The Tufts Labor Coalition is currently running a petition to address the decreasing quality of the dining centers’ baked goods and to earn fairer hours for Tufts baker Melissa Lee over winter recess.
Tufts has announced a plan to begin construction on a new residence hall on Boston Avenue next year, with hopes of completing it by fall 2025. The new seven story building will be open to juniors and seniors only and will house 398 Tufts students in apartment-style units.
The University Chaplaincy hosted the event “Pax et Lux: A Multifaith Winter Celebration” on Dec. 8 at 7 p.m. in Goddard Chapel. For the event, Interfaith Ambassadors, student volunteers who work with the chaplaincy, gathered to present holiday rituals and traditions to create a multicultural atmosphere in celebration of peace and light. According to the chaplaincy’s website, the event was meant for chaplains and students from different cultures and faiths to perform dances and songs, and to tell their personal stories about their traditions during the holiday season. Nora Bond, program manager for the University Chaplaincy, wrote in an email that the event was open to anyone of any faith, including community members from Medford and Somerville. The event was also advertised by the Office of Community Relations. “For the event, we collected stories from the Tufts community about how peace and light manifest in their lives in their religious or faith traditions,” Bond wrote. “Tufts students, faculty and other community members will share stories reflecting their traditions.” Stories from Islam, Buddhism, Judaism, Hinduism and Christianity were included in the event as well as those from other faiths and practices, Bond explained. Bond also wrote that “religions and faiths are represented to different degrees on Tufts campus, with some religions being more dominant than others.” As a result, Bond noted that the chaplaincy made particular and purposeful decisions regarding the event’s details. “We deliberated on every minute detail, from the choice of flier color to the substance of each performance, to make sure that our event could be the best representation of peace, light, and multi-faith inclusivity,” she wrote. The planners and coordinators for the event spent weeks debating and revisiting each choice, and they sought assistance from community members to ensure an inclusive celebration, according to Bond. “We also reached out to many religious and philosophical student groups on campus, particularly centering those that have not had as many opportunities to share their faith practices at Tufts,” she wrote. Sam Gully, a sophomore who serves as a worship coordinator for Tufts’ Protestant Chaplaincy, told a story from their childhood where they first learned about the duality between peace and war. “It’s the little moments in our childhood that shaped the big decisions we make as adults,” Gully said. “Taking action is an integral part of my duty as a Christian. … That doesn't mean that we’re supposed to spend our lives quietly waiting and hoping that we’re worthy enough to experience God’s purpose even when we die. It means that we should work to bring it out here. In this messy, imperfect, beautiful world.” Other speakers and performers came from groups surrounding Hindu and Buddhist religious cultures and traditions. Members from the Buddhist Mindfulness Sangha spoke about experiences of interconnection with oneself and others as part of Buddhist enlightenment. “I think about my relationship with the Sangha, which is also a word for community, there have been so many of these moments of interconnection,” senior Eli Intriligator said. Senior Zoe Salvato-Cutter added that part of their Buddhist practice incorporates “sending loving kindness to ourselves, to our community and ultimately to everyone in the entire world.” On behalf of Tufts Hillel, sophomore Julia Appel discussed the beginnings of Hanukkah. “The story … is about light,” she said. “[Hanukkah] is about warmth in the cold, and a miracle that illuminates darkness.” Bond noted that religious traditions create a platform for cultural practices, social movements, personal philosophies and even the architecture of Tufts campus. “Attending these events is integral to one’s learning at a higher education institution like Tufts,” she wrote. “Participating in multi faith events allows people to meet across and within religious delineations and form deeper community connections. We’re not aiming to show how everyone is the same, or that we’re all fundamentally different.”
A group of Tufts faculty members and outside researchers were recently awarded a grant from the National Science Foundation to pursue their project entitled “Multi-Domain, Multi-Scale, Policy-Aware Digital Twin for Offshore Wind Energy Infrastructure.” Work on this project is expected to officially begin in January 2023.
