The Tufts Daily - Thursday, September 29, 2022

T HE T UFTS D AILY

‘No one goes against the president’: Tufts’ diversity office reckons with high-level departures, internal conflicts

by Emily Thompson Executive News Editor

When Caroline Genco became provost ad interim of Tufts in January, one former employee of the Office of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Justice knew they couldn’t stay at the university.

The Office of DEIJ, housed under the Office of the Provost, has seen significant changes since the beginning of the year.

Tufts’ two chief diversity officers (CDOs), Rob Mack and Joyce Sackey, both left their positions in August within a span of two weeks. Internal conflict over the university’s Juneteenth program ming and a decision by Genco to temporarily change the reporting structure of the DEIJ office caused former and current employees to allege a lack of transparency in the provost’s office and a culture that runs contrary to the univer sity’s anti-racism principles.

Following the announcement of Mack and Sackey’s depar tures, S. Rae Peoples, an asso ciate director of diversity and inclusion education, wrote to University President Anthony Monaco on Aug. 8 to request that the university not recruit or hire

current tumultuous and unstable state of the Office of the Provost.”

Peoples, who is currently on per sonal leave, referenced her expe riences and observations from working in the DEIJ office with Genco as what prompted her to write the email. Rae subsequent ly provided this email and other relevant documents to the Daily.

“If members of senior leader ship for Tufts are either unwill ing or incapable of practicing anti-racist values consistent ly, then how are we expecting our students, staff, faculty, and support employee members to uphold these values?” Peoples asked in the email.

Monaco responded to these allegations in an email to the Daily.

“Advancing the universi ty’s commitments to being an anti-racist university contin ues to be a top priority for me,” Monaco wrote. “I remain sup portive of Provost Genco’s plans to introduce the structure and resources needed for continued progress on our DEIJ goals.”

Mack and Sackey’s departures were initially announced to fac ulty and staff, but not students, in an email from Genco on July 27 in which she thanked them for building “a tremendous frame work for the important work that lies ahead of us.” Sackey, who started at Tufts in 2009, now serves as the inaugural chief diversity and inclusion officer at Stanford Medicine. Mack, who joined the Tufts community in 2012, is now the vice provost for student success and engagement at The New School. The univer sity is not planning to fill their positions until it hires a vice pro vost for diversity, equity, inclu sion, and justice.

interim, she and Executive Vice President Mike Howard co-led an external review of the provost’s office and recommended the cre ation of the vice provost for DEIJ position. The university is in the process of interviewing finalists for that role.

“The goal will be that when that new person starts, they will engage the community to try to understand what we need to do in the DEIJ space,” Genco said in an interview with the Daily.

they were pulled from certain committees they had previously served on.

The Juneteenth Planning Committee

A month after Genco start ed as provost, the university’s Juneteenth Planning Committee convened, with Peoples as the chair. The committee included Black and African American rep resentatives from across the uni versity.

form institutional culture and climate.”

The committee members extended an invitation to lead ership for a conversation on the subject. A week later, on May 9, Genco met with the committee. She brought with her Kim Ryan, Tufts’ vice president of human resources. Mack and Sackey also joined the meeting.

anyone to fill the VP for DEIJ position, citing “deep concerns with the Office of the Provost operating as ‘business as usual’ by moving forward with recruit ment and hiring practices for these positions during a time that is profoundly unusual, given the

“With both Joyce and Rob departing, it is important for me to state unequivocally that the senior team’s commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice is steadfast and unwav ering,” Genco wrote in the July email. “Our commitment is demonstrated by, among other things, the creation of a new senior level position, the vice provost for diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice.”

In the months leading up to Genco becoming provost ad

The first incident that Peoples highlighted in her email to Monaco took place in January, when she and the former employee — who spoke to the Daily on the condition of ano nymity — were present during Genco’s first meeting with the CDOs and the CDO team. When one of the former CDOs voiced a criticism of Monaco’s approach to DEIJ education at Tufts, Genco allegedly told the CDO that “no one goes against the president.” Genco declined to comment on this conversation.

This January meeting wasn’t the only instance that made the former employee feel uneasy. They allege that after the first few weeks of Genco being in office, she stopped meeting with the CDOs as a group and

Later in the year, on May 3, the committee submitted a res olution to the two CDOs asking them to pause the university’s Juneteenth programming. The resolution listed concerns about whether the Black community at Tufts had directly requested that the holiday be observed, and questioned whether half a day of programming hon ored the “spirit and intent” of Juneteenth at an institution where the majority of faculty are white, explaining that “the racial and power dynamics [are] particularly antithetical to the purpose of Juneteenth.”

The committee also pointed to “recent institutional develop ments that speak to the contin ued struggle for Tufts University to engage in anti-racist work in ways that shift and trans

Ryan explained in an email to the Daily that she was asked to attend the meeting by Genco “to provide context and address questions raised by the commit tee about how Tufts came to rec ognize Juneteenth as a University holiday prior to the establish ment of a national holiday.”

Peoples noted in her August email to Monaco that “it is rea sonable for a person to conclude that the insertion of the VP of HR at this meeting was a tactical approach to intimidate and was a posturing of power over the Committee.”

Following Genco’s meeting with the committee, Peoples emailed the two CDOs to report how the meeting unfolded.

“Several committee mem bers were deeply concerned and offended by the way the conver

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SOPHIE DOLAN

Ballou Hall is pictured on Jan. 23, 2021.

“If members of senior leadership for Tufts are either unwilling or incapable of practicing anti-racist values consistently, then how are we expect ing our students, staff, faculty, and support employee members to uphold these values?” Peo ples asked.

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Top two chief diversity officers depart from Tufts, university not recruiting for replacements at this time

sation transpired,” Peoples wrote. “Words and sentiments that were used by committee members to describe the meeting today include: Disheartening, scold ing, thrashing, and frightening. A statement was made that spoke to concerns with not being able to sleep tonight given what the individual had witnessed in the meeting.”

It was during this meeting that a senior member of leader ship allegedly told the committee that “Juneteenth is Tufts now,” according to Peoples’ email. Peoples interpreted this as a sug gestion that Tufts would co-opt a holiday for Black Americans as part of its own efforts to appear anti-racist. She went on to say that some committee members stopped attending meetings fol lowing this event.

Ultimately, the university did commemorate Juneteenth pro gramming in a ceremony that featured remarks from Monaco, Genco, the two CDOs, Peoples and Lisa Fenn, director of DEI programming. Dr. Jelani Cobb, the dean of the Columbia Journalism School who writes about race and justice for the New Yorker, gave the keynote address.

of 2022,” Genco told the Daily. “I think what we’ve learned over the last eight months is [that] sometimes the structure didn’t work so well.”

Alongside the reporting change, Genco created the Director of DEI Programming position, which Fenn now holds. Fenn arrived at Tufts in Nov. 2021 and previously served as the program director of the university’s anti-racism initia tive. (Fenn came to Tufts after nearly 15 years as an executive diversity and inclusion consul tant and cited her “lived expe rience as a descendant of those enslaved in this nation” as part of her background in DEIJ.) The ADs began reporting to Fenn instead of the CDOs, and Fenn reported to Kara Charmanski, the executive associate provost for strategy and operations for the provost’s office. Genco sub sequently revised this reporting structure based on employee feedback so that Fenn would report directly to her.

approach that was used to relay the restructure is fundamentally antithetical to the practice and values of anti-racist work that Tufts has committed itself to,” Peoples wrote in her notice of personal leave. She explained to the Daily that during her meet ings with Fenn, Genco and Ryan, she felt that no one provided a communication plan to inform the associate deans of diversity and inclusion (ADDIs), who work closely with the CDO team, of the change.

Genco emphasized that although she is the one with final decision-making authority in the Office of the Provost, she considers input from important stakeholders before reaching a decision.

es,’” the former employee said of Genco. They referred to the dismantling of the Institute for Global Leadership, which was announced to the Tufts commu nity on the same day Peoples put in her notice of personal leave. “We’re not being consulted or talked to. There’s no transparen cy. There’s no opportunity … I felt early on that it’s just not my comfort space.”

Fenn, who told the Daily her most immediate goal in her new job is navigating this interim reporting change peri od, wrote to the Daily: “I know that these efforts are not easy and the challenges we’re facing are not unusual. I can also say that this prior experience leads me to appreciate Provost Genco’s commitment to this work and her willingness to make difficult decisions to move it forward.”

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“It is okay for us to acknowl edge both that Juneteenth was a beautiful community event this year, and that the initial collec tive decision by the Committee [to pause programming this year] was rejected by senior leader ship,” Peoples wrote in her email to Monaco.

Changing the DEIJ Office’s reporting structure

On July 11, Genco announced an interim reporting change within the DEIJ Office to the CDOs and the CDO team one by one in a series of meetings.

For years, the office was struc tured so that each CDO over saw two associate directors of diversity and inclusion educa tion (ADs). The CDOs ran com mittees and led DEIJ program ming efforts at the university.

Following the reporting change, they were stripped of that work and instead directed to work on DEIJ strategy, with one CDO assigned to focus on faculty and the other on students. The CDOs and their team were not involved in this decision.

“The reasons that I made the changes are confidential, and they’re based on information that I gathered starting in March

The CDOs and their team were told by Genco not to discuss the changes with anyone, which the provost explained was a typ ical request when making signif icant organizational announce ments, noting that there was a plan to inform stakeholders at the appropriate time.

