The Tufts Daily - Friday, September 13, 2019

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

OF

TUFTS

UNIVERSITY

E S T. 1 9 8 0

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.

Please recycle this newspaper

Sunny 66 / 52

/thetuftsdaily

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

For breaking news, our content archive and exclusive content, visit tuftsdaily.com @tuftsdaily

tuftsdaily

tuftsdaily

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

Contact Us P.O. Box 53018, Medford, MA 02155 daily@tuftsdaily.com

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

2

THE TUFTS DAILY | News | Friday, September 13, 2019

THE TUFTS DAILY Jessica Blough Editor in Chief

EDITORIAL Ryan Eggers Justin Yu

Managing Editors Mykhaylo Chumak Austin Clementi Alejandra Carrillo Abbie Gruskin Liza Harris Robert Kaplan Elie Levine Natasha Mayor Alexander Thompson Nico Avalle Andres Borjas Conor Friedman Bella Maharaj Matthew McGovern Sara Renkert Madison Reid Jilly Rolnick Anton Shenk

Fina Short Sidharth Anand Amelia Becker Emma Damokosh Kenia French Jessie Newman Sean Ong Michael Shames Kevin Doherty Akash Mishra Dorothy Neher

Steph Hoechst Tommy Gillespie Rebecca Tang Danny Klain Yas Salon Sami Heyman Tuna Margalit Megan Szostak Elizabeth Sander Colette Smith Geoffrey Tobia Tys Sweeney Olivia Brandon Sonal Gupta Mikaela Lessnau Kaitlyn Meslin Amulya Mutnuri Michael Norton Elizabeth Shelbred Simrit Uppal Julia Baroni Christina Toldalagi Yoon Sung Alex Viveros Julia Atkins Tim Chiang Jake Freudberg Liam Finnegan Jeremy Goldstein Savannah Mastrangelo Haley Rich Noah Stancroff Josh Steinfink Sam Weidner Helen Thomas-McLean Caleb Symons Seohyun Shim Mengqi Irina Wang Anika Agarwal Mike Feng Meredith Long Julia McDowell Evan Slack Kirt Thorne Caleb Martin-Rosenthal Ann Marie Burke

Associate Editor Executive News Editor News Editors

Assistant News Editors

Executive Features Editor Features Editors

Assistant Features Editors

Executive Arts Editor Arts Editors

Assistant Arts Editors

Editorial Cartoonists Cartoonist Executive Sports Editor Sports Editors

Assistant Sports Editor Investigations Editor Executive Photo Editors Staff Photographers

Executive Video Editor Video Editor

PRODUCTION Aidan Menchaca

Production Director Kristina Marchand Daniel Montoya Alice Yoon Mia Garvin Jordan Isaacs Maygen Kerner Isabella Montoya Kiran Msiner Jesse Rogers Nathan Kyn Ryan Shaffer Rachel Isralowitz David Levitsky Chloe Lyu Justin Tavares Ethan Resek Aadhya Shivakumar Russell Yip Abigail Zielinski

Roy Kim Sean Ong Christopher Panella Asli Akova Mitch Navetta Amy Tong Amanda Covaleski Olivia Ireland Lillian Miller Luke Allocco Alexis Serino

Sotomayor highlights challenges in becoming Supreme Court Justice SOTOMAYOR

continued from front page more worried about the lack of diversity of experience. We have no justice with criminal law experience. We have no justice with environmental law experience, only one civil rights lawyer.”

For Max Miller, Sotomayor’s comment on diversity of the court was the most thought-provoking.

“I thought her talking about diversity in the law as most important part of a diverse court was something I never really thought about before,” Miller, a sophomore, said.

Rabiya Ismail, a sophomore, asked Justice Sotomayor about advice for women of color looking to go into public service.

“When I was in law school, one of my friends said to me: ‘I love you Sonia because you argue like a man,’” Sotomayor said. “I think [women] don’t feel heard, and we feel not heard because we are often tempted to in our presentation … when you are going

Executive Layout Editors Layout Editors

Executive Graphics Editor Executive Copy Editors Copy Editors

Assistant Copy Editors

Executive Online Editor Executive Social Media Editors Social Media Editors Assistant Social Media Editors

Outreach Coordinators

BUSINESS Jonah Zwillinger Executive Business Director

into a room you have to be prepared, you have to be confident … we have to believe we are important.”

