Tufts experienced one of its most unpredictable periods of the pandemic last week, as cases soared to record-breaking highs on the Medford/Somerville campus in what can only be attributed to the highly-infectious omicron variant.
Tufts will host “Leading While Black,” a livestreamed event that will highlight and celebrate the contributions of Black leadership at Tufts, on Feb. 19. The event will honor eight Black leaders who had a lasting effect on the university by transforming decision-making, advancing equity and disrupting existing norms.
A committee of faculty, staff and students recently revised the application for Tufts Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences to make it more equitable and accessible for the 2022 admissions cycle. The committee's work was a project of the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences’ Anti-Racist Working Group.
Accomplished artist and longtime educator Margaret Rose Vendryes will become the next dean of the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in June, theuniversity announcedlast month. Vendryes was chosen following a months-long search that began after the school's inaugural dean, Nancy Bauer, announced she wasstepping down last May.
Tufts University modified their COVID-19 policies for the winter of 2021 and now the spring of 2022 athletic season for all sports teams and clubs. Nowadays, athletes no longer need to take rapid COVID-19 tests on competition days, which was required during the spring 2021 athletic season. Additionally, spectators who are vaccinated and masked are allowed to attend indoor varsity games once again.
With the Supreme Court poised to consider the fate of affirmative action later this year, experts say the decision could have wide-reaching effects on the number of Black and Hispanic students admitted to selective schools. But administrators at Tufts said the possible end of affirmative action will not thwart the university’s commitment to building a student body that’s more diverse.
On Feb. 11, the Data Intensive Studies Center launched its 2022 Art Datathon with a “What Does Feminist Data Science Look Like?” lecture from Catherine D’Ignazio, assistant professor of urban science and planning at MIT, director of the Data + Feminism Lab and co-author of the book “Data Feminism” (2020).
The Tufts Community Union Senate heard supplementary funding requests on Sunday afternoon in the Sophia Gordon Hall Multipurpose Room.
University President Anthony Monaco will step down as president of Tufts in summer 2023, concluding a 12-year tenure.
Since the start of the spring semester, hundreds of undergraduate students on the Medford/Somerville campus have tested positive for COVID-19, and many of them have been required to isolate in one of the modular housing units on the Vouté Tennis Courts. Many will be familiar with the procedure by now: After testing positive, students have 90 minutes to corral their linens and toiletries, pack their suitcases and make the trek to their assigned unit.
As COVID-19 infection rates start to decline in Massachusetts, Tufts and other Boston-area universities have seen a relaxation of restrictions to academic and social activities.
In an email to the Tufts community on Jan. 20, the Office of the President announced some of the recommendations that a committee of Tufts administrators and board members, Hillel International andTCC Group, an external consulting firm that implements social impact solutions, proposed after conducting an assessment of the prevalence of antisemitism on Tufts' campus. To address the concerning findings, University President Anthony Monaco shared a number of proposed solutions ranging from further education and bias awareness programs to the creation of a university-wide council of faculty and staff to advise the senior leadership team.
Morgan Harper (A'05) is running for the open U.S. Senate seat in Ohio. The primary for this race is scheduled for May 3, and the general election will be held on Nov. 8.
Following the surge of the omicron variant of COVID-19, Tufts is now conducting exclusively virtual campus tours and information sessions with a planned return to in-person programming on Feb. 14. Despite this setback, admissions officials report that recent applicants have been satisfied with the university's virtual offerings.
Tisch College's Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE) released its 2022 Youth Electoral Significance Index (YESI) data showing the impact of the youth vote on the 2022 electoral races.
Approximately 70 members of the Tufts community came together for five hours of discussion, reflection and community service activities as part of the 2022 MLK Day of Community Action on Feb. 5. The event, part of a series of chaplaincy events over the past month reflecting on the legacy and work of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., was made possible through the University Chaplaincy and supported in part by the Arthur Vining Davis Interfaith Civic Studies Grant.
Boston-area schools are seeing some variations in their COVID-19 policies now that thousands of college students have returned for the spring semester. At Tufts and other colleges and universities in the area, academic and social precautions continue to shift as infection rates fall from their latest peak. Most recently, Tufts decreased surveillance frequency from every other day to two times per week for all students, beginning Feb. 7.
The Office of Sustainability continued its "Path to Carbon Neutrality" webinar series with a virtual panel on Jan. 25. The webinar featured commentary and perspectives from Patti Klos, director of dining and business services, and Kelly Shaw, nutrition marketing specialist.
The Tufts Community Union Senate heard supplementary funding requests and announced updates on the Class of 2024 Prom in a Feb. 6 meeting in the Sophia Gordon Hall Multipurpose Room. Following roll call, TCU Treasurer and Class of 2022 Senator Elizabeth Hom introduced six supplementary funding requests.
Tufts Children’s Hospital announced at a Jan. 20 press conference that it would convert its 41 pediatric inpatient beds to adult ICU medical and surgery beds in hopes of increasing adult critical care by 20%.
