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Students protest Kumar’s condemnation of TCU Senate resolutions

By Matthew Sage | March 6

In an email sent to the wider Tufts community on Monday, University President Sunil Kumar condemned the three recently passed Tufts Community Union Senate resolutions that called on the university to cut ties to Israel and to acknowledge the Palestinian genocide in Gaza. Sent less than 12 hours after the Senate announced results around 3 a.m., Kumar’s email sparked a student protest and die-in at Barnum Hall on Tuesday.

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Students to establish Tufts Undergraduate Law Review

By Layla Kennington | March 6

The Tufts Undergraduate Law Review, the only of its kind on Tufts’ campus, will publish its first edition in April. The publication follows in the footsteps of other undergraduate law reviews, notably those of Brown and Harvard.

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University

OEO is asking students about sexual misconduct at Tufts — Here’s why you should fill out the survey

By Katie Spiropoulos | March 5

The Office of Equal Opportunity recently sent out a survey to the Tufts community seeking to gauge the prevalence of sexual misconduct on campus. OEO worked with the education consulting group Grand River Solutions to develop the survey and has been collecting responses since Feb. 12. Campus organizations that focus on sexual misconduct and sexual health will use the results to fine-tune their offerings.

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University

TCU Senate passes 3 of 4 resolutions seeking university accountability for ties to Israel

By Matthew Sage, Julieta Grané and Rachel Liu | March 4

In the early hours of Monday, the Tufts Community Union Senate voted to approve three out of four resolutions formally calling on University President Sunil Kumar to recognize genocide in Gaza, for the university to divest from Israeli companies and for it to cease selling Sabra products in dining halls. It did not, however, pass a resolution calling on the university to end approval for study abroad programs at universities in Israel.

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New TCU senators elected in 2024 special election

By Josué Pérez | February 29

Four representatives, including the new Southwest Asian and North African community senator, join the ranks of the Tufts Community Union Senate following a special election, while the Indigenous community senator seat remains vacant. Polls were open from Thursday at 12 p.m. to Friday at 12 p.m.

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Haley campaign makes an appeal to Tufts voters

By Grayton Goldsmith | February 29

Jennifer Nassour, the Massachusetts state chair for former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley’s presidential campaign and former chair of the Massachusetts GOP, shared her reasons for supporting Haley and answered questions from students during an event organized by Tufts Republicans on Feb. 21.  

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JumboCode hosts first hackathon at Tufts in 5 years

By Dhruvii Mehta | February 28

JumboCode organized Tufts’ first hackathon in five years over the weekend of Feb. 17–18 in the Joyce Cummings Center. JumboCode, one of the biggest coding clubs at Tufts, focuses on creating quality software for nonprofit organizations. Around 150 students participated in the event, which also featured guest speakers and workshops.

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University

TCU Senate to vote Sunday on genocide acknowledgment, university divestment

By Carly Cohen | February 27

On Sunday, the Coalition for Palestinian Liberation at Tufts introduced four full-text resolutions to the Tufts Community Union Senate which, if passed, will call on the Office of the President and other senior leadership to acknowledge Israel’s continued assault on Gaza and to end all ties to the country. Senators will vote on finalized versions of all four resolutions at next week’s meeting, just two weeks after the introduction of abstracts on Feb. 18.

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University

Community health majors must pay eight times original price for required summer internship

By Erin Zhu | February 22

Community health majors learned earlier this month of Tufts’ decision to raise the summer cost of a required internship course, CH140, from $500 total to $1,035 per credit. This change, meaning an increase of over $3,640 for the 4-credit class, has surprised students who will experience increased financial burden when they work a required internship over the summer.

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University

Theta Chi returns from a year of probation

By Carly Cohen | February 22

After completing a year-long probation for violating Tufts’ alcohol-free recruitment policy in December 2022, Theta Chi has resumed normal activities this semester. During its probation, the fraternity was suspended from hosting social events.

