Somerville has made the 2022 Carbon Disclosure Project’s cities A-List, an award for leadership on environmental action and transparency. Only 12% of the 1,002 cities evaluated worldwide received this designation based on commitment to long-term climate action plans, fossil fuel emission reduction targets and local climate risk assessments.
The Tufts Republicans issued a statement on Nov. 23 accusing TCU Senate of spreading hateful and divisive rhetoric in their post about the National Day of Mourning and the history of the Thanksgiving holiday.
The TCU Senate approved on Dec. 4 a resolution to add more American Sign Language courses to the Tufts curriculum, which would allow students to minor in the language. During the meeting, the Senate also read the text of two new resolutions and approved 14 supplementary budget requests.
The Fletcher School hosted the “Rising Power Coalitions: Reimagining Global Governance”conference on Dec. 1 and 2, a series of discussions that covered themes such as changing power dynamics, foreign policy and new challenges in international affairs.
Tufts Medical Center will relaunch its liver transplant program in 2023 through its newly established Abdominal Transplant Institute. The institute, which will be led by clinical co-directors Dr. Fred Gordon and Dr. Martin Hertl, aims to build an effective and patient-focused liver transplant program.
Karen Panetta, the Tufts School of Engineering dean of graduate education, was awarded the 2022 Distinguished Service Award from the honor society of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, IEEE Eta Kappa Nu (IEEE-HKN). IEEE-HKN’s Distinguished Service Award is given annually to a member who has made major contributions for the development of the society and its activities, resulting in a significant benefit to all its members.
The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection recently added textiles and mattresses to the list of materials banned from waste disposal and further lowered the threshold on banned commercial food waste to include facilities generating more than half a ton per week. Tufts will need to expand its preexisting textile and food waste collection programs in order to adhere to the bans as well as revise its mattress disposal procedures.
Local drag artists Briar Blush, Rusty Hammer, Arabella LaDessé and Hal Apenyo joined the Tufts community in Curtis Hall on Nov. 29 for “Gender as a Show!,” an afternoon of drag performances followed by a panel on the role of gender in drag. The event was sponsored by the Tufts Department of Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies with support from the LGBT Center. WGSS instructor Matisse DuPont moderated the panel in the role of Monstera Délicieux and also offered an introductory performance to start the show.
Monroe France will become the inaugural vice provost of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Justice, as announced in an email to the Tufts community on Dec. 1. France will also receive an appointment as a professor of practice at the Jonathan M. Tisch College of Civic Life and will start both roles on April 3, 2023.
The Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts received a $6.6 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to research community-based nutrition programs in the Mississippi Delta area. The project seeks to bolster local produce consumption and production.
The Tufts chapter of Young Democratic Socialists of America has created a petition calling on the university to provide free use of laundry machines in all residential halls. They join groups like the Tufts Community Union Senate in considering how laundry costs act as a barrier to equity, though their proposed solutions differ.
A new TCU Senate initiative is bringing free tampons and pads to bathrooms across campus.
On Monday, Oct. 31, the Supreme Court heard arguments about whether the race of applicants should be considered during the college admission process. These cases were raised against Harvard College and the University of North Carolina. The conservative supermajority on the Court seems prepared to overrule the landmark precedent from Grutter v. Bollinger, the 2003 case that made affirmative action policies in college admissions legal.
The path of life is a whirlwind, filled with the good, the bad and the ugly. But the memories you make along the way are what make you who you are. But somewhere down the road, you have lost that part of you, because the very memories that built your foundation have dissipated. This is the reality for more than 6 million Americans who have lost who they are and who they were to become due to Alzheimer’s disease (AD).
Several members of the Tufts Department of Theatre, Dance, and Performance Studies were recognized in this year’s American Society for Theatre Research awards. Among this year’s winners are two faculty members and three alumni.
Tufts administration, faculty, staff and other community members convened on Nov. 16 at 51 Winthrop St. for the annual Distinction Awards ceremony, a celebration of outstanding members of the Tufts staff. Nominations for the award are decided by the President’s Office and the Human Resources Department at Tufts.
In an election night of historic firsts in Massachusetts, voters elected Democratic gubernatorial candidate Maura Healey as the state’s first female governor and one of the nation’s first openly lesbian governors. Several ballot measures also scored victories, including a tax on incomes above $1 million and a law allowing undocumented individuals to obtain state driver’s licenses.
Tufts announced on Nov. 17 that Sunil Kumar will be the 14th president of Tufts. Kumar will succeed current University President Anthony Monaco, who has held the office for 12 years, beginning in July 2023. Kumar was welcomed to Tufts’ campuses on Thursday and Friday to celebrate the announcement and meet members of the community.
A delegation of Tufts students and faculty attended the 2022 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, from Nov. 6 to Nov. 20. The 27th Conference of the Parties, or COP27, is an annual opportunity for world leaders, activists and professionals across the climate field to share their work with an international audience and negotiate on foreign policies that mitigate the impacts of global warming.
The Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement at Tufts University published early data on youth voter turnout and its impact on the 2022 midterm elections. During this year’s election, CIRCLE focused on how 18- to 29-year-old Americans voted, what impacted their decisions and what the newfound statistics mean for future youth representation.
