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The Setonian
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Sexual assault taskforce to change misconduct policies at Tufts

October 17

Tufts reported 48 sexual assaults to the U.S. Department of Justice in accordance with a grant program for New England universities run by the department, according to a Boston Globe article published in 2010. The university had been receiving $1.3 million in grant funding since 1999 to put toward efforts to improve resources for victims.Last year, a university-wide Sexual Violence Working Group formed to replace Tufts’ Sexual Assault Policy with the current Sexual Misconduct Policy.But when former Sexual Violence Resource Coordinator Elaine Theodore left her position at Tufts a few years ago, no one was hired to replace her. During the 2012-2013 year, there were 63 reported cases of sexual assault in a broad number of categories, according to the data from the Office of Equal Opportunity.In light of these ongoing issues, a sexual assault taskforce has been formed in an attempt to streamline the way that Tufts deals with sexual assault on campus. President Anthony Monaco acts as chair of the taskforce, along with Mary Jeka, senior vice president for university relations and general counsel. Students are involved in the group’s operations as well.“The Task Force on Sexual Misconduct Prevention is designed to ensure that Tufts is doing all it can to effectively combat all forms of sexual misconduct,” Jeka told the Daily in an email. “This includes addressing sexual exploitation, sexual harassment, sex or gender discrimination, stalking and relationship violence as well as sexual assault.”Part of what prompted the taskforce’s formation is that the problems with sexual misconduct and the policies surrounding it have frustrated and angered many Tufts students. Various groups have been developed in order to address these issues, among them Prevention, Awareness and Community at Tufts, Action for Sexual Assault Prevention and the Consent Culture Network, which is an educational offshoot of ASAP. While these groups have hosted many workshops about sexual misconduct, students are still unsatisfied with the sexual misconduct culture and policies at Tufts.On April 29, ASAP sent a letter to the Tufts administration, calling its attention to three key ways in which they failed to address sexual assault security policy for students, which included a lack of access to policies, processes and resources, as well as a lack of support infrastructure and a lack of education about sexual assault. The letter began with the shortcomings of the Tufts sexual assault policy, and then outlined the improvements that could be made to the policies.A response from Monaco expressed that there are insufficient resources at Tufts to accommodate those who lack education about sexual assault and those who are survivors searching for academic and emotional support. His response called for the new sexual assault taskforce.“Such misconduct has no place at Tufts,” Monaco told the Daily in an email. “My goal in convening and chairing the Sexual Misconduct Prevention Taskforce is to ensure that we address this important issue effectively ... to support our community needs.”Jeka noted that creating a group of people ready to tackle such sensitive problems can be difficult, but the taskforce is well on its way.“The taskforce is well-equipped to ensure that Tufts is continuously monitoring our efforts in all these areas, staying ahead of best practices, and making improvements [where necessary],” she said. “Our members include graduate and undergraduate students, faculty and administrators from the Boston, Medford and Somerville and Grafton campuses with a variety of professional expertise and knowledge of individual schools and campus cultures.”Junior Kumar Ramanathan, who was one of the core writers of the letter and is now a member of the taskforce, said that the new sexual assault taskforce has begun the first few of its meetings this semester. The first was to discuss preliminary logistics, he said.Director of the Office of Equal Opportunity Jill Zellmer explained that the group decided to break into working groups to split the workload and divide up the responsibilities. The subgroups, Ramanathan said, include awareness and prevention, resources and adjudication policy.Zellmer said that another focus that the prevention working group factored in was education.“Prevention and education [will] instill greater awareness, education and support programs and train and educate staff and administrators and students,” she said.The resources working group will focus on establishing a more extensive support infrastructure for victims and their friends and supporters, while the policy group will work on revising and publicizing policy as necessary, according to Zellmer.Although the first meeting did not lead to any policy changes, Ramanathan viewed it as a critical step forward, especially in that it gathered enough student representatives from the Group of Six who were interested in contributing.“No one had committed to ... changes at that point. It was just a planning meeting, but it seemed to go very well for us,” Ramanathan said.At the second meeting, the subgroups presented their information to Monaco and other administrators on the committee. The fundamental request was for a streamlined program on sexual assault.12

The Setonian
News

Homecoming Carnival considered success

October 16

Students and alumni on the Hill on Saturday had the opportunity to attend the university’s first Homecoming Carnival, held on the rugby field from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.