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Former news editors turned global correspondents

By Shannon Murphy | February 22

After serving as devoted leaders of the Daily’s News section, two former executive editors are spending their spring semesters in Europe. Junior Aaron Gruen, spring 2023 executive news editor and fall 2023 editor in chief, is currently studying at University College London, while junior Daniel Vos, fall 2023 executive news editor, is at the University of Amsterdam.

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Solomont Speaker Dr. Talithia Williams discusses strategies for minimizing health disparities

By Lucas Frota | February 21

Dr. Talithia Williams, a renowned statistician and TED Talk speaker, discussed her unique perspective in the fight against health disparities in her most recent lecture at Tufts, “Data Driven Solutions for Eliminating Health Disparities,” jointly presented by the School of Engineering’s Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Justice Colloquium Series and Tisch College’s Solomont Speaker Series.

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Writers grapple with the reality of AI in ExCollege course

By Layla Kennington | February 20

This semester, the Experimental College is hosting a class focused on helping aspiring writers enter the tech industry called “Careers for Writers in the Tech Sector.” Visiting Lecturer Rita Reznikova (LA’08), the course’s instructor, seeks to introduce students to the variety of professional opportunities for writers, even amid the rise of generative artificial intelligence models like ChatGPT that threaten traditional career paths.

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Four Tufts faculty members receive grants for women’s health research

By Rebecca Barrie | February 16

In late January, the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center Women’s Health Initiative awarded grants to four Tufts faculty members to fund projects addressing the issue of inequities in women’s health research. Assistant Professors Nisha Iyer and Juan Gnecco, Professor Sameer Sonkusale and Frank C. Doble Professor Fiorenzo Omenetto received these grants towards their projects, which focus on understanding and solving issues related to women’s health.

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Housing lottery numbers released Friday for 2024–25 school year

By Caroline Vandis | February 15

On Friday, the Office of Residential Life & Learning released housing lottery numbers for sophomore housing via email. All rising sophomores, who are required to live on campus per the two-year residency requirement, were given lottery numbers which ranged from 1,000–2,900. Interested rising seniors and juniors had to apply for a lottery number in the fall, and those accepted last semester were assigned numbers between 1–400 and 500–900 respectively, with some flexibility.

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Journalist Neil Swidey discusses nonprofit for college completion

By Samantha Eng | February 15

Tufts alumnus Neil Swidey spoke at the Tisch College Civic Life Lunch about his work on the Alray Scholars Program, which aims to support Boston Public School students in completing their college degrees, on Feb. 5 in Barnum Hall.

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Carmichael Hall residents see rodents’ reign recede

By Josué Pérez | February 15

Students in Carmichael Hall reported an uptick of mouse sightings and encounters following their return from winter break, with the university formally addressing the problem of pest control on Jan. 19 via an email from the Office of Residential Life & Learning.

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CPLT stages walkout on National Student Day of Action for Divestment

By Matthew Sage | February 13

In a walkout from classes on Thursday, students assembled in front of the Mayer Campus Center to protest Israel’s continued war in Gaza, which has now taken the lives of over 28,000 Palestinians since Oct. 7, 2023. The protest, organized by the Coalition for Palestinian Liberation at Tufts, coincided with similar demonstrations at other schools in a National Student Day of Action for Divestment.

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Class of 2028 first to be admitted post-affirmative action

By Amaani Jetley | February 9

In the school’s first round of admissions since the Supreme Court’s decision to strike down affirmative action, admissions officers lack access to any part of applicants’ racial background, leaving the Class of 2028’s racial makeup, for now, ambiguous.

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Fostering collaboration and understanding, TCU Senate hosts leadership lunch

By Alexandra Huenlein | February 8

Club leaders from media, programming and performance groups met with Tufts Community Union Senate leaders in the Alumnae Lounge on Friday for a shared lunch, part of a five-part series where the TCU Senate invites different club presidents to lunch. These meetings were coordinated to discuss problems these clubs face and to foster a stronger connection between TCU Senate leaders and student organizations. 

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