Welcome to the 45th anniversary edition of The Tufts Daily! This week, we’re looking back on the Daily’s history of student journalism, the hard-working students who have contributed to the Daily’s continued success and some of the most important stories we’ve told over the years. The journalism landscape has changed since our very first edition was published on Feb. 25, 1980, but our mission has stayed the same: to publish timely, accurate reporting that serves our readers on campus, in our host communities and beyond. Thank you for your continued support of student journalism!
– The 91st Managing Board
Arghya Thallapragada, Liam Chalfonte, Nate Hall, Ellora Onion-De, Erin Zhu, Alex Dai and Claire Wood
UNIVERSITY
Recent Daily alumnae embark on journalism journeys
editor, editor-in-chief and finally as investigative editor.
Editor’s note: The Daily’s editorial department acknowledges that this article is premised on a conflict of interest. This article is a special feature for Daily Week that does not represent the Daily’s standard journalistic practices.
Chloe Courtney Bohl (LA’24), Julia Shannon-Grillo (LA’24) and Summer Maxwell (LA’24) joined The Tufts Daily at different points in their undergraduate years, with different goals and on different sections of the paper. Their work on the Daily led them toward career paths that aligned with one overarching passion: journalism.
Courtney Bohl is currently a reporter at the INDY Week, covering the North Carolina Research Triangle through a program with Report for America. On the Daily, she served as the executive news
Before graduating from Tufts, Shannon-Grillo served as an executive copy editor, managing editor, editor-in-chief and editorial board chair. She is now a Stabile investigative reporter at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism.
Maxwell is in her first year of a masters’ program in journalism at the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism after serving as a deputy features editor in her time on the Daily.
Each alumna was drawn to the Daily for different reasons.
For Courtney Bohl, news writing had interested her since high school. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she wanted to gain connections and report on local and university stories.
“Life on campus was very restricted, and I knew that I
see ALUMNAE, page 3
FEATURES
How does the Daily stay financially independent?
Olivia Bye Staff Writer
Editor’s note: The Daily’s editorial department acknowledges that this article is premised on a conflict of interest. This article is a special feature for Daily Week that does not represent the Daily’s standard journalistic practices.
In the spring of 1988, thenTufts students Jonathan Larsen (LA’88) and Julie Beglin (LA’89) set up a meeting with the Tufts Community Union Senate, determined to achieve one objective: making The Tufts Daily no longer reliant on funding from the university. Nearly four decades later, the Daily continues to be financially independent as a result of the tireless work of its staff. Why did the Daily put so much effort into becoming financially independent at the time, and how does it remain independent today?
When the Daily was founded in 1980, it received funding from TCU like any other club at Tufts. However, it soon became evident
that the Daily could not fairly and impartially cover stories on TCU and the university as a whole while relying on them for financial stability. Larsen, who was the editor-in-chief of the Daily in the spring of 1988, recalls that, at that time, the Daily was reaching a point of financial stability to be able to consider breaking away from TCU.
“[The business manager at the time] told me that the Daily was now taking in enough revenue that we didn’t need [TCU’s] money anymore. We weren’t actually using whatever they might have allocated for us. And so at that point, it was my sentiment that, … if we weren’t getting funding from them, then whatever strings were attached to funding no longer applied,” he said.
Julie Beglin, who was editorin-chief of the Daily in the fall of 1988, recalls the challenges that arose during the paper’s initial separation from TCU. “I do remember being in a meeting with some TCU senators and
Jonathan [Larsen] and getting grief from them about our plans. We thought they were boneheads, so them looking down on us just put more fire in our bellies to make this work,” she wrote in a statement to the Daily.
Initially, the Daily established financial independence by selling print ads.
“Our business manager at the time was all over getting as many ads as possible so we could reach independence. He may have stopped going to class. He spent his time running all over Medford, Somerville and Boston getting us ads,” Beglin wrote.
Today, the Daily’s primary method of generating revenue remains the same. Selling advertisements, both in print and online, comprises the majority of the Daily’s funding. Sophomore Alex Dai heads the Daily’s business department, whose job is to ensure that the paper remains financially healthy and sustainable.
see FINANCE, page 6
Josué Pérez Deputy News Editor
Where you read it first: A look back at the Daily’s
breaking news
Dylan Fee Executive Features Editor
Editor’s note: The Daily’s editorial department acknowledges that this article is premised on a conflict of interest. This article is a special feature for Daily Week that does not represent the Daily’s standard journalistic practices.
