Cher Xiong, a sophomore in the School of Arts and Sciences, passed away unexpectedly on Sunday evening, according to an email from university administrators. The email highlighted Xiong’s kind, outgoing nature and the impact their passing will have on the community.
Editor’s note: Aaron Klein is the Executive Audio Producer at The Tufts Daily and also one of the two co-chairs of J Street U Tufts. Klein was not involved in the reporting, writing or editing of this article. Skyler Goldberg is the chair of The Tufts Daily’s Education Committee and also the president of Tufts Friends of Israel. Goldberg was not involved in the reporting, writing or editing of this article.
The Fletcher School at Tufts University announced it will break off its academic relationship with the Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO),an elite research university under the umbrella of the Russian Federation Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in the wake of Russia’s war against Ukraine. Fletcher also cut ties with the National Research University Higher School of Economics (HSE), another Russian institution, earlier this month.
In an email sent to the Tufts community on Wednesday, administration officials announced Tufts’ plans to “gradually lift” the COVID-19 restrictions that have been imposed since the pandemic’s onset forced the university’s campuses to remote learning in March 2020.
After nearly 20 years of serving the Jonathan M. Tisch College of Civic Life as director of community partnerships, Shirley Mark has assumed the newly-created role of assistant dean for diversity and inclusion. Mark will oversee Tisch College’s work in the areas of diversity, equity, inclusion and justice in addition to continuing her responsibilities as director of community partnerships.
The Medford Public School District was recently awarded a competitive Hate Crime Prevention Grant by the State of Massachusetts. Medford Public Schools plans to use the $50,000 award, the maximum amount of funding available under the grant, to integrate restorative justice practices into the classroom.
Largest microbe ever discovered could explain the link between prokaryotes and eukaryotes
The Emerson Collective announced the selection of Tufts Professor of Political Science Eitan Hersh as its newest fellow on Jan. 25 . The Emerson Collective is a for-profit organization that seeks to create social change through philanthropy, advocacy and investment. They partner with entrepreneurs, experts, policymakers, advocates and creatives to promote equality and justice.
Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson was nominated to the Supreme Court by President Joe Biden on Feb. 25. If confirmed by the Senate, Jackson will fill the seat currently held by Associate Justice Stephen Breyeronce he retires at the end of the current judicial term.
The Tufts Community Union Senate heard a presentation from the Election Commission and voted on a proposal calling for the compensation of community senators in a meeting on Sunday night in the Sophia Gordon Multipurpose Room.
Tufts’ Working Group on TUPD Arming anticipates releasing new recommendations regarding TUPD’s arming status this semester, Executive Vice President Mike Howard confirmed in an email to the Daily.
Tufts Climate Action staged a protest outside of Ballou Hall on Friday, calling for the university’s complete divestment from fossil fuel holdings. The protest complements the work TCA has been doing since its founding in 2012.
While Massachusetts recently lifted its mask mandate for K-12 schools and both Medford and Somerville have removed their indoor masking requirements, Tufts continues to enforce a mask mandate.
Tufts administration and faculty are reviewing policies for faculty compensation and promotion, with a focus on hiring and retaining talented faculty members. Mike Howard, the executive vice president of Tufts, and Kim Ryan, vice president for human resources, delivered a presentation on the topic to theUniversity Faculty Senate at its February meeting.
Somerville Mayor Katjana Ballantyne recently launched an initiative to diversify city boards and commissions in the Somerville city government. In an effort to make them more inclusive, the city will reevaluate the selection and application process for positions on boards and commissions.
Tufts will continue its mask mandate despite the state of Massachusetts dropping its mandate for K-12 schools and Medford and Somerville eschewing their mandates entirely.
Tufts is hosting its third annual Global Tufts Month, a month-long series of activities and events across the university’s schools and centers this March. This year’s theme is “A Call to Action: Global Perspectives on Climate Change.”
The Jonathan M. Tisch College of Civic Life hosted another installment of its Solomont Speaker Series, titled “Revolutionary Nonviolence: Organizing for Freedom,” on March 7. The event featured Rev. James Lawson and Kent Wong, who spoke to the Tufts community about the philosophy of nonviolence and discussed their new novel, “Revolutionary Nonviolence: Organizing for Freedom.”
Samuel Gebru, managing director of Black Lion Strategies, was recently named a nonresident senior fellow at the Center for State Policy Analysis within the Jonathan M. Tisch College of Civic Life. As cSPA’s first nonresident senior fellow, Gebru will help state lawmakers who do not have the tools to conduct state-level policy analysis on their own.
A group of at least a dozen protesters staged a sit-in protest at Aeronaut Brewing Company, a brewery in Somerville, on Feb. 20. The unmasked protesters refused to show proof of COVID-19 vaccination, violating the business’s COVID-19 policies.
