You have a big exam tomorrow. Your notes, your textbooks, and your review sheets are laid out in front of you. Your pencils are sharpened and you're ready to go, but your roommate has some friends over, or wants to go to bed early, or has suddenly decided to listen to loud music - very loud music. Where can you study into the wee hours of the morning? According to some students, including Tufts Community Union (TCU) Senator Pritesh Gandhi, the answer is simple: nowhere.
Gandhi is pioneering a proposal to open late-night study spots around campus, and calls it a disgrace that such facilities are not provided at a university of Tufts' caliber. The sophomore's proposal includes: a 24-hour reading room, open seven days a week during midterms and finals; keeping Eaton Lab open 24 hours, seven days a week all year; extending Tisch library's hours until midnight on Friday and Saturday nights; and keeping Brown and Brew open 24 hours Sunday through Thursday.
"You should never have a time during the day where you can't relax in a safe space, or study in a quiet, safe space," Gandhi said, adding that the University's lack of late-night study facilities is in opposition to its commitment to academics. "To close the library at 9 p.m. [on Friday and Saturday] is preposterous," he said. "What kind of message is that sending to students?"
Senate President Eric Greenberg agreed that the issue concerns many students.
"It directly affects the education that students receive here," Greenberg said. "We complain about the social life, or the dorms... and we're not focusing on the most important thing. People are trying to study."
Dean of Students Bruce Reitman also said the proposal warranted consideration, though he cautioned that such initiatives are often very costly to Tufts, which is already financially strapped.
"I'm glad to see that people are interested in spending more time on their studies," he said. Reitman worked with the senate and dining services last year to open late-night study at Carmichael, and said he was pleased the results. Last year, the Dean of Students Office also worked to keep Eaton Computer Lab open for two extra hours each night.
"I feel like the expansion that we did last year of both the computer center's hours and Carmichael study hall were very well justified," Reitman said. "[Late night study] is at least worth exploring as an experiment. I am pursuing it because I consider it important for a campus like Tufts."
But Tisch Library Director Jo-Ann Michalak isn't so sure that Friday and Saturday nights are the best time to extend library hours. Michalak says that very few students use the library on these nights, and feels that extended hours would be better justified on busier nights of the week. According to library research, she said, most students are satisfied with the library's current hours.
"We did a student survey that was online in the fall and the general feeling was that the majority of students... tend to be satisfied with the hours," Michalak said. "But that doesn't mean that everyone is satisfied with them."
According to Gandhi, who says he has received a "slew" of e-mails on the subject, the student body is less satisfied than Michalak thinks. "For students to e-mail student reps about these issues is unheard of," Gandhi said.
Sophomore James Clark said that since college students tend to keep such late hours, a late-night study facility is a good plan, though not an essential one.
"I think it would be nice, but I don't think it'd be necessary," Clark said. "There should be a place where you can go until 3 a.m. every night. I don't think they need to spend the money to keep something open [for 24 hours a day]."
Funding is the biggest challenge to establishing a late-night or all-night study facility on campus. Gandhi believes that Tufts' small endowment and tight budget are the biggest hurdles that he and his committee will need to cross to realize their vision.
"Everyone is always behind this, but there's no money," Gandhi said. "Tisch library recently got its budget increased, so they have a little bit more movement, and we plan on exploiting that movement"
Reitman also addressed the funding issue, saying that while he is committed to finding a late-night study facility, he also needs to explore the cost of the senate's request to come up with the best solution.
"We're a community that has a finite amount of resources," Reitman said. "We have to prioritize our expenditures. I think we'll be able to address the concern and provide something."
Michalak agrees that funding is the biggest obstacle in the way of keeping the library open for more hours. She specified that to keep the library open late at night, a guard would need to be hired. And to keep the library open longer on weekends, Michalak would have to hire professional staff that would assist students in accessing the collection and using the library facilities. Typically, two professionals and one student are on duty at the library at all times.
Gandhi feels that until the issue is resolved, and a late night study space is designated, Tufts is sending the wrong message to both its current and prospective students.
"The message Tufts should be sending is that we're an academic institution," Gandhi said. "We focus our money and our legwork on creating a situation in which scholarly students are produced by the University."
Some students agree that the current situation is an inaccurate representation of the University's academic goals.
"I'd say partially it reflects poorly on the University," sophomore Graham Griffin said. Sophomore Courtnay Thomas also supports the proposal.
"I definitely think the library should be open, if not 24 hours, at least later on Friday or Saturday," Thomas said, mentioning that many other universities provide such facilities. "You can't really do work in your dorm room because people are loud." But other students are less sure that longer study hours would be an effective use of funds.
"Tufts doesn't encourage enough social activity," senior Bill Lane said. "Everyone already studies at all hours of the day and night. What we really need is better parties and more parties. This proposal will only promote the spread of dorkiness at Tufts."
It remains unclear whether Brown and Brew or another Dining Services facility would be a possible late-night study space in the future. Dining Services Director Patti Klos declined to comment on the issue until she could meet formally with the senators involved. But Klos added that she is open to exploring their requests and working together to meet students' needs. She anticipates that staffing would become an issue in opening up Brown and Brew for 24 hours a day. According to Reitman, keeping Brown and Brew open all night would require approval from Medford as well.
"I don't think it's realistic to keep the dining halls open," said sophomore Taylor Shann, who works for Dinging Services.
Shann specified that if dining facilities are open, staff is needed not only to serve and prepare the food, but also to bus tables and ensure that the facility will be clean and ready for operation the following morning. But despite potential obstacles, Gandhi remains optimistic.
"We're going to make it happen," he said. "Unless the administration tells us no, and then we're still going to make it happen."