For the next question, the Justice was asked about her experience during her nomination and how it felt becoming the first Latina Supreme Court justice.

Sotomayor chronicled the challenges of the nomination process — a report stating that she was calling her character in the courtroom into question made her consider withdrawing herself from consideration.

Sotomayor was asked how she stays in touch with her roots, community and values as a justice.

“I spend a lot of time with a lot of different communities,” Sotomayor said.

She made clear she believes staying in touch with a wide swath of communities is essential to understanding the impact of her decisions on people’s everyday lives.

Sotomayor then discussed the importance of family in staying ground-

ed. For first-year Sara Herrera, hearing Sotomayor discuss the importance of family was personal.

“Hearing [Sotomayor] talk about her grandmother was very emotional for me.

I’m here, and I worry about my grandmother … this is the first time being away from her and I don’t see her often. I worry about that, coming home and her not being there anymore,” Herrera told the Daily.

The event’s final question, how the justices reconcile their political differences, had Sotomayor emphasizing the importance of humanizing people with whom you don’t see eye to eye.

“You assume that because someone disagrees with you they’re bad — they’re not. They have reasons for why they disagree. Sometimes these reasons may not seem compelling to you. But if you deal with people you respect, you can disagree,” she said.

Cummings PhD alleges retaliation after reporting thesis advisor's misconduct LAWSUIT

Executive Opinion Editor Editorialists

tuftsdaily.com

continued from front page Duncan & Bernstein LLP in Boston, to represent her in court against Tufts.

Meadows’ complaint places particular emphasis on the disparity between her academic achievement and her success entering the workforce after college. “[Meadows] has not found a long-term position or any opportunities involving research or academia,” the lawsuit says.

The complaint goes on to list several instances in which Meadows believes she experienced retaliation, including accusations of theft and discontinuing a stipend Meadows had received. “[Meadows] has suffered substantial damages as a direct and proximate result of Tufts’ actions and inactions, including reputational harm, delayed or lost career opportunities, lost earning potential, emotional distress, and other consequential damages,” the lawsuit says.

Meadows began working with Byrnes, her former advisor, in 2012. According to her lawsuit, Meadows worked in Byrnes’ lab. “[Meadows] conducted research on animals and studied brain sexual dimorphism as it relates to hormones and stress, as well as sex differences and hormonal alterations in the brain as a result of ischemic stroke,” the lawsuit says.

In December 2013, Meadows and Byrnes organized their research into an article entitled “Sex- and age-specific differences in relaxin family peptide receptor expression within the hippocampus and amygdala in rats,” which was funded by the NIH. In August 2014, however, Meadows claimed that she discovered fabricated data from an experiment she said the lab never performed.

The lawsuit says that when Meadows asked Byrnes about her findings, Brynes allegedly told Meadows that the data would have reflected their findings if they had conducted the experiment.

“Dr. Byrnes did not deny fabricating the data for an experiment that had not been conducted,” the lawsuit says.

The article was published in the journal Neuroscience in October 2014.

Meadows’ lawsuit claims that she initially hoped to resolve the issue in an informal manner. By 2016, however, her lawsuit states it became apparent that Byrnes did not plan to correct any purported misinformation. Meadows voiced

her concerns about the falsified data to multiple members of Tufts faculty.

The lawsuit says Meadows reported the fabrication to Kirby Johnson, director of research integrity with the office of the vice provost for research, on April 7, 2016. According to the lawsuit, by July 1, a fact-finder hired to investigate Meadows’ claim found it was credible enough to warrant further investigation.

Following her meetings with Tufts administrators, the lawsuit says, Meadows alleges that she faced multiple retaliatory attacks from Byrnes, including the discontinuation of her stipend for her work in the lab and Byrnes telling other faculty that Meadows was a “bad student and not getting her work done.”

In addition, according to the lawsuit, Meadows was set to defend her thesis by July or August of 2016, but was notified on July 20 that her thesis defense would be delayed until the provost’s investigation was complete.

