Tragedy brings housing policy to light

As a parent of a Tufts upperclassman, my heart is broken for the loss of Wendy Carman and for her family. This tragedy highlights a serious gap at Tufts (and at many other universities) when a housing policy chooses to ignore the living conditions of enrolled students and, frankly, by not being involved permits many landlords to take advantage of inexperienced and stressed young people when leases are signed.

I would strongly urge President Bacow and his administrators to take a look at the policies at Tufts which could be changed in order to better ensure that a tragedy of this type will not happen again. Perhaps Tufts can put appropriate pressure on landlords and create safe standards for student tenants in this captive and seemingly exploitative real estate market of Medford and Somerville student housing.



Gayle Israel

Parent (LA '04)