s, the women's and men's sports were organized separately. Jackson College organized the women's sports and did not have access to the best facilities on campus.
By the end of the 1970s, men's and women's athletics were consolidated by then-Athletic Director Rocky Carzo. Under the influence of Title IX, Tufts began to add more women's sports teams. "I give Tufts a lot of credit," Athletic Director Bill Gehling said. "A lot of schools had to be brought screaming and yelling, but Tufts realized the benefit of women's sports and very quickly added women's sports."
Gehling has observed the evolution of athletics at Tufts as he has moved from soccer star to women's soccer coach to his current post as athletic director.
Tufts has always been a school where student athletes have to balance their classwork with their athletic commitments.
Gehling agreed that time management is important and said that sports now take up a larger chunk of students' time. "One of the things that has changed about sports is that the time commitment has increased out of season because athletes like to play informally year-round," he said. "But we have no problem populating our varsity teams - it's not hard to combine being a varsity athlete and academics."
Women's swim team member and junior Rachel Tabak agreed that balancing sports and other commitments is definitely possible. "Academics are definitely the first priority," she said. "Everything you do out of class - all extracurricular activities - take time and you have to decide what to focus on. But that's what college is all about - managing your time."
Gehling stressed that it was, and still is, not difficult to be both a student and an athlete. As a member of both the Beelzebubs and the men's soccer team, Gehling said that although he had to manage his time as a student, he was able to do both.
Tufts is notorious for being a school with little school spirit, and that was the case in past years as well. Gehling said that when teams are good, people come to see the games. He cited the men's basketball team in the 1970s, saying that the gym was always packed for the games.
Homecoming is an event that has expanded over the years and has helped to increase Tufts' spirit. "In the last ten to 15 years, we've started to try to get as many teams as possible to be home that weekend," Gehling said. "We've also made Parents Weekend a bigger athletic event."
Past Homecomings focused only on the football game, and it was not unusual for other sports teams to be playing away games during the festivities. Gehling remembers having an away game for soccer and then having to drive back to campus to sing in a Bubs concert on Homecoming.
While Gehling said he would love to see the level of school spirit increase, he understands that the number of things happening on campus makes that difficult. "We could do a better job advertising contests and trying to generate interest," he said.
Gehling said however, that some sports - like women's basketball and men's lacrosse - are drawing more people because the teams are performing better.
Another change is the attitude of Tufts students towards fitness. "There's more of a year-round commitment to fitness," Gehling said. "Strength training is now an important part of all sports."
It is not only athletes who feel this way. "As a rule, people are more interested in physical fitness," Gehling said. "Before we had [a fitness center], no one missed it. It's been a major cultural shift."
The University has taken this new attitude into account and now offers several new programs to help students in their quest for fitness. Intramural opportunities have increased and physical education classes have changed, according to Gehling.
"Physical Education classes used to be 'skill' classes - like golf, squash or tennis," he said. "Those are still offered, but we've now increased the number of fitness classes, such as weight training and aerobics."
