TCU Senate updates
The Tufts Community Union (TCU) Senate began the semester by adding a Womens Center Representative and passing two resolutions condemning the Committee on Student Lifes ruling last semester, which allows student religious groups to apply for exceptions to the universitys nondiscrimination policy.
The Senate in April passed a resolution recommending that American Sign Language (ASL) count towards the first part of the School of Arts and Sciences language requirement, reigniting a push to revise the language requirement to include ASL.
In an effort to aid students rights in the universitys sexual violence judiciary process, the Senate passed a resolution calling for the creation of two additional administrative student advocate positions, including a victim witness advocate and an accused witness advocate. If created, senators hope the positions will make the judiciary process less alienating by adding advocates who are not required to be unbiased during the process.
The Senate passed a resolution calling for student input on the development of the Critical Studies in Disparities and Diasporas program in response to a perceived lack of transparency between the faculty and administrators working to develop the program and the student body.
The Senate also underwent an initiative to allocate money to Tier II sports teams, including baseball, tennis, ice hockey and soccer, for the first time.
Junior Joe Thibodeau won the TCU presidential race over junior senators Joe Donenfeld and Christie Maciejewski. Voter turnout increased to 57.5 percent from 49.79 percent last year.
Technology changes, new resources
TuftsLife launched a new site design to better meet the needs of students, remove underutilized resources and include web applications called TuftsLife Apps, changing both the aesthetics and organization of the site.
A new Integrated Student Information System (iSIS) replaced the Student Information System (SIS) as Tufts web-based system of recording student information and registering for classes.
At the LGBT Centers 20th anniversary celebration earlier this month, the university announced that next semester the student health insurance plan will include new benefits for transgender students to allow coverage of hormone treatments and gender reassignment surgery.'
Housing
The Office of Residential Life and Learning (ResLife) announced the creation of a Sustainability House, bringing the total number of Special Interest Houses up to 16.
Ten students interested in sustainable living and environmental awareness will be able to live in a Latin Way suite next year.
Due to an increase in the number of seniors choosing on-campus housing, an unusually large number of juniors were unable to secure on-campus housing for next fall.
ResLife will defer Special Interest Housing policy changes until next year. Earlier in the year, ResLife announced that it would enforce the one-year limit on living in specialty housing but changed its decision after meeting with representatives from the Arts Haus and the Crafts House.
Starting next year, a new ResLife rule will prevent Resident Assistants from dating students who live in the halls for which they are responsible.
Heating up on the Hill
Senior Anjuli Branz filed a complaint against the Senior Class Council on the grounds that it had selected a venue that required students to be 21 years of age to attend for its Senior Nights, arguing that the class council discriminated against those who were not yet 21 years old.
Twenty-seven mens lacrosse players faced a two-game suspension after an external investigation found them guilty of unacceptable behavior while in attendance at a womens volleyball home game against Smith College.
In response to several alcohol-related incidents including public urination and over 15 students receiving treatment for excessive intoxication at Winter Bash, the university is conducting an administrative review of the event.
Tufts Christian Fellowship declined to apply for re-recognition by the Tufts Community Union (TCU) under the Committee on Student Lifes justifiable departure policy.
Signage and other structures on Bello Field were defaced with graffiti depicting racist symbols and messages, sparking a campus dialogue and an investigation by the Medford Police Department. The TCU Senate drafted a statement condemning the messages, stating that the Senate regards these and all other instances of hate and subordination as unacceptable.
Conferences and symposia
The 28th Annual Norris and Margery Bendetson Education for Public Inquiry and International Citizenship (EPIIC) International Symposium brought together intellectuals, government officials and other experts in student-moderated panels on this years theme, Global Health and Security. The four-day symposium included panels on bioterrorism, health care access, the drug industry, food insecurity and sexual violence.
Tufts hosted the Campus Cultivation Conference for the first time this year, providing gardening and farming workshops for students from several New England colleges and universities.
