Tufts community remembers former student Sam Lobley see FEATURES / PAGE 9
TUFTS ATHLETICS PREVIEW
Jumbos anticipate competitive fall season
MFA exhibit considers photography, industrialization, modernity see ARTS&LIVING / PAGE 16
SEE SPORTS / BACK PAGE
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T HE T UFTS DAILY
VOLUME LXXVIII, ISSUE 1
Wednesday, August 28, 2019
MEDFORD/SOMERVILLE, MASS.
tuftsdaily.com
Tiered housing implemented as CoHo’s final phase opens its doors by Madison Reid
Assistant News Editor
The start of this school year marks both the end of construction on Tufts’ latest housing development and the implementation of a major new housing policy. According to the Tufts Student Life (TSL) website, the anticipated tiered housing policy, which will change on-campus housing prices based on quality, is to be implemented in the 2019 –20 school year. In an email to the Daily, Josh Hartman, director of residential life and learning (ORLL), confirmed that the new housing development Community Housing (CoHo), which is set to be on the highest tier, is open for move-in. Tiered housing at Tufts Per the TSL website, accommodations in the lowest housing tier, which include traditional doubles, triples, quads and first-year singles, cost $8,220 per school year. CoHo joins Sophia Gordon Hall in the top tier, with housing costs clocking in at $10,219 for the school year, according to the TSL website. In an email to the Daily, Patrick Collins, executive director of public relations at Tufts, stated that 73% of Tufts housing options are at the “base rate,” meaning the lowest tier. “This includes all first-year spaces (including first year singles), FYA/CDA spaces, traditional doubles/triples/quads, and woodframe doubles or triples (no kitchen),” Collins said. Students have been vocal about the tiered housing policy. According to a November
2018 Daily article, nearly 200 students, faculty and community members protested tiered housing with a march on Ballou Hall. The article reports that the march was followed by workshops, teach-ins, performances and a community dinner on the academic quad. As part of the protest, student activists set up “Tier Town,” a group of tents in the academic quad representing the lowest tiered housing at Tufts. One concern around tiered housing was the fear that it may drive more students to seek off-campus housing, according to a July 2018 article in the Medford Transcript. Rocco DiRico, director of government and community relations at Tufts, said in an email to the Daily that he hasn’t seen this concern come to fruition. “We have not seen more students move off-campus as a result of tiered housing. There is still excess demand for on-campus housing, which we are trying to accomodate by adding more beds,” DiRico said. “Generally speaking, our neighbors in Medford and Somerville are supportive of our efforts to create more housing for our students.” The tiered housing page on the TSL website states that the Financial Aid Office does not disclose the names of those who do and do not receive financial aid to the ORLL. According to the Collins, 40% of Tufts students receive financial aid from the school. Forty percent of the students in standard rate rooms receive financial aid, and 48% of the students in tiered-priced rooms receive financial aid.
SARA RENKERT / THE TUFTS DAILY ARCHIVES
22 Bellevue St., one of the houses designated for CoHo living, is pictured here on Feb. 1. Community Housing (CoHo) project In an email to the Daily, Hartman confirmed that the 14 CoHo houses listed on the TSL website are completed and ready for students to move-in this fall, marking the completion of the last of three phases.
The houses are located behind Wren Hall between Capen Street and Boston Avenue. Furnished houses includes single bedrooms, full kitchens, living rooms, community lounges and laundry rooms.
see COHO, page 4
News roundup: Top headlines of last year by Elie Levine News Editor
Bookended by the national midterm elections in November 2018 and the end of the Tufts Dining workers’ contract campaign in April, the past academic year was rife with Tufts-specific controversies as well as large-scale events. The following is a rundown of the biggest stories on the Hill last year. August and September In late August, the Class of 2022 arrived on campus as Tufts’ most diverse class of incoming first-years ever at that time — now, the Class of 2023 is even more diverse. The start of the academic year was marked by Ayanna Pressley’s historic defeat of Representative Michael Capuano in the 2018 Democratic Primary for Massachusetts’
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Seventh Congressional District, which includes Tufts. In the following months, Pressley would visit the university for a Tisch College of Civic Life lecture and a childcare panel, as part of Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi’s “Speaker in the House” series. She is the first AfricanAmerican woman to serve in Congress for Massachusetts. The fall also saw several changes to spaces on and around campus. Tufts began its year-long renovation of Barnum Hall, while Tufts Housing League pushed back against the university’s announcement of a new tiered housing system that raised prices for higher-quality student housing. Construction continued on the Green Line Extension, leading to the year-long closure of the Ball Square Bridge in Somerville.
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The university administration overhauled its student code of conduct and followed up with students to solicit feedback. These revised policies led to protests in October, eventually leading to a policy change in December. Ahead of Election Day, student activists pushed to support transgender rights through the Yes on 3 campaign. Later, the Somerville Board of Aldermen unanimously approved the campaign’s resolution. On Sept. 21, 2018, the university announced that it had renewed its contract with the Confucius Institute despite growing controversy around the institute’s ties to the Chinese government. October On Oct. 2, 2018, journalist and Saudi expatriate Jamal Khashoggi was murdered in Istanbul, prompting Tufts professors to reconsider how they taught about the kingdom.
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The Office of Residential Life and Learning hosted the first event in its semester-long series of information sessions on off-campus housing, headed by new Assistant Director for Housing Operations Angelic Sosa. This month also saw increased activism against sexual assault. In anticipation of Homecoming weekend, Action for Sexual Assault Prevention by Tufts Men hosted a discussion on toxic masculinity. In a rally in front of Goddard Chapel, students gathered at the Cannon, painted with the phrase “We Believe Survivors,” in response to Brett Kavanaugh’s appointment to the Supreme Court. The FIRST Resource Center, which supports first-generation, low-income and undocumented students, celebrated its grand opening. Arts and Sciences graduate students ratified their first union contract, and Tufts Community see ROUNDUP, page 2
NEWS............................................1 FEATURES.................................6 ARTS & LIVING..................... 15
FUN & GAMES....................... 18 OPINION...................................19 SPORTS............................ BACK