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Op-ed: Invest in our future, vote Brendan French for TCU president

By Caroline Spahr, Alexander Vang and Iman Boulouah | April 23

When considering who should serve as Tufts Community Union president, the most important question is simple: Who can you depend on? Brendan French is dependable, well-rounded and consistently willing to do the work that keeps the student government running. He not only has plans, but works to ensure that they happen and keeps his promises.

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Op-ed: Solo travel for the career-oriented

By Soeren Euvrard | April 23

You are a career-oriented college student. You have an idea of what you want to do after senior year, and it seems pretty difficult. Additionally, job prospects are slim. You have a big world map in your room with little pins marking places you want to live, and the longer you stare, the more you realize you’ll never have the time to properly live in all these places. You decide to take a full year to do whatever you want. Senior week comes, you graduate and off you go.

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Op-ed: An ode to Tufts

By Daniel Bethke | April 23

To be blunt, Tufts was not my first choice. If we assign even a modicum of truth to the Tufts stereotypes, this problem was by no means unique to me. Because of this, I came to question my position and my ‘belonging’ here during my first year. I convinced myself I would have been happier elsewhere. This was not so much a ‘grass is always greener elsewhere’ mentality as it was a ‘grass is always yellow here’ mentality. Yet, in my final semester, I say with conviction and candor that I’m truly glad I ended up here. This university isn’t perfect, but it possesses several idiosyncrasies for which I am deeply grateful. 

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Op-ed: What 12 first-years taught us about the university’s role

By Jacob Ackiron and Asaf Grofman | April 23

There is a national conversation on the role of the university in American life. Here at Tufts, it revolves around whether universities should have a political agenda, how students should relate to one another and the best way to engage students with the curriculum given the constraints of our times. We are graduating seniors who spent the last semester teaching an Experimental College class on the American presidency to 12 first-years. This experience gave us a view into some of these core and pertinent themes. Here is what we learned.

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Letter from the Editor in Chief: A special coverage page on Rümeysa Öztürk, two years later

By Josué Pérez | March 26

Dear readers,It has been one year since Dr. Rümeysa Öztürk’s arrest by masked agents from the Department of Homeland Security near her home in Somerville. We are publishing a “special coverage” page to mark this date.

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Op-ed: Including voter registration resources in syllabi: A first step to creating a more civically-supportive campus

By JumboVote | March 13

Last week, The Tufts Daily published an article about JumboVote, the non-partisan organization on campus that seeks to increase voter advocacy and civic engagement, and its effort to pass a resolution through the Tufts Community Union Senate to include voting information in syllabi. The goal of this resolution is to increase access to voting resources, especially for students of color and STEM students. We would like to clarify our position by explaining why including voting information in syllabi is a powerful tool for reducing the access disparities seen at Tufts and encouraging professors to adopt this effort into their syllabi.

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Op-ed: Remembering Katharine Burnett, my Expository Writing professor

By Mark Calogero | March 5

Kate Burnett has passed. (Well, I only recently found out, and it was five years ago when she departed this world.) She had reached the ripe old age of 94.

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Op-ed: China and America: Conversations from my hitchhiking journey

By Soeren Euvrard | January 20

For about three weeks in September, I hitchhiked through northeastern China. I am Chinese American, yet on this trip I met with people from an entirely different world.

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Op-ed: The U.S. blockade on Cuba is economic warfare, we must name it

By Asiah Quattlebaum | January 20

Before I went to Cuba, I believed I had a full grasp of what economic warfare meant. I had read about the U.S. embargo and followed the headlines about its harmful impacts on everyday Cubans. But when I was on the ground in Cuba, everything I thought I knew faded. I saw the reality — ration lines, defiant optimism and a revolution still breathing through struggle. The United States’ blockade is a deliberate strategy of harm, and if we cared about justice, we must recognize it and challenge it.The United States has been able to efficiently mask the horrors of its blockade on Cuba, and it is our responsibility as Americans to ensure that Cubans can live with dignity and self-determination. Genuine solidarity with Cuba begins with bringing the blockade to attention as a source of the crisis and recognizing how U.S. narratives distort the reality of Cuba to keep Americans passive.

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Op-ed: Establishment Jewish institutions are betraying and weaponizing my religion

By Meirav Solomon | December 5

In sixth grade, my middle school scheduled its first dance for a Friday night during Sukkot. My family kept Shabbat and would spend the evening in our Sukkah, twin reasons why I couldn’t realize the quintessential teenage dream of swaying to top-40 beats in the cafeteria, chaperoned by history and Spanish teachers.

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Op-ed: Israel and Palestine at Tufts/Fletcher: Erasing inconvenient facts

By Joel Trachtman | December 5

On Monday, Nov. 17, I attended an event at The Fletcher School entitled “Israel and Palestine: Assessment and Community Dialogue.” For the first time in my 36 years as a professor at Tufts University and Fletcher, I felt unwelcome as a Jew.

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Op-ed: Standing for Dialogue: Reflections on hosting Moumen Al-Natour

By Benjamin Handell | December 3

On Nov. 11, Tufts Friends of Israel, together with the Department of Political Science, hosted a conversation with Moumen Al-Natour, a Palestinian human rights activist who has spent years speaking out against Hamas. The Center for Peace Communications joined via Zoom to help translate and later share Al-Natour’s story with wider audiences.

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Op-ed: Somerville’s Question 3 undermines peace

By Justin Klekota | November 19

On November’s ballot, Somerville voters were asked whether the city should divest from companies doing business with Israel. While many voters saw it as a symbolic gesture, Question 3 remains extremely problematic. The measure’s main organizer, Somerville for Palestine, claims to stand for justice, but their rhetoric and continued agitation threaten Somerville’s unity.

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Why many American Jews are wary — and fearful — of Mamdani’s rise

By Tufts Friends of Israel | November 14

American Jews have long been considered one of the country’s most politically liberal groups, with over 70% identifying as Democrats according to the Pew Research Center from 2020.

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Op-ed: The cOUnteR-revolution: A restoration of the people’s forum in Medford

By Emily Carney | November 13

The ballot box in last week’s election symbolized the state of Medford — divided. The numbers depicted a city split into two primary voting blocs: Our Revolution Medford and the independents. Allied candidates tended to yield similar vote counts, indicative of bloc voting, while tight margins between groups and increased support for non-ORM candidates suggested a narrowing divide. For the independents, the gains were significant, but not enough to claim new seats. Not this time.

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Op-ed: Please vote No on Question 3 in Somerville

By Somerville United Against Discrimination | November 3

We are writing to respectfully ask that voters across Somerville vote “no” on Question 3. This ballot question does nothing to constructively help Palestinians and instead hurts our neighbors — and our city itself. Implementing the question is illegal, sows division in our community and diverts attention and resources from urgent issues facing our city.

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Op-ed: Somerville Jews say: Vote Yes on Question 3

By Members of the Somerville Jewish Community | October 29

As Jews, we have a unique relationship to the genocide in Palestine. We watch as the Israeli military murders, starves and displaces Palestinians, all while speaking the language in which we pray.

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