Less than a week after the reporting change went into effect, Peoples emailed Lisa Fenn to inform her of her intent to take a personal leave, Cc’ing Monaco, Genco and other administrators involved in uni versity DEI efforts. She singled out the reporting change as an example of a “severely problem atic and unstable” work envi ronment and took issue with the CDOs losing certain operational responsibilities, such as leading committees; the fact that they would no longer supervise the ADs; the creation of the Director of DEI Programming position; and Charmanski’s role in the chain of command.

Charmanski declined to com ment, but Genco stressed that Charmanski’s role was to “pro vide operational guidance and support to Lisa Fenn and the CDO team,” not to oversee DEIJ work. Peoples also highlighted how although the change was presented as interim, she was not aware of any planned end date for it.

“Both the exclusionary deci sion-making process and the authoritative communication

“Not everyone is always in agreement with the decision … but it’s important to acknowl edge that decisions are made, there’s a reason for the timing of how they are shared, and a need to move forward in the work to support them,” Genco wrote in a message to the Daily.

“The way that my conversa tions with … you and the provost ad interim … and institutional leadership (VP of HR) illustrate how institutional modes of com munication, including attempts to silence employees and invita tions to step into conversations as a means to contain and cajole people, simultaneously rein force, and reproduce harmful and toxic working and learning environments,” Peoples wrote to Fenn in her notice of leave.

Although the anonymous for mer employee knew in January that they did not support Genco’s leadership style, they decided to leave Tufts after she announced the reporting change to the team — before they had secured their next job. They concurred with Peoples’ interpretation of the recent changes.

“For me, it was like, ‘You’re ad interim and you are making a lot of very big, significant chang

The departures of the CDOs were announced, albeit without naming either Sackey or Mack, to the wider Tufts community in a Sept. 9 email from Genco that also included other DEIJ updates.

Genco stated in the email that she is mindful that the transitions and departures create questions about the university’s commit ment to and ability to sustain DEIJ work.

“We recognize that we are not where we want to be, but we remain committed to getting there, and to keeping you updat ed in the process,” Genco wrote to the Daily. “Our intention is not to suggest there is an immediate solution to the complex issues we grapple with daily, but to provide updates and clarity on current and future steps we are taking to reach our collective goals.”

She referred to the search for the VP for DEIJ, the CDO team, the ADs and her strengthened partnership with the ADDIs.

“As the academic year begins, our community is inundated with internal and external con ditions that will challenge our resolve to uphold our DEIJ com mitment,” Peoples wrote to the Daily in response to Genco’s email. “Beyond issuing periodic updates, we must move in a way that establishes our DEIJ initia tives in meaningful and sustain able ways.”

Shortly after Peoples asked Monaco not to fill the VP of DEIJ position immediately, the aca demic year began with one third fewer positions filled in the DEIJ office and with Peoples still on personal leave.

“We recognize that we are not where we want to be, but we remain commit ted to getting there, and to keeping you updated in the pro cess,” Genco wrote to the Daily.

FeaT ures

Commuter consternation: stories and reactions to the latest Green Line extension delay

by Sam Dieringer Deputy Features Editor

The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority announced on Aug. 5 that the Green Line Extension’s Medford branch would not open as scheduled in summer 2022, but instead be pushed further to late November, following a series of previous delays.

When GLX project managers released their decision to extend their work on the Medford branch, many local students, residents and workers were left scrambling to adjust to the new and uncertain circumstances. In this piece, we asked a number of our community members to share their perspectives on the delay, what it means for them and what larger implications the delay might have for the Medford/Somerville area. Here’s what they said.

Clara Davis, a sophomore and SMFA dual-degree student, explained that public transpor tation access was one of her con siderations when deciding where to go for college.

“Honestly, public transit was one of my considerations when I was thinking about what college I

[wanted] to go to, because I hate driving. So coming to Boston was really exciting,” Davis said.

Before transferring to the dual degree program, Davis pursued a BFA degree at the SMFA and lived in Brookline. Davis empha sized that she took the T almost constantly, and knew the ins and outs of the MBTA by the end of her first year.

As a sophomore, Davis trans ferred into the dual degree pro gram and now commutes from Medford/Somerville to the SMFA campus. As a result of her new residence and need to commute, she has run into daily transpor tation-related challenges that could be solved with the GLX.

“There’s one part of my week where I have an hour to get from my class at SMFA back to my class [in Medford/Somerville],” Davis said. “And it’s at the half hour mark, so I can’t take a shut tle … I have to take a T. And if I take the Green Line to the Red Line, it takes like an hour if I’m lucky. Whereas if the Green Line extension was done, it would take more like 35 minutes or something more reasonable.”

Similar to Davis, new Medford resident Jake Perda was in a predicament following the

announcement to delay the GLX. Perda, a recent graduate of Northeastern University and an accounting professional, moved outside of the city to obtain offstreet parking for his car, which is necessary for his job. What drew Perda to Medford particularly was the incoming opening of the GLX, he shared. Perda thought he

would be able to go to his office in Copley Square with ease a few times a week.

“What led me to Medford was that it was at the end of the new Green Line extension, which was allegedly going to be opened in summer 2022. So I figured if we’re moving in September, that should be open,” Perda said.

demystifying student club recruitment season

by Kaitlyn Wells Deputy Features Editor

Originally published Sept. 27, 2022.

Editor’s note: Abigail Sommers is a video journalist at The Tufts Daily. Sommers was not involved in the writing or editing of this article.

The time comes every semester for Tufts student clubs to flaunt their feathers — typically at the club fair, on social media and even on chalked sidewalks — all in the hope of attracting the inter est of their peers. It seems that all the clubs on campus are eager to recruit potential members — both bright-eyed first-year Jumbos and return ing students looking to contin ue experimenting.

The diverse range of club offerings exist on a spectrum of selectivity when it comes to matriculating new members.

Tufts TURBO is a group for breakdancing and streetstyle dance on campus. Emily Chervinsky, a sophomore and the current secretary of TURBO, explained that the club runs workshops, per forms for events on campus and at other colleges, and par ticipates in competitions.

According to Chervinsky, students looking to get involved can simply attend as many meetings as they like and do not go through a formal

audition process. Chervinsky elaborated on the club’s mis sion as it relates to their open recruitment process.

“We pride ourselves on the fact that we accept all differ ent people and all different styles,” Chervinsky said. “One thing that TURBO stands for is individuality and spreading the knowledge of dancing and breakdancing more specifical ly, and something called allstyles dancing. But if you … [made] it an audition group, then basically the whole point of TURBO is gone.”

Chervinsky partially attribut ed the openness of Tufts TURBO to the group’s individually-driv en dance styles, which contrast with other Tufts dance groups that place a greater emphasis on choreography.

“With groups like [Spirit of the Creative], Envy, Blackout, Sarabande, just naming a few [audition-based groups] … they’re very choreogra phy-based groups. And this is just not that type of group,” Chervinsky said.

Another performance club, the Jackson Jills, lies on the other end of the selectivity spectrum. The Jills, as they’re commonly known, are an allfemme a capella group that sings mostly contemporary music. Their current music director, sophomore Abigail Sommers, described the Jills’ two-round audition process.

“This was the first year we went back to doing fully in-person auditions. So this year, what that meant was we had … preliminary auditions and then callbacks,” Sommers said. “They’d come in for an eight-minute time slot, sing a short solo, do some scales, quick stuff like that. And then … if you got a call back, you would come in the next day and do a little bit of a more in-depth audition. And then after that, we’d let you know.”

To offset a high volume of applicants, the Jills have always required auditions in order to maintain the size, according to Sommers.

“I don’t think that removing the audition process would be a possibility, … just because we have to be a sort of smallish group to do the kind of stuff that we want to do,” Sommers said.

For the Jills, many complex considerations go into pick ing new members. They do not have any explicit criteria — rather, their evaluation is highly dependent upon how new members might mesh with the sound and dynamic of existing members, Sommers explained.

“As far as actually selecting the members … there are so many factors that have to go into it. You can have some one who’s an amazing soloist, an amazing musician, but the

group, vocally, isn’t a fit for them,” Sommers said. “Blend is a super big thing for a capel la … there are certain voices that do well in certain envi ronments.”

Even though their recruit ment process is competitive, Sommers emphasized that the Jills try to be as fair and impar tial as possible.

“For us, the voice always comes first. We would never reject some one for a reason other than their voice. But, you know, we spend a lot of time with each other and so, … we want to get along with our group members, but there’s never ever a time when we reject some one because we didn’t like them,” Sommers said.

Sommers also revealed that students often audition multi ple times for the Jills, and that this can have positive results in cases where applicants accept and act upon construc tive feedback.

“A good number of our mem bers have auditioned multiple times and gotten rejected multi ple times and then gotten in. So a lot of it has to do with, like, how well do you take feedback and work on it and develop as a sing er? … We pay a lot of attention to people who come back and show so much growth,” she said.

In light of her experience, Sommers described that while club auditions can be stress ful, the potential rewards jus tify the process.

Knowing that the opening of the extension could potentially be pushed back, Perda found comfort with access to the nearby Orange Line, which also could bring him to Copley Square. Unfortunately for Perda, it was announced in August that both the Green Line

“I had no intentions of auditioning … [and] I reluc tantly signed up because I was still very nervous, I get terrible audition anxiety … but you walk into the room and every one’s like so excited to see you … so I felt pretty at ease,” Sommers said. “Then waiting for the results after is stressful and it was exhausting … I had to recover … but it was really worth it in the end.”

