Despite threats from city councilors, the lodging license renewal for 31 Tufts University properties in Somerville passed Somerville City Council’s Licenses and Permits Committee unanimously.
Diane Hessan (J’76), entrepreneur, researcher and author of “Our Common Ground”spoke over Zoom on Sept. 28 to the Tufts community about her work researching the true face of the American electorate. Sol Gittleman, the Alice and Nathan Gantcher university professor emeritus and Brighter World Campaign co-chair, led the discussion.
As the delta variant of the COVID-19 virus continues to spread through Tufts University’s campuses in the form of breakthrough infections, the university has clarified its quarantine, isolation and contact-tracing protocols. Notably, close contacts of COVID-19-positive individuals no longer need to quarantine and the university has reduced capacityto house students in isolation.
Professors Lisa Shin and Sam Sommers are once again co-teaching Introduction to Psychology this semester. This year, they have added a twist to their standard lecture on the psychology of student life, integrating advice from former PSY 1 students to apply psychology concepts to the everyday experiences faced by new Tufts students.
Tufts University School of Medicineannounced on Sept. 15 the opening of the new Tufts doctor of physical therapy program based in Phoenix, Ariz., with plans to enroll an inaugural class in the summer of 2022.
Disclaimer: Hana Tzou is an assistant copy editor at The Tufts Daily. Hana was not involved in the writing or editing of this article.
Professor Kyongbum Lee was named Karol Family professor and dean ad interim of the School of Engineering on Aug. 3. He replaced Jianmin Qu, who left Tufts to become provost and vice president for academic affairs at Stevens Institute of Technology at the end of the same month.
The Tufts Community Union Elections Commission held a Tufts Community Union-wide election on Tuesday and Wednesday, filling vacant seats in the Committee on Student Life, TCU Judiciary and TCU Senate.
Greek life is back to in-person activities for the first time since the spring 2020 semester. This fall, new local sororities Thalia and The Ivy are holding their first in-person events for their Membership Application Processes (MAP). However, Delta Tau Delta (DTD) has been placed on probation and Zeta Psi was disbanded by the university after both fraternities violated Tufts University COVID-19 guidelines last year.
As smartphones, online shopping and cryptocurrency have become more prevalent in the past 20 years, so too have ultraprocessed foods, which make up the majority of youth diets. The percentage of child and adolescent diets composed of ultraprocessed foods — those made with refined ingredients and additives — hasincreased from 61% to 67% in the past 20 years, according to a recent Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. The findings may have implications for combating the development of ultraprocessed food-related disease in adulthood.
The start of the semester marks the return of students, professors and staff alike to campus, which means the facilities department is inevitably in high demand. This year, among other issues, students are facing pests in their dormitories.
Prior to a Friday, Sept. 17 volleyball game between Tufts and Connecticut College, a Connecticut player tested positive for COVID-19. No Tufts athletes tested positive after the game.
The Vouté Tennis Courts on Professors Row remain unusable due to the modular housing units installed on top of the courts in 2020. This has caused Tufts’ varsity tennis teams to hold practices and games on the South Courts by Harleston Hall, as they did last year.
A grant from the Arthur Vining Davis Foundations (AVDF) will fund the creation of a new track in the civic studies major, an interdisciplinary program housed in the Jonathan M. Tisch College of Civic Life, that focuses on the intersection of religion and civic engagement.
Anthony Cruz Pantojas was recently hired as Tufts University’s new Humanist chaplain, one of the many faiths represented as part of the Tufts University Chaplaincy. A graduate of the Andover Newton Theological School, their hiring followed an exhaustive nationwide search process taking into account the needs of Humanist students and other members of the Tufts Humanist community.
The Tufts Community Union Senate discussed its upcoming retreat and interviewed an additional trustee representative applicant during its meeting on Sunday.
In response to the Supreme Court’s blocking President Joe Biden's order to extend the national eviction moratorium issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, some local municipalities, including the cities ofSomerville andBoston, have instituted and extended their own local eviction moratoriums. Others, including the city of Medford, have let the protections become void.
Local mask mandates for public indoor areas were reinstated on Aug. 20 in Somerville, Aug. 27 in Boston and Sept. 10 in Medford. The reinstatement of these mandates follows a resurgence of COVID-19 cases in Massachusetts counties, largely due to the Delta variant.
Ghenwa Hakim, associate director of the Tufts International Center, stepped down from her position to pursue a career in immigration law earlier this month.
As Tufts community members impacted by the United States’ withdrawal from Afghanistan grapple with the ongoing crisis, community members have worked tirelessly to support students and address the lack of on-campus engagement around the issue.