The Setonian
News

Students learn about civic involvement in new video game

By Jei-Jei Tan | October 14

Students were invited to play Civic Seed, a video game developed by the Jonathan M. Tisch College of Citizenship and Public Service in conjunction with the Engagement Game Lab (EGL) at Emerson College, to provide feedback about the game’s effectiveness on Oct. 8 in the Lewis Hall lounge.According to ...

The Setonian
News

Community discusses diversity report in open session

October 10

University President Anthony Monaco and Chair of the Undergraduate Student Experience on the Council on Diversity Adriana Zavala led an open discussion session on the Report of the Council on Diversity yesterday in the Interfaith Center.The report represents a year and half’s worth of research and discussion from a council of students, faculty, staff and alumni. Members of the Tufts community were invited to provide feedback on the report before the Council releases a final report later in the semester.To begin the conversation, Monaco said that, though many minority students reflect positively on their time at Tufts, they have often felt pressured to explain issues of diversity to their peers.“What I heard in those discussions [with students] is that the burden is too much for students to be constantly, on an every day basis, to be dealing with what we call ‘micro-aggressions,’” Monaco said. “It was that motivation that really got me to think about creating a diversity council.”Erica Satin-Hernanadez (LA ’13) said she was glad that the university did not see the fulfillment of one class as sufficient education on diversity but instead took the approach of an ongoing process, incorporating these issues into the curricula for all classes.“The move toward social justice underlying all things on the campus especially in course work as a requirement for all students [is extremely important],” she said.On the other hand, junior John Kelly voiced concern about the way that diversity learning is integrated into course work. Often times, he said, classes only address how people of color or of diverse sexual orientations are relevant in the class topic for about a week and then move on without mentioning these groups again.“I don’t see anything in this report that’s going to change that and that worries me because I don’t think that’s an effective way to teach things like social justice,” Kelly said.Zavala replied that these questions are to be examined in the university’s next step — determining how to best implement the new policies. She added that faculty members are the ones with the most control over their course curriculums.“We understand that students are eager to see this plan on the ground,” Zavala said. “What we’re saying is that this has to be multidisciplinary, multi-prong and you have to get the faculty on board with that.”Senior Grainne Griffiths spoke next about engaging not only underrepresented groups but also students in the majority about changing campus atmosphere. Griffiths explained that it was important to get these students to recognize their own identities and privileges.“There’s lots of talk about engaging historically marginalized students and underrepresented students but there’s very little about engaging the students in the majority, and I think that’s critical,” she said.Kelly said that he felt that the faculty members reviewing the report had not addressed many of the issues that he and other students had outlined during last semester’s meeting, such as its broad definition of “diversity.”“It’s time-consuming, it’s frustrating, it’s traumatizing and nothing seems to be getting done,” he said.Zavala said she stood by the report’s definition, which needed to be broad enough to include all facets of the student experience. She also assured Kelly that she had reviewed all the notes from previous meetings and had made all the changes she thought were necessary.“We are listening,” she said. “I will ultimately say that I stand by the report. It’s not a roadmap that tells you exactly when to turn right or left, but it’s a way of looking towards accountability and campus climate.”Regarding the report’s goal to extend awareness of diversity into all classes, Professor in the Department of Computer Science Lenore Cowen said there was not a real peace and justice component to mathematics.As a female graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, she said she was often aware of being the only enrolled woman in certain classes. However, she didn’t want the professor to treat her any differently because of her gender.“Every now and then, people just want you to be gender-blind, color-blind, [blind to sexual orientation],” Cowen said. “Just treat them as people and understand that their experience is different.”Zavala argued that there were areas of math that should be examined with a gender context.“I recognize that there are certain departments that will find it challenging to engage with how to be true to the values of Tufts,” she said. “What I guess I want to say is nobody gets a pass.”In response to specific concerns like the falling retention rate of students of color at the university, Monaco said that part of the reason for his recent trips around the country was to generate the funds to fix these problems. Just this past week, after discussing this issue with alumni, an alumnus pledged $100,000 toward increasing financial aid, he said.“I’m not out there telling them only that Tufts is wonderful,” he said. “I’m out there telling them what the challenges are and how, as alumni, they can help us.”Several students, including Rae Axner, expressed concern about the role that students will play in the next steps of finalizing and implementing the report.12