From her initial meetings with faculty in 2015 through 2019, Meadows claims she was subject to retaliation from Byrnes and other Tufts faculty, which harmed her reputation. Knoll allegedly exacerbated this harm. “[Meadows] was punished for speaking up while the University failed to protect her … Her graduation was delayed, her research was impeded, her reputation severely damaged, and her career opportunities curtailed. Tufts swept her allegations under the rug and allowed this retaliation to occur for years,” Russcol, Meadows’ attorney, told the Daily in an email.

Meadows could not be reached for comment.

The lawsuit also accuses Knoll and the Cummings School of damaging Meadow’s reputation through an email. The lawsuit claims that the entire Cummings School and some alumni could have received an email that appears to have been sent to the wrong recipients, which references a person named Kristy in the neurology department who might “sue us.” The email also refers to Byrnes.

“I don’t know what the neurologists here thought of Kristy. I know at least one of our pathologist[s] thought she was antisocial and weird,” Knoll’s email said.

Knoll’s reaction to the email, which was also sent to at least a portion of

the Cummings student email list and was obtained by the Daily, seems to confirm this.

“I totally screwed up and sent a message to the Grafton campus and our students that I meant to go to our lawyer,” Knoll said in an email intended for Tufts Technology Services.

The lawsuit claims that this email, by being sent to many people, could damage Meadows’ career path in the future.

In the second half of the email, Knoll questioned the legal implications of a potential lawsuit, asking if recommendations by professors could be used as legal evidence. “[I]f she got bad recommendations from people at Tufts in the hospital, that are not linked to Liz Byrnes, can she hold that against us? Can she require that everyone here give her a good evaluation even if it’s not deserved?” the email said.

Meadows said that she received this email and several people contacted her to alert her about the email, according to the lawsuit. The lawsuit alleges that the distribution of this email “compounded and magnified the harm to Dr. Meadows’ reputation and career.”

The lawsuit also alleges that Knoll urged multiple professors to conduct research with someone other than Meadows, resulting in lost research opportunities.

“On information and belief, in or around May 2017, Dr. Knoll again suggested to Dr. Ayres that she choose a student other than Dr. Meadows to help her with her research, because Dr. Byrnes had advised Dr. Knoll that there was evidence that Dr. Meadows stole data from Dr. Byrnes’ lab,” the lawsuit says.

Executive Director of Public Relations Patrick Collins could not comment on the lawsuit.

“Tufts University does not comment on pending litigation. We look forward to responding to the lawsuit in court,” Collins told the Daily in an email. “The university is committed to research integrity and to providing a safe and supportive learning and work environment for all members of its community – values which it takes very seriously.”

According to Collins, the university has until late October to respond to the lawsuit, though could be granted extensions by the court.

Friday, September 13, 2019

ARTS&LIVING

3 tuftsdaily.com

‘Stack, Layer, and Arrange’ explores full career of Julie S. Graham

MENGQI IRINA WANG / THE TUFTS DAILY

Amy Borezo’s ‘Some Lines’ (2019) is displayed in the Tufts Gallery on Sept. 10.

by Sami Heyman

Assistant Arts Editor

In the upper-right-hand quadrant of her painting Untitled (2010s), artist Julie S. Graham scrawled, in feathery pencil, a quote from German poet Rainer Maria Rilke: “Fraction of freedom compromised by the presence of risk; trapped by whatever’s in us that evens the odds of the loaded outside.”

That painting is one of many comprising the first comprehensive retrospective of Graham’s work, titled “Stack, Layer, and Arrange,” which is currently on display in the Tufts University Art Galleries. The show

will run until Sept. 29; a guided tour with guest curator Martina Tanga will take place on Sept. 22.

Graham was a fixture of Boston’s artistic community. Over the course of her prolific career, exhibitions of her works graced a laundry list of galleries and museums across the city. She also taught workshops in Venice, Vermont and the Virgin Islands. Here at home, though, Graham has another claim to fame: She served on the Painting faculty at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts for nearly 30 years before her death in 2018.

“Stack, Layer, and Arrange” traces the full arc of Graham’s career, from her

most recent sculptures to paintings which date back to the 1970s. In preparation for this exhibition, Tanga personally sorted through the remains of Graham’s studio, identifying the veins of inspiration flowing through Graham’s work. “She has always looked around her for inspiration,” Tanga told WBUR. “At her lived environment, the urban landscape, the natural landscape … she is really curious about things that seem to go unnoticed.”

