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Panel discusses barriers to housing for formerly incarcerated people

By Samantha Eng | October 26

The Petey Greene Program, Tufts University Prison Initiative of Tisch College and the City of Boston’s Office of Returning Citizens hosted a documentary screening and panel discussion on Oct. 18 titled “Overcoming Housing Barriers After Incarceration,” featuring social entrepreneur Yusuf Dahl. When Dahl moved to Allentown, Pa. two years ago, his application to rent a house was denied because of a drug distribution sentence from 25 years prior. Frustrated that he couldn’t move to the school district he felt would best support his daughter’s education, Dahl wrote an op-ed for the Washington Post in 2022 and made a documentary with VICE Media called “Backgrounded.” 

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University

TUPD introduces new community building measures, including a comfort dog

By Michael Onysko | October 25

The Tufts University Police Department has introduced several initiatives in order to foster better relationships with the community, including a new comfort dog, Pepper. Yolanda Smith, executive director of public safety, explained in an email to the Daily that Pepper will serve as a community resource, offering emotional comfort.

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University

Hodgdon Food-on-the-Run and Kindlevan Café return

By Tom Jamieson | October 24

Tufts’ grab-and-go options have returned in full after Kindlevan Café’s reopening on Oct. 12. After being closed for construction since last spring, both Hodgdon Food-on-the-Run — which reopened at the start of the semester — and Kindlevan Café sport new looks and provide more options for on-campus dining. Plans for renovations began during the COVID-19 pandemic when Tufts issued a $250 million bond to secure capital for future projects. Part of this money was set aside to improve on-campus dining.

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University

Mass. Attorney General Andrea Campbell reflects on her first year in office

By Caroline Vandis | October 23

Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell visited Tufts on Oct. 17 as part of Tisch College’s Solomont Speaker Series. In a conversation with Taina McField, Tisch’s associate dean for strategy, Campbell reflected on her first year in office, discussing the office’s initiatives and the role faith and family has played in her career.

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University

University holds biggest career fair yet, faces protesters

By Nicholas Prather | October 20

Over 1,500 students and 150 employers gathered for Tufts’ largest in-person career fair yet, held on Sept. 29 in the Gantcher Center. During the event, over a dozen students from campus groups including the Revolutionary Marxist Students gathered outside to protest the presence of several employers.

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University

Mass. field coordinator for RFK Jr. campaign discusses electoral strategy

By Estelle Anderson | October 19

Timothy Kensinger, Massachusetts Field Coordinator for Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s presidential campaign, spoke to students on Oct. 11 about the campaign’s priorities and strategies for the upcoming election season. Organized by Tufts Republicans, the event took place only days after Kennedy, who was formerly registered as a Democrat, declared that he would be running for president as an independent.

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University

Solomont Speaker Series: Jodi Kantor on investigative journalism, breaking the Harvey Weinstein story

By Ishaan Rajiv Rajabali | October 19

Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Jodi Kantor visited the Jonathan M. Tisch College of Civic Life on Oct. 11 for the first installment of this semester’s Solomont Speaker Series. Kantor is best known for her joint investigative reporting with fellow journalist Megan Twohey, which exposed Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein’s long history of sexual harassment. The two are credited with playing a pivotal role in the emergence of the #MeToo movement, and co-authored a book together titled “She Said” (2019), which follows their reporting.  

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University

University denounces SJP praise of Hamas-led attacks

By Daniel Vos | October 12

In a message to its e-list on Monday, Tufts Students for Justice in Palestine praised the “creativity” of the Hamas-led surprise attacks on Israeli civilians launched on Oct. 7. Tufts denounced the student group’s message and University President Sunil Kumar called the attacks acts of “pure barbarism.”

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University

Kumar officially inaugurated as Tufts’ 14th president

By Daniel Vos | October 12

Sunil Kumar was formally inaugurated as president of Tufts University on Oct. 6 on the Residential Quad after starting the job this July. Among those who introduced him were Peter Dolan, chairman of the Board of Trustees, TCU Senate President Arielle Galinsky and Ronald J. Daniels, president of Johns Hopkins University.

