From the Jackson Jills to Cheap Sox to Hillel, it is estimated that there are 130 student organizations registered on the Tufts campus, each representing a unique interest or activity. A host of new groups join the roster each year to fill an emerging niche in campus life. Some find immediate success, while others struggle to maintain interest. Two of Tufts' newest and most controversial groups, Paragon and The Friends of Spartacus Youth Club, are facing very different prospects.
Created last fall by then-junior Jan Bayer and Tufts alum Claudia Asch, The Friends of Spartacus Youth Club promotes "the free speech of Marxism on campus." The club was initially met with resistance due to its controversial affiliation with a nationwide Marxist organization.
"We had a hard time," Bayer said. "A lot of people don't like us on this campus, that's for sure, but I was expecting that quite honestly." He named the Primary Source as one of the campus groups that is "hostile to Marxism."
The Friends of the Spartacus Youth Club has thus far failed to obtain the required fifteen signatures to be re-classified as a student organization this fall, and the group's future hangs in the balance. Meanwhile, another of Tufts' newborn student groups, Paragon, is facing a brighter future.
Paragon, founded last spring, has overcome initial concerns that it would be unable to distinguish itself functionally from the Tufts Community Union (TCU) Senate, and is now working alongside senators in an attempt to make substantial improvements in student life at Tufts.
"The old senate regime has left, and the new Senate, I believe, is much more open," said Paragon co-founder Randy Wells. "Paragon is set up as a vehicle for anyone who wants to propose or get involved in a project that would create positive changes at Tufts."
"Paragon is different from the student Senate because it is non-hierarchical... There are no elections and no limit to the number of people who can join. Anyone can come to us with a project."
The club currently has 25 members who meet every other week to discuss projects under way and propose new ones. Most issues currently addressed are about campus safety, though the organization is willing to undertake projects of any nature.
While the potential of influencing student-life policy has no trouble attracting interest, campus Marxists and Socialists face a very different reality.
"I realize Marxism is not very popular," Bayer said. "We don't expect a hundred people to be interested. However, it is important that this worldview, or any for that matter, gets a hearing."
Bayer dismissed allegations that the group's ties to a national foundation of the same name undermine its independence on campus, citing the Tufts Democrats and Tufts Republicans as examples of student groups that also mirror the opinions of their national counterparts.
Last year, the club counted five active members, but may now have dropped to four. The group held "speak outs," or spontaneous debates on current issues whenever major Marxism-related events occurred. Monthly classes were also organized to discuss topics such as Marxist politics regarding China and the relevance of Marxism in today's world.
"Everybody is too stressed out right now," says Bayer. "If we have time, we will definitely do it, and we will definitely pursue this, but at the moment we're not going to do anything... maybe next semester."
While nothing like Paragon has ever been attempted before, it seems that the group's improved relations with the Senate may significantly increase its longevity.
Projects at the top of Paragon's agenda include putting an end to vandalism in the men's bathroom of Tisch library, pushing for the completion of e-mail stations in Tisch, and improving the lighting of several areas of campus which can prove dangerous at night, such as Professors' Row, the crossing between Winthrop Street, and the parking lot behind Carmichael.