The works currently on display at Tufts are arranged in careful chronology. At the front of the hall hang Graham’s earlier works: somewhat gritty, thickly textured and often monochromatic. Withdrawing

deeper into the space — thus moving forward in time — blurry forms begin to congeal into bright lines and angular shapes.

The chronological arrangement serves to highlight not only the evolution, but the threads of constancy in Graham’s work.

Inspiration drawn from architecture, for example, and a spotlight on stripped-down elements like form, line, perspective and color characterize nearly all of her pieces.

She also maintained a playful fascination with the space between painting and sculpture throughout her career. In many of her experiments to this end, like Chance (2011) and her myriad sculpture-painting “constructions,” she seems to manipulate shadow as her medium.

Perhaps the most significant themes of the retrospective are those implied by its name. In every one of Graham’s pieces, the stacking, layering and arranging of elements — like perspective and color — and mediums, like wood panels or layers of paint, betray her fascination with the idea of building blocks. Like the secret to a magic trick, the messy and iterative adolescence of a work of art is usually held close to the artist’s chest; Here, however, it takes center stage. The radical transparency of Graham’s work is noteworthy in an art world that’s often bloated with pretense.

Graham’s enchantment with “things that seem to go unnoticed” — the artist herself professed her preoccupation with “the backsides of things” — could explain why many of her paintings look unfinished.

Rife with uneven edges, dirty lines and scribbled verses of German poetry, they seem to have floated into the gallery from a whimsical architect’s drafting table. By exposing the building blocks of her own works, Graham turns theory to practice, imploring her audience to appreciate the imperfect parts that comprise the whole.

Perhaps with this risky, radiant honesty comes a kind of freedom.

Christian Siriano dazzles at New York Fashion Week

by Colette Smith

Assistant Arts Editor

Christian Siriano’s spring 2020 fashion show featured a stunning blend of colors, patterns and textiles that all mixed together to create a parade of pieces that each had a their unique sense of playfulness. The show was inspired

by Ashley Longshore, an artist based in New Orleans, who is known for her bright paintings that often include icons, like Frida Kahlo and Abraham Lincoln.

The artist herself featured in the show, as she painted on canvases alongside the models walking down the runway.

Siriano and Longshore complemented each other since neither artist is afraid to be over the top. Their collaboration produced a fun and exciting show that anyone could enjoy, from the fashion novice to the fashion guru.

Coco Rocha walked out first in a shimmery, seafoam green jumpsuit with huge ruffles on the legs and billowing sleeves.

Her look set the tone for the first section of pieces that followed. The first thirteen pieces featured traditional silhouettes with exaggerated adornments and used the common color scheme of black, white and ocean blues. One piece that screamed red-carpet ready was a two-piece pantsuit that featured two different textiles for

the top and bottom. The seafoam green jacket was traditionally structured with shoulder pads until the waist where it had radiating ruching. The complementary pants were aqua blue and silky.

Siriano was able to create each section of the show with its own distinct personality while maintaining a flow that was enjoyable for spectators. He moved naturally from the blue, white and ocean hues of the first section into fabric with a motif of an eye in two different color schemes of seafoam green and pink and then black and gold. One particularly memorable piece was a gold suit with black eyes printed all over it.

The show then continued effortlessly from the black and gold pattern to allblack pieces. While these pieces were conservative in color, they made up for it with intricate architecture and some shiny black fringe. Like in other parts of his show, Siriano took traditional shapes and then tastefully added creative features, in this case the fringe. For example, Siriano paired a low-cut suit vest with a fringe ankle-length skirt and sleeve, and paired a classic peplum with a skirt made entirely of fringe. The black theme of this section made it the most uniform part of the whole show, but the pieces were different enough that it did not feel repetitive. Parts from this section would

be perfect for coordinated outfits on a red carpet.

The show then took an abrupt turn to pieces that were more colorful and daring than the other ensembles from the first section of the show. There was a wide array of pieces in this section, but they all had a similar lively feel. The first piece marking this abrupt change was a dress that looked like liquid gold as the model moved. While meant to be outlandish and bold, the outfits in this section could come off as gaudy. That being said, these outfits were meant to be over the top and could flourish under the flashing lights of a red carpet if they are accessorized minimally. From bold to edgy, Siriano’s next five outfits were created from a mix of a textile made of bright red lips sewn together and paint-splattered denim.