The Setonian
News

Increased student interest in finance, consulting prompts new counselor hire

October 10

Due to a record number of students expressing interest in career paths related to finance and consulting, Tufts Career Services has been working to ramp up its efforts to support these students — including offering more finance networking events and hiring Christopher Di Fronzo (E ‘96) as the university’s first counselor specializing in this field.“Interest in finance and consulting careers has been steadily increasing over the past decade,” Director of Career Services Jean Papalia told the Daily in an email.Papalia said that, given the ever-increasing competition for careers in these industries, Tufts alumni in the Tufts Financial Initiative (TFI) advised the hire of a finance and consulting counselor.“Entry-level positions in these fields require highly specific preparation,” she said. “Recognizing this, Tufts alumni — many of whom also recruit here — identified the need for additional resources to ensure that our students are competitive with their peers from business schools.”A Jumbo himself, Di Fronzo has experience both in the financial field and with recruiting college students for job positions. “We are thrilled to have Chris Di Fronzo on our staff,” Papalia said. “With him onboard, the Career Center has been able to accommodate more significant numbers of students interested in finance and consulting.”Students are actively taking advantage of this new resource, with more undergraduates requesting to meet with Di Fronzo every day. Freshman Nandita Baloo seized the opportunity to meet with the counselor as a way to learn more about the finance and consulting field.“Christopher Di Fronzo has been organizing so many cool events,” Baloo said. “The Careers in Consulting networking night made it so anyone — from freshmen just trying to figure out what it’s all about to seniors looking for jobs — could access information.” Held on Sept. 12 and entitled “Careers in Consulting: An Evening of Networking,” the event connected undergraduates to more than 30 insiders and alumni — an increase from previous years that had just over 20 representatives — who work as consultants and recruiters, according to a Career Services pamphlet. The event drew in representatives of prominent firms, such as Fidelity Business Consulting, Novantas and Putnam Associates.“Overall it was a very rewarding day — it was long and filled with tons of information, but I think at the end of it all everyone got a lot out of it,” Baloo said.These on-campus events have been a huge success, with unprecedented turnouts among the student body, Papalia said. The Sept. 21 Finance Career Forum (formerly the Wall Street Crash Course) allowed students to attend informational panels and speak with Tufts alumni from firms in New York City, Boston, California, London and Hong Kong about different avenues within the field. Those in attendance were also able to eat lunch with the alumni, giving them the opportunity to network and make personal connections.“I have to say the level of interest and engagement was really high,” Christopher Manos, lecturer in the Department of Economics, said of the Finance Career Forum. “The school is being responsive to expressed student needs both through the Career Center and through Professors of the Practice [of Finance] by expanding their financial offerings.”Shortly following this event was the Sept. 23 Tufts Career Fair, an annual gathering of companies and organizations that are of interest for all majors, not just those students interested in careers in finance or consulting. Papalia said that this year’s fair featured over 125 employers, about 20 of which dealt exclusively with finance and consulting. Large crowds of students flocked to these booths which included representatives from The New England Consulting Group, Fidelity Investments and The Amundsen Group, among others.Di Fronzo is currently planning the intensive, two-day Wall Street Prep: Financial and Valuation Modeling Seminar for Nov. 2 and 3, which will be geared toward students with interests ranging from investment banking and private equity to business and corporate development.The Career Center’s support for students seeking jobs in finance doesn’t stop at event planning. In response to the high volume of requests for mock case interviews, alumni stepped in to help students prepare.12

The Setonian
News

Faculty receive new care benefits

October 9

As of the start of this academic year, university employees have access to up to 20 days of in-home child and adult care each calendar year.