Tufts also has several con sulting clubs, which differen tiate themselves with varying levels of commitment, formal ity and clientele.

Tufts’ chapter of 180 Degrees Consulting is part of an international network of student consulting clubs that target local nonprofit clients.

Ariana Arvanitis, the cur rent director of recruitment and communication for Tufts 180 Degrees Consulting, explained that the group reviews anonymous written applications before proceed ing to a round of in-person interviews. During the recruit ment season at the start of the semester, each of the group’s board members spends sev eral hours a day conducting interviews and communicat ing with applicants.

“This year it was two … short essay responses, and then we also asked for a blind

QUAN TRAN / THE TUFTS DAILY

The unfinished MBTA Green Line station is pictured on Sept. 25.

Medford/Somerville community members share their perspectives on MBTA closures, delays

Extension would be delayed and the entire Orange Line would be temporarily shut down.

“[I thought] if for some reason the extension didn’t work out, I would have the Orange Line. But as we’ve seen it play out … that did not work out how I planned it,” Perda said.

In the time the two branch es were closed, Perda struggled to find a reliable way to get to downtown Boston with ease.

“I haven’t found any alterna tives I call ‘sustainable’ because it’s either a matter of spending an hour and a half getting into the city or paying $25 to $35 for an Uber to get into the city,” Perda said. “Once the Green Line and Orange Line open back up, I’m hoping I’ll be able to make it in a little faster.”

Perhaps no other individual in the Tufts community has a more in-depth perspective on issues with public transit than Justin Hollander, professor and interim chair of the Department of Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning. Hollander explained how a series of problems, includ ing fires on the T rails, led to the latest delay.

“Well, the MBTA is literally on fire. So I think that they’re look ing at kind of immediate opera tional challenges right now as a priority,” Hollander said.

Hollander described how stu dents within the Department of Urban and Environmental

Policy and Planning have con ducted research and worked in internships about the MBTA extensions. He explained that the department has viewed the onset of the Green Line extension as a much more gradual process.

“I think that all the stuff that our department’s been involved in has always had kind of an eye that this is something that’s not immediate … so I think that’s kind of built into how we push [our] projects,” Hollander said.

Jeffrey Berry, another Tufts professor in the political sci ence department, has a partic ular focus on urban politics and shared insight on the effects of public transportation on the local economy. Berry did not foresee the delay to the GLX as anything out of the ordinary, especially when it comes to constructing a new train line from scratch.

“I don’t see any sort of a larger significance to the fact that every once in a while train lines have to be repaired. It’s not something unique to Boston,” Berry said. “The Green Line Extension, [though], is about building a line from scratch and the delays have to do with construction and testing.”

More broadly, Berry explained how the construction of the GLX has led to increased economic activity, including gentrification and rising property values in the Medford/Somerville area.

“The biggest impact on the political economy of Medford and Somerville came with the plans for them to extend the

Green Line, and particularly when the stations were select ed,” Berry said. “And the impact then was that it made the prop erty surrounding those stations a lot more valuable. That in turn has led to gentrification, so the impact on the local economy has been significant.”

Berry highlighted the impact of the current construction of the Green Line, and how business will see significant growth in the Medford/Somerville area.

“[The Green Line construc tion] has already had a signifi cant impact, but it will continue to have an impact because popu lations are likely to increase with transit-oriented development. … More people living in the areas mean that there’s more business for local establishments. So that in turn means more property taxes. So this is going to continue to have an impact,” Berry said.

Among all of the thoughts and speculation surrounding the Green Line Extension devel opment, the Deputy Program Manager of Stakeholder Engagement for the GLX Project Terry McCarthy offered some insight.

In explaining the context behind the latest delay with the Green Line Extension, McCarthy shared that the project team uti lized the shutdown “diversion” of the Orange Line to help complete the work that would have taken 70 to 80 days, but instead took only six days. McCarthy added that this work scheduling change

Recruiting strategies, selectivity vary widely

Arvanitis, who encouraged people to take a shot at it.

resume so that we can go through a blind recruitment process in which we read everyone’s [application] with out knowing who they are [to] try to eliminate bias as much as possible,” Arvanitis said.

“And then based on how you perform there, we will invite you to the next round of inter views. Based on that, we will offer a spot on our team.”

Similar to the Jills, Tufts 180 Degrees deals with high stu dent demand and a low supply of spots on its small team, Arvanitis explained.

“I believe our applica tion process is necessary just because of the sheer volume of people we get, … but then we have to compare that large number of interested prospec tive applicants to the number of clients we have per semes ter,” Arvanitis said. “And we’d like to keep small teams per client so that everyone really gets one-on-one time with the client … and this tight-knit experience of working with a group and learning a lot more about consulting in the social impact sphere.”

The application process for Tufts 180 Degrees is meant to simulate the steps of a real job application, but not to an intense degree, according to

“Apply, apply, apply, even if you don’t know what consult ing is, even if you don’t have too much interest in it yet. … When we receive applications, all of us on the [executive] board are just excited to see how people can grow in the club, what they’ve done so far, how they’d be an asset to our club … we’re trying to help you get in, not trying to turn you away. … So I think under standing that mentality of the [executive] board should bring a lot of comfort to people who might be intimidated,” Arvanitis said.

Elizabeth Goldstein is a senior and the founder of Tufts Opportunity Consulting. Goldstein, who serves as the club’s president, explained how TOC might be different from other consulting groups on campus.

“TOC is Tufts’ only all-op portunity consulting club, so that means you don’t have to apply, you don’t have to have a minimum GPA. Essentially what we do is we teach about various types of consulting,” Goldstein said.

TOC focuses more on pre-professional development through the invitation of guest speakers, resume workshops, practices for case interviews and connecting members to

still pushed back the opening date of the GLX.

“Because of that diversion, we were able to accomplish that work in about six days. … We slightly had to push back our projected revenue opening date,” McCarthy said. “I wouldn’t quite call it a delay. It was more adjust ing in the schedule to complete the work.”

McCarthy underscored that the rescheduling of the new tar get opening date is more of a “resequencing,” rather than a delay, based on various circum stances of the project.

“The Medford/Tufts station isn’t delayed in any element of anything … delay for GLX is not really the correct term. We rese quenced our work elements to take advantage of the Orange Line diversion,” McCarthy said. “One of the things that you have to remember [is] what happens in the core of our system affects each end.”

As the project is currently set to open in November, McCarthy reiterated the immense benefits the GLX can provide for the pub lic, particularly in Medford and Somerville.

“Some of the benefits of the project is reducing vehicle con gestion and improving air qual ity,” McCarthy said. “Also, [this is] more towards the city of Somerville, but 20% of people can [currently] walk to a tran sit station. When GLX is com pleted, 80% of the population of Somerville will be able to walk or

transit and that’s based on a half mile radius around each of the stations.”

When asked about his opti mism surrounding the com pletion of the extension by this November, Hollander felt more optimistic that the extension would finish on schedule this time around.

“They’ll start the Orange Line, and then the Green Line exten sion that’s running. And then soon after that, we’ll start to see the Green Line come to campus,” Hollander said.

Unlike Hollander, Perda was much more skeptical and uncertain about the extension’s completion in November, espe cially in light of the MBTA’s pre vious delays.

“Well, I am not optimistic at all, to be honest … I would say I have little faith that the Green Line extension is going to open in November,” Perda said. “But at the very least if they could just open up the Orange Line and give me a route into the city. While it might not be the most convenient route, at least it’s better than what we have right now.”

Echoing Perda’s sentiment, Davis expressed her increasing frustration with the Green Line extension.

“I want to be optimistic,” Davis said. “If they’ve pushed [back the opening] twice, I don’t know whether I should trust it or not at this point. I want to, I really do.”

various career opportunities, Goldstein added.

Goldstein shared that con sulting piqued her interest when she was a sophomore, prompt ing her to apply to anoth er student group called Tufts Consulting Club. She added that her rejection from TCC inspired her to start a new student orga nization for consulting.

“I reached out and applied to TCC, and … [in] the first round of application they actually do case interviews … I got rejected essentially because I didn’t know enough about consulting,” Goldstein said. “[And so] I wanted to be able to provide a place where people who are interested in a career in consulting can get information from current con sultants, and learn more about what consulting as a career looks like as well as the appli cation process.”

There’s a whole world of extracurricular possibili ties for Tufts students to get involved in. Groups such as TURBO and Tufts Opportunity Consulting have more flexi ble membership opportunities that speak to a club ethos that prioritizes openness. Others including the Jills and 180 Degrees are highly competi tive, yet still have procedures that attempt to lower barriers to entry.

Ultimately, whether stu dents are looking to continue a preexisting passion or nurture a new one, joining a commu nity can come with nerves, and requires effort in a multitude of

forms. Curious students should remember that clubs are equal ly eager to recruit, and delight ed (as well as obligated) to lend as much transparency to the process as they can.

MARK CHOI / THE TUFTS

The 2021 club fair is pictured.

ar T s & p O p C u LT ure

The issue of queer representation in ‘my policeman’

by Jack Clohisy Executive Arts Editor

With the upcoming release of the feature film “My Policeman” (2022) set to screen in theaters nationwide starting Oct. 21, it’s only appropriate to dive into the novel the feature film is based upon, Harry Styles’ upcoming role in the production and the general dehumanization of queer characters in literature.