This section had the most clear connection to Ashley Longshore’s work because the lips were very pop inspired, echoing her paintings.

The show’s finale featured a mix of textiles: from an elegant metallic forest green, to a bright, shiny rainbow pattern, to an almost excessive amount of tulle. While each piece was distinct in its own way, the showstopper was a belted, metallic teal jacket that had palpable rocker vibes. Under the belt, a huge tulle skirt emerged magically. It was

VIA ACIU_DANIELA ON INSTAGRAM

Daniela Aciu walks for Christian Siriano at 2019 New York Fashion Week.

accessorized expertly with a sleek high braid, dramatic blue and pink eyeshadow and statement black earrings. This section was the most over the top, and the perfect way to end a dramatic show.

Christian Siriano and Ashley Longshore’s collaboration displayed a stunning blend of art forms.

THE TUFTS DAILY | FUN&GAMES | Friday, September 13, 2019

F &G FUN & GAMES

tuftsdaily.com LATE NIGHT AT THE DAILY Jess: “I love a good dose of getting yelled at by men.”

SUDOKU

LINDA C. BLACK ASTROLOGY

Virgo (Aug. 23–Sept. 22)

Reach a turning point with a partnership under the Full Moon. Compromise and collaborate for shared commitments. Adjust to a change in plans.

__________________________________

BE AN OP-ED CONTRIBUTOR FOR THE TUFTS DAILY ALL ARE WELCOME Difficulty Level: Dropping a required class

Wednesday’s Solutions

Submit a Tufts-related piece of 600 words to:

N

IO N I P

O

tuftsdailyoped@gmail.com

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _L_ _ _ _

4

CROSSWORD

tuftsdaily.com

Opinion

5

Friday, September 13, 2019

EDITORIAL

Miller and Houston renovations left students in unbearable conditions Throughout the past year, Tufts has renovated many underclassmen dorms.

Given these recent renovations, it is apt to surmise that Tufts values safe and comfortable student living spaces. Though these projects resulted in beautifully modern dorms, last year, students lived through the renovations of Miller and Houston Halls, sharing space with dust and noise, dehumanized and devalued by the university as it lay the foundations for this year’s class.

During the fall semester of 2018, half of Miller was occupied by students while the other half underwent construction. In the spring, half the residents of Houston moved to newly renovated Miller, while half remained during renovations in Houston. Tufts claimed that the “loudest construction will take place over winter break, spring break and summer session – as to minimize any disturbance to the stu-

dents living in the West wing of Houston Hall during the spring semester” — this was woefully unsuccessful.

Living through the renovations “was one of the worst parts of [my first year,]” Aesha Desai, a sophomore who lived in Houston, told the Daily. According to former Houston residents, their basic needs were ignored, and their complaints went unanswered during construction. There was no filtered water in the building until the final weeks of the semester, forcing students to walk to other halls late at night for drinking water. Additionally, there was no functional kitchen in either Miller or Houston during renovations, leading students to travel in order to cook.

These inconveniences, however, were compounded by the unbearable noise of construction. Work was supposed to start at 9 a.m. and end at 5 p.m., residents were

told, but in reality, construction would often begin as early as 7 a.m., pushing students to avoid spending time in their rooms. The noise caused headaches, prevented concentration and disturbed sleep.

The list of complaints do not end here. Both Houston and Miller lacked actual common rooms during construction, instead featuring spare dorm rooms stocked with a few old couches — a far cry from the new study areas available in the buildings. Residents reported a lack of attention to sidewalks around Houston during the winter months. They remained icy and dangerous to walk on in the winter, and the problem was never fully addressed.

The final blow was psychological. It was “truly terrible,” Desai told the Daily, “because we were living in an old dorm while looking across the quad and seeing students living in the beautiful Miller

dorm … knowing we all were paying the same amount for these drastically different experiences.”

Tufts’ disregard for the basic needs and safety of its students during the renovations of Miller and Houston Halls should never be repeated. It is beyond callous to subject a crop of first-years to the noisy, chaotic and unsafe conditions of a construction site, however “completely separated” the university believes it to be.

Noise carries. Water becomes foggy. Lack of study space unfairly inhibits a students’ first year of college study.