The Setonian
News

DPES continues to address pedestrian safety

October 8

The Department of Public and Environmental Safety this semester has continued to make pedestrian and public safety on the Medford/Somerville campus a priority.The department partnered with the Tufts University Police Department , the cities of Somerville and Medford and transportation professionals to examine safety on campus, according to a Sept. 27 email that DPES Director Kevin Maguire sent out to the Tufts community.DPES plans to meet several goals, including reducing the number of crashes involving motor vehicles and pedestrians, creating a safer pedestrian climate in and around campus and raising awareness about the importance of pedestrian safety.“After accidents last year, we looked around to see what we could do to help improve safety and actually to improve visibility to drivers as to where pedestrians might be,” TUPD Deputy Chief Mark Keith said.Student-TUPD liaison Becky Goldberg, a junior, said that TUPD is dedicated to working with students to enhance safety on campus. Last fall, Goldberg and Tufts Community Union senator Darien Headen, a junior, worked with TUPD Sergeant Darren Weisse to facilitate conversations between TUPD and the student body. “Overall, TUPD is incredibly wonderful in taking what we have to say and really listening to it, being approachable and wanting to make sure we feel safe,” Goldberg said. “Their main purpose is not to get people into trouble but to prevent that from happening.”The TCU Senate last February collaborated with TUPD to hold the first ever Safety Awareness Week, designed to address safety-related issues and start discussions about possible improvements on campus.Goldberg said that she and Headen plan to meet with Weisse again to discuss holding safety weeks during both semesters this school year.“Working with TUPD and ensuring all of our safety is something that I care very deeply about,” Goldberg said. The intersection at Powderhouse Boulevard and Packard Avenue received specific attention following a series of accidents involving pedestrians in the spring of 2012. The city of Somerville implemented a number of improvements to the intersection in close collaboration with the university, Maguire said, including increased attention from the Somerville Police Department’s Traffic Unit, the trimming of tree branches and upgrades to traffic control devices. In addition, “stop ahead” signs were installed on both approaches to Packard Avenue, and all crosswalks were repainted, according to Maguire.Despite these changes, a student was involved in a serious accident at the Packard and Powderhouse intersection early in fall 2012, prompting the school to hire a traffic safety engineer in November, Maguire said. Nitsch Engineering, a local Boston engineering firm, studied the site of the accident and has assisted the university in determining how best to approach safety at intersections.The university funded the employment of the firm, he added.“The [university] president, the [Board of] Trustees, the executive leadership of the university and DPES are committed to the safety and security of our community, including the safety and security of community members as they travel on and immediately around campus, by foot, by bike or by motor vehicle,” Maguire said.Before making recommendations, Nitsch collected information about vehicle travel speeds at peak hours, pedestrians crossing at peak hours, bike traffic, slopes and grades of roadways and intersecting ways, lines of sight, lighting and visibility. The data was then analyzed to develop a plan of action, Maguire said.Although the firm could not recommend a full traffic light at the intersection since it did not meet the engineering requirements for that type of traffic control, Nitsch proposed the conversion of the intersection into a four-way — rather than a two-way — stop, according to Maguire. “This recommendation was accepted and acted upon within one day by the City of Somerville,” he said.Reconstruction of the intersection, including the installation of curb extensions on all four corners, was also encouraged, Maguire said. “The extensions would move parked motor vehicles away from the intersection, ... force traffic to slow on approach to the intersection and reduce the amount of time that pedestrians are at jeopardy as they cross,” he said. Keith said that construction at the intersection is expected to commence next Tuesday. According to Maguire, it will be completed by mid-November.In addition to improving the Packard and Powderhouse intersection, Keith said that signage on other streets adjacent to the Tufts campus, including Boston and College Avenues, has been renovated.“We went ahead and changed out a lot of those signs to upgrade them to the more visible, lime green florescent signage,” he said. “I think those high visibility signs really helped bring that to the drivers’ attention.”Pedestrian safety initiatives will continue in the coming months with similar traffic engineering studies for the Powderhouse corridor (from Powder House Square to Packard Avenue), Professors Row (from Curtis Street to College Avenue), the intersection of Boston Avenue and College Avenue, the College Avenue corridor (from Boston Avenue to beyond Talbot Avenue) and Boston Avenue (from College Avenue to Harvard Street), according to Maguire.12