Originally published a decade ago in the U.K., “My Policeman” (2012) was not available for sale in the U.S. until 2021. The novel centers on three protagonists: Tom, Marion and Patrick, who are the policeman, wife and lover, respectively. The story is told in vignettes offered up by Marion and Patrick. Over the course of the story, there is no direct nar ration from Tom, an interesting stylistic choice by author Bethan Roberts.

It’s evident from the expo sition that any love is ill-fated within “My Policeman.” As read ers grow to know Marion in the first book, pity ensues for the poor woman who will soon marry a man who cannot love her back. When Patrick is intro duced, there’s almost an imme diate conflict as to who the true victim is. Does the reader sympa thize with the poor, love-strick en wife who will never have her affections reciprocated? Or does the gay lover who will never be able to love openly garner more sympathy? What’s lost in all of this is the policeman, Tom.

Quite easily the most ignorant and selfish persona within the novel, Tom expects it all. He takes advantage of Marion’s oblivion to his sexuality and Patrick’s eager ness to share him with his wife. However, Tom is also a victim. He is but another queer man in 1950s England where he is unable to forge a path toward fulfilling his own needs for love and affection. Yet, despite all of these obstacles, Tom manages to remain the villain. The emotion

al abuse of Marion and Patrick highlights Tom’s sexual greed that takes precedence over fair ness. Whether his intention or not, Tom is inevitably damaging Marion for security and Patrick for sex and intimacy. Despite Patrick’s accounts of Tom’s inter est in his musings — since there is no room for Tom’s narration within the novel — there’s little to no proof that Tom was ever truly emotionally connected to Patrick at all. Patrick’s depictions of Tom are viewed through an optimistic lens, a somewhat idealistic ver sion of what Patrick hopes Tom reciprocates.

Where Roberts falls short is in her description of love within the novel. Intimacy is defined as sex ual rather than emotional, and there are very few times within the novel that Marion or Patrick aren’t salivating over Tom’s broad shoulders. Though sexual inti macy plays a role in relation ships, Marion and Patrick were diluted to a subclass of dynamic protagonists that barely manage to grow as individuals. Patrick’s endless devotion to Tom leaves him lonely and broken by the end of the novel, and Marion recognizes her homophobic response to the affair, although without tangible retribution or reflection. What is most concern

ing, however, is how queer love is painted in this piece.

While the story is told between the perspectives of Marion and Patrick, it’s undeniably Marion’s tale from the start. Patrick loses all credibility toward the end of the novel. After being arrested, Patrick continues to pine over the image of him. Marion, the woman who lost it all because of her gay husband, is allowed redemp tion at the end of the novel. She writes her thoughts about the affair down and force-feeds them to Tom and Patrick to reflect upon. Though she acknowledges her own role in Patrick’s arrest, Marion leaves Tom to seemingly restart whatever remainder of life she has left. Tom, though flawed, is not awarded this opportunity, and Patrick has no more than a week to live by the conclusion of the novel.

Throughout the novel, Tom is represented as a man of his own conviction who effectively manipulates and harms Marion. Patrick fares no better as the ‘other man’ who willfully allows the manipulation of Marion to take place all so that he can enjoy the pleasures of a secret relation ship with Tom. The most frustrat ing part of the novel is — outside of the terrible abuse and bigot ry Patrick faces in prison — is

that it feels deserved. Patrick’s suffering, along with Tom’s, feels justified. Two queer men are painted as the villains of their own story. Queer men who face being called slurs in the street daily. Queer men who are arrest ed and stripped of their repu tations because of whom they choose to have sex with. Queer men who have no other choice in their society but to marry a woman. Yes, Marion is a victim, but did highlighting her misfor tune have to come at the expense of dehumanizing two very clearly ostracized men from society?

If matters could not get any worse, the film adaptation of “My Policeman” can only further rub salt in the wound. Harry Styles was cast as Tom in the feature film, despite claims that Styles co-opts the queer community, often known as queerbaiting. While Styles is just as valid in his identity, public knowledge or not, as anyone else, it is coinci dental that the most polarizing character in the book is played by an equally polarizing figure to the queer community.

Styles did not make matters any better for himself when he described the film: “It’s not like, ‘This is a gay story about these guys being gay.’ … It’s about love and about wasted time to

me.” Can a queer film not just focus on queer issues? Must it be more broadly applied to themes of love and wasted time? Styles also noted that “so much of gay sex in film is two guys going at it, and it kind of removes the ten derness from it.” Though Styles is clearly defending the intimacy for which he believes the film is aiming, it almost feels as though he is criticizing other queer media for centering too much on a “gay story about these guys being gay” or focusing on mean ingless sex that lacks emotion. Of queer novels that could’ve been adapted for the silver screen, “My Policeman” is one of the worst choices.

The film has yet to be released, so there is still the opportunity for the movie to surpass expecta tions and better represent queer issues faced by past generations, but the prospect isn’t too prom ising. However, there are benefits to having queer representation on the big screen today, espe cially featuring major celebrities such as Styles. Whether or not the film performs well or is received warmly, it will make a queer story visible to the public. Hopefully, this will open up the space in film and media to push forward more marginalized narratives.

“My Policeman” is a story cen tering on three white protago nists, and the queer community cannot be appropriately rep resented by such narrow cast ings. Queer love comes in more forms than are represented in the media today, and hopefully, these narratives can be fleshed out and given their due time in the lime light. As for “My Policeman,” it is respectable of Roberts to take on the task of amplifying queer issues, but she ultimately failed at effectively evoking a greater sense of sympathy and respect for Tom, Patrick and queer peo ple in general.

“My Policeman” will be released in theaters Oct. 21 and made available on Amazon Prime Video Nov. 4.

sweatshops in america and sustainability in fashion

by RaiAnn Bu Arts Editor

The slow fashion movement was first introduced in 2007 by journalist Kate Fletcher, who detailed fashion’s responsibility regarding transparent practices, production of environmentally sustainable items and fair con ditions for workers. Since then, interest in sustainable fashion has increased in niche groups and gained more public interest during the COVID-19 pandemic. The COVID-19 pandemic illumi nated and emphasized pre-exist ing inequities in society’s struc ture. It brought wealth inequality, late stage capitalism, environ mental disasters and racial dis crimination — especially during

the George Floyd protests — to the forefront.

Since then, consumers have expressed interest in more sus tainable and equitable practic es in the textile industry. About 57% of consumers report they have made lifestyle chang es to decrease environmental impact. Consequently, brands have responded with gestures toward supply transparency, use of recycled materials, support of minority communities and, most importantly, branding them selves to care.

On Oct. 12, 2021, Urban Outfitters introduced Nuuly Thrift to its platform, allowing consumers to shop for pre-

VIA WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

The cover of Bethan Roberts’ “My Policeman” (2012) (left) and Harry Styles holding a pride flag (right) are pictured.

An Urban Outfitters storefront is pictured.

Sweatshop labor exists at home in the U.S.

owned clothing items while browsing the current inventory. This business model has been implemented by many popu lar brands, such as Patagonia, REI, Nordstrom, Levi’s and Lululemon. However, there is no evidence this has transformed the linear buying model into a cyclical one.

Luxury brands capture differ ent markets than more afford able ones. People who are buying new and those who are buying used are likely different popula tions entirely. Additionally, these companies have not decreased their production of new items.

One of the most popular brands, Nike, has plans to decrease its carbon footprint per item rather than decrease production as a whole. This exemplifies the delu sion large companies and con sumers believe that profit and sustainability can coexist.

Speaking of fashionable young adult fashion retailers, Urban Outfitters is one of the biggest offenders for wage theft for sweatshop labor in the U.S. Brands such as Forever 21, Charlotte Russe and Fashion Nova have been found to be compliant in supporting California factories paying their garment workers as low as $5 per hour under subopti

mal conditions. These brands owe millions of dollars to their employees, often undocument ed immigrants, yet launched campaigns after the George Floyd protests declaring their support for BIPOC.

Urban Outfitters cites its part nership with Where are the Black Designers?, its HBCU Summer Intern Program and other LGBTQ and Black empowerment pro grams. Yet, the company is one of the biggest culprits of disen franchising BIPOC workers. This lack of responsibility for garment workers comes from the fact that these retailers are not legally responsible for production prac tices if they feign ignorance.

Sweatshop labor is not just an issue of women overseas bending over to sew our cloth ing. It’s present in Los Angeles, home to influencers and wealth inequality.

There are arguments positing that low wages are necessary for competition against low wage garment producing countries such as Bangladesh, but Los Angeles Apparel stands against this argument. Los Angeles Apparel, created by the founder of American Apparel, was one of the solitary fair wage brands in the 2010s. The brand cur rently pays its garment workers an average of $20 an hour by owning its own factories instead

of outsourcing. Los Angeles Apparel is vertically integrated and remains relatively small.

These issues are only the surface of what is explored in Remake’s 2021 Fashion Accountability report. Audits similar to it point to the fact that sustainability is not mov ing as fast as they’re advertised. As much as it is companies’ responsibility to employ ethical and equitable practices, profit is really what holds them account able. Thus, it is a consumer responsibility to check sources, to know that 8% of companies can prove they pay their work ers a living wage and to shop accordingly.

performance, fashion and diversity take center stage at Vogue world

by Ryan Fairfield Assistant Arts Editor

Anna Wintour is one of the biggest names in the fash ion industry. Wintour has led Vogue as its editor in chief since 1988 and in her 30-year reign has revolutionized the fashion industry. Whether it be putting together the iconic September issue or turning the Met Gala into the global fashion event it has become known as today, Wintour’s influence has been undeniable and shows no signs of stopping. Wintour’s latest endeavor, Vogue World, is yet another example of her success and abilities in altering the fash ion industry.

