Many students' cell phones were abuzz yesterday afternoon with calls from their parents or guardians. Other Jumbos checked their inboxes and were greeted by not just an email from Dean of Student Affairs Bruce Reitman but also one sent by a concerned — or in some cases, amused — parent or guardian.
Families were responding to the email sent out to every Tufts family about the punishment that would be given to students who decided to partake in the Naked Quad Run (NQR) this fall.
Debates about the cancellation of NQR and the severity of the semester-long suspension punishment for those caught running — as was officially announced yesterday in Reitman's email — are a discussion for another day.
It's clear the administration is serious about ensuring that NQR does not take place this year, and, in light of the dangers entailed by drunkenly streaking on the ice and in the December cold, we at the Daily hope these new policies are effective in preventing harm to students. This does not mean, though, that we condone the administration's decision to run to our moms and pops for help with canceling a previously university-sanctioned tradition.
There's no doubt that by now most students are aware of this year's consequence for braving the cold and streaking the Res Quad at the end of the fall semester. Students who value their time and education at Tufts should be mortified by the prospect of being suspended for a semester, so this should be a perfectly effective means of keeping students from running. It was demeaning, however, to hear that the administration believes they must go through our parents and guardians in order to have us understand the implications of defying their cancellation.
Our parents' butting into our social lives at college, thus undermining our independence, isn't necessary. An attention-grabbing, abundantly clear message to the student body is enough; we don't need to hear it from our parents or guardians, too.
It's true that most students derive significant support from their parents, whether it be financial or emotional support. In exchange for this support, parents and guardians certainly have a right to know what's going on at Tufts. However, the university is practicing selective informing with this email: Our families are rarely mass-emailed by the administration about disiplinary issues; they're not even notified when their child is caught in minor violation of the school's drug and alcohol policy, and they certainly haven't been contacted about NQR before.
The purpose of this particular email was less about informing families and more about persuading them to contact us to tell us not to run.
In his matriculation address to the Class of 2015, University President Anthony Monaco told families, "It won't be easy to let go, but [your student's] independence here on campus is a big part of their transition to become responsible adults. But they cannot become independent unless you truly let go."
The administration should practice what it preaches and trust students know the serious consequences of running NQR.