The Setonian
News

Osher program brings adults to the Hill as part of lifelong learning mission

October 7

The last day to add or drop a class for students has just passed, but there are some on campus who are not anxious about their distribution requirements, upcoming midterms or large lecture classes. These particular students aren’t in their late teens or early 20s — they are senior citizens, taking part in the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) at Tufts.OLLI Program Director David Fechtor said that although there are about 360 members involved in the program this fall, the OLLI has seen about 70 new members this term.Co-founded in 2000 by the Tufts Alumni Association and the School of Arts and Sciences as the Tufts Institute for Learning in Retirement, the Osher program was initially offered only to Tufts and Jackson graduates living in the area. At the core of the program was the idea that learning is a lifelong process that does not necessarily have to involve tests and quizzes; the students coming to classes were interested in participating just for the sake of learning.“[The Osher program] is an opportunity [for its participants] to stay involved with the school and keep pursuing their academic interests in a social environment without any of the pressure of tests and grades and things like that,” Fechtor said.In 2003, the program opened its doors to all senior citizens in the community, to those in retirement and to those approaching retirement. The program name changed in 2005 in recognition of a grant from the Bernard Osher Foundation.Fechtor explained that the program is split up into four seasonal terms, including eight-week fall and spring terms, a four-week winter term and a two-week summer term. Between 15 and 35 courses are offered, ranging from “Rock and Roll and American Society,” to “Women in Politics,” to “Stem Cells: Promises and Pitfalls.”Ken Fettig, who leads study groups through the program, helped found the OLLI after getting inspired by a friend’s involvement in a similar program at Boston College.“[In the past] the only mail [that alumni would get from Tufts] was appeals for money,” he said.Fettig hopes that with the creation of this program, alumni would get something new in the mail and choose to get involved.On the other hand, only about 15 percent of Osher’s students are Tufts graduates, Fechtor noted.“[Non-Tufts graduates] now feel themselves part of the Tufts family,” he said.Going back to school is something that OLLI student Jane Eckert (J ’65) never thought she would do. But the program immediately piqued her interest when she heard about it.“It’s an opportunity to learn things you never studied in college because you couldn’t take those tests well,” Eckert said.First-year Osher student Clarice McDonald agreed with Eckert.“It’s a fun way of learning something new,” McDonald said.Although there are no tests, the students are assigned homework, such as reading or researching a topic to share with the class. The homework has not been a deterrent to participation in the program.“Unlike a college or graduate school program, in which some people sign up for courses out of genuine interest and some because they need to fulfill graduation requirements or distribution requirements, this is a self selecting group,” Fechtor said. “The people who sign up for these classes do so because they want to, not because they have to, and they all feel pretty committed to them.” In fact, the students are so committed that they come back year after year. Catherine Symonds, for example, is currently participating in her third year in the program. She told the Daily how impressed she has been with her peers.“Oh — the intelligence!” she said. “[It’s not unlikely that] you’ll be sitting beside a CEO in class.”Classes, which are held Monday through Friday on campus, meet in classrooms in the Mayer Campus Center and elsewhere, as well as on Wednesdays at Brookhaven at Lexington, a retirement community about 15 minutes from campus. The program is funded through a $50 membership fee, and courses can cost around $250 for up to 16 sessions.At the base of the program is the concept of peer teaching. Fechtor explained that the role of a study group leader, such as Fettig, is unlike that of a traditional teacher.“You don’t have to be an expert in an area [to be a group leader],” Fechtor said. “You just have to be enthusiastic and interested in the subject, interested enough so that you’ll be willing to spend some time researching it and then share what you’ve learned with your fellow members and moderate discussions about it. No one stands up there and lectures for two hours — that would be boring.”The classes are supplemented with sessions led by Tufts graduate students, known as Tufts Scholars, according to Fechtor.“[Tufts Scholars] bring younger perspectives and some vitality to the program,” he said.This year, the Osher program saw great changes and growth due to Fechtor’s promotional work.“In the past, we relied mostly on word-of-mouth from existing members and a mailing list from the alumni association, which let us know which grads lived in the greater Medford/Somerville area and greater Lexington area,” he said.For the first time, Fechtor advertised in local newspapers and expanded the mailing list to people who fit certain criteria — for instance, college-educated individuals within the right age range living in certain towns.“People were coming out of the woodwork saying, ‘I had no idea a program as exciting as this one even existed. How do I participate?’” he said.Another step that Fechtor took in publicizing the program was the creation of the Free Thinkers series, in which four speakers gave lectures to members of the program, free of additional charge.12