Desen Özkan and Chelsea Andrews of Tufts’ Center for Engineering Education and Outreach hosted a discussion on Dec. 2 presenting findings from their ongoing research project “Improving Students’ Sociotechnical Literacy in Engineering.” Özkan is a postdoctoral researcher at the CEEO and the Institute for Research on Learning and Instruction, and Andrews is a research assistant professor.
The Tufts Republicans issued a statement on Nov. 23 accusing TCU Senate of spreading hateful and divisive rhetoric in their post about the National Day of Mourning and the history of the Thanksgiving holiday.
The TCU Senate approved on Dec. 4 a resolution to add more American Sign Language courses to the Tufts curriculum, which would allow students to minor in the language. During the meeting, the Senate also read the text of two new resolutions and approved 14 supplementary budget requests.
The Fletcher School hosted the “Rising Power Coalitions: Reimagining Global Governance”conference on Dec. 1 and 2, a series of discussions that covered themes such as changing power dynamics, foreign policy and new challenges in international affairs.
Tufts Medical Center will relaunch its liver transplant program in 2023 through its newly established Abdominal Transplant Institute. The institute, which will be led by clinical co-directors Dr. Fred Gordon and Dr. Martin Hertl, aims to build an effective and patient-focused liver transplant program.
Karen Panetta, the Tufts School of Engineering dean of graduate education, was awarded the 2022 Distinguished Service Award from the honor society of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, IEEE Eta Kappa Nu (IEEE-HKN). IEEE-HKN’s Distinguished Service Award is given annually to a member who has made major contributions for the development of the society and its activities, resulting in a significant benefit to all its members.
The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection recently added textiles and mattresses to the list of materials banned from waste disposal and further lowered the threshold on banned commercial food waste to include facilities generating more than half a ton per week. Tufts will need to expand its preexisting textile and food waste collection programs in order to adhere to the bans as well as revise its mattress disposal procedures.
Local drag artists Briar Blush, Rusty Hammer, Arabella LaDessé and Hal Apenyo joined the Tufts community in Curtis Hall on Nov. 29 for “Gender as a Show!,” an afternoon of drag performances followed by a panel on the role of gender in drag. The event was sponsored by the Tufts Department of Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies with support from the LGBT Center. WGSS instructor Matisse DuPont moderated the panel in the role of Monstera Délicieux and also offered an introductory performance to start the show.
Monroe France will become the inaugural vice provost of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Justice, as announced in an email to the Tufts community on Dec. 1. France will also receive an appointment as a professor of practice at the Jonathan M. Tisch College of Civic Life and will start both roles on April 3, 2023.
The Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts received a $6.6 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to research community-based nutrition programs in the Mississippi Delta area. The project seeks to bolster local produce consumption and production.
The Tufts chapter of Young Democratic Socialists of America has created a petition calling on the university to provide free use of laundry machines in all residential halls. They join groups like the Tufts Community Union Senate in considering how laundry costs act as a barrier to equity, though their proposed solutions differ.
A new TCU Senate initiative is bringing free tampons and pads to bathrooms across campus.
Tufts administration, faculty, staff and other community members convened on Nov. 16 at 51 Winthrop St. for the annual Distinction Awards ceremony, a celebration of outstanding members of the Tufts staff. Nominations for the award are decided by the President’s Office and the Human Resources Department at Tufts.
Tufts announced on Nov. 17 that Sunil Kumar will be the 14th president of Tufts. Kumar will succeed current University President Anthony Monaco, who has held the office for 12 years, beginning in July 2023. Kumar was welcomed to Tufts’ campuses on Thursday and Friday to celebrate the announcement and meet members of the community.
A delegation of Tufts students and faculty attended the 2022 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, from Nov. 6 to Nov. 20. The 27th Conference of the Parties, or COP27, is an annual opportunity for world leaders, activists and professionals across the climate field to share their work with an international audience and negotiate on foreign policies that mitigate the impacts of global warming.
The Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement at Tufts University published early data on youth voter turnout and its impact on the 2022 midterm elections. During this year’s election, CIRCLE focused on how 18- to 29-year-old Americans voted, what impacted their decisions and what the newfound statistics mean for future youth representation.
