Editorial
Editorial: Our generation, left waiting for more death
By The Editorial Board | March 30Content warning: This article heavily discusses mass shootings, death, gore and violence.
Opinion | Editorial
Editorial
Editorial: To the spirit of Ukraine
By The Editorial Board | February 24When missiles began to pierce the night sky and rain down on Kyiv a year ago, we did not think we would be able to write this piece. Like many analysts, we suspected Russia’s war crimes would lead to the tragic death of Ukraine and its people. At the time, calls abounded for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to flee the country, fearing he would be killed by the Russian invaders.
Editorial
Editorial: Before you blame ‘the media,’ read the news
By The Editorial Board | February 23If you were an Instagram user in 2019, you likely remember an early iteration of online outrage: the Amazon rainforest wildfires. As fires tore through the Brazilian Amazon — partly due to regular farming practices and partly due to excessive deforestation — social media users were quick to direct outrage toward the news media.
Editorial
Editorial: On a free student press
By The Editorial Board | February 23With tomorrow marking 54 years since the Supreme Court’s ruling in Tinker v. Des Moines, a case fundamental in affirming the First Amendment rights of students, we write to stress the importance of a responsible free press and the important role of student newspapers in holding university leadership accountable and ensuring an informed readership.
Editorial
Editorial: Tufts’ newly purchased property should become on-campus pub
By The Editorial Board | February 16Tufts recently purchased 325–331 Boston Avenue, a property on the corner of Boston Avenue and Winthrop Street in Medford that formerly housed Hillside Hardware. We believe that the property should become an on-campus pub to cultivate a safer, more cohesive community.
Editorial
Editorial: Vote ‘yes’ on the TCU constitution referendum
By The Editorial Board | February 1On Wednesday, the Tufts Community Union Senate will bring a new TCU constitution to referendum by the student body. Voting will begin at noon and conclude the next day, Thursday, Feb. 2, at noon.
Editorial
Editorial: Tufts' actions fall short of its commitment to DEIJ
By The Editorial Board | November 17The same morning the Supreme Court heard arguments for the case that could end affirmative action in America, Tufts students received an email affirming the university’s commitment to inclusive, holistic admissions.
Editorial
Editorial: Tufts dropped in the U.S. News and World Report rankings. Who cares?
By The Editorial Board | September 20One of the biggest challenges in the transition to college is time management. Students find many different approaches to deal with this problem, but one tip we recommend is to avoid activities that waste your time — those that truly have no purpose and bring no joy. There are many examples that might sound familiar to Tufts students: arguing with strangers on Sidechat, refreshing Instagram for the millionth time in a day or waiting in long lines for the bathrooms on the main floor of Tisch (it’s almost always faster to use the ones downstairs). A reasonable addition to this list of activities that you are better off without would be worrying — or even thinking — about Tufts’ spot in college rankings.
Editorial
Editorial: It’s high time to end legacy admissions
By The Tufts Daily | May 22The time has come to end legacy admissions at Tufts. In November, the Tufts Community Union Senate passed a resolution calling on undergraduate admissions to remove questions on applications regarding whether applicants have a familial connection to the university, whether to current students, alumni or faculty. Last month, the faculty senate passed a similar resolution to end legacy consideration in the admissions process at all levels of the university. Additionally, this past year, The Fletcher School as well as Tufts University removed questions about legacy status from their applications. Graduate school applications for the School of Arts and Sciences and the School of Engineering also do not ask about legacy status. Given this support by students, faculty and administrators alike, Tufts should move to end legacy consideration in admissions at all levels of the university.
Editorial
Editorial: Tufts community deserves better communication from university administration
By The Tufts Daily | May 21Though COVID-19 restrictions may be easing, Tufts students and the Tufts community still face a number of challenging decisions. At the Daily, we strive to report honest and timely accounts of academics and campus life to keep the Tufts community safe and informed.
Editorial
Editorial: Commingled funds put Tufts at odds with social values
By The Tufts Daily | May 21Since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Tufts community has drawn attention to the fact that Russian securities make up a small but notable portion of the university’s endowment. In the wake of this scrutiny, university representatives have expressed an unwillingness to divest from the four commingled funds Tufts has invested in that include Russian securities because it is “too risky.” Tufts is currently invested in between 80 and 100 commingled funds, a type of pooled fund with assets from multiple accounts that are managed by a third party and not the university. Together, such funds make up the vast majority of the university’s investments.
