Features

Features

A Jumbo’s Journey: He’s right behind me isn’t he

By Ben Rachel | February 7

There are many advantages to going to a small, liberal arts school such as Tufts University. Lots of opportunities for pursuing passions, developing an extensive professional network with both professors and alumni and, of course, meeting new people — not too many though. With that said, while the benefits are substantial, which is probably why a lot of y’all are here, there are downsides that come with it, one of the main ones being seeing everyone you know whether you like it or not.

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Features

Students, professors weigh in on Eaton Hall’s modern makeover

By Olivia Bye | February 6

After over a year of renovations, Eaton Hall has reopened its doors to the Tufts community for the spring semester. The renovations, which took place from November 2023 to January 2025, largely aimed to modernize the building’s interior, improve functionality and accessibility and implement energy-saving systems. As students and faculty have explored the restored building’s classrooms, offices and study spaces, they have begun to form their own thoughts on whether the new Eaton lives up to its promised improvements.

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Features

Addressing the uphill battle of safety, accessibility on campus

By Audrey Peel | February 6

It is undeniable that Tufts’ infamously hilly campus is challenging to navigate. Try as students might, an uphill trek is nearly unavoidable. The pedestrian experience is a part of day-to-day life here on campus. While many pedestrian safety issues go unnoticed by students in the chaos of each day, this was not the case for junior Anand Patil, when he took his first steps at Tufts as a first-year in 2022.

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Features

Boston Book Crawl: Lovestruck Books

By Emily Sullivan | February 6

Hello! Welcome and come on into my first column. As a lifelong reader and current English major, I’ve developed many opinions about bookstores — some admittedly pretentious, others a little less so. Feel free to browse along these lines as I tell you about my experiences browsing the shelves within many of Boston’s bookstores.

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Columns

Sage Advice: Introductions

By Matthew Sage | February 6

Like me, you may be wondering what exactly will be written about in this biweekly column. Every two weeks, I will make my best effort to provide some semblance of wisdom to a selected prompt provided by you — the community — or general wisdom when I feel like ranting, rambling or reflecting.

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Columns

Hey Wait Just One Second: Snakes

By Max Turnacioglu | February 5

Sssss hassss hissss. Yes, I’m fluent in Parseltongue, and no, it’s notjustbecause I’m a super powerful wizard. I’m fully embracing the Year of the Snake by emulating the humble critter that has so brilliantly captivated every major cultural tradition. In fact, I would venture to say that there is not a single animal with such a potent, visceral connotation as the snake, which demands myths upon myths, inspiring our collective fear, revulsion and delight at all things serpentine.

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Features

Tufts Marathon Team’s journey to the finish line

By Tanya Dev | February 4

The first rays of sunlight have yet to brush the sky and the streets are cloaked in icy darkness. But for 15 students on the Tufts Marathon Team, this frigid Monday morning brims with energy. They lace up their sneakers, scarf down bananas, chug water and slide in their AirPods, queuing upbeat tunes. While the world around them remains in a quiet slumber, they are awake in every sense. Each stride builds unshakable endurance, every hill sharpens their resolve, and these cold, early hours forge the mental steel they’ll need to conquer the legendary 26.2 miles from Hopkinton to Boylston Street on Marathon Monday. In these cold, pre-dawn hours, they’re already champions in the making.

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Features

Meet Wendy Mass, a former Jumbo turned fiction writer

By Claire Wood | February 3

If you are a college-aged student, you probably grew up reading Wendy Mass’s children’s books. She wrote “A Mango-Shaped Space,” “Every Soul a Star” and “11 Birthdays,” to name a few. Having published 31 novels, Mass is an incredibly prolific children’s author and has been named to ...

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Columns

Escape the Library: Revival Cafe + Kitchen

By Olivia Bye | February 3

“I’m starting a column,” I said, turning to face my friend as we rode the Tufts shuttle to Davis Square. “It’s about the best places to go off-campus to study, the lesser-known ones, and I need ideas.” Her eyes immediately brightened as she said, “Oh, I know! Revival Cafe. It’s in Davis, just a little further down Elm Street.”