Vogue World, which was held on Sept. 12 during New York Fashion Week, was a com bination of fashion show and street fair. Taking over West 13th Street, Vogue World drew inspi ration from the city of New York and established an event that brought together influenc ers, fashion elites, critics and countless celebrities. Vogue World was unlike any other show that occurred during New York Fashion Week, as it was not sim ply a fashion show, but a com mercial, entertainment event, with pop-ups from brands like Moncler and Coach.

Wintour has a reputation for being cold, traditional and over all just unpleasant. Some have argued that she is out of touch and stuck in the past, which rais es questions about her ability to continue to lead Vogue into the

future. Vogue World is the perfect event to put to rest any doubts about Wintour’s leadership abil ities as the event maintains the classic aspects of a typical fash ion show while incorporating modern trends.

The era of supermodels is over and the fashion indus try has shifted to include more celebrities and influencers in their campaigns and events. Zendaya becoming the face of Valentino’s fall–winter 2022 cam paign, Winona Ryder making her Marc Jacobs return for the J Marc shoulder bag campaign and Timothée Chalamet being the first man to appear solo on the cover of British Vogue are all recent examples of celebrities, specifically entertainers, taking over the fashion world. In the past, supermodels might have graced these covers or partici pated in these campaigns, but that era is over.

Wintour leaned into the idea of entertainers being the new fashion icons at Vogue World with numerous recognizable faces walking the carpet, or street in this case. Opening with Serena Williams in a shimmer ing silver Balenciaga gown, the tone for the runway was set from the beginning. Other notable celebrities who walked the car pet include Brooklyn Beckham in Valentino, Jeremy O. Harris in Gucci, Kendall Jenner in Prada, Karlie Kloss in Rick Owens, Emily Ratajkowski in Miu Miu, Bella Hadid in Balenciaga, Gigi Hadid in Maison Margiela and Lil Nas X in Coach.

It is wrong to call Vogue World a fashion show — it was a specta cle, a performance. With various models dancing in the street and running around, Vogue World was not your typical stiff, monotone show. Every model, every celebri ty and every dancer who walked for the show brought their indi viduality and allowed their per sonality to shine through, mak ing it a more inviting, exciting show. With dozens of designers, unlike a typical show hosted by a fashion house who only show cases their brand, Vogue World saw a variety of unique outfits and styles. It is impossible to count the number of brands fea tured in the show, from Banana Republic to Hermès, which is what made Vogue World such an exciting event to watch.

The fashion world and Vogue specifically do not have a history of embracing diversity. Back in 2020, amid a rise in conversations surrounding Black Lives Matter, Wintour acknowledged the harm Vogue has caused in the past and took “full responsibility” for the “hurtful or intolerant” content published by the magazine, as well as the publication’s treatment of Black staff members and failure to uplift Black designers. In bring ing together models and celeb rities from diverse backgrounds, Vogue World shows Wintour and Vogue’s commitment to moving forward and attempting to be a more welcoming, diverse space for designers, models and others in the industry.

Fashion is an industry that is forever changing and evolv

ing, and yet for the last 30 years, there has been one constant — Anna Wintour and Vogue. Vogue World is yet another example of Wintour’s skillful leadership and forward-thinking mindset that has enabled Vogue to be one of the most important fashion publications in the world. Vogue

World was a beautiful collabora tion between designers, models, celebrities, the press and Vogue itself. Though there is no word yet if Vogue World will make a return next year, one can only hope this is not a one-time event. The industry needs more events like Vogue World.

VIA WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

Anna Wintour, the editor in chief of Vogue, is pictured.

department of biomedical engineering sunsets abeT accreditation

by Ariana Phillips Deputy News Editor

The School of Engineering announced that it is sunset ting the ABET accreditation for its Bachelor of Science in Biomedical Engineering program in an email sent to BSBME students on Sept. 19

The Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology is a voluntary accreditation program that evaluates engi neering and applied sciences degree programs and ensures they meet the standards for the professions they feed into.

The sunsetting process will happen over the next four aca demic years and will not impact students currently pursuing a BSBME. The Class of 2026 will be the last to receive ABETaccredited BSBME degrees from Tufts.

According to Sergio Fantini, the interim chair of the Department of Biomedical Engineering, the department has been reviewing the value of ABET accreditation to BME students over the past three to four years.

“We have consulted with our BSBME alumni and with employers of our alumni, and not once did we hear that the

ABET accreditation of their BME degree was considered in their job interviews or in their applications to gradu ate school, medical school, or other professional schools,” Fantini wrote in an email to the Daily.

According to Fantini, the department found that an ABET accreditation was not as valuable to biomedical engi neering as it is in other engi neering fields.

Fantini emphasized that sunsetting the accreditation will provide more opportuni ties for innovation within the degree program, most notably with senior capstone projects, which were heavily based on engineering design in order to meet ABET requirements.

“The opportunity of per forming a research-based, year-long senior capstone proj ect will allow students to par ticipate in world-class research performed within the depart ment and beyond through interdisciplinary collabora tions,” Fantini wrote.

Fantini argued that a research-based capstone proj ect will be especially valuable to students intending to pur sue graduate school or pro fessional health care degrees.

Justin Wang, a co-president of the Biomedical Engineering Society and a junior in the BSBME program, is one of these students.

“With the previous itera tion of the capstone, a lot of it was essentially like ‘you need to take on a design compo nent,’” Wang said. “If there was research going into what you are trying to make, it takes kind of a backseat to the actual design of the experiment.”

Wang pointed to his back ground as the reason he prefers a research-based capstone project.

“After doing summer research this year and having a bunch of things not work … my worry is that it is easier to get stuck in the design aspect than getting stuck in the research aspect,” Wang said. “In the research aspect, you don’t have to necessarily apply and create something with the proposi tion of it working.”

Yashas Basavarajappa, a member of the Biomedical Engineering Society, supports the decision to sunset the accreditation. He believes the sunsetting process allows stu dents to take advantage of the interdisciplinary nature of BME.

“With such a large field I think students need to be

allowed to pursue research opportunities that interest them … and students may be able to take more classes in the sub-specialties that interest them,” Basavarajappa, a junior, wrote in an email to the Daily.

Despite the benefits, Basavarajappa and Wang shared similar concerns that students interested in industry jobs may be more affected by the loss of the ABET accreditation.

“Some companies care about an ABET accreditation to ensure their new hires are fully prepared for their profession,” Basavarajappa wrote.

Still, both are confident that the BME program will continue

to meet a high academic stan dard even after its sunsetting process.

Fantini assured students the department will retain process es that worked well under ABET.

“The BME department… carefully considered the positive impact on the program that is associated with the procedures for assessment, evaluation, and continuous improvement that we have in place as part of the process for ABET accreditation,” Fantini wrote. “We plan to con tinue these procedures beyond the ABET sunsetting period to retain our current process of continuous review and improve ment of the program.”

NICOLE GARAY / THE TUFTS DAILY

The Science and Engineering Complex is pictured on Dec. 3, 2020.

SUDOKU

Mike: “I think instead of getting lawyers he should get some bitches.”

CROSSWORD

Difficulty Level: Wordpress.

MISSED CONNECTIONS

You: gave me a head nod and “what’s up” as we crossed paths by the Cumbucks intersection Me: was too embarrassed by my disheveled state to respond but felt immediate butterflies like the Mariah Carey album so exqui sitely covered by the Daily

You: subject of a for bidden office romance, kind of cranky and say no to most things

Me: would love to pur sue a forbidden office romance

Opi N i ON

VIEWPOINT

A democracy at dawn or dusk: The future of Taiwan

by Annabel Zhang Contributing Writer

The China-Taiwan conflict has lasted for decades, from the establishment of the People’s Republic of China to the pres ent. When the PRC was estab lished in 1949, the Chinese Communist Party’s adversary, the Kuomintang, retreated to the island of Taiwan during the Chinese Civil War. Since then, China has always claimed to hold sovereignty over Taiwan, an “inalienable” part of China.

On the world stage, it seems that they have succeeded. Taiwan currently has full dip lomatic relations with only 14 countries. None of those coun tries are major economic or mil itary powers. The United States, the world’s largest superpower, also recognizes the “One China Policy,” under which it recogniz es the PRC is the sole legal gov ernment of China and acknowl edges the Chinese position that Taiwan is a part of China and there is one China.

Nonetheless, the situation has shifted, marked by Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan on Aug. 2. She is the highest ranking U.S. offi cial to visit Taiwan since 1997. Historically, Pelosi has criticized China for abuse of human rights. Shortly before her visit to Taiwan, she stated in an opinion arti

cle for the Washington Post that America must stand by a dem ocratic Taiwan at a time “when the world faces a choice between autocracy and democracy.”

According to Pelosi, her visit doesn’t contradict the One China Policy. This, of course, is a view point which Beijing fiercely opposes. Qin Gang, the Chinese ambassador to the U.S., claimed that Pelosi’s visit “has openly broken America’s commitment not to develop official relations with Taiwan.”

