Dear Class of 2023 and the Tufts community,
Congratulations on completing another year of intellectual curiosity and creative adaptation. Today, Tufts graduates a class that has seen a lot. It’s fair to say the Class of 2023 had the most tumultuous college experience a collective can have. From being sent home in March of your freshman year to adjusting to hybrid learning and modified extracurriculars to facing a slew of bomb threats just as things were beginning to look normal, this class has taken every challenge in stride. I’ll save you all the in-depth COVID-19 recap — if you’re really itching to read it, take a look at previousCommencementeditions. But as the final class with a memory of pre-pandemic Tufts, you have spent the past year defining the school you graduate from today. Those of us who have some time left in this place thank you for it.
With an unpredictable four years of Tufts came an unpredictable four years of the Daily, and just as every senior has shaped the lives of future Jumbos, I hope the past year of the Daily has set the standard for its future.
Since last May, the Daily has proven itself as an informant to the Tufts community. We broke the story of alleged discrimination by Dean of Admissions JT Duck, we dove into years of battles that led to the unionization of resident assistants, we published an inaugural special edition focused on Tufts’ host communities, we provided live updates to a campus under threat and we called on Tufts to do its part in ending the epidemic of gun violence, all while standing by our staff as they wrote articles to an exceptional standard of journalistic integrity.
From our tiny, windowless, bathroom-less basement, the people who comprise the Daily kept an independent student press alive and thriving. The culmination of all of their work is in your hands today. To the Daily’s staff, thank you. You have produced a paper that I hope you are immensely proud of.
As I wrap up a full year on the Daily’s managing board, I am hyperaware that these achievements would not have happened without our incredible system of leadership and support. To the spring 2023 executive board: Thank you for your trust, thank you for being inspiring role models to your sections and thank you for seeking out a home at the Daily. To the fall 2022 and spring 2023 managing boards: Thank you for working tirelessly to highlight the potential of this newspaper, thank you for being the most thoughtful friends and thank you for believing in me.
The world our seniors are graduating into may present an overwhelming instability, but if the Class of 2023 learned anything from their Tufts degrees, it is how to let ambition make the best of uncertainty. You will be missed, but you will make us proud!
With lots of love,
Julia Shannon-Grillo
Editor in Chief, Spring 2023
