News - The Tufts Daily

Local

Tufts student runs for Somerville city councilor position

By Matthew Sage | November 7

A Tufts student might soon represent local residents as city councilor in Somerville’s upcoming election cycle. Jack Perenick, a member of the Class of 2025, is running for the Ward Five city councilor position against Naima Sait, an Algerian immigrant and long-time educator. At bimonthly meetings, the Somerville City Council is responsible for passing ordinances on issues ranging from zoning laws, creating special boards and commissions and approving mayoral budget modifications. Ward Five encompasses the center of Somerville and includes the business districts of Magoun Square, Ball Square and Porter Square. Council positions are part-time and span two years.

Local

Rick Caraviello is challenging incumbent Breanna Lungo-Koehn in upcoming municipal election

By Carly Cohen | November 6

Medford City Councilor Rick Caraviello is running against incumbent Mayor Breanna Lungo-Koehn in the city’s municipal election on Tuesday. Both candidates plan to give Tufts students more recreational and dining opportunities and revitalize the city as a whole.

University

Tufts Climate Action files legal complaint against trustees

By Daniel Vos | November 3

Tufts Climate Action filed a legal complaint with the attorney general of Massachusetts’ office on Monday. They claim the university’s estimated $90 million in fossil fuel investments constitutes a violation of their duties to the public as a nonprofit institution. The filing was made alongside five others at the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Chicago, Pomona College, Washington University in St. Louis and Pennsylvania State University. TCA’s filing was co-signed by several professors and local and international organizations.

Local

Massachusetts lawmakers introduce bill targeting legacy admissions

By Matthew Sage | November 3

Shortly before the Supreme Court’s decision to strike down Affirmative Action in June, Massachusetts legislators introduced a state bill that, if passed, would discourage colleges and universities from using admission practices that favor wealthier applicants.

Local

Medford holds forum on lead contamination, environmental racism

By Shannon Murphy | November 2

Clean Water Action and the Mystic Valley area branch of the NAACP held a public forum at Medford City Hall on Saturday to discuss the problem of lead contamination in drinking water and how communities in the Mystic Valley area can protect themselves against it. The presentation was hosted by Maureo Fernández y Mora, Clean Water Action’s state co-director for Massachusetts. Fernández y Mora focused on the relationship between environmental contamination and social justice.

University

TARC opens exhibit celebrating Tufts presidents

By Amon Gray | November 1

“The Charge and the Challenge: Tufts Presidents from Ballou to Kumar,” a new exhibit by the Tufts Archival Research Center, opened on Oct. 6. The exhibit celebrates the legacy of Tufts presidents for the inauguration of President Sunil Kumar. The exhibit features wall graphics at the Tisch Library main entrance formatted as a timeline of each of Tufts’ presidents since former university president Hosea Ballou in 1852, as well as an online component featuring artifacts curated by TARC with a connection to each of the presidents.

University

Music department concert showcases innovative compositions featuring cactus, ladle, bike pump

By Arvind Pillai | October 27

The Department of Music at Tufts presented an installment of its “Tufts Composers” series in the Distler Performance Hall on Oct. 19. Titled “Might as Well, Now That We’re Back,” the variety concert was curated by Professor of Music John McDonald and featured pieces by McDonald, guest composer Julia Werntz, faculty guest composer Stephan Pennington, faculty composer and alumnus Sid Richardson, alumni Jason Coleman and Yasaman Ghodsi and eight current students.

University

Students rally in solidarity with Palestine

By Aaron Gruen | October 26

Students across campus walked out of classes and protested yesterday in solidarity with Palestine. The walk-out, which was organized by Tufts Students for Justice in Palestine, began at 2:30 p.m. when more than 120 students congregated to chant and hear speeches outside the Olin Center for Language and Cultural Studies.

University

Panel discusses barriers to housing for formerly incarcerated people

By Samantha Eng | October 26

The Petey Greene Program, Tufts University Prison Initiative of Tisch College and the City of Boston’s Office of Returning Citizens hosted a documentary screening and panel discussion on Oct. 18 titled “Overcoming Housing Barriers After Incarceration,” featuring social entrepreneur Yusuf Dahl. When Dahl moved to Allentown, Pa. two years ago, his application to rent a house was denied because of a drug distribution sentence from 25 years prior. Frustrated that he couldn’t move to the school district he felt would best support his daughter’s education, Dahl wrote an op-ed for the Washington Post in 2022 and made a documentary with VICE Media called “Backgrounded.”

