When we hit the Hill as sophomores, we had a whole year under our belts - and as such, we laughed disparagingly at the "freshman herds" we had been such an eager part of mere months ago. How quickly we forget.
If only that last phrase held true when applied to the bitterly cold winter of our sophomore year, the mere memory of which sends a chill through our bones. Record-low temperatures and record-high snowfall levels gave us a case of serious jealousy for those students who lived in Carmichael and Hodgdon halls and therefore, didn't have to venture outside to get their hands on some grub (even if said grub sometimes induced queasiness - chicken dippers, anyone?).
Another stomach-churning turn of events? The University's institution of a pay-for-printing policy, which meant that printing out long research papers in Eaton computer lab would now kill our wallets as well as trees.
In brighter news, thanks to an agreement with the neighboring community, Tufts was finally able to hold social programming in the Gantcher Center, and students decked themselves out in their trashiest attire for the first annual Fall Ball.
The University released the results of its Task Force on the Undergraduate Experience, an initiative that was hatched during the 2001-2002 school year. Among its recommendations were that the University "emphasize communication skills over all four years" through a four-year writing requirement, and that the University move towards need-blind admissions. (To students' great joy, the first proposal has not been implemented. To prospective students' consternation, neither has the second.)
Tufts gained a dean of undergraduate education in Political Science Professor Jim Glaser, who incidentally, had quite a showing in the "Hottest professor, male" category of the Daily's 2006 Best of Tufts survey.
Tufts also gained its first-ever director of fraternity and sorority affairs in Todd Sullivan, who told the Daily in September that "there's a lot of potential to both limit the number of negative things that may have happened in the past but also to increase the positive events such as community service, giving back to the larger Tufts community, proving the worth of the frats and sororities, and focusing more on their founding principles and values."
The letters "NQR" took on new meaning this year: "Nighttime Quad Reception," the sanitized, administration-sanctioned name given to the sanitized, administration-sanctioned pre-Run festivities. Instead of the traditional debauchery in West Hall, there was hot chocolate-drinking and donut-eating on the quad. Plus, instead of creepy Medford and Somerville residents observing the naked running that followed, police and student volunteers also observed the naked running! Kidding aside, fewer injuries occurred, and there were no e-mail admonishments from Bacow the next morning, so the "Nighttime Quad Reception" team must have done something right.
So did the Tufts football team, which, for the second year in a row, won its Homecoming game. The Red Sox weren't quite as triumphant: They just barely missed out on making it to the World Series. Those members of Red Sox Nation who were also members of Jumbo Nation were heartbroken. They were also mad: A prisoner transport vehicle and six TUPD cruisers were brought in to break up the riots that resulted from the Sox' loss.
An uproar of a different nature followed the "Sex on the Hill" fair, which was sponsored by Tufts Voices for Choice (VOX) and, according to a press release from the outraged Tufts Republicans, encouraged students' and faculty's "taste-testing lubricants, taking part in the 'Condom Olympics,' and marking on life-sized, fully-nude drawings where they most like to be rubbed, touched, kissed or licked." The ensuing back-and-forth garnered media coverage on the local and national levels. Apparently, sex sells! Who knew?
The Tufts campus was home to tragic losses as well as heated controversies. Sophomore and TCU Senator Alex Mendell, who was heavily involved in the campus community, killed himself in September.
In January, another Tufts student, senior Peter Vabulas, passed away. Returning home after a class, Vabulas collapsed outside Miller Hall as a result of a cardiovascular condition. Both Mendell and Vabulas were mourned at on-campus memorial services.
Tufts also mourned the loss of Trustee John Dowling, whose name Tufts' student services building bears.
There was no Fares Lecture this year, but renowned director Spike Lee spoke on campus in March. His lecture focused on the current state of race relations and depictions of African Americans in the media, telling his audience that "African Americans are still ghettoized today; stereotypes are either hip-hop shoot-em up, romantic comedies, or broad, broad, broad comedy." Not one to shy away from controversy, Lee wore a Yankees hat and jersey during his lecture.
Tufts students also got an inside look behind the scenes of Ben & Jerry's, whose titular co-founder Ben Cohen spoke on campus in October. "We measure easy things like money - very finite, very exact," Cohen said. "It's hard to measure the most important things in life - like loving, caring, kindness. Let's change how we measure success and redefine the bottom line."