Editorial
Editorial: Tufts admissions process favors wealthy applicants. That needs to change.
By The Tufts Daily | April 15Students have long expressed frustration over the university’s lack of budget transparency and its implications for admissions. The rate of Tufts’ students receiving financial aid has remained low and stagnant, hovering around 46% for the past five years, according to the university factbook. Tufts has long practiced “need-aware” admissions, meaning a students’ ability to pay is a factor when deciding whether or not they will be admitted. As such, the university should take steps to ensure Tufts is more accessible for lower-income students.
Editorial
Editorial: Tufts infrastructure fails to accommodate student enrollment
By The Tufts Daily | April 11For Tufts students, it’s clear the university is expanding — it’s also clear that Tufts cannot bear this expansion. From longer lines in the dining halls to difficulties registering for classes, and the ever-present chaos of housing strains, the university is already struggling to accommodate the needs of all its current students.
Editorial
Editorial: Students need coordinated sexual assault prevention measures
By The Tufts Daily | March 9At this point in the spring semester, Green Dot training for varsity athletes is approaching quickly, and a campus-wide revival of in-person social events makes it even more important now than during semesters spent in partial lockdown. Promoted at Tufts starting in 2016, Green Dot is an on-campus organization providing trainings and workshops that encourage bystander intervention in cases of social misconduct — sexual and otherwise.
Editorial
Editorial: Course policies unfairly expect in-person attendance
By The Tufts Daily | February 15As many classes return to an in-person format, Tufts students who remain isolated or in quarantine due to positive COVID-19 tests or contact tracing continue to face many difficulties compared to classmates who are able to attend every class session. In response, some professors remain aware of the challenges that a COVID-19-related absence may bring and have adjusted their syllabi accordingly. However,many have reenacted pre-pandemic course policies that place a cost on missing a lecture or attending virtually due to COVID-19 exposure.
Editorial
Editorial: Tufts must communicate with students about omicron on campus and abroad
By The Tufts Daily | December 29With omicron variant cases rising around the world — straining hospitals, canceling flights and altering colleges’ plans for returns to campus — Tufts students remain unsure as to what their spring semester will look like. After moving finals online following Dec. 17, Tufts has left students anxious as to what to expect this spring.
Editorial
Editorial: Installing a crosswalk by the Joyce Cummings Center is vital to student safety
By The Tufts Daily | December 13Already buzzing with conversation and collaboration, the Joyce Cummings Center opened to students two weeks ago today and has seen an influx of students, faculty and staff traveling to and from the new$90 million academic building. But with heavy Green Line Extension construction and no easy-access crosswalks in sight, students have been forced to navigate busy streets and illegally jaywalk over College Avenue in order to access the building.
Editorial
Editorial: A one-day reading period is unacceptable
By The Tufts Daily | December 6As the semester nears completion, the anxiety provoked by yet another semester of masking, COVID-19 cases and general uncertainty will grow exponentially. In 2019, we published an editorial that asked Tufts to extend the reading period beyond just three days. In hindsight, three days sounds luxurious; fall semesters at Tufts tend to only have a two-day reading period, and this semester is ending with a disconcerting one-day reading period.
Editorial
Editorial: Students deserve better support from Tufts in the housing process
By The Tufts Daily | November 19There’s a housing crisis at Tufts. This is, of course,nothing new; however, the COVID-19 pandemic has worsened this problem, forcing first-year students to live over a mile drive from campus, exacerbating unpredictabilities for sophomores preparing to lose guaranteed housing as juniors and creating uncertainties for those stuck with leases and planning to go abroad. There are three factors we discuss below that contribute to a pressing anxiety among the student body, all interconnected and centered around a basic human necessity: shelter.
Editorial
Editorial: Ending the Portuguese minor goes against Tufts' values
By The Tufts Daily | November 10The Tufts School of Arts and Sciences recently announced the decision toend the Portuguese minor, placing the ability to learn the Portuguese language at Tufts in jeopardy. Current students who have already begun the minor sequence will be able to finish, and the department will continue to offer Portuguese language classes through the 2022–23 academic year. However, with the elimination of the minor, the Portuguese program as students know it will soon cease to exist, depriving members of the Tufts community of meaningful opportunities to engage with the language.
