Dear Editor, On Oct. 25, The Tufts Daily published my letter to the editor in which I asserted that an op-ed by the “Revolutionary Marxist Students,” submitted in response to the recent Hamas terrorist attacks in Israel, violated Tufts’ standards on free expression and constituted prohibited ...
More Jews were killed on Oct. 7, 2023, than on any day since the Holocaust. Innocent Israeli civilians were kidnapped, sexually assaulted and violently slaughtered by Hamas in a massacre some are calling Israel’s “9/11 moment.”
Dear Editor: I’d like to comment on the response of alum David Spalter LA’89 to the op-ed by the Revolutionary Marxist Students published last week in the Daily. His letter matches a national template, as pro-Israel forces in this country, stunned by the manifestations of local support for the Palestinian national cause, struggle to control the narrative. The gist is that students should not be allowed to voice support for the Palestinian people violently resisting occupation, or to refer to Israel as a colonial settler state, as such statements constitute “hate speech.”
Dear Editor, The Tufts Daily has recently published an op-ed titled “Looking toward Palestinian liberation and the death of imperialism,” authored by a group calling itself “Tufts Revolutionary Marxist Students.” Just a bunch of students exercising their right to the free expression of ...
An open letter to The Tufts Daily, the Tufts Board of Trustees, President Sunil Kumar and the Tufts community: We must first commend the statements of both Tufts Students for Justice in Palestine and the coalition of anonymous South Asian students and alumni in their willingness to stand in solidarity with the people of Palestine in the face of backlash from a unified coalition of universities — including our own — the media and government perpetrators of genocide. These students have rightfully indicted Israel’s war of eradication on Palestine as well as the campaign being waged both locally and around the world, to silence those who stand against it.
The Supreme Court of India recently rejected a petition to legalize same-sex marriage, setting back the goal of marriage equality in the country even further. In a country estimated to have at least 2.5 million LGBTQ+ people (as of government figures from 2012), the realization of same-sex couples entering into legally recognized marriages or gaining adoption rights remains at large.
I know this is overdue — but my hesitation is part of the story. As director of the Tufts program in Judaic Studies, I’ve been puzzling for some time over an appropriate response to the horrific events that have befallen those who live at the juncture of three continents at the edge of the Mediterranean Sea. That realm has long been a preoccupation of mine — both in my biblical studies courses and in my film studies courses, where (in the latter, at least) a central preoccupation is what I’ve called the Era of Catastrophe (1914–45), regarding especially the perils of human rights and the plight of stateless persons and peoples.
Freshly landed in Boston, I was sitting in an Uber heading for Tufts’ Medford/Somerville campus on move-in day in 2021. The COVID-19 pandemic was seemingly finally starting to recede after more than a year of being mostly stuck at home, and there I was halfway across the world on the cusp of starting my college education in the United States. Tufts had not been part of my initial shortlist, but I kept hearing increasingly good things about it. I felt it was starting to gain name recognition at my school and in my home country of Lebanon.
We are facing many challenges in Massachusetts. I continually hear from families and individuals around Somerville and Medford who are having trouble affording basic needs, worrying about health care and fearing their rights for themselves or their children.
A story last fall in the Daily reported on anonymous allegations about the admissions office and its leadership, including allegations of a “toxic” admissions workplace and questions of alleged bias and discrimination. The story also disclosed the existence of an investigation into the complaints. The story was deeply troubling to our community and to us as deans. And it was especially devastating to JT Duck, dean of admissions and enrollment management for the Schools of Arts and Sciences and Engineering, with whom we share a commitment to making Tufts a diverse and welcoming community for all — as evidenced by the admission under his leadership of the most diverse classes in the university’s history.
Dear Class of 2023 and the Tufts community,
Felipe Campano is a sophomore studying environmental studies. Felipe has been a dancer with the Tufts Burlesque Troupe for two semesters.
As the ballots open for Tufts Community Union Senate president, it is time to consider who will best support you and the Tufts community during the 2023–24 school year. One candidate in particular stands out: Arielle Galinsky, who has the experience, dedication and passion needed to be an excellent leader for Tufts.
On April 10, over 100 graduate workers filed into the Alumnae Lounge to meet with Tufts administrators and lawyers. As members of the SEIU 509 Tufts University Graduate Workers Union, it is our right to negotiate with Tufts Management over a new collective bargaining agreement — the contract that sets the terms of our working conditions. Our proposal is grounded in essential principles: We deserve fair compensation and deserve to be treated with respect and dignity. We need a just contract with wages, benefits and workplace protections that meet our basic needs.
Last week, Russian authorities unlawfully sentenced dissident Vladimir Kara-Murza to 25 years in prison. Kara-Murza has been incredibly brave in the name of freedom, and his arbitrary detainment should be widely condemned. The news of his arrest made it to the front page of the Financial Times and several other well-respected news sources. Considering this media spotlight on Kara-Murza, I think it’s time we bring attention to the millions of other political prisoners around the world.
In 2022, electric cars made up 7% of all new car sales in the United States. Furthermore, the average new electric vehicle costs nearly $59,000 in March 2023, about $11,000 more than the industry average, according to Kelley Blue Book. Yet, despite these low numbers, the Environmental Protection Agency wants to tell you and your family what type of car to buy — and it’s not one from the 93%. Just a few days ago, the EPA announced new regulations for a massive reduction in carbon dioxide emissions from cars and trucks sold after 2027, effectively mandating that over half of all new vehicles in 2032 be electric. The announcement has leading automakers putting pedal to the metal to shift their vehicle portfolios to electric. What does all of this show? Just how radical Biden’s environmental, social and governance agenda really is.
I applaud The Tufts Daily Editorial Board for calling on the university to establish a Center for the Study of Gun Violence in its April 6 editorial, “Tufts should step up to fill the gun violence research gap.” The board raises excellent questions detailing our lack of understanding about gun ownership and our culture, as well as mental health and access to firearms, and how we can collectively work toward gun safety that can’t fall prey to the trappings of politics — by looking at data.
In a recent interview for the New York Times, American poet Jane Hirshfield discusses the transformative power of poetry. “A poem … tries to see the wholeness of things from every angle and every side in order to see more clearly,” she says. In one sense, going back to the Ancient Greek origins of the word, “poiesis,” a poem attempts “to make” a new world for the reader as it offers a different view of reality.
Tim Buckley, the CEO of asset manager Vanguard, recently came out in support of his firm’s choice to not subscribe to environmental, social and governance investing. “Mr. Buckley … knows that Vanguard can’t promise to be a fiduciary to its clients while also committing to align its assets with the 2050 net-zero target,” said the Wall Street Journal’s Terrence Keeley. Buckley sees that investing clients’ capital in ESG funds is effectively betting on a future rooted in unproven technology and unpredictable government policy, both of which pose investment risks for the future. Recent action by the Tufts Community Union implies that this future, to them, is somehow knowable.
When I read the first column in the new misCONceptions series, I was irked by it. This column’s authors surely knew they’d take a lot of heat for expressing their opinions and I admire that greatly. As much as one might disagree, they have every right to continue publishing their work in the Daily. In fact, they should continue because they’re right; Tufts students aren’t exposed to people with substantially different politics very often, and that ought to change. Studies have shown that not only are we rarely exposed to views we disagree with, but that liberals and conservatives literally do not speak the same language. We can articulate the same problems, yet describe them and their causes in dramatically different ways.