On Feb. 25, 1980, the first issue of The Tufts Daily was released. At the top of its front page, in typewriter ink, is the very first news headline: “Tuition Protest.” The article covered a protest attended by hundreds of students over a $1,226 hike in tuition, mirroring the challenges students continue to face today.
The Daily has come a long way since its first edition, but it has remained dedicated to covering prevalent issues on campus.
Within the past five years alone, the Daily’s front page has featured a myriad of topics, from the pandemic to student protests to lawsuits to administrative changes, all written by passionate student journalists.
COVID-19 shutters campus
This hammer headline bolded the front page of the Daily on March 11, 2020. The subheadline below it, “Classes go online, Tufts asks students to not return after spring break,” described the beginning of the COVID-19 lockdown order on students across the
nation. Although students were sent home, the Daily continued its reporting, covering vaccine mandates and administrative changes, and publishing only online content throughout the rest of the academic year.
Admissions dean accused of discrimination by employees
In Fall 2022, the Daily extensively investigated a series of departures and complaints made by admissions employees alleging that Dean of Admissions JT Duck created a toxic work environment through discriminatory behavior. In July 2023, an external law firm hired by Tufts Office of Equal Opportunity concluded an investigation into the admissions office, and no evidence of discrimination was found.
Tony Monaco to step down as president in summer 2023
After a 12-year tenure, Tony Monaco decided to step down as president in 2023. During his time as president, Tufts acquired the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, introduced a new strategic initiative aimed at making Tufts an anti-racist institution, responded to the COVID-19 pandemic and much more. He is currently a fulltime biology professor and is continuing his genetics research.
Monaco left the selection of the new Tufts President, Sunil Kumar, to the Board of Trustees. Kumar started his presidency in the summer of 2023.
RA union ratifies first contract with university
After seven months of negotiations, the United Labor of Tufts Resident Assistants signed a contract with the university in fall 2023. Seeking higher compensation for resident assistants on campus, the union organized protests and a strike in August of 2023.
RAs now receive 80 meal swipes and a stipend of $1,425 in addition to their covered room and board. Other institutions in the area, such as Boston University’s Residence Life Union, followed in Tufts’ footsteps, authorizing strikes and contract negotiations of their own.
‘Gaza Solidarity Encampment’ ends without deal with university
Following months of escalated protests organized by the Coalition for Palestinian Liberation at Tufts and Tufts Students for Justice in Palestine, the encampment was dismantled in May 2024 without a compromise between Tufts administration and the groups’ demands. Nearly a year later, calls persist for Tufts to sever connections with Israel to end “Tufts’ complicity in genocide.”
Students in academic institutions across the country held solidarity protests in a national effort to support Palestinian liberation, drawing heavy media attention and hundreds of student arrests, suspensions and expulsions.
Five Tufts men’s lacrosse players hospitalized after workout led by Tufts alumnus
Members of Tufts men’s lacrosse, the four-time Division III championship winners, were hospitalized last semester with rhabdomyolysis after a workout led by a Navy SEAL officer. This incident sparked national attention, with media outlets such as CNN and NPR covering the status of the players.
All nine students who were hospitalized have since been discharged to return to play. A pending investigation into the workout was released by the administration earlier this year. The executive summary noted that the university did not follow all of the proper protocols when it came to the medical care of the athletes and the vetting of the workout.
Tufts sues NIH over executive order endangering federal funding for medical research
Earlier this month, Tufts, along with a dozen other universities, sued the National Institutes of Health over the executive order made by President Donald Trump on Feb. 7, which significantly cut federal funding for medical research. The lawsuit saw its first day in court on Friday, where a final decision was delayed by a federal judge. The Daily will continue to cover this story as it unfolds.
Daily alumnae offer advice to student journalists
loved writing and was interested in journalism, but had never done it,” Courtney Bohl said. “My high school didn’t have a school paper, and I thought that joining the Daily would be a cool way to find some community in this kind of weird and lonely time, and also get to know Tufts and Medford and Somerville through the lens of reporting.”
Shannon-Grillo joined the copy section her first-year fall and edited remotely. Her interest in journalism did not stem from an interest in writing.
