After over a year of renovations, Eaton Hall has reopened its doors to the Tufts community for the spring semester. The renovations, which took place from November 2023 to January 2025, largely aimed to modernize the building’s interior, improve functionality and accessibility and implement energy-saving systems. As students and faculty have explored the restored building’s classrooms, offices and study spaces, they have begun to form their own thoughts on whether the new Eaton lives up to its promised improvements.
Today, Eaton Hall is home to the anthropology, classical studies, religion and sociology departments at Tufts as well as the women’s, gender and sexuality studies program, the Center for Interdisciplinary Studies and the Perseus Digital Library. Built in 1908, Eaton served as Tufts College’s library for nearly six decades until its collections were moved to Tisch Library, then known as Wessell Library, in 1965. In 1950, Eaton expanded to include the War Memorial Wing. This expansion nearly doubled Eaton’s size.
Eaton’s new structural developments aim to modernize the space while preserving its historical architecture. The front of the building now features a windowpane glass wall that serves as a bridge between Eaton’s original library building and its reading room. Additionally, the reading room now features a retractable wall, which transforms the space into both an 80-seat classroom and a 126-seat room for the admissions department to host informational sessions. The building also features 12 classrooms/seminar rooms.
During her first visit to the newly renovated Eaton, sophomore Laquasha Belle noted the building’s modernity.
“It’s kind of comparable to the [Tsungming Tu Complex], but I like that the rooms are really big … and it seems more comfortable than Nelson Auditorium in the TTC or compared to other spaces on campus,” she said. “I’ve had a class in Braker Hall, which I know other humanities classes are typically in … And I think the setup [in Eaton] is a lot more modern, and it’s nicer and easier to find rooms in the building.”
Andreola Rossi, senior lecturer in the classical studies department, teaches several classes in Eaton this semester and moved offices into the new building. Rossi also appreciated Eaton’s renovations.
“It’s no mystery that Eaton before was a mess, right? So everything is an improvement … there are a lot of rooms, there is also space for students to study … there is much more space and the space is utilized very well,” Rossi said.
One of the most noticeable changes to Eaton is the large, wheelchair-accessible elevator that features prominently on the building’s entry-level floor. Senior Romy Arie, who is currently taking a Latin graffiti seminar class in Eaton and took classes in Eaton during their first year at Tufts before its renovations, noted the building’s improvements in accessibility, as well as areas that still needed work.
“Before Eaton got renovated, there was a professor who did use a wheelchair who was not able to properly access the third floor of the building or the first floor because there’s just no elevator. So the elevator is the biggest difference I’ve seen. But also … the doors don’t have a little ledge when you walk in, just really small things like that,” they said.
The renovation of Eaton Hall is one of several recently completed projects at Tufts. Over the past few years, Tufts has constructed several academic buildings integral to its campus. This includes the Tsungming Tu Complex, formerly known as the Science and Engineering Center, which was opened in 2017 and serves as Tufts’ resident home to all things science and technology. The Joyce Cummings Center, built in 2022, also houses several STEM departments, including mathematics, economics and computer science.
Arie was glad to see a building dedicated to the humanities undergo renovation.
“We’ve seen a lot of STEM buildings opening the past few years … I know a lot of humanities students, at least from my perspective, felt kind of jilted, like all these science kids are getting new buildings, new spots, and we just get left with the nastiness,” they said. “It’s been really refreshing to see the new space and to see professors moving in, and it just gives it more of a dignity and shows that the school actually respects these departments that contribute so much.”
During the period of time that Eaton Hall was under construction, Arie, along with many other students and faculty, were using the Lincoln Filene Center as a temporary space for classes. The building was considered by students and faculty to be less than ideal.
“There were a lot of issues in [Lincoln Filene]. It was always either too hot or too cold; the windows didn’t open properly. … I remember once my sophomore year, we actually found a bird’s nest in the ceiling,” Arie said.
Rossi recalls that the close quarters during those years were also inconvenient for graduate students who shared that space.
“The people who suffered are really the graduate students. They didn’t have any place to stay. They didn’t have any place to meet,” she said.
While the renovations to Eaton Hall have been a welcome improvement to many, students also shared their frustrations over the lack of study space.
“[I’d like] more study spaces that are just out in the open … because there’s not a lot of them in Eaton,” first-year Ngone Gningue said.
Arie agreed, noting that Eaton Hall had been one of their central study locations during their first year at Tufts.
“I used to study a lot in there … and it was nice because it kind of felt like my building. My department was in that building. The new classrooms they made are beautiful … but [that big study room] is definitely missing for me,” they said.
When renovating a building as old as Eaton, one challenge is to upgrade its functionality and enhance its facilities while simultaneously preserving its historical architecture. Looking to future renovations of Tufts buildings, Belle hopes a balance between the two can be struck.
“It would be nice to have [other buildings on campus] remodeled, but I understand also wanting to keep some of the older aesthetics there. I know that [Olin Center] specifically has … an older, classical Tufts aesthetic, which is nice, but maybe modernizing some of the desks at least [would be nice],” she said.
Arie hopes that Eaton Hall is just one of the renovation projects in store for Tufts’ various humanities departments.
“I’d want to continue to see expansion of humanities buildings. I know that there’s a reason that they do build more of the STEM buildings … but Tufts is a liberal arts school, and I would love to see that reflected in the buildings as well,” they said.