But is the threshold for a vio lation of the One China Policy really the key in this conflict? To look back on Pelosi’s quote, “it is a time when the world faces a choice between autocracy and democracy.” And Taiwan, which is debatably a part of the world’s largest autocratic coun try, embraces democracy and sides with the United States, the world’s largest democratic coun try. As the world continues to bifurcate, this “New Cold War”’ seems to have escalated; Taiwan’s closer relations with the U.S. is only one example of democra cies rallying on the world stage against authoritarian powers — namely China and its allies.

Taiwan is definitely a con tested region between the two poles. On one hand, Taiwan and China share similar culture and language. Many Chinese peo ple immigrated to Taiwan from

China after the Chinese Civil War in 1949. On the other hand, they hold sharp ideological differ ences. Taiwan has a democratic political system; in this respect, it seems natural that it would lean towards the U.S.

Where, then, does the future of Taiwan lie? Now, Taiwan appears to be drifting apart from China. According to Pew Research Center, as of 2019, only 36% of Taiwanese citizens view closer political relations with mainland China favorably, whereas 79%

VIEWPOINT

GRAPHIC BY TESSA MOORE

favor closer relations with the U.S.

However, the future of Taiwan isn’t only in the hands of Taiwanese themselves, but also China and the U.S., If China were to “reunify” Taiwan through force, Taiwan would be over powered unless it sought help from the U.S. This would spark violent conflict between the two largest militaries in the world. While such actions from China seem improbable in the near future, the conflict has escalated in recent months, as exemplified

by Pelosi’s recent visit, and China has also grown more paranoid about securing its territory, as shown by China’s recent tight ened grip on Hong Kong.

Taiwan’s future seems unde termined. But one thing for sure — it has been stuck in disputes over ideology. Its past is close ly tied to the ideological debate between the CCP and KMT. Taiwan’s future now seems tied to another contest over ideolo gies — this time between China and the U.S.

The attack on women in Iran must not be ignored

by Esma Erdem Contributing Writer

Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Kurdish woman, died in police custody after having a “heart attack” and falling into a coma. She was arrested by the Iranian morality police for wearing her hijab “improperly” and violating the “dress code.” Although the police denied the allegations, wit nesses have reported that Amini was beaten in the police van. Iranian authorities stated “heart attack” as the cause for her “unfor tunate death;” however, her family mentioned that she had no preex isting heart condition.

Reactions to Amini’s death have quickly intensified on social media with the photographs taken of Amini in the hospital. Her death fueled both nationwide and inter national protests filled with grief, anger and bravery. Women are burning their headscarves, cutting their hair and chanting anti-re gime slogans such as “death to the dictator” and “justice, liberty and no to mandatory hijab” around the streets of Tehran. They are reacting to Iran’s oppressive regime, which has obligated women to comply with a certain dress code — wear ing a headscarf and loose-fitting clothing in public to conceal their body lines — since the 1979

Islamic Revolution. The Iranian government had announced their new plan for using technology to identify women who don’t meet the dress requirement on public transportation a few weeks before Amini’s death.

Morality police (Gasht-e Ershad) are given the respon sibility and power to ensure women are complying with the dress regulations. However, their enforcement of the power is arbitrary, and punishments can range from a verbal warning to physical violence. During the protests this week, the securi ty forces in Tehran and Kerman have killed at least nine people.

In large-scale protests, women are demanding that the current totalitarian regime comes to an end. They are fighting for their own safety, autonomy and free dom. The outrage and anti-regime slogans in the protests commu nicate the intense anger toward the government for the decades Iranian women have spent sub dued and without freedom.

The nationwide protests rely heavily on social media for spreading information, sharing footage, raising awareness and gaining an international audi ence. The Iranian government shut down the internet and social media access on Thursday, which

raises safety concerns for protest ers in Iran. Although the Iranian officials stayed silent about the allegations regarding the internet shutdown, Meta has confirmed that there have been access difficulties to WhatsApp and Instagram. This mirrors the inter net shutdown of 2019, a reaction to protests against a spike in gas prices, during which hundreds of Iranians were killed. Considering the role of the internet in today’s world, this was clearly an attempt to slow down the flow of foot age from the protests against the regime and ultimately stop it.

Demonstrations are not lim ited to Tehran but took place in many cities around the globe, such as Boston, Istanbul, London, Paris and cities in New Zealand. Protestors are paying tributes, expressing their grief for Amini’s death and their deep anger for who is responsible. They are supporting Iranian women for standing up against the oppressive regime and fight ing for their freedom in their marches. Women from all around the world are standing in solidar ity with Iranian women and ris ing up for their confiscated free dom. Demonstrators all share a common goal: demanding a democratic, just Iranian society where women are safe and have

the right to make decisions about their own bodies.

The current conflict has aris en due to the oppressive, patri archal and pervasive regime in Iran. The roots of the problem lie in the system itself, and as individuals, we can not reform all these norms with a simple solution. Changing or rebuild ing cultural norms necessitates a persistent and long-term com mitment to building awareness and taking courageous stances. We must pursue an accountable, transparent and democratic soci ety where the rule of law sup ports the fundamental rights of women. Educating ourselves and

others about what is happening in Iran is crucial; we must help Iranian women’s voices be heard around the globe.

The bravery of Iranian women is breathtaking. Their fight against the oppressive regime and the “morality police,” who are granted the power to chase, criticize and violate women, requires courage and determination. It is the 21st century — we should be long past the days when women are kept from making decisions about their own clothes and bodies. In order to stand with Iranian women, we must tell their stories and amplify their voices. We cannot let them be cut off from the world.

GRAPHIC BY CASEY PARK

VIEWPOINT

Is the pandemic really over?

by Toby Winick Contributing Writer

Almost two years into his presidency, we are seeing a dif ferent Joe Biden than the one we saw on the campaign trail. For example, his recent comments on Trumpism and Taiwan reflect a boldness that has thus far been relatively absent from his presidency. Last week, President Biden issued yet another signal of this changed approach, one that impacts all Americans.

In an interview on CBS’s 60 Minutes which aired Sept. 18, Biden proclaimed that “the pan demic is over.” He clarified that although “we still have a prob lem with COVID” and “we’re still doing a lot of work on it,” he believes the troubles of COVID19 are behind us.

At first, this almost seems true. Most Americans are not just tired of masking for their own safety but also seem not to care if people around them are unmasked. The most basic measure of COVID-

Daniel Chung

The End of the World Has Just Begun

In the beginning

To understand the end of globalization, we need to go back to its begin nings. Shockingly, our current global system is less than 80 years old, and an aberration rather than the norm.

Before 1945, the world con sisted of separate imperial sys tems, such as Britain, France and Japan, characterized not by free trade between states, but instead by imperial heart lands which exported goods to colonies and extracted raw resources for domestic indus try. These empires lacked much cross-system trade, since allow ing your country to rely on another nation economically was extremely foolish, as war could completely disrupt sup

19 protection has been broken down from a highly politicized debate to a matter of personal preference. Indeed, most busi nesses, cities and schools have long since rolled back their mask requirements, which would have been considered a highly contro versial, conservative stance just a year ago.

However, I believe that Biden is making a foolish assumption. There’s no question that the United States is past the “peak” of the pandemic. However, COVID-19 is still killing over 300 Americans per day, a statis tic that has remained steady for months now. His statement cal lously ignores the deaths of thou sands of Americans each month, as well as the family and friends who must grieve them.

Moreover, it ignores the cri sis facing our strained health care system as thousands of Americans contribute to physi cian burnout and staffing short ages that have been worsening for over two years now. This

ply chains. This system persist ed until the First World War, which broke down many impe rial systems, though their death knells would come later.

Following the Napoleonic and Crimean wars, where France and Russia were kept from European hegemony, a careful balance of power was established, allowing seafar ing empires to acquire for eign possessions without butting heads at home. Soon, the world was carved up and expansionary ambitions shift ed to the heartlands. The ques tion of the Northern European plain’s indefensible geography re-emerged, particularly in relation to Germany; strategic positioning between the French and the Russians has often been pointed to as a reason why Germany was a major aggressor in the First World War.

After the war, Europe’s bal ance of power was in shambles; France was calling for Germany to be diminished so much it could never again be a threat, and imperial Russia had fallen

problem endangers both doc tors and patients, weakening an already fragmented national healthcare system. Furthermore, it’s something that Biden himself should be poignantly aware of, considering both he and the First Lady were infected with COVID19 this past summer. Thus, for many Americans, the move past the pandemic is a matter of will ful ignorance and COVID-19 fatigue, not of safety.

This isn’t to say the Biden administration hasn’t made great strides in the fight against COVID19. Biden’s COVID-19 policies were certainly a welcome change from those of former President Trump, who infamously pro moted “alternative” treatments such as the malaria medication hydroxychloroquine. But Biden himself seems to know that his work isn’t yet done. Just a few weeks ago, it was reported that Biden plans to request an addi tional $22.4 billion from Congress for COVID-19 aid, amid fears of a potential fall increase in cases.

to communism. The only way to maintain peace was if someone kept Germany strong enough to hold off French or Soviet expan sion, while also being unable to amass enough power to make a bid for dominance. However, neither the United Kingdom, distracted by independence movements in India and Ireland, nor the isolationist United States, reluctant to step in after the war, assumed this role. Ultimately, the German ques tion went unresolved, and this would result in one of human kind’s most horrific wars.