The Setonian
News

Boston mayoral race brings change, boasts two strong candidates

October 6

The federal government may be locked in standstill, but Boston politics press on. The mayoral election on Nov. 5 will determine the successor of long-serving Boston mayor Thomas Menino. After the Sept. 24 preliminary election, the choices have been narrowed down to City Councilor John R. Connolly and State Rep. Martin J. Walsh , who received 18 percent of votes to Connolly’s 17 percent. The two advance over 10 other candidates.Serving as mayor of Boston since 1993, Menino made the decision not to run for an unprecedented sixth term in 2013 due to personal health problems. Described by the New York Times as a “workhorse,” Menino is Boston’s longest serving mayor and has met around 50 percent of Boston residents, according to a 2013 poll. Thomas Menino was the only non-Irish American candidate to be elected since 1930, but Walsh and Connolly’s success in the primary guarantees that Boston will again have a male Irish-American mayor.“This has to be regarded by many as a disappointment,” Paul Watanabe, a political scientist at the University of Massachusetts Boston told the New York Times. “The ‘new Boston’ is based on the fact that this has become a majority-minority city.”After receiving a high approval rating for many of his terms, demonstrated by an 82 percent approval rating in July 2012, Menino’s decision has opened the door for a wide range of mayoral candidates.  Elimination Process The 12 original candidates consisted of five black candidates, a Latino candidate and six white candidates. One of the 12 was a woman. This diversity in choice of candidates represented the diversity of Boston residents, where 53 percent are members of a minority group. The candidates covered a variety of issues, including jobs, education and the economy.Despite some citizens’ hopes that the election would bring a landmark win in diversity for African-American candidate Charlotte Golar Richie , who came in third behind Walsh and Connolly, the primary resulted in two white, male, Irish-American candidates in their 40s as the main competitors.  Connolly Connolly, who grew up in Roslindale and was endorsed by the Boston Herald, is a member of Boston City Council, a former teacher and Boston Public School parent, according to his campaign website. His campaign has focused on education.“He is running for Mayor to transform our public schools, to bring a more inclusive, open culture to City Hall, and to usher in a new era of innovation across the City of Boston that puts us in the lead when it comes to creating safe, healthy and livable neighborhoods,” the website said.After obtaining his B.A. in government from Harvard University and then his J.D. from Boston College Law School, Connolly has worked as a teacher in New York City schools and as an attorney with community-based organizations, such as Action for Boston Community Development and the PrideLights Foundation, a South End-based gay rights organization.According to his campaign website, while on the city council he worked to improve the educational experience for children. Specifically, he focused on the dropout rate, the geographical spread of high quality schools and increased face time with teachers.Residents in Boston ranked education as the biggest problem in Boston, according to a MassINC poll conducted in September, which distinguished him from the 11 other candidates, giving him his second-place success in the primary with 17 percent of the vote.  Walsh Walsh, who received just over one percentage point more than Connolly, has served as representative of the 13th Suffolk district in the Massachusetts House of Representative since 1997. Walsh received his B.A. in social science from Boston College.“In the House, Marty has established himself as a leader on creating and protecting jobs and growing the economy,” his campaign website said.Walsh also claims to be a champion of civil rights. Raised by Irish immigrant parents in Dorchester, Walsh has always been surrounded by politics, the labor movement and community engagement work. With his focus on labors and unions, WBUR has labeled him the “labor guy.”Walsh, now living with partner Lorrie Higgins and their daughter in Dorchester, has been open about his past. At age seven, he was diagnosed with Burkitt’s lymphoma, a form of childhood cancer, and has made a miraculous recovery. He has also remained open about his past drinking problem: After struggling with alcohol and attending a detox facility in Cape Cod, he had his last drink on April 23, 1995. Two years later, he successfully won a special election for a vacant seat in the Massachusetts House of Representatives.12

The Setonian
News

Hopkins, local mayors discuss community

October 3

Rob Hopkins, founder of the international Transition Town Movement, spoke last night in Cabot Auditorium on how communities around the country are changing to develop more sustainable and resilient economies and social networks.

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