Fundamentally, we disagree with the Editorial Board’s decision to endorse downhill living but respect the deliberative process which led five of our seven board members to argue in favor of lower campus life. As such, we have decided to write a dissenting opinion in response to the Board, with whom we could not reach an agreement.
While this practice is new to the Daily, it occurs occasionally when editorial boards at other student newspapers fail to reach a unanimous consensus. While we maintain that a two-thirds supermajority must be obtained by Board members for an editorial to be published, these dissenting opinions will voice the concerns of the Board’s minority when a unanimous consensus cannot be reached — writing as individual writers, rather than as the voice of the Daily.
It is in this position that we have come to argue against living downhill. Given the high concentration of academic departments located on the Academic Quad, uphill residential life enables easy access to the university’s academic resources. This proximity not only allows for a brief commute to the Academic Quad but also leaves the uphill climb for the trip back to your dorm, reducing the risk of sweat stains developing on your way to class.
We are forced to concede that the lower campus has superior dining facilities, and most off-campus destinations — Davis Square, the Pub and Teele Square — are more accessible when living downhill. But, this advantage has already started to recede following the opening of the Medford/Tufts Green Line station in December, which gave uphill residents direct access to Boston.
Further, with the construction of a new dorm on Boston Avenue, the opening of the Joyce Cummings Center’s Starbucks and Tufts’ purchase of 325–331 Boston Ave., which we hope will become a campus pub, uphill’s superiority will become only more pronounced.
The collection of benefits to living uphill leaves us no choice but to respectfully disagree with the Editorial Board’s decision to endorse upper-campus living.
Brendan Hartnett and Faye Thijssen are editorialists at The Tufts Daily.