University

TUPD introduces new community building measures, including a comfort dog

By Michael Onysko | October 25

The Tufts University Police Department has introduced several initiatives in order to foster better relationships with the community, including a new comfort dog, Pepper. Yolanda Smith, executive director of public safety, explained in an email to the Daily that Pepper will serve as a community resource, offering emotional comfort.

University

Hodgdon Food-on-the-Run and Kindlevan Café return

By Tom Jamieson | October 24

Tufts’ grab-and-go options have returned in full after Kindlevan Café’s reopening on Oct. 12. After being closed for construction since last spring, both Hodgdon Food-on-the-Run — which reopened at the start of the semester — and Kindlevan Café sport new looks and provide more options for on-campus dining. Plans for renovations began during the COVID-19 pandemic when Tufts issued a $250 million bond to secure capital for future projects. Part of this money was set aside to improve on-campus dining.

University

Mass. Attorney General Andrea Campbell reflects on her first year in office

By Caroline Vandis | October 23

Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell visited Tufts on Oct. 17 as part of Tisch College’s Solomont Speaker Series. In a conversation with Taina McField, Tisch’s associate dean for strategy, Campbell reflected on her first year in office, discussing the office’s initiatives and the role faith and family has played in her career.

University

University holds biggest career fair yet, faces protesters

By Nicholas Prather | October 20

Over 1,500 students and 150 employers gathered for Tufts’ largest in-person career fair yet, held on Sept. 29 in the Gantcher Center. During the event, over a dozen students from campus groups including the Revolutionary Marxist Students gathered outside to protest the presence of several employers.

University

Mass. field coordinator for RFK Jr. campaign discusses electoral strategy

By Estelle Anderson | October 19

Timothy Kensinger, Massachusetts Field Coordinator for Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s presidential campaign, spoke to students on Oct. 11 about the campaign’s priorities and strategies for the upcoming election season. Organized by Tufts Republicans, the event took place only days after Kennedy, who was formerly registered as a Democrat, declared that he would be running for president as an independent.

Local

Somerville residents, civil employees convene at the city’s first Civic Day

By Joe Montalto | October 19

Somerville hosted its first-ever Civic Day on Sept. 30, where visitors were invited to learn about a variety of city-wide departments. In an interview with the Daily, Somerville Mayor Katjana Ballantyne shared details about the city’s aspirations and priorities. The event, which took place at Somerville High School, focused on introducing residents to the city’s government services and programs. Along with the mayor, the city’s Rat Czar and several councilors were also in attendance.

Local

MBTA removes slow zones on the Green Line

By Grayton Goldsmith | October 19

The MBTA has restored service to Union Square ahead of schedule and lifted all speed restrictions on the Green Line Extension, Phillip Eng, MBTA general manager and CEO, announced in an Oct.11 press release.

University

Solomont Speaker Series: Jodi Kantor on investigative journalism, breaking the Harvey Weinstein story

By Ishaan Rajiv Rajabali | October 19

Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Jodi Kantor visited the Jonathan M. Tisch College of Civic Life on Oct. 11 for the first installment of this semester’s Solomont Speaker Series. Kantor is best known for her joint investigative reporting with fellow journalist Megan Twohey, which exposed Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein’s long history of sexual harassment. The two are credited with playing a pivotal role in the emergence of the #MeToo movement, and co-authored a book together titled “She Said” (2019), which follows their reporting.

University

University denounces SJP praise of Hamas-led attacks

By Daniel Vos | October 12

In a message to its e-list on Monday, Tufts Students for Justice in Palestine praised the “creativity” of the Hamas-led surprise attacks on Israeli civilians launched on Oct. 7. Tufts denounced the student group’s message and University President Sunil Kumar called the attacks acts of “pure barbarism.”

University

Kumar officially inaugurated as Tufts’ 14th president

By Daniel Vos | October 12

Sunil Kumar was formally inaugurated as president of Tufts University on Oct. 6 on the Residential Quad after starting the job this July. Among those who introduced him were Peter Dolan, chairman of the Board of Trustees, TCU Senate President Arielle Galinsky and Ronald J. Daniels, president of Johns Hopkins University.

University

Graduate student workers walk out during Kumar’s inauguration ceremony

By Katie Spiropoulos | October 12

A group of Tufts graduate student workers walked out of President Sunil Kumar’s inauguration ceremony on Oct. 6, right before the opening remarks of Peter Dolan, Board of Trustees chairman. Following the walkout, demonstrators circled the Olin Center wearing purple shirts to represent their union, Service Employees International Union Local 509, which also represents part-time lecturers at Tufts. Holding megaphones and styrofoam signs, graduate student workers demanded higher wages, stronger health care resources and better overall appreciation from the university. Some led call and response chants such as, “What do we want? Contracts! When do we want them? Now!”