We can all get along

A gentle voice in a well heeled accent constantly reminds passengers of London's Underground to "mind the gap." Students at Tufts -- undergraduate and graduate alike -- would do well to take this advice to heart on the Hill. Despite being generally well-exposed and well-educated, many of its denizens are at times appallingly incapable of being civil with each other. Some Fletcher graduate students feel that undergraduates are encroaching unjustly on their territory and some undergraduates feel that they are being disrespected by their graduate comrades. Some undiplomatic comments and rather tasteless jokes made on both sides of the Bachelor's line have been misconstrued, re-circulated, and probably taken too seriously.

What is really at issue here? Ah, an age old problem: space. Who gets what territory and is it just? From decades of early 20th century Rhineland volleying, to contested territory in the West Bank, to... the caf?© that does not even have a name? Honestly people. Fletcher students are understandably upset: the space formerly known as Trios used to be almost exclusive to them. Surely many undergraduates would be distraught if they traipsed to the Campus Center for a hot sandwich one day only to find it had been swamped with students from the Medical or Veterinary Schools. Likewise, however,

But Fletcher students who must suddenly deal with long lines and crowding in No Name should be able to empathize with undergraduate desires to escape the long lines at the Campus Center and experience a little bit of culinary diversity. At least all parties can agree on one thing: we want a variety of lunch options, available to us quickly, and space to sit down and enjoy these delectable tidbits with our friends and colleagues.

Undergrads and grad students need to learn how to cohabitate peacefully. Do we not remember the lessons we learned as toddlers? How many Tufts students received "does not play well with others" on their report cards in kindergarten?

Many undergraduates think that Fletcher students are a pretty amazing bunch of people whom they admire -- even possibly envy -- and would like to get to know if given the chance. Allegedly some Fletcher students do not think the undergrads are half bad either. Indeed, at least one formal effort is currently underway in an attempt to bring these two subgroups of the Tufts community together: the Global Women Mentoring Program. Students across the board and the University generally would stand to gain from further efforts of this kind.

All sides need to be a little more tolerant and considerably more conscious of the enormous benefits that each group of students presents for the other. Hopefully we will all be able to rise above some of the petty, "tit-for-tat" exchanges that have dominated the conversation on this "gap" issue among fringes with loud voices on both sides. Can't we all just get along?