The National Collegiate Athletic Association issued a new policy banning people assigned male at birth from competing on women’s athletics teams, regardless of gender identity. Athletes assigned female at birth may still compete on women’s teams, so long as they are not on hormone therapy. Participation in team practices will be largely unaffected.
Tufts researchers are expressing concern over President Donald Trump’s attempt to halt federal research grants and the National Institutes of Health’s announcement to cap funding for indirect research costs at 15% — though temporarily blocked by a federal judge — in early February.
Earlier this month, Tufts students joined hundreds of local Massachusetts residents in a “50501” protest against the latest actions of the administration of President Donald Trump. Born on social media, the 50501 movement encompasses the simultaneous occurrence of 50 protests in 50 states on a single day.
The Gerald J. and Dorothy R. Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy received an anonymous donation of $10 million on Jan. 30 for student financial aid. This is the second largest donation since the $20 million gift in 2001 from the Friedman Family Foundation that led to the school’s name change in honor of Gerald J. and Dorothy R. Friedman.
Earlier this week, Tufts University joined a dozen other universities in a lawsuit against the National Institutes of Health and the Department of Health and Human Services over President Donald Trump’s Feb. 7 executive order to restrict federal grants covering the indirect costs of university medical research. The executive order was temporarily blocked on Monday, the day it went into effect, by Massachusetts federal judge Angel Kelley.
Tufts admissions announced its highest number of applicants to the School of Engineering, a lower number of applicants to the School of Arts and Sciences and a slight decrease in undergraduate applicants in its current admissions cycle for the incoming Class of 2029. Tufts reportedly received over 33,400 applicants this year.
Tufts Residential Life notified first-years of impending changes to housing assignments for several dorm buildings for the next academic year.Hill Hall will be converted from freshman to sophomore housing while Wren Hall,still containing10-person suites, will house the incoming Class of 2029.
The Tufts Pre-Med CONNECT Program, a one-week immersive program for first-years and sophomores interested in careers in medicine, will pilot over spring break. Students participating in the 5-day program will commute from the Medford Campus to Tufts Medical Center.
Ayanna Thomas will serve as the dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, as announced in an email to the community on Feb.3.Thomas will continue to serve in her current role as rean of research until an internal search for the position is complete, according to Bárbara Brizuela, dean of the School of Arts and Sciences.
On Jan. 31, University President Sunil Kumar and Tufts’ Director of Athletics John Morris released a letter to the greater Tufts community. The letter included an executive summary of the independent investigation into a Tufts men’s lacrosse team workout held last fall that led to 24 of the 61 student participants being diagnosed with Exertional Rhabdomyolysis.
The Tufts Community Union Senate willhold special elections this week to fill vacant positions for the spring semester of the 2024–25 academic year. Voting will begin at noon today and end at the same time on Saturday.
The Tufts Community Union Senate tackled club funding and discussed a resolution calling for the expansion of language offerings during their weekly meeting on Feb. 2. Parliamentarian Kunal Botla introduced the first resolution of the semester: Class of 2028 Senator Jesse Kitumba’s call to expand language proficiency testing options beyond the languages included in the UPenn Language program.
Unionized full-time lecturers in the School of Arts and Sciences rallied on Monday and Tuesday during a two day walk-out, following 10 months of negotiations with Tufts administration. The 122 A&S lecturers, represented by Service Employees International Union Local 509, seek salary adjustments to compensate for rising costs of living in the Greater Boston area and increases in student enrollment.
Coalition for Palestinian Liberation at Tufts reiterated their demands for Tufts to divest from Israeli corporations in a protest on Wednesday, three days after a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas went into effect. Drawing roughly 30 protestors, the protest was announced by CPLT in a joint Instagram post with Somerville for Palestine and Medford for Palestine on Jan. 18.
The Tufts Community UnionSenate covered committee work, handled supplementary funding requests and voted on critical policy issues during a packed meeting Sunday night.
About 80% of full-time union lecturers in the School of Arts and Sciences are walking out on Monday and Tuesday in an effort to bargain for a third contract with Tufts administration. The full-time lecturers will not be working for two days in support of livable salaries and manageable workloads.
Tufts’ Institutional Neutrality Working Group hosted a total of five listening sessions to hear input from faculty, staff and students on a potential statement of institutional neutrality. On Jan. 15 and Jan. 16, the working group held two final virtual listening sessions for all Tufts community members to voice their thoughts, questions and concerns.
Following President Donald Trump’s inauguration on Monday, political student groups on campus including Tufts Democrats, Tufts Republicans and Planned Parenthood Action at Tufts are preparing for a semester under the new presidential administration.
Khan Asfandyar Shairani will permanently serve as the Muslim Chaplain,the Tufts University Chaplaincy announced onJan. 16.Previously serving as the Muslim Chaplain ad interim, Shairani will continue supporting and educating students interested in the Islamic tradition.
The Tufts School of Engineering will launch a new master’s program centered on artificial intelligence in the fall of 2025. The first applications will close on March 15.
