Skip to Content, Navigation, or Footer.
The Tufts Daily
Where you read it first | Thursday, December 4, 2025
The Print Edition Print Subscription
Donate | About | Join Us
Advertise | Submit a Tip
Subscribe to our newsletters

Kunal Botla

Kunal Botla is the chair and executive editor of the Editorial Board, opinion editor and staff photographer at the Tufts Daily. He is a second-year candidate majoring in Architectural Studies and Studio Art, in the SMFA combined-degree. Kunal can be reached at kunal.botla@tufts.edu.

Eaton
Viewpoint

Where will the light on Walnut Hill shine next?

By Kunal Botla | May 15

Over the past few months, I, like so many others, have been thinking a lot about what it means to be getting a liberal arts education. At a time when the world is changing with the advent of new technologies, changing markets and constant commentary from family friends that artificial intelligence will leave us unemployed: “Why liberal arts?” is a question that has become even more important.

urbantrees.jpg
Viewpoint

It’s time to get serious about trees

By Kunal Botla | September 19

Trees are saviors we haven’t thought nearly enough about.When you think about trees, you might think back to an elementary school lesson about how they turn carbon dioxide into oxygen, come in different types or can be identified by their leaves. That elementary school education really only scratches the surface of the hidden value trees bring to our society — especially our urban society. Trees could even be the solution to issues presented by climate change and health care that plague urban communities.

bendetson.jpeg
Viewpoint

Paying for Tufts needs to be easier to navigate

By Kunal Botla | May 17

For the 2024–25 academic year, Tufts’ undergraduate tuition will increase, making the estimated cost of attendance a staggering $92,167. Although 38% of the class that matriculated in the fall of 2023 doesn’t pay that full ‘sticker price,’ the cost itself is shocking. Even so, over 60% of students pay that full sticker price; over the course of a four-year degree, that sums to over $350,000.

SMFA.jpg
Viewpoint

Unions are on stage at Tufts and SMFA

By Kunal Botla | April 29

The School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts saw negotiation between SMFA’s part-time lecturers and the university this past fall. The Professors of the Practice, SMFA’s full-time faculty, are now beginning bargaining sessions for a set of contract improvements through posters and a banner draped on Bessie, the rhinoceros mascot of SMFA.

4175020038_2bb5711c82_o.jpg
Viewpoint

The MBTA deserves a true investment

By Kunal Botla | March 7

“Boston doesn’t work if the T doesn’t work;” the title of a single Boston Globe article echoes the critical importance of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority to Boston and its surrounding metropolitan area.

canvavote
Viewpoint

Our future depends on young people running for office, so I’m running

By Kunal Botla | February 8

In the past decade, we’ve seen the median age of politicians in Congress climb. At the same time, however, we have seen influential younger members of Congress, including Gen Z Rep. Maxwell Frost, D-Fla., and millennial Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y. Overall, the House is getting younger. Young voters were instrumental in generating Democrats’ success in the 2022 midterms. In future elections, young candidates should be at the forefront.

Joint Classroom
Viewpoint

Tufts should make course syllabi open to students

By Kunal Botla | November 30

I’m a first-semester undergrad in the five-year combined degree program with the School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts. In my time at Tufts, I’ve noticed that registering for courses is made difficult by a significant factor — not knowing the specifics of how the classes I’m enrolling in are taught until the class’ first meeting or when the syllabus is posted on Canvas. From what I’ve heard, I’m far from the only one being impacted.

bendetson.jpeg
Viewpoint

It’s Tufts’ turn to catch up; Tufts should offer students more than loans

By Kunal Botla | October 13

Tufts University is an expensive place to get your college degree — the fifth most expensive in the U.S. as of August 2022. Tuition is set at just over $66,000. After including the fees and expenses of being a student here, the estimated cost of attendance is a little over $88,000, becoming more than $90,000 for students in their third and following years. Tufts offers its students financial aid and states that in “making education affordable for exceptional students from all backgrounds, Tufts meets 100% of demonstrated need for all admitted undergraduates.” Tufts’ aid includes grants and loans, federal grants and loans and work-study awards.

More articles »

Trending
The Tufts Daily Crossword with an image of a crossword puzzle
The Print Edition
Tufts Daily front page