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The Tufts Daily
Where you read it first | Wednesday, April 24, 2024

Editorial: Welcome Home and Welcome Back

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Class of 2023: Welcome home. Welcome to Tufts University, to a community where — not to sound like an admissions brochure — you can truly be yourself. We’re doers and fighters, artists and entrepreneurs, athletes and poets, activists and scientists and much more. It’s into this community which you’re about to plunge for the next four years, so take the time over the next several weeks, months and semesters to discover who you are or become someone new.

In these first dizzying weeks, there are things you’ll hear over and over. We put them in print at the Tufts Daily because we mean them. 

When we say we’re excited to see what you do here at Tufts, what you bring to life and what you change: We mean it. When we say we’re lucky to have you here, we’re thrilled to get to know you and we’re glad you’re with us as we work to better our community: We mean it. When we say you can turn to us (personally) for advice or ask for help: We mean it. When we say that we’re a close community and we're happy you chose to come to Tufts: We mean it. 

We mean it, too, when we say that we're excited to read what you have to write in the pages of the Tufts Daily.

Make Tufts as bright as it can be, and have fun while you’re at it. Read, write, do, create, build, perform, laugh and enjoy your first year. Welcome home, Class of 2023.

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Sophomores, juniors and seniors: Welcome back. It’s been a long summer, with plenty of time away from class, clubs and campus chaos. As we welcome the newest members of our Tufts family and leap forward into a bright new year, we’d also like to look back. Time away from this hilltop home does not mean we’ve forgotten the Tufts community's most pressing issues. It is imperative that we continue past conversations, start new ones and remain attentive to what is happening, both on campus and in the world.

Last year, students fought to raise the minimum wage on campus and stood with dining workers as they sought fair working conditions through unionization. Last year, our community was rocked by serious allegations surrounding its involvement with the Sackler family and Purdue Pharma, and it was subjected to acts of anti-Semitic and racist intimidation and harassment on campus. Last year, student groups advocated for justice and change, our editorial board pushed for solutions to critical campus problems and fights were won and lost.

Even as new issues arise this fall, we must not let summer distance us from the progress and action we took last year. This work must go on. We will fight for the identities of students on this campus and support members of the Group of Six amidst a time of change. We will keep in mind the citizens of Somerville and Medford and be aware of how our university is impacting and changing their lives. We will continue to advocate for solutions to continuing problems with student housing, work towards increasing the power of student voices in community decision-making and hold our university accountable. 

Another school year is in front of us, and while we don’t know all of what is to come, we’ll continue fighting for the values dear to this campus and community. Welcome back to the hill.