The Tufts Daily - Friday, September 13, 2019

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Christian Siriano experiments with flowing fabrics, bright colors in NYFW show see ARTS&LIVING / PAGE 3

GALLERY SHOWCASE

Tufts highlights first retrospective of Julie S. Graham

Football to face off against Bantams amidst schedule change see SPORTS / Back Page

SEE ARTS&LIVING / PAGE 3

THE

INDEPENDENT

STUDENT

N E W S PA P E R

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UNIVERSITY

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T HE T UFTS DAILY

VOLUME LXXVIII, ISSUE 6

Friday, September 13, 2019

MEDFORD/SOMERVILLE, MASS.

tuftsdaily.com

Supreme Court Justice Sotomayor speaks about diversity of Supreme Court, being first Latina justice

RACHEL HARTMAN / THE TUFTS DAILY

Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor walks through the aisles to speak to the Tufts community on Sept. 12. by Anton Shenk

Assistant News Editor

Associate Justice of the Supreme Court Sonia Sotomayor spoke before an audience of around 3,000 in Gantcher Family Sports and Convocation Center yesterday afternoon. The university-wide event, which was organized by the Office of the President,

began at 3:30 p.m. and ran for an hour. Tufts Professor of History Peter Winn acted as the moderator for the forum. University President Anthony Monaco delivered opening remarks welcoming Sotomayor and introduced Winn. Winn, who specializes in Latin America, taught Justice Sotomayor during her time at Princeton and served as her senior thesis

advisor, where she conducted research on the history of Puerto Rico. Shortly after, Sotomayor and Winn took the stage. Before beginning the discussion, Winn acknowledged the pair’s history. “When we first met, you were asking the questions, and I was trying to come up with the answers. Now I think, perhaps, our positions are reversed,” he said. Winn first drew attention to Sotomayor’s background growing up in a modest family in the Bronx and asked about the relationship between her background and success. “There’s a little part of me that would love to go back and do a do-over of college,” Sotomayor said. “I think my undergraduate career is the seminal point in my life. It transformed me into a person capable of succeeding.” Justice Sotomayor then described the value of exploring a wide variety of topics and immersing oneself fully within the special sense of community that college offers. “You are in a place where there are people from all across the United States and probably people from around the world. You have an opportunity to meet people who live lives differently than you do. Befriend them,” she said. Winn transitioned the conversation, asking Sotomayor to offer advice to those students who might be interested in pursuing careers in the justice system. “Live your passion, take advantage of every moment you are exposed to some-

thing. Squeeze out of every bit of information you can knowledge and engage the world around you. Be curious about [the world] constantly,” Sotomayor said. Finally, Winn asked about the justice’s ability to particularly inspire those of diverse backgrounds like hers. “I know there are so many people out there like me, who have lived in difficult and challenging circumstances,” Sotomayor said. “That despite all of that, happy endings are possible.” For Rachel Mintz, it was inspiring to see someone of Latinx identity elevated to the platform of Supreme Court Justice. “This was a humanizing experience. [Sotomayor] is someone who didn’t come from a very privileged background and was able to navigate the system and reach the highest extent of her dream was very inspiring,” Mintz, a sophomore, said. The forum was then opened to questions from students. The first question from the audience asked Sotomayor how much she believes her background influences her decisions and the importance of diversity on the court. “I think it’s very important to have diversity on the court. But not the kind most of you are thinking about,” Sotomayor said. “Although there should be gender, racial and ethnic diversity on the court … I am

see SOTOMAYOR, page 2

Cummings school graduate sues Tufts, citing data fabrication, retaliation by Rebecca Barker Staff Writer

Kristy Meadows, a graduate of Tufts University’s Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine, has filed a $1 million lawsuit against the school. Meadows claimed in a legal complaint obtained by the Daily that she faced retaliation after she reported a member of her department, Professor of Biomedical Science Elizabeth Byrnes, for allegedly fabricating research, as well as alleged animal abuse. The lawsuit’s title lists Tufts University, Byrnes and former Dean of the Cummings School ad interim Joyce Knoll as defendants.

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Based in Grafton, Mass., Byrnes is a researcher within Tufts’ Sackler School of Biomedical Sciences, which has come under scrutiny by the Tufts community and Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey’s office for its relationship to Purdue Pharma and the Sackler family, according to a Daily investigation published last spring. Byrnes’ lab focuses on research in opioid use as well as neural changes that contribute to depression after a stroke. According to the complaint, Byrnes’ research was funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and supported

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by the U.S. Army; her published work corroborates this. According to her lawsuit, Meadows knew she wanted to become a veterinarian at age 24, when her cat was diagnosed with a neurological disorder. She enrolled as a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM) student at the Cummings School in the fall of 2010 and began the masters program in Tufts University’s Comparative Biomedical Sciences program in 2012. She enrolled in the Ph.D program in 2013. Meadows was awarded multiple scholarships, such as the Merck Animal Health Veterinary Student scholarship, which is an effort by American Veterinary Medical

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Foundation to support “exceptional veterinary students,” as well as the Henry L. Foster, DVM scholarship, which is given to students at the Cummings School who “excel academically and demonstrate leadership.” She graduated fourth in her class with a cumulative grade point average of 3.86, according to the lawsuit. Meadows obtained a Ph.D from Tufts in biomedical sciences with a concentration in neuroscience in 2017, and her DVM in veterinary medicine in 2018. Meadows solicited David A. Russcol and Rachel Stroup, with the firm Zalkind

NEWS............................................1 ARTS & LIVING.......................3 FUN & GAMES.........................4

see LAWSUIT, page 2

OPINION.....................................5 SPORTS............................ BACK


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