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University

Graduate student workers walk out during Kumar’s inauguration ceremony

By Katie Spiropoulos | October 12

A group of Tufts graduate student workers walked out of President Sunil Kumar’s inauguration ceremony on Oct. 6, right before the opening remarks of Peter Dolan, Board of Trustees chairman. Following the walkout, demonstrators circled the Olin Center wearing purple shirts to represent their union, Service Employees International Union Local 509, which also represents part-time lecturers at Tufts. Holding megaphones and styrofoam signs, graduate student workers demanded higher wages, stronger health care resources and better overall appreciation from the university. Some led call and response chants such as, “What do we want? Contracts! When do we want them? Now!”

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Local

Tufts teams up with Medford/Somerville for Community Day

By Dhruvii Mehta | October 10

Tufts held its annual Community Day event on Oct. 1 at the Academic Quad. Neighboring community members from Medford and Somerville were invited to campus to attend family-friendly activities and performances organized by Tufts students, faculty and staff.

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University

Abortion discussion organized by Federalist Society attracts pro-choice protesters

By Samantha Eng | October 5

The Federalist Society chapter at Tufts called TUPD in response to a pro-choice protest at a discussion event on the morality of abortion on Sept. 29. The two speakers at the event, Harvard law professor Stephen Sachs and Boston College philosophy professor Gregory Fried, were invited by FedSoc to discuss pro-life and pro-choice views.

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University

Is America’s global dominance fading? Fletcher panel discusses implications of an expanded BRICS

By Rebecca Barrie | October 5

How will the addition of six new countries to an important supranational organization influence the global balance of power? Could it weaken the United States? Fletcher School Professors Daniel Drezner and Abiodun Williams along with Senior Fellow Mihaela Papa unpacked those questions during a panel discussion on Sept. 28 in Cabot Hall.

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University

L.A. Times reporter Rosanna Xia talks ‘Lessons for Climate Communication’

By Anne Li | October 4

Rosanna Xia, an environment reporter at the Los Angeles Times, 2020 Pulitzer Prize finalist and Tufts alum, presented at Tufts. This presentation is part of the series of events hosted in celebration of her newly published book, “California Against the Sea: Visions for Our Vanishing Coastline.”

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University

‘Half the History’ event covers the untold story of women

By Anna Fattaey | October 3

Tufts faculty members Julie Dobrow and Jennifer Burton discussed their new short-form media project, “Half the History,” at this year’s first Tisch College Civic Life Lunch on Sept. 19. The project aims to spread the untold stories of prominent women from American history through various forms of media on its website, which will fully launch next March.

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University

Green Dot trainings are now mandated for student organizations

By Carly Cohen | October 2

The new Tufts Community Union Constitution, which the Tufts student body voted to ratify last spring, includes a provision that requires all student organizations to receive Green Dot training.

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University

Tufts drops to 40th place on U.S. News list; 287th in WSJ ranking

By Katie Spiropoulos | September 29

Tufts dropped from 32 to 40 on the US News and World Report’s list of the best universities in America and ranked 287th out of 400 on the Wall Street Journal’s list earlier this month. Both publications tailored their algorithms this year to focus on alumni outcomes, analyzing metrics like graduation rates and graduates’ salaries when compiling their rankings.

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University

Harvard prof. Serhii Plokhii traces historical path to Ukraine War

By Arvind Pillai | September 28

Serhii Plokhii, the Mykhailo S. Hrushevs’kyi professor of Ukrainian history and director of the Ukrainian Research Institute at Harvard University, spoke at the Fletcher School about his new book, “The Russo-Ukrainian War: The Return of History” on Sept. 19.

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University

Audrey Petty speaks on public housing at Cities@Tufts’ first event of the semester

By Reece Christian | September 28

Cities@Tufts kicked off its first digital colloquium of the fall semester with writer Audrey Petty on Sept. 20. Petty authored “High Rise Stories: Voices from Chicago Public Housing,” a collection of narratives from individuals who lived in now-demolished public housing high rises in Chicago.

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University

Tufts Arab Student Association calls for relief funds after fatal Moroccan earthquake

By Akisha Tokwe | September 28

Thousands of people perished from an 6.8 magnitude earthquake that hit the Atlas region of Morocco on the night of Sept. 8. The Tufts Arab Student Association responded by starting relief initiatives, calling for donations and raising awareness of the tragedy. The earthquake reached as far as Marrakech city, which was 40 miles southwest from the epicenter, but most of the destruction was experienced by the small rural communities of the High Atlas mountain range.

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