Tufts seems not to recognize the problem they created, but they must.

The Class of 2023 has settled in and inhabits many refurbished living spaces, replete with comfortable furniture, clean water and sparkling glass. Was it worth the dehumanization of the Class of 2022?

This cannot ever happen again.

The Tufts Daily is a nonprofit, independent newspaper, published Monday through Friday during the academic year, and distributed free to the Tufts community.

The content of letters, advertisements, signed columns, cartoons and graphics does not necessarily reflect the opinion of The Tufts Daily editorial board.

EDITORIALS Editorials represent the position of The Tufts Daily. Individual editors are not necessarily responsible for, or in agreement with, the policies and editorials of The Tufts Daily.

OP-EDS The Op-Ed section of The Tufts Daily, an open forum for campus editorial commentary, is printed Monday through Thursday. The Daily welcomes submissions from all members of the Tufts community; the opinions expressed in the Op-Ed section do not necessarily represent the opinions of the Daily itself. Opinion articles on campus, national and international issues should be 600 to 1,200 words in length and submitted to opinion@tuftsdaily.com. The editors reserve the right to edit letters for clarity, space and length. All material is subject to editorial discretion and is not guaranteed to appear in the Daily. Authors must submit their telephone numbers and day-of availability for editing questions.

ADVERTISING All advertising copy is subject to the approval of the Editor-in-Chief, Executive Board and Executive Business Director.

6

THE TUFTS DAILY | Opinion | Friday, September 13, 2019

tuftsdaily.com

OP-ED

Your vote matters

by Rabiya Ismail

With this year’s elections for the Tufts Community Union coming up on September 19, I look back at my own experience running for Senate for the very first time last year.

When campaigning for Senate began last fall, I was stumped. In a completely new environment, I had no platform. Student government wasn’t like it was in high school — in high school, I could promise a better football team or prom at Disney and easily get re-elected. We never talked about the real issues in high school student government or even in general, since my high school was conservative, wealthy and white.

Transitioning into the same type of environment at Tufts, a predominantly white (but ‘liberal’) institution, I figured things would stay the same and felt unsure about running

on a platform for marginalized or first-generation college students like myself.

However, I remembered the words of my peer leaders during my pre-orientation, BEAST (Building Engagement and Access for Students at Tufts). They, along with leaders of the FIRST Center, had encouraged sophomore Carolina Olea Lezama, a fellow candidate and now best friend, and I, to use our voices to change Tufts for the better after relaying their experiences as minorities and being harassed in different ways on campus.

We ran for representation.

With no surprise, my campaign was attacked almost immediately. When stating that 60% of Tufts students pay full tuition in order to portray how real the wealth gap is, I received comments from students. People claimed that, as a part of that 60%, they subsidized low-income students’ tuition and without them, we — low-income individuals — could not afford to be at Tufts.

After only being at Tufts for two weeks, it felt as if all my rampant thoughts of imposter syndrome were being confirmed.

To my shock, though, students of all class years and income brackets came to our defense and made me feel more supported than I had ever felt. At that point, I knew I wanted and needed to be on Senate. This is not a cry for action, but instead a lesson.

If people of all years and income classes at Tufts had not come to my defense and then used their privilege of voting, I would not be on Senate.

At Tufts, we celebrate civic engagement, whether it is voting in the midterm elections, the upcoming 2020 primary, or the Tufts Community Union (TCU) student government elections — in the form of Senate, Judiciary and the Committee on Student Life. TCU Senate has historically sparked monumental change on the Tufts campus. TCU Senate voted to fund the first

ever Women’s Center, created Late Night Dining, started the Swipe it Forward meal bank and passed a resolution brought forth

by United for Immigrant Justice urging the administration to increase support for students with undocumented status.

While these changes do not happen without electing Senators who are committed to fighting for equity and justice, we still have a ways to go.

I urge you to look into the candidates up for election and to vote on Sept. 19. Without looking into candidates’ issues, some of this work for the most vulnerable communities would not be underway. Your vote dictates what version of Tufts we want to leave for all the generations that follow. The choice is yours.