This time, the aftermath proved different. The devas tation had ruined the navies of Europe’s empires far more than the First World War had. Additionally, the U.S.S.R., opposed to the U.S.’ interna tional role, was looming over global affairs. Given this, and the reality of American naval primacy, America offered a deal to willing Western European countries. In exchange for hand ing over their security policies to American interests through

These plans are surprisingly uncharacteristic for a U.S. pan demic response. For decades, the United States has tended to fall into the same damaging cycle of public health response: a crisis is identified, responded to (usually in a too-little, too-late manner) and generally forgotten about without long-term change. For instance, it is difficult to remember what policies were enacted in response to out breaks such as the bird flu (H5N1), Ebola and the swine flu (H1N1). The U.S. has shown time and time again that it is not committed to keeping future generations safe.

Recent developments like declining monkeypox cases and Biden’s request for continued COVID-19 relief show promise, but Biden’s dismissive rhetoric on a national stage destroys this progress and ruins the opportu nity to prioritize public health and to create lasting change in our outbreak response. COVID19 isn’t a once-in-a-lifetime trag edy for the country: a global pan demic can happen again, and we

NATO, Western Europe would receive economic assistance, the beginning of which came to be known as the Marshall Plan. At Bretton Woods, the U.S. christened this system, and the Soviet Union refused the deal, setting the opening tone of the Cold War.

This was the beginning of the world as we know it today. With globalization, America bribed other nations to join up an alliance to fight the Cold War, where they would be on the front lines, but would gain access to global trade as guar anteed by the American navy. Everyone was able to trade free ly, gain access to low cost prod ucts and easily integrate with foreign markets. The outcome of this plan — at its root a secu rity arrangement — was a victo ry for the U.S. in the Cold War. But that was 30 years ago.

For the last few decades, we have gotten used to being able to have mangoes grown from halfway across the world, phones made in China and fer tilizers and natural gas from

must be prepared – starting with our leadership.

Of course, the U.S. must build public health infrastructure and respond to future problems in a way that provides support for generations to come, but a lot of pandemic response comes down to the people. It is a government’s responsibility to educate citizens on safety guidelines, but it is our responsibility to listen — not in a blind, unquestioning way, but in a truly informed manner that can benefit us and our communities.

As Tufts’ fall semester moves into full swing with classes, club meetings and events, this is more important than ever. Universities can be breeding grounds for COVID-19 and any other disease transmitted through close con tact. Regardless of whether or not you agree with President Biden that the lowered case counts can reduce our concern, the COVID19 pandemic can and should not be forgotten about. It’s up to us to make that legacy one of change and not complacency.

Russia, all for lower costs than ever before, even in relatively self-sufficient nations like the U.S. Now, the globalized sys tem is facing ruin. The United States has not been interested in maintaining globalization for decades, and many states, like Sri Lanka, face aging crises that will turn into depopulation bombs, throwing supply chains into chaos. In the aftermath, the world and all the products we consume will be worse, more expensive and slower than we have grown used to, and the rip ple effects of the collapse will not spare Americans — just take a look at the impact of the Russia-Ukraine war on gas, or the recently reduced ability of Apple to rely on China for lowcost manufacturing. The grass is always greener on the other side, and whatever comes next surely will not be as pretty as the sys tem that we have come to know.

Daniel Chung is a sophomore studying international relations. He can be reached at daniel. chung@tufts.edu.

Control of play couldn’t secure a win for Jumbos

SOCCER continued from back

drew the foul that led to a freekick in an excellent spot.

A little over an hour in, the Jumbos capitalized on this freekick as sophomore defender Caroline O’Neill served a beau tiful ball into the box that was finished by first-year forward Elsi Aires.

“In my mind, if I crossed it and it went into the box, great. And then if I crossed it and it hit it off them, either I’d get the ball back, or it would go out for a corner kick,” Rosen said. “O’Neill has a great left foot in-swinger that has scored multiple goals already this sea son, and so I knew that we were in good hands in any of those situations.”

This trust among teammates is part of the reason that the Jumbos have found so much success this season, with a 5–1–1 record to show for it. Throughout the half, the num ber of quality chances skyrock eted and it seemed inevitable that Tufts would take the lead.

However, Hamilton’s defense held strong, and by the end of the day, Tonna recorded an astonishing 13 saves with only one goal allowed, enabling the Continentals to escape the weekend with a 3–1–3 record.

Hamilton had two draws this weekend, one against Tufts on Saturday and another against Wesleyan on Sunday.

Ultimately, this game against Hamilton served as a learning

experience and a measurement of the team’s potential.

“It felt like we started off a little slow, or just a little less energetic than we wanted to,” Rosen said. “And so I think, going forward, if we just come out with that intensity and energy right from the begin ning, it could put us up earlier instead of having to catch up.”

Logue felt similarly, adding that it is crucial to focus on every game individually.

“We’re definitely excited but [we’re] taking it game by game,” she said. “Our focus is on each game and going 1–0 that day.”

With such a mentality, the Jumbos may have what it takes to bring a NESCAC title or even an NCAA title to Medford.

Tufts athletics program honored at Fenway Park

LEARFIELD continued from back

letics,” Hoyt said. “And we’ve always known how great the student athletes are, how hardworking they are, how tal ented they are. It’s just really special for the world to know. You know you win an award like this and people across the country are very aware of, wow, the entire department is that good. It’s just amazing.”

Pivotal to the department’s long history of success is its holistic investment in the aspects necessary to provide athletes with the resources they need to compete. Men’s lacrosse junior defender Joey Waldbaum discussed how the school works toward that goal.

“I think it’s a testament to how the administration car ries out athletics operations,” Waldbaum said. “Just a lot of investment in facilities and all the resources we have in terms of the weight room and the medical staff and all that type of stuff. I think it just shows them that all their investment has kind of paid off.”

Waldbaum was a part of the men’s lacrosse team that con tributed a whopping 83 points towards the cup after its third place postseason finish. Other contributing spring sports included women’s lacrosse who earned 90 points as the run ners-up in their postseason tour

nament, women’s rowing (64), softball (64), women’s tennis (64) and men’s tennis (83). The strong spring sport performance allowed Tufts to overcome a 203.5 point deficit after the fall and winter seasons conclud ed. The fall scoring did include, however, notable point contri butions from volleyball (73), men’s soccer (73), field hockey (70) and women’s cross coun try (70.5). Winter sport success was anchored by women’s bas ketball (64), women’s swimming (72) and women’s track and field (70.5). Women’s basketball Head Coach Jill Pace commented on her team’s ability to contribute to Tufts’ overall success.

“I’m really proud of our team,” Pace said. “It was a really fun year and making it to the Sweet 16 was a really great experience. So we’re happy to be able to contribute to that and to just be a part of a department who’s kind of all striving towards a kind of excel lence in terms of athletics.”

A common theme in discus sions with athletes, coaches and administration alike was a sense of community. The Tufts athletics community has a strong support system which enables the smooth incorpo ration of new Jumbos into this family. Junior women’s rower Violet Morgan discussed how this sense of camaraderie helped her make the jump to collegiate athletics.

“I started rowing later,” Morgan said. “So it’s interesting to have that jump from just hav ing rowed two years before col lege and then coming to a school that has clearly such high level athletics… The coaches make the transition really easy. And I think there’s just so much sup port on so many different levels.”

For women’s rowing, the 2021–2022 season marked the program’s first NCAA tourna ment appearance in recent memory. For rowing and many other sports, this past year’s success continues to raise the expectations for the team’s performance going forward. Junior women’s rower Paula Hornbostel explained how last season inspired the team’s goals for this upcoming season.

“Our final race that we had our sights set on was NIRCs, the National Invitational Regional Championship,” Hornbostel said. “Whoever does well at that gets an invita tion to [the NCAA postseason tournament]. We haven’t had an invitation in a while. We didn’t really think that there was NCAAs in our future. So we weren’t really training for that. … It sets the standard for this spring. Our new goal is to do well at NCAAs, that wasn’t our goal last year.”

Volleyball senior outside hit ter Jennelle Yarwood echoed Hornbostel’s sentiment that this

Although the team cannot win games by merely dominat ing play, by possession or by opportunities to score, these statistics are certainly indica tors of wins to come.

In this game, Tufts record ed 27 shots with 14 of those on goal while Hamilton only recorded 13 total shots, three of which were on tar

get. Furthermore, the Jumbos had eight corner kicks to the Continentals’ three. Evidently, the Jumbos were in control, but were unable to take the lead. Still, if this game and the team’s previous games are indicative of what is to come for the squad, then it will cer tainly be an exciting rest of the season.

award will only further motivate her team.

“I didn’t even realize honest ly that postseason play is how those points are calculated, but I think that just gives us even more fire for wanting to make it that far even further, this upcoming year,” Yarwood said.

In addition to the joy of win ning, the peak performance of the athletes and investment from the coaches creates a positive working environment for the athletic administration.

“[It’s] super fun, invigorating and it’s just, you know, it’s so exciting every day to come to work and be around both stu dent athletes and coaches who are so passionate about their sport,” Mastronardi said. “Just the drive to achieve on a nation al level, both in the classroom and on the playing field is just there… in your face every day. It’s amazing.”

To commemorate this honor, members of the Athletic Department staff were pre sented this past August with the Director’s Cup trophy at Fenway Park. This marked the fourth time Tufts athletics had been honored at Fenway Park. In 2010, the 1950 Tufts baseball team was honored. In 2013, the softball team was invited to cel ebrate its first national cham pionship, which was followed by two more national titles in 2014 and 2015. In 2015, softball

returned, joined by the men’s lacrosse team and men’s track athlete Mitchell Black, after win ning more national titles for the Jumbos. Mastronardi described what it was like to be honored at Fenway.