The ninth annual Emerging Black Leaders symposium featured academics, journalists and activists discussing this years theme, Matters of the Body: A Cross Section of Gender, Race, Sexuality and Power. The symposium included two panels on gender politics and current events within the African-American community.
The fourth annual Water: Systems, Science, and Society (WSSS) Interdisciplinary Water Symposium featured water experts discussing issues related to the links between water and agriculture. Students involved in WSSS sponsored and organized the symposium, which included two keynote addresses and three panels.
The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy hosted the sixth annual China-U.S. Symposium, which featured four panels over two days on subjects pertaining to this years theme, the trust between the United States and China. The panels featured research presentations and moderated discussions on Internet freedom, the Korean Peninsula, military security and economic relations.
The first annual Social Innovations Symposium, hosted by the Tufts Empower Program for Social Entrepreneurship and the Tufts Compass Fellowship, featured student discussions and panels on the importance of entrepreneurship and its social impact. Panelists included Tufts alumni and Boston entrepreneurs, as well as the finalists of the Tufts $100K Business Plan Competition.
New programs for the university
A new environmental science and policy minor will next fall be available to engineers.
Environmental studies majors will next semester have a new track that focuses on food systems and the environment, adding to the three existing tracks within the major.
The School of Medicine launched a Doctor of Public Health degree program, which will enroll its first class next fall.
The Womens Studies Program will change its name to Womens, Gender and Sexuality Studies starting next fall to better represent the changing department.
Visitors to the Hill
Professor of History and Asian Studies at the University of Toronto Takashi Fujitani spoke about Japanese-American internment and the competition that arose between empires during World War II.
Director of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine Peter Piot discussed global health and his book, No Time To Lose: A Life In Pursuit of Deadly Viruses, sponsored by Education for Public Inquiry and International Citizenship.
Former United States Secretary of Energy Bill Richardson (A 70) delivered the keynote address at the eighth annual Tufts Energy Conference. Richardson discussed the importance of including science in congressional debates on climate change and asked students to make their voices on climate change heard by running for political office.
Acclaimed Asian-American photographer Corky Lee shared his photographs featuring Asian-American history prior to the opening of the exhibition, A Place Called Asian America.
Tufts Democrats hosted Massachusetts Senate hopeful Ed Markey for a discussion of candidacy in this years special election.
U.S. Ambassador to Spain and Andorra Alan Solomont came to the Hill to discuss his diplomatic efforts in a talk presented by the Jonathan M. Tisch College of Citizenship and Public Service.
Chief International Correspondent for CNN and Global Affairs Anchor at ABC News Christiane Amanpour was the speaker at the eighth annual Edward R. Murrow Forum on Issues in Journalism this past weekend to discuss how people receive their news and current international issues.
Construction and transportation
The Massachusetts Department of Transportation started construction on a project that would extend the Ts Green Line through Medford and Somerville.
Stop & Shop sponsored the creation of a new route for the Joey to Fellsway Plaza, providing students with an easy and affordable way to purchase groceries.
Tufts Dining Services plans to complete construction this summer on a kosher deli to be located in the Jumbo Express storage space near the Mayer Campus Center.
A Tufts-owned building located at 574 Boston Ave. will be converted into teaching and office space, causing the May 31 eviction of a community of artisans who have run businesses there for over two decades.
Activism
Four members of Tufts Divest for Our Future met with the Board of Trustees in January to present a proposal asking for the university to divest from fossil fuels. In March, members of Divest attended an information session for prospective students and asked questions about divestment to an Office of Undergraduate Admissions officer in order to send a message to the Tufts administration and inform prospective students. The event was filmed and leaked online, gaining over 13,000 views and receiving criticism from fellow students and off-campus observers who considered Divests approach inappropriate.
Thirty Tufts students joined over 35,000 protesters in Washington, D.C. at the Forward on Climate Rally against the installation of the Keystone XL Pipeline, which the students believe could be environmentally damaging if approved.
Going Greek
