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University

Will Tufts follow in other universities’ footsteps with an AI major?

By Maggie Monahan | May 15

In February, the University of Pennsylvania announced it will begin offering an artificial intelligence major, open for enrollment in fall 2024. The major will be offered through Penn’s School of Engineering. Several other universities have announced AI-specific degree programs in recent years; MIT began offering one in fall 2022 and Carnegie Mellon has had one since fall 2018. Although Tufts computer science students have the option of focusing their studies on AI, Tufts currently does not offer an AI-specific degree program, but that could change in the future, according to Kyongbum Lee, dean of the School of Engineering. When developing new AI-based courses, he hopes to focus on ethics in computing and “how to make AI curriculum more accessible” to all students, rather than just those pursuing math-based degrees.

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University

Fletcher’s Fares Center hosts conference on US-Middle Eastern relations

By Samara Haynes | May 15

The Fares Center for Eastern Mediterranean Studies at The Fletcher School held its International Conference on April 18 and 19, featuring guest speakers from universities across the globe, from Harvard University and Boston College to Cairo University and Radboud University.

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University

BREAKING: Bárbara Brizuela to serve as interim dean of School of Arts and Sciences

By Matthew Sage | May 7

Bárbara Brizuela, the current dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, will serve as the undergraduate school’s interim dean, as announced by the Office of the Provost on May 7. Brizuela, a professor in Tufts’ Department of Education for 23 years, will continue to serve in her current role while overseeing operations at Tufts’ largest undergraduate school.

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University

BREAKING: ‘Gaza Solidarity Encampment’ ends without deal with university

By Matthew Sage | May 3

Protesters began dismantling the “Gaza Solidarity Encampment” on the Academic Quad Friday night. The encampment, starting on April 7, had stood on the Academic Quad for nearly a month.

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University

‘Gaza Solidarity Encampment’ enters third day under trespass warning

By Matthew Sage | May 3

The “Gaza Solidarity Encampment” has grown, despite the university’s warning on Tuesday that protesters will be considered trespassing if they do not leave the Academic Quad. Now, almost 50 tents and a makeshift barrier built from tables, chairs and other items surround the encampment’s “Apartheid Wall.” Student protesters, who erected the encampment on April 21, have previously vowed to remain on the quad and continuously demanded the university heed calls for Israeli divestment.

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University

LIVE UPDATES: University president meets with students, negotiation results unknown

By Tufts Daily News Staff | April 30

The university has confirmed that a meeting between protesters and University President Sunil Kumar occurred today. 

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University

In university-wide email, Tufts leadership demands that protesters take down ‘Gaza Solidarity Encampment’

By Estelle Anderson | April 29

In an email sent to Tufts community members on Sunday evening, university President Sunil Kumar and four other university leaders addressed the “Gaza Solidarity Encampment” for the first time since student protesters erected it on April 7, requesting that the tents be taken down to allow the university to prepare for Commencement. Shortly after, Tufts Students for Justice for Palestine reaffirmed in an Instagram post that they will not leave the Academic Quad until the university divests from Israel, ends the sale of Sabra and other Israeli products at Tufts dining locations, “acknowledge[s] the genocide in Gaza” and “apologize[s] for previous statements.”

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Local

Medford and Somerville collaborate on new Area Plan for Broadway Corridor

By Nicholas Prather | April 29

Medford and Somerville have partnered to create a new Area Plan for the Broadway Corridor, a one-mile stretch of street along the border between Medford and Somerville. Created with the help of community feedback and support from the Horsley Witten Group, the plan will address zoning challenges that have made it a challenge to develop the corridor.

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University

BREAKING: Joel Omolade to sit as next TCU president

By Matthew Sage | April 27

Joel Omolade will serve as the next president of the student body and the Tufts Community Union Senate for the 2024–25 academic year, as announced by the Tufts Elections Commission on its website earlier today. Total election turnout was 30.36% of the student body, and over half of those students voted for Omolade — putting him ahead of the next candidate by 429 votes.