“It was an unbelievable honor. And it was a beautiful night. It was a Sox-Yankees game so it was a huge crowd. I knew that a few of us were going to go and be on the field. I had no idea they were going to introduce us and call each of our names and have us step forward. So I felt like, I don’t know, I didn’t really belong out there. But it was a really cool experience.”

Winning the Learfield Directors’ Cup will undoubt edly leave a lasting impact on the future of Tufts athletics. Mastronardi reflected on how the award will continue to help Tufts attract talented athletes.

“It is an awesome thing to celebrate,” Mastronardi said. “And then I think it also really helps the future of Tufts ath letics because coaches, I know, are using it as a recruiting tool too. You know, we’re doing great things here. Come be a part of that. And I think that’s part of all the coaches’ talks with recruits and prospective student ath letes and families. Don’t you want to come join the fun here? We’re doing great things both in the classroom and on the fields. Come win with us.”

MICHELLE LI / THE TUFTS DAILY

The women’s soccer team faced off against Hamilton College on Oct 3, 2021.

sp O r T s

Tufts wins Learfield directors’ Cup for the first time in program history

women’s soccer leaves hamilton with draw despite control of play

by Spencer Rosenbaum Contributing Writer

Whether or not it seems fair, the winner of a soccer game is not the team that controls pos session, has the most chances to score or even has the highest quality shots. Instead, the win ner is decided by one simple fact: the number of times each team puts the ball into the back of the opposing team’s net.

In Saturday’s NESCAC match against Hamilton, the United Soccer Coaches’ No. 6 ranked Tufts’ women’s soc cer team experienced this firsthand. Despite their dominance and control of play throughout the game, they left New York with a 1–1 draw that would leave them hanging on to the top spot of the NESCAC by the skin of their teeth.

net that left senior goalkeeper Kaelin Logue with almost noth ing to do about it.

“It was a tough, split-second decision on what to do in that moment because there was also a defender coming back on the breakaway, but [Dawson] did place it well, too,” Logue said.

A sign of a great team is how it responds to adversity, and after this goal, Tufts did exactly that.

“I think we settled down and started being more patient with when to keep the ball … and when to move [it] forward,” Logue said.

by Keila McCabe Executive Sports Editor

In Tufts Director of Athletics John Morris’ office, a large crystal chalice, quite liter ally too large for the athlet ics trophy case in Gantcher, sits shining on a round table. It’s adorned with a remov able top and the cup itself sits on a heavy black podi um. The plaque on the podium reads “Tufts University, 20212022 Division III All-Sports Champion.”

The Learfield Directors’ Cup is awarded annually by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics to the athletics program with

Bharat Singh

The Final Whistle Can South America reclaim its throne in Qatar?

On July 13, 2014, the world witnessed two footballing giants go head to head in a final for the ages. Ironically, in Brazil’s iconic Maracanã Stadium, it was Argentina taking on its fierce rival, Germany. The biggest prize in the game, an 18-karat gold trophy standing just 36 centi meters high, stood between the teams’ dugouts at the edge of the touchline. The fairytale ending was almost a reality until Mario Gotze’s extra-time winner broke Argentine hearts. A month-long festival of football on South

the most broad-based partic ipation and success in post season competition within its respective NCAA division. For its strong performance in the fall, winter and spring, Tufts racked up the most points out of all NCAA 438 Div. III schools, earning the first Learfield Directors’ Cup in program his tory. Senior Associate Director of Athletics Alexis Mastronardi said the caliber of athletics at Tufts has been steadily increas ing over time.

“There’s an unbelievable history in Tufts athletics and Tufts has been good for hun dreds of years in athletics. And recently, the success has been even more so than ever before.

American soil culminated in German joy. Lionel Messi wore silver as semifinalist Brazil, hav ing been demolished 7 1 a few days earlier, settled for fourth.

In a way, the 2014 World Cup symbolized the contrast ing philosophies that govern footballing nations around the globe. Both Brazil and Argentina played an expressive brand of attacking football anchored by their respective talismans, Neymar Jr. and Lionel Messi.

The narrative, despite the tal ented squads on both sides, was built around these two play ers. Headlines praised Neymar as Brazil’s “Golden Boy” while many believed Messi, the even tual golden ball winner, would finally eclipse countrymen Diego Maradona (a winner in 1986) as arguably the greatest ever player. Fast forward eight years and the world waits at the cusp of anoth er World Cup. This time, however, both South American teams look stronger than ever.

Under coach Adenor “Tite” Leonardo Bacchi, Brazil has found a balanced system that

And I think that certain sports were good, and then it became a little bit contagious. Winning became contagious and you know, it hasn’t been that long but now everybody is starting to be great. And that is really exciting to be part of.”

Swimming and Diving head coach Adam Hoyt coached the men’s and women’s swimming teams to multiple impressive NCAA finishes last season. He said this award gives Tufts a chance to celebrate and also offers the athletics program fur ther recognition of its success.

“There’s always been a huge sense of pride in Tufts ath

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effectively utilizes its deep and experienced squad. In goal stands Liverpool star Alisson who is widely considered to be one of Europe’s elite goalkeep ers. The 29-year-old specializes in one-on-one situations, has incredible balance, quick reflex es and is a natural shot-stopper. Although not the best with his feet, Alisson’s passing range helps Brazil transition into quick coun terattacks with pace out wide. As a replacement, Brazil can call upon Manchester City’s Ederson, an acrobatic sweeper keeper who could walk onto most national teams. Defensively, Brazil relies on the center-back partnership of Marquinhos and captain Thiago Silva, as Real Madrid’s Eder Militao stands in reserve. Farther up the field, defensive midfield duo Casemiro and Fabinho, both Premier League stars, provide a physical and dynamic line of protection to the back four.

In attack, Brazil is gifted with the most talented forwards in the world. Alongside Neymar, who has been in scintillating form for PSG this season, Vinícius Jr., Rodrygo,

That is not to say that the Jumbos were dominating for all parts of the game. They got off to a slow start despite a com mitment to ball movement and possession. This was met with a Hamilton side that played very direct in its offensive half of the field and predominantly relied on quick counter-attack ing. Hamilton’s strong attack consisted of senior forward Hyla Mosher, first-year forward Maddie Ledbury and senior forward Caroline Dawson, who would make her mark on the game in the twelfth minute.

After a defensive mistake by the Jumbos, Dawson capital ized on the opportunity, per fectly finishing the ball into the bottom right corner of the

Lucas Paquetá and Richarlison all provide goal threats and fit versa tile attacking systems. Vinicius Jr. in particular has been in the form of his life as he led Real Madrid to Champions League glory. Several other creative attacking players like Coutinho, Gabriel Jesus and Raphinha will give Tite a hard time selecting his final squad for the tournament.

After winning the Copa America in 2021, Argentina has continued dominating opponents and is currently on a 35 game unbeaten run. Unlike 2014, this squad relies more on tactical discipline rather than the solo brilliance of its star man. In the Finalissma against Italy, Argentina’s one-touch pass ing helped them break through a high-pressing and physical Italian team while the likes of Ángel Di María, Giovani Lo Celso and Lautaro Martínez created space in the attacking half.

Although Messi is still Argentina’s main man, he has more structured support around him. Off the bench, playmak ing goalscorer Paulo Dybala can operate as a false nine or

Over the rest of the first half, this patience helped them slow ly gain momentum, and the quality of the team’s offensive chances gradually improved over the first half. One the best chances of the half came off a header to the bottom left side of the net from senior forward Claire Wilkinson, in response to which Hamilton’s first-year goalkeeper Nieve Tonna made a phenomenal save.

As the second half began, the game seemed to shift fur ther and further into Tufts’ favor. It was clear that the Jumbos focused on getting to the corners and crossing the ball into the box. This style of play was spearheaded by sophomore forward Juliana Rosen, who came off the bench and provided an immediate and much-needed spark that helped turn the game for the Jumbos. After Rosen tracked down a ball on the wing, she

drift wide, often interchanging with Messi as the pair combine in attack. Behind him is Atletico Madrid’s Rodrigo De Paul. De Paul is unique in his ability to switch between a defensive and attacking role. At times, he uses his aggression to man-mark opposition attackers and shut down counterattacks. De Paul’s physicality also makes him a vital ball carrier, as he ranks sixth among Europe’s best midfielders in progressive carriers per 90. A key member of the squad, De Paul will hope to make history for Argentina in this tournament.

Many experts have deemed this World Cup to be one of the most competitive editions in history. Strong European teams including Germany, France, Portugal and Spain will be considered favorites. Can these South American sides end European domination and bring home the famous trophy for the first time in 20 years?

Bharat Singh is a sophomore studying international relations. Bharat can be reached at bharat. singh@tufts.edu.

ALONSO NICHOLS / TUFTS UNIVERSITY

Women’s basketball coach Jill Pace, men and women’s swimming and diving coach Adam Hoyt, women’s track coach Kristen Morwick, men’s tennis coach Karl Gregor, volleyball coach Cora Thompson, Associate Director of Athletics Alexis Mastronardi and Director of Athletics John Morris wave to the fans at Fenway Park as they are rec ognized for winning the Director’s Cup on the field at Fenway Park on Aug. 14, 2022.