“I had journalism experience from high school, and I had gone through a censorship when I was editor of my high school paper that received a lot of national attention,” Shannon-Grillo said. “So I was very passionate about student media rights. I had this very strong sense of belonging in the journalism world, but it just wasn’t necessarily as a reporter.”
start writing for the Daily,” Maxwell said. “So then I did a semester at the Daily, and I thought it was really fun, and I loved how much creativity I was allowed.”
Maxwell joined the features section her junior spring after taking a political journalism class with Professor Eitan Hersh in the fall.
“I really, really liked it. I thought it was really cool. So then I was like: How do I keep doing this? I should probably
After that semester, she said she felt inspired to learn more about journalism and began considering journalism school to equip herself with more formal experience.
All three discussed their biggest takeaways from their time at the Daily and how it has set them up for their futures.
“Now when I’m out in the non-Tufts world, and it’s not quite as supportive or kind, but because I have that good foundation laid [where] I was able to build those skills in a really safe, supportive environment, I now feel confident approaching bigger projects,” Maxwell said.
“I think working for the Daily was a great opportunity to be doing news that was extremely community-driven, and really showed me what it’s like to be doing journalism as a public service,” Courtney Bohl said. “And every story that we did was filling a gap. Nothing was redundant.”
From her experience as a copy exec and being on the managing board, Shannon-Grillo learned a differ ent skill set.
“The Daily definitely taught me how to edit,” she said.
“But then the human art of editing, which is such a big piece of it, and learning how to keep a writer’s voice throughout a piece, and also just how to com municate the changes that you want to make.”
ShannonGrillo, Courtney Bohl and Maxwell offered wisdom to staff, leaders and anyone remotely interested in joining the Daily.
strong alumni network for how small our paper is,” ShannonGrillo said. “I also think that there’s a journalism role for everyone, and it doesn’t have to just be news reporting.”
Courtney Bohl provided a message for Daily leaders and anyone interested in leadership roles.
“Reach out to the alumni network. It’s actually a pretty
“Your title on the masthead doesn’t matter nearly as much as the experience that you’re gleaning from it — and to do the Daily doesn’t have to mean that you’re on a pre-ordained path to a leadership role,” she said. “You can take this experience make er you of it, give it a lot, peojust go it and see what happens.” Maxwell encouraged writers to practice their writing and reporting skills.
“I don’t necessarily think that practice makes perfect, because
we can all always improve, but practice does make better,” she said. “The more people that you interview, the more cosmfortable you’ll feel doing it. The more cold emails you send asking people to give you their time, the more comfortable you’ll feel doing it. And the more times you write, the better you’ll get at it.”
The three Tufts graduates are still figuring things out, but they cite their previous journalistic work as crucial to their futures.
“I’m still really trying to figure out if journalism is a career path that will afford me that space to breathe and take a step away from my work because I feel like the stereotype — and there’s truth in it — is that journalism is this all-consuming field, and you can’t turn it off,” Courtney Bohl said. “You have to be available 24/7 and it’s so intense. And some of that is appealing to me, because I like to feel like I’m doing work that matters.”
“I’m hoping to go into traditional print media, working at a newspaper, whether that be online or in print, to get my start,” Maxwell said. “Right now my interests are business and politics.”
“I would love to go back to editing,” Shannon-Grillo said. “We’ll see how much reporting happens first. In the long run, I see myself editing, working as the publisher of a news outlet or representing newsrooms as a lawyer.”
ALUMNAE continued from the front
GRAPHIC BY RACHEL LIU
On this day in Daily history: TARC’s newspaper archive
Editor’s note: The Daily’s editorial department acknowledges that this article is premised on a conflict of interest. This article is a special feature for Daily Week that does not represent the Daily’s standard journalistic practices.
The date is Feb. 25, 2025 and you are reading the Daily Week edition of The Tufts Daily. But, have you ever wondered, ‘what were students reading on this day decades ago?’
On Feb. 25, 1986, the Daily reported that the trustees had increased Tufts’ undergraduate tuition by 6.8% to a total of $15,960 — if only they knew! A year later, the front page of the Feb. 25 edition in 1987 reported on a march against prejudice and violence at Tufts and beyond.
Since 1980, the Daily has been reporting on world events, student life, campus news and student opinions, adding to the extensive record of student voices. Those interested in finding out what students were reading, writing and thinking decades ago are in luck because of the work done by Tufts Archival Research Center.
