One of the most valuable lessons students learn and are given the opportunity to act upon at Tufts is the importance of giving back to the community.
The University itself evoked this doctrine last May when it signed an agreement with the cities of Medford and Somerville, allocating $1.25 million over the next ten years and pledging to increase need-based grant aid for local students as well as giving applicants from these areas special consideration in the admissions process.
Although the language in the agreement does not offer any guarantees to future Tufts applicants from Medford or Somerville, Dean of Undergraduate Admissions Lee Coffin described the commitment to apply special standards to applicants from these cities as "our way of being a good neighbor and saying that there is a partnership here."
Coffin explained that the admissions process for local students is similar to the process used when reading applications from students who have either a legacy or a parent that works at Tufts.
According to Coffin, Tufts accepts approximately 10 to twelve students from both Medford and Somerville each year.
Recognizing that Medford and Somerville applicants have a special relationship with Tufts by virtue of their home community, it is University policy to examine these applications in a "proactive" and more sympathetic manner.
"We should have a degree of representation on the Tufts campus from these two towns, and we will therefore read their applications with special care."
Coffin indicated that other universities in the Boston area and throughout the country adopt a similar policy when evaluating applicants.
"It is common to have applications from a university's host community evaluated in a more sympathetic way. For example, Harvard has a similar arrangement with students from Cambridge," Coffin said.
While the agreement formally pledges to welcome local students to the Tufts campus, it does not imply that the admissions office will lower its standards for these students.
"I believe that the process is fair, because the students from local areas that are qualified are the ones who are going to get into the school," said David Clayton, a junior from Medford. "The University does not necessarily accept 12 students."
Coffin echoed this sentiment, explaining that the review process evaluates students in the context of their school community, accepting only those students that represent a profile the admissions office believes will enhance the undergraduate community.
"We cannot always simply say that we are going to enroll 10 students, because out of those 10 students, there may only be six that are qualified," he said. "But in the hypercompetitive environment of college admissions, we won't punish our local students."
Justin Dominguez, a senior from Wakefield, MA, expressed his support for the agreement.
"I think that the university should definitely give back to the community," Dominguez said. "The whole idea that Tufts is trying to get across is that we work together as a community."
Indeed, the agreement may be relevant primarily as a public extension of gratitude and appreciation toward the two communities.
An article appearing in The Boston Globe on Aug. 8 described the deal with the two cities as an effort to take action following objections raised by the two cities that they were spending more money providing services to Tufts than they were receiving in return. Because Tufts is a non-profit university, it pays no taxes, although the cities provide year-round policing and public works to the University.
"I don't imagine that this policy agreement is going to bring a noticeable change to the Tufts campus," Coffin said. "It meant a lot to the surrounding cities for Tufts to go public with this agreement. Even if it is just a difference in attitude and appreciation, it allows them to see Tufts as a more responsive place."