Rabiya Ismail is a member of the Class of 2022. Rabiya can be reached at rabiya. ismail@tufts.edu

Friday, September 13, 2019 | ADVERTISEMENT | THE TUFTS DAILY

tuftsdaily.com

1/4 AD

1/8 FULLAD AD

Discover the unsearchable Discover the forest

1/2 AD Find a trail near you at DiscoverTheForest.org

7

8 tuftsdaily.com

Sports

Friday, September 13, 2019

Football prepares to open season against reigning NESCAC champion Trinity

BEN KIM / THE TUFTS DAILY ARCHIVES

Quarterback Ryan McDonald (LA‘19) prepares to pass the ball while (from left to right) offensive line Nick Roy (LA‘19), sophomore wide receiver Tanner Gordon and offensive line Dan MacDonald (LA‘19) block defenders in the homecoming football game at Bello Field against Bates on Sept. 29, 2018.

by Jake Freudberg Sports Editor

The NESCAC football season kicks off this weekend, as the Jumbos host the NESCAC powerhouse Trinity Bantams on Saturday afternoon at Ellis Oval.

The Jumbos are coming off a 7–2 season last year, which was good for third place in a difficult NESCAC. The Bantams, meanwhile, have won three straight NESCAC titles, and historically have been one of the strongest teams in the conference.

Senior co-captain and linebacker Greg Holt, who has received All-NESCAC honors every year he has been on the team, explained that the team has been preparing for Trinity like any other opponent.

“Every year we’re definitely excited to play them,” Holt said. “We take them on [in] the same way we take on any other team — focus on the game plan, focus on playing the best version of Tufts football that we can play, focus on fundamentals that our coaches are coaching us to do — and at the end of the day, try to execute our assignments and be the best we can be.”

Coach Jay Civetti — a Trinity alum and former football captain for the Bantams — added that success will entail focusing more on what his team can control, and not what Trinity brings to the table.

“Know thyself, know thy enemy, right?”

Civetti said. “It’s important to know who you’re going against, but at the end of the day, if you spend too much time worrying about them, you’re not going to spend enough time on what you’re doing. That versus Trinity is a recipe for disaster.”

But there certainly is a lot that one could worry about with Trinity.

In last year’s matchup, Trinity handed Tufts its first of two losses for the season, 38–24. Tufts struggled the most with stopping the run game, as Trinity outrushed the team 250 yards to just 68 yards. However, the Trinity running back and 2018 NESCAC Co-Offensive Player of the Year Max Chipouras, graduated in the spring.

Among NESCAC squads, the Bantams led almost every statistical category as a team in 2018. Ten Bantams were named to the All-NESCAC first team on the

offensive and defensive sides, as well as special teams.

In addition, perhaps the biggest hurdle for the Jumbos this fall will be the quarterback position. Quarterback Ryan McDonald (LA’19) — who led the NESCAC last season in touchdowns and passing yards and won the NESCAC Co-Offensive Player of the Year award — graduated, along with backup quarterback Ryan Hagfeldt (LA’19).

That leaves the Jumbos with several options: senior quarterback Jacob Carroll, junior quarterback Drew Gally, sophomore quarterback Cam Carti, first-year quarterback Trevon Woodson and senior running back Dom Borelli (who handled wildcat plays in the past).

“It’ll probably be a combination of seeing multiple guys — honestly right now I don’t know where it’s going to go yet,” Civetti said, referring to his quarterback plan for the season.

Holt expressed confidence that the team as a whole shows unique potential this year as well.

“I think you take things from previous seasons every year, but every team

is unique in its own way,” Holt said. “Our [first-year] class is a little bit different than any ones that we’ve had come in — different personalities and a different group of guys — so it’s been a lot of fun. I think our focus has just been different — we’ve been focusing on ourselves mostly every day, day in and day out, and trying not to look too far ahead into the future.”

This Trinity matchup is also historical, schedule-wise: The schedule this year has completely changed from the standard lineup of years past. While this poses a significant change to the typical flow of the season, Civetti emphasized that the team should not let that affect them.

“Here’s what I’m not going to allow us to do — for people to tell us ‘hey it’s OK that you lost because you had to open with Trinity, Williams and Amherst’ — that’s not OK,” Civetti said. “All I can control is how I prepare the team for each week, and the league put that in front of us and it’s a tremendous opportunity, so let’s find out who we really are. I always want the best of the best, so we’re getting it.”

Saturday’s kickoff is slated for 1:30 p.m.