Tufts University’s faith communities are experiencing their first on-campus observances of Passover, Easter and Ramadan since the COVID-19 pandemic began. To celebrate the holidays, various small-group, in-person events and Zoom events have been occurring, with more planned for the coming weeks.
The resolution is not binding for the university. Patrick Collins, executive director of media relations at Tufts, said that Tufts will not be taking action in response to the Senate's unanimous vote, citing the university's small percentage of indirect investments in private prisons.
The office is currently held by Joseph Curtatone, the city's longest-serving mayor, who announced earlier this month that he is not running for reelection after nearly 20 years. Katjana Ballantyne has previously served as board president of the Somerville Community Corporation and was elected twice as City Council president.
In the statement, Glaser and Chigas highlighted the reasons for the decision and the future of Chinese language and culture learning at Tufts, noting that moving on from the CITU will allow the university to expand its relationship with BNU. Others interviewed expressed relief at the decision and explained the dangers of the institutes on college campuses.
The Tufts University Prison Initiative at Tisch College introduced a resolution that was passed unanimously by the Tufts Community Union Senate. The resolution calls on the university to allow currently and formerly incarcerated individuals who are taking Tufts courses through the TUPIT program, which is taught by Tufts professors, to earn a Tufts bachelor’s degree in civic studies.
The resolution, which was co-sponsored by Ward 7 Councilor Katjana Ballantyne and approved by the City Council as a whole, raised concerns about how the pandemic has disproportionally affected women’s opportunities in the workplace and has undone some of the progress made by women in professional fields over the last few decades.
The panel was co-sponsored by the Africana studies program, the Africana Center and the international relations program. Charlene Carruthers, a PhD student in the department of African American studies at Northwestern University, opened by saying that the importance of amplifying Black voices is not new.
The conference’s theme was “I am because we are,” and consisted of a series of panels, workshops and sessions over two days on topics ranging from networking and career advice to personal development and community building. Rev. Naomi Tutu, the daughter of human rights advocate Archbishop Desmond Tutu, gave the closing keynote address.
Flournoy, former under secretary of defense for policy of the Obama administration, spoke at an event hosted by Tisch College and The Fletcher School. In discussing the transition from the Trump administration to the Biden administration, Flournoy discussed how the use of waivers to instate retired generals as the secretaries of defense has been a consistent decision that may have negative implications in government.
"[The project] would like to celebrate the enrichments given to the community, from the diversity brought from immigrants … to highlight their own stories, their backgrounds, but also in order to achieve a better understanding of how we as a community, and especially specifically from the Human Rights Commission, can be supportive of their needs and their challenges," commissioner Lara Versari said at the March 17 meeting.
A team of 300 civic leaders and scholars involved in the Educating for American Democracy initiative, an unprecedented effort to improve and advise history and civics classes at all grade levels nationwide, recently released a roadmap and report of their findings. The materials aim to strengthen the nation's civic education and create civically-engaged citizens during this period of heightened political polarization and inequality.
The Tufts Public Health Society recently announced that it is collaborating with the Medford Senior Center to run a new program called Community Connections. The program aims to create relationships between Tufts students and the Medford senior community while combating isolation due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The organization connects student callers to individuals at the Medford Senior Center.
Million Meals Mission, an organization committed to raising money and providing meals to impoverished communities, with the ultimate goal of achieving a world free of global and systemic food insecurity, has launched a chapter at Tufts. “The purpose of the Tufts chapter is specifically to combat local food insecurity in the Medford/Somerville or local Massachusetts area [and] build that conversation at Tufts about the larger mission … that the HQ level is doing,” Padalkar said.
"We are very passionate about women’s reproductive health, and it is important that Tufts provides these products for their students, especially those who are low-income since they impose a significant financial burden," Kabra, a sophomore, wrote in an email to the Daily. "These menstrual products in public bathrooms are for people to take as needed and will help those who need it the most.
The money will be invested into 123 different projects. The projects include investments in roadway quality, parks and recreational spaces, vehicles and equipment for staff, water and sewer infrastructure and capital projects. Of the $107.6 million, investments will be made from specific funds. The General Fund has $79.5 million and the Enterprise Fund $9.2 million, and more than $18.7 million will come from grants and other non-tax levy sources, according to the plan.
There is a wide variety of programming planned for the week, including kickboxing, yoga and zumba classes, grab-n-go events, cooking classes and mindfulness sessions. The events are taking place during what would have been a week-long spring break, had it not been for the pandemic. Kabra, a sophomore, spoke about how she hopes the "Staycation” can benefit students who are missing the typical mid-semester break.
The Tufts Community Union Senate passed a resolution calling on the university to give incarcerated and formerly incarcerated participants in the Tufts University Prison Initiative of Tisch College (TUPIT) the opportunity to earn a Tufts degree and discussed recent anti-Asian racism in a virtual meeting on Sunday evening.
Abrams also discussed her route to politics. Growing up in a family committed to social justice, she often missed the Saturday morning cartoons when accompanying her parents to protest, vote and volunteer at local soup kitchens, homeless shelters and juvenile justice facilities. Abrams said she was influenced by lessons her parents taught her.
With this desire to make an impact on the curriculum, the organization created a questionnaire to gather feedback from students in the international relations community. It surveyed general opinions of respondents and asked questions targeting inequities within the course. Women in International Relations also sought suggestions for future readings as well as thoughts to mention to coordinators and professors from the international relations program.
In addition to the populations returning to in-person school on March 4 and March 18, other Somerville students will gradually return in person through the rest of March and April. All students between pre-kindergarten and eighth grade are expected to be back in person by April 29, utilizing hybrid learning models. However, this does not include students in grades 9–12 who are not in high needs special education programs or multilingual learning lab students.
