Yesterday afternoon, in a long-awaited ceremony in the Meyer Campus Center, Tufts unveiled a 96 square foot banner created by campus organizations in response to the Sept. 11 tragedies.
The banner, entitled "Patches for Peace," was organized by Tufts Hillel to serve as a reminder to students that despite diverse interests and backgrounds, we are united as one community.
Seniors Brooke Menschel, the Hillel president, and Rachel Kaplan, vice president of Hillel outreach and the coordinator of the Patches for Peace program, devoted an extensive amount of time over the past two months to the project. But the rewards are obvious - their initiative has received nothing but praise from its conception to its completion.
"This project began as a tribute to the victims of the horrible terrorist attacks in this country, but it has developed into a true show of the spirit of the Tufts students and faculty," Menschel said. The patches symbolize unity within the Tufts community - a common thread unites each patch, as one learning community unites the different individuals and groups at Tufts.
After the event last night, Kaplan said that all her work paid off. "I've been incredibly overwhelmed with all of the support and enthusiasm for this project," she said. "Making a 96 square foot banner in less than two months should probably never be done - but we did it, and we did it well."
I hope that the banner will lead towards future collaborations with student groups rather than a finished project," Kaplan added.
The patches represent the sundry organizations at Tufts, with hundreds of individuals and 88 student groups collaborating on the project. From the No Homers Club and the Monty Python Society to the RAs of Miller Hall, the participants ran the gamut of student interest. Other contributors included choral groups, fraternities and sororities, athletic teams, and various cultural and ethnic organizations. Many of the student organizations that contributed to the banner avoided labeling their patches with their names and slogans, not wanting the commemorative banner to look like an advertisement.
Patches were due Oct. 5 to leave time for the Crafts House to sew them together. Junior Francis Harper, a Crafts House resident, proudly surveyed the banner yesterday afternoon as others admired her handiwork. "There were times when I was worried that the patches wouldn't line up neatly, that it would come out messy because some of the clubs forgot to leave the border that we required to sew the patches to each other," she said. "But in the end, we managed and it looks great," she added.
Working alongside juniors Brian Powers and Sarah Ferguson, Harper spent 15 hours sewing the enormous banner.
Father David O'Leary, who addressed the crowed at the campus center, said the banner defines Tufts as "one family and one community." Rabbi Jeffrey Summit agreed, saying the project is special because it brought together people in discussions that will promote harmony within the community.
"We have been reminded of the reality that nothing is expendable," said Reverend Steven Bonsey, speaking at the ceremony. "The lives lost on Sept. 11 are remembered and we are reminded that life has an infinite value that must be appreciated."
An energetic speech by Massachusetts gubernatorial candidate Steven Grossman, former chairman of the Democratic National Committee and chairman of the Massachusetts Democratic Party, followed the unveiling of the banner in Cabot Auditorium. Grossman's spoke about community values following Sept. 11, and urged students to do what the Patches for Peace banner stands for and "find common ground" between themselves and others with differing opinions and beliefs.
Unfortunately, Grossman said, many Americans are ignorant of Islam and Islamic culture. Grossman stressed that it is imperative that Americans learn about the faith, values, and ideals of all Muslims - not just fundamentalist groups such as the Taliban - to foster dialogues with different peoples.
Students must avoid judging others, Grossman said, and embrace the values of a multicultural society. "This project wipes away the allegations of cynicism, complacency, and apathy among university students, and it is a magnificent work of art expressing the values of this community," Grossman said, adding that Tufts students must take the banner collaboration opportunity to begin a process of educating fellow students and others in communities both at home and in Medford and Somerville.
When Grossman solicited questions from members of the audience, one student asked about his views on President Bush's response to the terrorist attacks. Grossman replied that in this time of national tragedy, it is important to put partisanship aside and rally around our government.
But Grossman expressed concern with the tax rebate plan that Bush is promoting in Congress, saying the president's "domestic priorities are incorrect" because the country's poor are not getting the assistance they need.
Grossman, the former president of the American-Israel Public Affairs Committee, also cited what he called a double standard in Bush policy that criticizes Israel for fighting terrorists while sending troops into Afghanistan in response to a terrorist attack in the USA.
Initially, Hillel's Patches for Peace committee considered working exclusively with Tufts' Muslim student groups, but later decided that involving all interested student organizations would make the banner more symbolic of the entire student body. Menschel says the group made the right decision.
In her speech at the uncovering of the banner, Menschel expressed appreciation for the participation of all of the students making up the Tufts community. "You poured so much of yourself into each patch, and each brushstroke has made a difference," Menschel said.
