News

University

Dean Cunningham, Tisch College reflect on year of civic engagement, community involvement

By Madeline Wilson | May 20

The Jonathan M. Tisch College of Civic Life has worked this year to integrate civic engagement into higher education, private and public institutions and active community involvement. Under the leadership of Dayna Cunningham, who just concluded her first academic year as dean, Tisch College has been focusing its research and initiatives on building a multiracial democracy through civic education. The college houses several research institutes, hosts events and leads an array of community initiatives, all of which progressed in their work amid the turbulence of the past year.

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Local

Tenants union continues organizing against LaCourt Realty, doubles down on demands

By Claire Ferris | May 20

Editor’s note: Mouhab Rizkallah, owner of LaCourt Realty LLC, sued Alexander Janoff, the Daily’s editor in chief, and Emily Thompson, a deputy news editor, in March 2022 over the Daily’s coverage of the LaCourt Tenants Union. The case was later dismissed with prejudice. Janoff and Thompson were not involved in the reporting or writing of this article.

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University

Q&A: New chaplains reflect on accomplishments from their first year on the Hill

By Madeline Mueller | May 20

As the Class of 2025 finishes its first year on campus, three members of the University Chaplaincy staff are also able to look back at their first year at Tufts. Buddhist Chaplain Ji Hyang Padma and Humanist Chaplain Anthony Cruz Pantojas joined the chaplaincy in summer 2021, while Muslim Chaplain Najiba Akbar started in fall 2021. The three chaplains reflected on their first year in interviews with the Daily.

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University

TUPD makes policy reforms under new leadership

By Aaron Gruen | May 19

The Tufts University Police Department has made reforms related to arming and mental health under the new leadership of Yolanda Smith, the first Black woman to directly oversee TUPD. The reforms, which have been met with mixed reception, stem from suggestions made by the WorkingGroup on Campus Safety and Policing which was assembled as part of the Tufts as an Anti-Racist Institution initiative.

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University

Ed Markey, Gina McCarthy visit Tufts for climate conference

By Aaron Gruen | May 19

Massachusetts Sen. Ed Markey (H’19) and White House National Climate Advisor Gina McCarthy (AG’81) visited Tufts to discuss measures in combating climate change on April 29. 

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University

Indigenous Students’ Organization at Tufts, new Indigenous Center build community together

By Olivia Field | May 19

The Division of Student Diversity and Inclusion announced a new identity center for Indigenous students at Tufts last fall, following recommendations from a workstream report the university published in early 2021. More recently, the university hired Vernon Miller to direct the center.

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University

Tufts professor Erin Kelly wins Pulitzer Prize

By Emily Thompson | May 10

Professor of Philosophy Erin Kelly won a  Pulitzer Prize in the biography category for “Chasing Me to My Grave: An Artist’s Memoir of the Jim Crow South” (2022),which Kelly co-authored with Winfred Rembert, the biography’s subject. Rembert, who died in 2021, received the prize posthumously.

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University

Students, community members protest Raytheon career event at School of Engineering

By Chloe Courtney Bohl | May 6

Students and community members protested a Raytheon BBN career event hosted by the School of Engineering in Halligan Hall on May 2. The protest was the second demonstration against a defense contractor on Tufts’ campus in less than a week. 

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University

BREAKING: Tufts will require masking through May 31, testing through May 6

By Chloe Courtney Bohl | May 3

Tufts will continue to require indoor masking through May 31, according to a May 3 email from University Infection Control Health Director Michael Jordan. The university will also transition from required COVID-19 surveillance testing to voluntary testing on May 6.

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Local

Somerville School Committee approves evangelical private school

By Aaron Gruen | April 29

The Somerville School Committee voted on April 25 to approve Real Life Learning Center’s application to establish a K–8 private school. The vote came after a months-long standoff between Somerville’s subcommittee on Education Programs and Instruction and Vida Real Church, the founders of RLLC, who say they were unfairly targeted based on their religious beliefs.

