TuftScope, a student journal that discusses healthcare issues and bioethics, will retain its title after a battle with University officials over its use of the Tufts name. Administrators had argued the magazine could be confused with an official University publication because it does not sufficiently inform readers it is a student publication. Future covers of TuftScope will feature a disclaimer that the magazine is a student organization that does not represent the official viewpoints of the University. Steve Manos, Tufts' executive vice president, talked with Dean of Students Bruce Reitman last week to confirm Tufts' acceptance of the continuation of the TuftScope name.
The first issue of TuftScope, published last May, was dubbed "The Tufts University Journal of Health, Ethics, and Politics." According to administrators, including Manos, the phrase "Tufts University" made the magazine seem like an official University journal as opposed to a student publication.
The magazine changed its subtitle to "The Interdisciplinary Journal of Health, Ethics, and Politics" at the end of last semester at the request of then-Associate Provost June Aprille.
As a Tufts Community Union (TCU)-funded organization, TuftScope is permitted to use Tufts' name in its group title. But after Aprille left her post, administrators said that TuftScope was in violation of the institution's policies governing the use of the Tufts name and insignia.
Regulations published by the Office for Technology and Industry Collaboration on Sept. 1 state that "the name of Tufts University may not be used in the title of any journal or other publication without the expressed permission of the University. Such permission will not normally be given in any circumstance where the University does not retain exclusive editorial control over the publication."
Administrators are looking into the possibility of adding further policies regarding use of the Tufts name that would require student publications to clearly define their affiliation with the University. "It would not surprise me to see the need for all student publications to have to define their status at the university in some prominent way in the future," Reitman said.
TuftsScope Editor-in-Chief Brad Crotty, meanwhile, says his publication's title is not in violation of existing policy. "I understand why they want to do that. You can't have a lot of Tufts University journals," he said. "Having TuftScope in the name doesn't constitute [a violation]."
While Manos singled out TuftScope because the magazine's cover did not mention it was part of a student organization, similar publications were not targeted. For example, the student-run publication Hemispheres is subtitled "The Tufts University Journal of International Relations."
TuftsLife.com, a TCU organization, uses Tufts' name and insignia and links to various University webpages, but the site does not prominently designate itself as a student-run organization on its main page.
The Primary Source calls itself "The Journal of Conservative Thought at
Tufts." Source Editor-in-Chief Sam Dangremond says his magazine has been allowed to keep that label because inside each issue it identifies itself as a student publication. "We do watch over the use of the name very carefully to protect its integrity, among other things," he said.
According to Crotty, administrators did not target Hemispheres because it is supported by faculty. "They have an IR program that sort of backs them," he said. "We have a faculty program that has not chosen to be supportive but has chosen to make sure that they distance themselves."
In fact, Crotty said it was biology professors who complained to Manos about TuftScope's use of the University name.
Although Crotty has reached a consensus with the administration about the use of Tufts' name, he says the rules about the issue are not clear and has brought his concerns before the Senate. "Brad came to open forum and everybody in the Senate thought the rules were absolutely ridiculous," Senate President Eric Greenberg said.
Greenberg said Trustee Representative Jessie Levey has a good working relationship with Manos, so he was sent to broker a compromise with the University.
Dangremond also says the rule is arbitrary and that TCU Judiciary approval of an organization should be sufficient to give the group the right to use Tufts' name. "I really don't think that every student organization should have to come crawling to Steve Manos every time they want to use the Tufts name," he said. "I think there's a fairer way of protecting the Tufts name and the Tufts copyright."
The latest issue of TuftsScope will be distributed on Friday.
