Dear readers,
Welcome back to another semester on the Hill! My name is Arghya Thallapragada, and I am the Editor in Chief of The Daily for the spring 2025 semester. I’d like to take this opportunity to introduce you to the Daily and tell you about our intentions for reporting this semester.
But first, thank you to everyone — writers, editors, layout, and executive and managing board members — who dedicated their talent and time over winter break to usher in the first issue of 2025, the Welcome Back edition.
Looking back, last semester saw online publication every weekday and print publication on Thursdays, including six special editions. Notably, in November we published an extended Election Day edition, which detailed student civic engagement, the status of swing states and even what would happen if there was a golf game between President-elect Donald Trump and President Joe Biden. The perspectives of community members outside of the Daily had a significant presence in November, in the form of both Op-eds and Letters to the Editor. In addition, The Tufts Daily Magazine, the Daily’s inaugural magazine, launched last semester, a coalescence of longer stories carefully crafted over the course of many months.
Looking ahead, this semester will mark almost half a century of reporting with the 45th anniversary of the Daily. Our Daily Week special edition will print on Feb. 25 in celebration of this anniversary, marking a change in our usual Thursday print schedule to celebrate the Daily’s ‘birthday’. In this edition, we will reflect on the Daily of the past and consider the Daily of the future.
The first of April will bring the April Fools edition, an issue replete with absurd headlines, satirical articles and a silly masthead. A few weeks later, we will celebrate newly accepted students with the Jumbo Month edition. This paper will serve as our introduction to the university for incoming students, featuring different facets of Tufts — don’t miss the Editorial Board’s annual “Declassified Survival Guide!”
Our penultimate special edition, the second installment of The Tufts Daily Magazine, will be published as classes end. It will mirror last semester’s issue, again delving deep into stories over the course of the semester.
Finally, the Commencement edition, published in May, will mark the conclusion of the Daily’s spring semester reporting. Roughly 50 pages long, this sweeping issue will offer a thorough reflection on and celebration of the Class of 2025’s time at Tufts.
We remain steadfast in our commitment to ethical, fair and accurate reporting. The Daily aims to serve the Tufts community and our host communities well by offering relevant and timely information. We hold the principles of journalistic integrity and inclusion in all steps of our editorial process, and we greatly appreciate readers’ feedback. If you have any concerns or questions, I encourage you to reach out at daily@tuftsdaily.com.
Additionally, the annual ethics and inclusion report will be published by the Ethics and Inclusion Committee this spring. This report, taken from data collected last semester, will provide a look into demographics and assess inclusion in staff. You can view last year’s report here.
I am proud to introduce the rest of the Daily’s managing board. Liam Chalfonte and Nate Hall are managing editors, and Ellora Onion-De and Erin Zhu are associate editors. Claire Wood is the production director and Alex Dai is the business director. We all look forward to a productive semester.
Looking back, my first involvements at the Daily brought me, again and again, to its office in the basement of Curtis Hall. My regard and admiration of the filled walls, crammed with cut out pages and printed pictures, led me to memorize the location and content of each page and picture. I was excited later on to see my own work appear on these walls.
Looking ahead, I hope, in your consideration of clubs to join, you discover the Daily and come to the office often; all are welcome. I hope that you will see your work on the wall and feel a sense of pride. For information on getting involved, see our join us page or email me at arghya@tuftsdaily.com with any questions.
Pax et Lux,
Arghya Thallapragada
Editor in Chief, Spring 2025