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Features

What’s left unsaid?: How Tufts publications amplify student voices

By Katie Galligan | January 30

Take a walk around the Tufts campus and you’re bound to find at least one newspaper, magazine or journal lying around. Maybe it’s the satirical Zamboni scattered in your dorm’s common room. Perhaps it’s a new edition of the Tufts Observer magazine on the newsstands in the Mayer Campus Center. Or, of course, it could be a Tufts Daily paper left on a table in Tisch Library.

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Features

Tufts economics professor marries economics with social justice, receives presidential award

By Guillem Colom | January 28

On Jan. 14, outgoing President Joseph Biden bestowed the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE) to approximately 400 scientists and engineers. PECASE is the highest accolade granted by the U.S. government on scientists and engineers beginning their independent careers.

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Features

Breaking down the internship: Biology related majors

By Ella Sanders | January 28

In the third and last installment of this mini-series, we will hear from two science-focused majors who found unique ways, other than the conventional internship, to fill their summers.

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Features

Breaking down the internship: Economics and computer science majors

By Ella Sanders | January 24

Next up in this multi-part series, four students with majors across economics and computer science reflect on their internship experiences. From future investment bankers to technology wizards, these students have jumped at the opportunity to try out their passions.

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Features

A Jumbo’s Journey: Defying gravity

By Ben Rachel | January 24

When I am out and about on campus, many of my fans often ask me how I come up with content for this column (after asking for my autograph of course). Normally, I give a witty answer or deflect the question because I truly don’t have a concrete answer. Some of my publication ideas have needed to marinate for a long time (I have a pretty extensive notes page on my phone) and others have been created at 2 a.m. — the morning of the due date. There is such a dichotomy between how my ideas are procured that I don’t have a definite answer as to which one leads to better content.

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Columns

Hey Wait Just One Second: Snowmen

By Max Turnacioglu | January 22

My Crocs lost purchase on the vestal slurry carpeting the sidewalk. One foot slid forward while the other slid back, and I felt the entirety of my life with functioning hip abductors flash before my eyes. I was too young to strain a muscle walking in the snow and way too old to successfully hit the splits. Snow had descended upon Tufts and I was not prepared.

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Features

Breaking down the internship: International Relations, Political Science and History majors

By Ella Sanders | January 22

The first few months of the spring semester mark a time when many students are navigating the complex process of securing an internship for the coming summer. This is the time for students to conduct some hardcore soul-searching, parsing through a litany of online job postings to decide what they would like to do with the rest of their lives or, at least, for their three summer months.

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Features

Civic Semester fellows spend first-year fall semester in Peru, Thailand

By Rachel Liu | January 17

While most first-years began their Tufts education last fall in classrooms on the Hill, 23 Civic Semester fellows boarded flights to Peru or Thailand instead. These students chose to study abroad during their first semester of college, joining an immersive learning program through the Jonathan M. Tisch College of Civic Life.

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Features

Court is in session: Inside Tufts Mock Trial

By Tanya Dev | January 15

The tension is palpable. Papers rustle. A chair scrapes against the floor. Someone clears their throat. Then silence. All eyes shift to the judge at the front of the room. With a deliberate nod, she signals that the court is in session. But this isn’t your typical courtroom; it is a showdown between ...

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Features

From Beelzebubs to ‘Pitch Perfect:’ How Deke Sharon reshaped a cappella

By Claire Wood | January 15

When Deke Sharon (LA’91, NEC’91), a renowned a cappella arranger and instructor, joined the Beelzebubs in the late 1980s, a cappella song selection was limited. “Everybody was singing ‘Don’t Worry, Be Happy.’ Everybody was singing ‘For The Longest Time’ by Billy Joel. Everybody was singing … whatever songs were already very a cappella or very close harmony, and they just converted them,” he said.

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Features

The Oxford Comma: A winter’s interlude

By Grace Nelson | January 15

Hi everyone! After my brief vacation — or as the Brits like to say, ‘holiday’ — the Oxford Comma is back! As the spring semester starts up, so too approaches my next term at Oxford: the Hilary term. But before I say goodbye to the U.S., I want to dedicate a column to what I’ve been up to during the winter break — more specifically, what I’ve been eating.

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