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Local

Tufts students, local community rally at ‘Gaza Solidarity Encampment’

By Estelle Anderson and Matthew Sage | April 26

In the largest protest Tufts has seen this semester, over 300 students, faculty, nearby residents and Somerville High School students rallied on Friday in solidarity with Gaza. The demonstration, stretching from the Academic Quad to the front steps of the Mayer Campus Center, follows a wave of heightened student activism across the country.

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University

‘Site of solidarity’: Students set up encampment for Palestine on Academic Quad

By Estelle Anderson and Julieta Grané | April 25

Amid a national wave of encampments for Palestine on college campuses, Tufts students have set up tents on the Academic Quad to demand that Tufts divest from Israel and that charges against student protesters across the country be dropped.

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Local

H Mart to open in Davis Square

By Dhruvii Mehta and Carly Cohen | April 25

A new branch of the beloved Asian supermarket, H Mart, is expected to open in Davis Square, according to employees of company locations in both Burlington and Cambridge. Over the phone, one worker told the Daily that although the opening has been continuously delayed, she believes its doors will open this summer.

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University

TCU Senate budgets over $2.9 million to campus organizations

By Anna Fattaey | April 25

The Tufts Community Union Senate finalized next school year’s student organization budget of over $2.9 million, approving it at its most recent meeting on Sunday. The 2024–25 academic year’s budget will rise 3.7% over this year’s budget of $2,843,373.

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University

Here’s what happened at last night’s TCU presidential debate

By Chloe Courtney Bohl | April 24

At a Wednesday night debate in the Joyce Cummings Center, Krystal Mutebi, Joel Omolade and Mikayla Paquette each presented their vision for the Tufts Community Union presidency. All three are juniors and current TCU senators.

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University

Meet the three TCU Senate presidential candidates

By Julieta Grané and Josué Pérez | April 23

Three senators are vying to be the 2024–25 president of the Tufts Community Union Senate: Krystal Mutebi, Joel Omolade and Mikayla Paquette. Ballots will remain open from Thursday to Saturday. In interviews with the Daily, each candidate highlighted the need for the Senate to serve as the voice for underrepresented groups on campus.

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News

Tufts receives $30,000 grant from Interfaith America to promote religious pluralism

By Tvisha Goel | April 23

Tufts recently received the Advancing Religious Pluralism grant from Interfaith America, a nonprofit organization that promotes religious diversity across leaders and institutions nationwide. Tufts will use the $30,000 grant to create more opportunities for interfaith dialogue and civic learning among undergraduate students.  

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University

BREAKING: TCU Judiciary overturns ECOM decision, reinstates presidential candidate

By Marlee Stout, Rachel Liu and Arielle Weinstein | April 22

Joel Omolade will be allowed to appear on the TCU presidential ballot after the TCU Judiciary overturned the Election Commission’s decision on Thursday to disqualify him, the Judiciary announced in an op-ed Monday afternoon. After two hearings on Sunday, the Judiciary voted unanimously to reinstate his candidacy, having found that ECOM failed to uphold due process in its investigation of campaign rule violations.

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University

TCU Senate presidential candidate to appeal disqualification

By Matthew Sage | April 22

Editor’s note: The TCU Judiciary reinstated the disqualified candidate on Monday, allowing the election to take place as initially planned. Ballots will be open from noon on Thursday to noon on Saturday. The fate of the Tufts Community Union Senate presidential election — currently set to be held on Wednesday — is up in the air, following the TCU Elections Commission’s decision to disqualify a candidate on Thursday for campaign misconduct. In an email to the Daily, ECOM wrote that a decision on the election’s timeline will be made public by 12 p.m. Monday.

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Local

Medford receives $300,000 grant to fund decarbonization efforts

By Josué Pérez | April 22

The City of Medford has received a grant from the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center’s EmPower Massachusetts program to help low-income residents reduce their carbon emissions. Medford received $300,000, the maximum amount they could apply for, from MassCEC.

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Local

Somerville pilot program to provide families with guaranteed basic income

By Grayton Goldsmith | April 19

In March, Mayor Katjana Ballantyne announced that Somerville will begin a one-year guaranteed basic income pilot program this July. Approximately 200 households will receive monthly payments of $750 to use for self-identified expenses with the ultimate goal of increasing financial and housing stability. Much of this program’s funding comes from the American Rescue Plan Act, established in 2021.

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