A memorial service for Nadia Medina, former director of the Academic Resource Center (ARC) at Tufts, took place yesterday evening at the Hillel Granoff Center. Medina succumbed to sarcoma, a form of cancer, on Feb. 8 at the age of 61.
The life and memory of Medina, who founded the Writing, Thinking and Speaking Center, were honored with a program of speakers, music and prayer.
Rabbi Jeffrey Summit, the University's Jewish Chaplain, opened the service by singing the Hakotel prayer to the approximately 100 attendees.
Summit went on to read one of the works of the Israeli poet Zelda and then spoke about his experiences with Medina.
"In my 26 years as a rabbi, I never met a person who was as focused, as present ... as Nadia," he said.
Summit knew Medina as both a colleague and congregant. "It meant a lot to me that Nadia would be part of our High Holy Day congregation," said Summit, who also reminisced about the meaningful conversations he often had with Medina.
"She was critical in the very best sense," he said. "Her Judaism was eclectic and deeply meaningful for her."
Following Summit's portion of the service, Dean of Undergraduate Education James Glaser told an anecdote about his bet with Medina that George W. Bush would be reelected in 2004.
"She was a very passionate person, and my enduring image of Nadia is her holding a cup of tea ... and bringing with her conversation and light and happiness," Glaser said.
He also mentioned Medina's influence on the Task Force on the Undergraduate Experience. Specifically, Glaser said, the task force placed great emphasis on her mantra, that "it is really important for students to be known," throughout its work.
Glaser said that through her programs and her positive influence on her colleagues, Medina has left a legacy at Tufts.
Carmen Lowe, one of these colleagues and the current director of the ARC, spoke after Glaser. Lowe said that "two words ... encapsulate Nadia's attitude towards life: joy and gratitude."
Lowe told her listeners that Medina was an "obsessive-compulsive sharer of joy" who "hooked half of the office on yoga."
Like Glaser, Lowe discussed the distinctive way Medina, a believer in the "power of praise," viewed students. Another common thread throughout many of the speakers' remembrances was Medina's engaging quality as an enthusiastic conversationalist. From books to politics, "she was grateful for conversation," Lowe said.
Lara Birk, who Glaser said is also in charge of the ARC now, spoke of a student, Jeffrey Harry (LA '00), who called the ARC office on Tuesday asking to speak with Medina. Harry wanted to thank her for helping him manage his time when he was at Tufts and was shocked to find that she had passed away.
Harry asked Birk to read a letter from him at the memorial service. "She was the best teacher I ever had at Tufts, even though she wasn't a teacher," he wrote.
Harry's letter, part of which was addressed to Median, credited her with helping him achieve his goals and told her, "I have such the greatest respect and admiration for you."
Birk also read a letter she wrote in response to the last letter Medina ever sent her. Birk was not sure if Medina ever read this last letter. "'You truly have become,' like she always called herself, 'my surrogate mom,'" Birk wrote to Medina.
A musical meditation followed this first round of reflections, as Mozart's "Sonata for Flute and Piano" played. Afterwards, people who were not explicitly included in the service's program were given a chance to speak.
Elizabeth Leavell, who teaches in the English department at Tufts and tutors at the writing center, hailed Medina as her "spiritual guide or fairy godmother."
"Being the focus of that kind of attention and care was such a remarkable experience," Leavell said.
Several other people in the audience stood up and shared memories and praise of Medina. One member of the Class of 2000 said he owes his Ph.D. in history at New York University to Medina.
He, like several other speakers, talked about how Medina gave him a book to read every month and always followed up to discuss its content.
Summit then read another poem by Marie Howe entitled "My Dead Friends." He prefaced the poem by recalling that Medina used to say, "If only I could explain to people they shouldn't sweat the small stuff."
Christopher Valente (LA '05), who worked closely with Medina as a Writing Fellow for two years and the Head Fellow last year, spoke next. He touched on Medina's conversations, her books and her interest in others' lives.
"She would just be into my life, and that is one of the reasons it's so amazing I had the opportunity to be part of her life," Valente said.
Summit concluded the service with the two prayers that members of the Jewish faith say upon someone's passing. He read "God full of mercy" in both Hebrew and English and chanted the Mourner's Kaddish.
He closed with a passage also typical of a Jewish memorial service, with its final lines of "Love doesn't die. People do. When all that's left of me is love, give me away."
CORRECTION: FEB. 21, 2006The photo accompanying Friday's news article "Medina's memory honored" (Feb. 17, 2006) was erroneously captioned. The woman pictured in the photo is former Medina colleague and current Academic Resource Center (ARC) Director Carmen Lowe, not Medina's former ARC colleague Lara Birk. The Daily regrets the error.