Every day, the TARC database Newspapers @ Tufts showcases various publications with their “Today in history” feature. The database is extensive, with 8,000+ issues, including almost every issue from every major publication since Tufts’ founding in 1852. Newspapers @ Tufts is a vital resource that tracks student opinions throughout the years while aiding students in both their research and their general curiosities.
TARC is located in the basement of Tisch Library. It houses records from all of Tufts’ campuses and the surrounding areas.
TARC also holds manuscript collections related to a variety of other subject areas, such as environmental activism and broadcast journalism. For example, the Edward R. Murrow Papers, a collection of personal materials, work files and other records from the prominent CBS News broadcaster, can be found at TARC. In January 2022, TARC launched Newspapers @ Tufts, which digitized their newspaper archive, making them more accessible to students, faculty and researchers.
“It’s part of our overall goal and mission. We’re not here just to collect archives and publications, we are here to make them available to everyone.” Dan Santamaria, the director of TARC, said about Newspapers @ Tufts. “We did some analysis, and looking at what were the most used and most frequently requested items, [the newspapers] always rose to the top.”
Alexandra Bush, TARC’s public services and instruction archivist, gave an additional reason as to why digitizing news publications is vital.
“[Newspapers] are super fragile,” Bush said. “It’s much better for the physical documents to have these digitized versions, so a lot of people can access them without hurting the originals.”
Sari Mauro, an archivist at TARC, managed the large logistical undertaking of digitizing 8,000 issues. Most of the newspaper issues were sent to a vendor in North Carolina during the pandemic, where they were scanned using equipment made specifically for digitizing
newspapers. They then used a software called Veridian which helped make Newspapers @ Tufts easy to use. This software made it so that, instead of flipping through pages and pages of old newspapers for a specific topic, it is now very easy to find out about specific topics using date, title and keyword search features that bring up the exact page and highlights where the key words appear on the page.
Newspapers @ Tufts is more than just the Daily, as it also includes most issues of The Tufts Weekly, which was founded in 1895 and focused on campus news, sports and events. Mauro and Bush have just finished digitizing the earliest versions of the Weekly — which were in poor condition — and they will be available on Newspapers @ Tufts soon.
The Tufts Weekly then became The Tufts Observer in 1969, becoming less focused on campus life and more focused on accountability and journalism. The archive also includes The Tufts Observer’s issues up until it was converted into a magazine in 2001. Additionally, there is a smaller number of issues from Today Tufts and The Tufts Summer News, also known as The Tufts Hilltopper. Most issues that are featured in Newspapers @ Tufts are also available in hard copy in the TARC Reading Room. For students and other researchers, the newspapers can often be one of the most accessible primary sources. Senior Kathleen Landis, a history major, used TARC’s Newspapers @ Tufts in her sophomore year research paper on Tufts students’ reactions to the existence of birth control after World War II. Using
the digitized search features, she was easily able to find student opinions, which was invaluable in her research.
“If we didn’t have the newspaper archive, most of the archives would [consist] of administrative documents, transcripts and other files.” Landis said. “I think what the newspapers add is not only this history of student life at Tufts but also a history of student opinion, a history of student activism and student involvement in every part of life at Tufts.”
The newspaper archive reveals more than just a history of Tufts. One can find connections to every major war and global event since Tufts’ founding. In their Jan. 19, 1920 issue, The Tufts Weekly reported that Tufts undergraduates had voted against the formation of the League of Nations. On April 25, 1972, The Observer reported on student-led Vietnam War protests. On Sept. 12, 2001, the Daily reported on how students coped with the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
With Newspapers @ Tufts, the historical research opportunities are endless. Bush regularly sees classes visit TARC to learn how they can use it for their various research projects.
For example, Professor Virginia Drachman teaches “Tufts in American History” where many students make use of TARC documents. Additionally, the newspaper archive leads researchers to sources beyond those available in TARC.
“Whenever we receive a reference question or a research question about anything relating to something that happened in Tufts’ past, the newspapers are one of the first places that we go to find infor-
mation about it … because it’s just such a great jumping-off point,” Bush said.
You don’t have to be a history major to use Newspapers @ Tufts and TARC as a resource. From past newspapers to old yearbooks, TARC is full of things to explore. