News

University

Student groups collaborate to host annual farmers market on Tufts campus

By Shayna Levy | October 17

The Student Garden Club, Sustainable CORE Fellows, TCU Senate and the Tufts University Social Collective collaborated for the third annual farmers market, which was held at the Campus Center on Oct. 4. The market featured local produce and student artwork, along with educational tabling regarding environmental justice and food insecurity at Tufts. 

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University

Student-run food vendors ‘Grilled Cheesus’ and ‘Tufts Crepes’ to continue hosting events around campus

By Carly Hope | October 17

“Grilled Cheesus” and “Tufts Crepes,” the popular, unofficial student groups hosting food vending events around campus, plan to continue functioning despite intervention into Grilled Cheesus’ operations from Residential Life staff and changing business plans. 

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University

Zeta Beta Tau returns from almost two years of probation

By Michael Onysko | October 17

Following the completion of a social probation issued in April 2023, the fraternity Zeta Beta Tau will resume hosting social activities starting this fall, while remaining under disciplinary probation.

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University

Founder of Center for State Policy Analysis leads information session on Massachusetts ballot questions

By Josh Solomon | October 16

In less than a month, Massachusetts voters will vote on a range of issues from psychedelic drug legalization to rideshare unions in the form of ballot questions. Evan Horowitz, executive director of the Center for State Policy Analysis, engaged Tufts students and community members in a discussion about this year’s state ballot initiatives during an event on Oct. 9.

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Local

Somerville Central Library reopens with private security after weeks of midday closures

By Marlee Stout | October 16

The Somerville Central Library resumed its regular weekday schedule on Oct. 2, following over a month of reduced hours aimed at combating violent and disruptive behavior by some patrons. Somerville Mayor Katjana Ballantyne announced the reopening, along with “updated safety measures” put in place to create “a safe and supportive library environment.”

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University

Tufts Health Service is now providing medication abortions. Here’s what that looks like

By Carly Cohen | October 15

Tufts Health Service has begun to provide medication abortions, a method for terminating pregnancies up to 11 weeks.

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Local

Ballantyne, city leaders address homelessness and drug use in Somerville during community meeting

By Anika Parr | October 15

At least 200 residents gathered in the Somerville Community Baptist Church for a meeting on public safety in the Seven Hills and Davis Square area on Oct. 9. Amid rising concerns about homelessness and public drug use in these communities, Somerville Mayor Katjana Ballantyne, newly-appointed Police Chief Shumeane Benford and other city leaders tried to balance public safety concern with compassion for unhoused individuals struggling with addiction.

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News

A year since Oct. 7: How campus groups marked the anniversary

By Estelle Anderson and Samantha Eng | October 10

Students marked the anniversary of Oct. 7 with memorials and demonstrations on Monday. Some organizations held an evening vigil for lives lost to Hamas’ attacks, while a group of students convened to protest in solidarity with Palestine.

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University

Salvadoran journalist and Boston civil rights lawyer discuss democracy, 2024 election, immigration policy during lecture

By Varya Karpinskaya | October 10

The Department of Romance Studies hosted a discussion on Oct. 3 titled “The High Cost of Democracy, Freedom of the Press, and Immigration Policy,” focusing on the political climate in El Salvador and its parallels with politics in the United States. The event featured two speakers: Óscar Martínez, a Salvadoran journalist and co-founder of Latin America’s first digital newspaper, El Faro, and Iván Espinoza, executive director of Lawyers for Civil Rights in Boston.

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Local

Medford City Council, Board of Health take action to combat growing rodent problem

By Julia Rich | October 10

The Medford City Council is working to combat the city’s rodent problem with new ordinances and enforcement tactics, in partnership with the Medford Health Department. The efforts come amid a recent increase in rodents and wild animals such as rats and raccoons, causing concerns about sanitation issues and the spread of disease.

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University

Andrea Savage discusses leading environmental initiatives during Hoch Cunnigham Environmental Lecture series

By Alexandra Tse | October 9

Andrea Savage, a campaign manager for the Clean Transportation Program at the Union of Concerned Scientists and a Tufts alumna, spoke at the Hoch Cunningham Environmental Lectures series on Thursday. Hosted in collaboration with the political science department, Savage’s talk, titled “The Complexities of Community-Led Climate Solutions From an Outsider,” centered on her experiences directing community-led conservation efforts.

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News

Service industry workers divided on minimum wage ballot measure

By Grayton Goldsmith | October 8

Come election day, Massachusetts voters will be asked to cast their vote on five ballot measures appended to their standard general election ballots. One such measure pertains to the minimum wage for tipped workers.

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University

Tufts suspends SJP ahead of group’s planned Oct. 7 protest

By Estelle Anderson | October 7

The Tufts administration has imposed an “interim suspension” on Students for Justice in Palestine, as announced in an Instagram post by SJP on Friday evening.  

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University

Amid scramble to find off-campus housing, university aims to address students’ concerns

By Julian Glickman | October 7

In light of growing concerns regarding off-campus housing, Tufts hosted two student focus groups in late September and created an administrative role for off-campus engagement. The steps come as students have expressed financial, legal and logistical concerns in navigating the process of finding off-campus housing for their junior and senior years.

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University

Career fair faces anti-military protest, TUPD investigating anonymous vandalism of Gantcher

By Samantha Eng | October 4

On Sept. 27, a protest outside this semester’s career fair in Gantcher Center condemned the inclusion of national defense and military research recruiters, making it the latest Tufts career fair in the last year faced with student demonstrations. Spray-painted messages denouncing the presence of groups such as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Lincoln Laboratory were found on the doors of Gantcher.

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Local

Medford receives $750,000 grant for Medford Connects expansion

By Zach Halverstam | October 4

The Massachusetts state government provided $750,000 in funding for the expansion of City of Medford’s “Medford Connects” project, an environmental justice initiative introduced by Mayor Brianna Lungo-Koehn in 2020. The funding comes from the fourth round of Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness ...

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Local

Somerville launches second year of participatory budgeting, with changes from first cycle

By Amelia Sammons | October 3

Somerville officially launched its second-ever round of participatory budgeting on Sept. 20, allocating $1 million of the city’s budget toward city improvement projects that will be voted on by residents. Participatory budgeting, which Somerville first implemented in 2023, strives to involve more community members in the democratic process by giving them a voice in how the city’s budget is spent. 

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University

Computer science department to require prior programming experience for introductory course

By Zoe Herrmann | October 3

The Tufts Department of Computer Science has announced a major change in its curriculum, with the introductory course “Introduction to Computer Science”—or CS11—now requiring students to have prior coding experience before enrolling. The addition of a prerequisite will be implemented starting in spring 2025.

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University

New Boston Avenue dorm to house almost 700 students, contain mix of apartment styles

By Toby Winick | October 3

Following Tufts’ Sept. 12 announcement of plans to build an upperclassman-only dorm on Boston Avenue, the university has released new details about the project, which is set to be the largest residence hall in Tufts history. To be located at 401 Boston Avenue next to Dowling Hall, the building is planned to host 677 beds across multiple different unit layouts and feature retail store space on the bottom floor.

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University

TCU Senate introduces new senators, weighs club funding requests, considers first resolution

By Spenser Walsh | October 1

The Tufts Community Union Senate welcomed newly elected community and Class of 2028 senators, selected new members of the Allocations Board and handled supplementary funding requests during their meeting on Sept. 29.

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