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University

Jaden Pena wins TCU presidential election

By Emily Thompson | April 29

With 58% of the vote, Jaden Pena won the Tufts Community Union Senate presidential election on April 26–27. Both referendums on the ballot passed this year: one in favor of giving TCU the power to establish additional community senator seats, the other in favor of permitting the addition of two Indigenous community senator seats. 

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University

Tisch College recognizes 19 students with Presidential Award for Civic Life

By Evelyn Altschuler | April 29

The Jonathan M. Tisch College of Civic Life recognized the service and leadership of 19 undergraduate and graduate students with Presidential Awards for Civic Life at an April 22 ceremony in Breed Memorial Hall. Amber Asumda, Claudia Guetta, Emma Downs, Jay-Miguel Fonticella, Leanne Loo and Maycon Santos, all seniors, are this year’s undergraduate winners. Ricardo Moreno, Delia Burns, Lark Escobar,Avis Carrero, Logan Schwartz, Iris Montes, Joshua McLinden, Qimei Liu,Cora Evans, Charles Christopher Hines III, Anshelle Reen Tucker, Tara Ahmadi and Alex Coston are this year’s graduate winners. 

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University

University Chaplaincy seeks to fill Africana spirituality chaplain position

By Simran Patel | April 29

The University Chaplaincy is hiring for the role of Africana spirituality chaplain. Its goal is to find a staff member who can aid in creating a space for worship and fellowship that is welcoming to students, staff and faculty who identify as members of the African diaspora.

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University

Protesters shut down recruiting event for top defense contractor General Dynamics

By Chloe Courtney Bohl | April 27

A General Dynamics Mission Systems recruiting event in the Science and Engineering Complex was cut short on Monday evening when student and community protestors disrupted the event with chanting and civil disobedience.

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University

Tufts mourns UEP Professor Sheldon Krimsky

By Chloe Courtney Bohl | April 27

Sheldon Krimsky, the Lenore Stern professor of humanities and social sciences in the Department of Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning, passed away unexpectedly over the weekend. James Glaser, dean of the School of Arts and Sciences, informed the Tufts community of Krimsky’s passing in an April 25 email.

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University

Q&A: TCU Presidential candidates talk experience, Senate vision

By Tess Harmon | April 25

Elections for the 2022–23 Tufts Community Union president will take place from April 26 to 27. The three candidates are Max Morningstar, Jaden Pena and Enrique Rodriguez. All three are rising seniors. They spoke with the Daily about their experience, qualifications and campaign platforms.

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University

Tufts mourns unexpected loss of Danielle Abrams

By Zoe Kava | April 25

Danielle Abrams, professor of the practice in the performance department at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, has passed away unexpectedly, Interim Dean of the School of the Museum of Fine Arts Nate Harrison and Faculty Affairs Advisor to the Dean Eulogio Guzmán announced in an April 21 email to the Tufts community.

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University

Tufts SJP advocates for investigation into defacement of cannon

By Madeline Wilson | April 25

A message painted on the Tufts cannon by Tufts Students for Justice in Palestine was anonymously defaced on April 20. Tufts SJP painted the message — which read “Free Palestine” — for Israeli Apartheid Week, the club’s annual series of events raising awareness of “Israel’s apartheid system over the Palestinian people.” The cannon was found covered by blue spray paint on Thursday. The identity of the perpetrator remains unknown.

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University

This Week in COVID-19: Tufts reaches highest number of recorded cases in a day, students isolate in dorms

By Flora Meng | April 25

​​COVID-19 cases are on the decline following a surge on the Tufts' Medford/Somerville campus. The university reported 25 new cases on Friday, down from 79 new cases on April 12th, when Tufts set a record for the most positive cases reported in a single day. The previous record was set on Jan. 3 and April 8, when the university reported 68 cases in a day. 

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University

“We need places to sleep:" Rising sophomores frustrated by housing selection process

By Claire Ferris | April 22

After selecting housing for the 2022–23 school year on April 7, rising sophomores received an email from the Office of Residential Life and Learning on April 8 informing them of plans to redo the selection process for all doubles and triples groups on April 11.Students who wished to select housing in the general selection category, originally scheduled for April 8, were told by ORLL that their registration would be moved to April 12.

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