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University

Students, community members protest military industrial recruitment at career fair

By Henry Chandonnet | February 16

Students and community members gathered outside of the Gantcher Center on Feb. 10 to protest student recruitment at the career fair by military-industrial organizations. Sponsored by the Tufts Career Center, the fair featured booths from defense organizations like The MITRE Corporation, MIT Lincoln Laboratory and the U.S. Army New England, among other non-military organizations.

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University

TUPIT celebrates first volume of the ReSentencing Journal, success of educational programs

By Ella Kamm | February 15

The Tufts University Prison Initiative of Tisch College celebrated the release of the ReSentencing Journal, Vol. 1, a compilation of creative submissions from incarcerated and formerly incarcerated individuals, at an exhibition in Barnum Hall on Feb. 7.

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News

A program designed to give Mass. students free school meals may be made permanent

By Spenser Walsh | February 15

Massachusetts state lawmakers have introduced a proposal called “School Meals For All,” a continuation of a program that fed students during the COVID-19 pandemic. Representative Andres Vargas, who represents Haverhill, and Senator Sal DiDomenico, who represents Everett, filed the legislation.

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University

Tufts fellow shares research on caste in Sikh diaspora

By Olivia Field | February 14

Sasha Sabherwal, a postdoctoral fellow at the Center for the Humanities at Tufts, delivered a talk entitled “Collective Fictions of Caste: Unsettling Caste, Gender, and Religion in the Sikh Diaspora of the Transnational Pacific Northwest” on Feb. 8. The talk drew from Sabherwal’s research project studying Sikh communities in the Canadian and Pacific Northwestern diaspora. 

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Local

Boston Institute for Nonprofit Journalism raises $5,000 to keep the Somerville Wire running temporarily

By Peri Barest | February 10

The Boston Institute for Nonprofit Journalism raised $5,000 in three weeks to keep running the Somerville Wire, Editor Jason Pramas announced in a Feb. 2 editorial. The donations of 40 Somervillians allowed the Wire, an online, independent news service, to avoid a long-term spring hiatus.

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University

Monaco, Genco field questions at DEIJ town hall

By Arvind Pillai | February 9

The Tufts Community Union Senate held a school-wide town hall regarding the diversity, equity, inclusion and justice efforts at Tufts on Feb. 3. The event featured University President Anthony Monaco, Provost ad interim Caroline Genco and other senior administration members.

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University

Dr. Cornel West, faculty, students speak at ‘Dystopia Now!’ symposium

By Aaron Gruen | February 9

The Department of International Literary and Cultural Studies hosted the “Dystopia Now!” symposium, focused on representations of dystopia in media and popular culture, on Friday. Dr. Cornel West opened the event with a keynote address.

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University

3 students announced as winners of MLK Student Voices Award

By Katie Spiropoulos | February 9

Three Tufts students were presented with the MLK Student Voices Award at this year’s annual Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration. Andrew Harris, who submitted photography; Marsha Germain, who submitted poetry; and Ayomide Oloyede, who submitted a spoken poem, received this year’s award.

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University

Visiting Professor Dubovyk highlights war's impact on academia in Ukraine

By Aditya Acharya | February 8

Volodymyr Dubovyk, visiting professor at The Fletcher School, spoke about academia in war-stricken Ukraine in a conversation titled “Ukrainian Scholarship in Times of War.” Dubovyk is an associate professor of international relations and director of the Center for International Studies at the Odesa I. Mechnikov National University in Ukraine.

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University

Juniors Thomas Hershewe and Asher Smith win award for their political research

By Michaela Loughran | February 8

Tufts juniors Thomas Hershewe and Asher Smith won the Best Student Paper Award, given out yearly by the New England Chapter of the American Association for Public Opinion Research, for their political research. Along with the award, they received $100 in personal funding each and a free trip to Philadelphia in May, where they will have the chance to present their research at the annual AAPOR conference.

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University

Tufts to close COVID-19 testing centers

By Aaron Gruen | February 7

Tufts will close its testing centers at the Medford/Somerville and SMFA campuses on Mar. 17, it announced on Feb. 6.

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University

Provost’s office releases results from university’s first DEI survey

By Ishaan Rajiv Rajabali | February 7

Tufts conducted its first ever Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Campus Climate Survey in the spring of 2022, with 4,717 respondents completing the survey. The results were published in a report released in December 2022 and were announced on Jan. 23.

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News

Tufts faculty member appointed executive director of Boston Office of Fair Housing and Policy

By Megan Reimer | February 7

Robert Terrell, a Tufts faculty member, has been appointed the new executive director of Boston’s Office of Fair Housing and Equity. Terrell, a part-time lecturer in the Department of Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning, officially began his role on Jan. 3.

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University

TCU holds special senate election, passes new constitution

By Daniel Vos | February 6

The Tufts Community Union Elections Commission finalized the results of a special TCU Senate election on Thursday, Feb. 2. Nine senators were elected and a majority of students voted yes on the new TCU constitution referendum.

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Local

Somerville starts ‘consolidated rental waitlist’ for affordable housing

By Tessa Moore | February 6

The City of Somerville plans to launch a new consolidated rental waitlist in late 2023 to simplify the application process for reduced-cost housing opportunities as part of the city’s expanding inclusionary housing program.

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University

Annual celebration held in honor of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

By Zoe Kava | February 3

A celebration in honor of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was held on Jan. 30 by the Tisch College of Civic Life in collaboration with the Africana Center, the President’s Office, the University Chaplaincy and the Provost’s Office. The event, which was held in Breed Memorial Hall, featured keynote speaker Régine Jean-Charles, as well as student voices and a cappella groups. 

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Local

Mayor Wu delivers her first State of the City Address

By Matthew Sage | February 1

Boston Mayor Michelle Wu delivered her first State of the City Address on Jan. 25 at MGM Music Hall. It is the first State of the City Address held in person in three years due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Archives

Mayor Lungo-Koehn delivers the 2023 State of the City Address

By Estelle Anderson | January 30

Medford Mayor Breanna Lungo-Koehn delivered her 2023 State of the City Address at City Hall on Jan. 25, updating Medford residents on the city’s efforts to increase affordable housing, revitalize the downtown area, and enforce Diversity Equity and Inclusion training for government officials. She was joined by City Council President Nicole Morell, School Committee Vice Chair Jenny Graham and Medford’s first-ever poet laureate, Terry Carter, who opened the event with a poem.

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Local

A homeowner looking to rent out rooms was blocked by an obscure law — now lawmakers want to change the rules

By Matthew Sage | January 26

A Somerville homeowner attempting to rent rooms in his house to Tufts students has faced unexpected resistance from the city government on the grounds that his request to house unrelated students is unlawful. The homeowner, who requested that the Daily not identify him by name, has been appealing to the Somerville City Council for months.

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Local

Somerville City Council passes measure to eliminate medical debt

By Layla Shaffer | January 26

The Somerville City Council unanimously passed a resolution on Jan. 12 calling for the cancellation of Somerville residents’ medical debt. Headed by City Councilors At-Large Willie Burnley Jr. and Charlotte Kelly, the plan details the reappropriation of American Rescue Plan Act funds to buy medical debt portfolios in bulk for those residents who make up to 400% of the federal poverty rate, or those for whom debt is 5% or more of their annual income.

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