Students, professors, and alumni gathered in Oxfam Caf?© Friday to recognize seniors Ariana Flores and Cecilia Chen, recipients of the first ever Progressive Senior Awards.
The awards were given by the Tufts Progressive Alumni Network (TPAN), a new organization of alumni founded in January of this year, to seniors showing a commitment to social justice, leadership abilities, and potential as social change agents
Last year the Tufts Alumni Association revoked the senior award of Liz Monnin (LA '03) after it accused her of acting inappropriately at George Bush, Sr.'s appearance at Tufts.
The Alumni Association's action spearheaded a movement on the part of recent alumni to develop a new support structure for alumni.
"[The Alumni Association] has a monopoly on the voice of the alumni," Lou Esparza, LA '03 and TPAN steering committee member, said. "We want to change what leadership is at Tufts, including people who buck the system and rock the boat," Esparza said.
Political science professor Gary McKissick presented the award to Flores for her leadership in the Student Labor Action Movement (SLAM) for workers' rights, as well as in Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) and women's rights campaigns.
Flores has also been involved with Tufts Coalition to Oppose War in Iraq (TCOWI), and both the Latin-American and Asian-American curriculum transformation projects.
McKissick spoke of the difficulty of affecting and maintaining meaningful change in a world that's "a huge mess -- it's a hard situation to embrace fully," he said. "Once you acknowledge the extent of the mess, you get really paralyzed."
Flores, McKissick said, has stayed active in pursuit of beliefs in spite of friction and opposition. "There's no one on campus more involved in things," McKissick said of Flores. "She never wavers, she believes what she does matters. She has exposed herself to the vilest ridicule on campus, and is held up by others as the worst of what activism is."
McKissick was sure that Flores' drive would continue beyond Tufts. "There's no doubt the world will be a better place because she's out there fighting," McKissick said. "She's fighting the fight that ought to be fought -- with guts."
Laura Horwitz (LA '03) presented the second award to Cecilia Chen, who was recognized for her involvement in a variety of Asian-American issues at Tufts.
She has coupled her efforts to develop and expand on the University's Asian-American Studies program with academic efforts in Asian-American art and public health policy.
She has also been active in progressive organizations in Boston's Chinatown.
Chen, Horwitz said, represents a "different side of being progressive."
The two met after taking a class on Asians in America with professor Jean Woo. Chen helped to establish and persist with the Asian-American Curriculum Transformation program (AACT) after realizing the extent of what she considered a lack of Asian-American coursework and faculty at Tufts.
Initially, Chen and other members of this committee focused on obtaining a tenured-track professor in the discipline. Despite their efforts, Horwitz said, this resulted in "a miserable failure."
In this situation, Horwitz said, Chen did not give up. "She said, 'Okay, we'll keep going and find a different way.'"
Horwitz said that the committee thought they needed a professor in order to advance their goals, but that Chen's strong commitment to Asian-American perspectives at Tufts made even more valuable contributions. "We needed a person -- we needed a persistence," Horwitz said. "There are a lot of ways to get there."
Due to student pressure, faculty voted this year to accept Asian-American and Latin-American courses to count towards the University's culture requirement.
In her acceptance speech, Chen said she wished to "challenge Tufts' Eurocentric curriculum."
"This movement won't end with me," she concluded.
Following the presentation of the second award, various individuals shared their own insight on the laureates and informally recognized other successful individuals and efforts in activism at Tufts.
According to TPAN member Cindy Chang, LA '03, there were a fair number of seniors nominated for the award from across many departments. The recipients were chosen for their commitment to social justice, leadership abilities, and potential as social change agents, according to a press release.
"TPAN strives to be a positive alternative to the Alumni Association that will support progressive active citizens at Tufts and develop a community of progressive alumni for lasting community and support," TPAN steering committee member Rachel Jones, LA '03, said in a press release.
A monetary gift accompanied both awards. Chen elected to donate hers to the Chinese Progressive Association (CPA) in Boston's Chinatown. Flores had not decided what she was going to do with her money.
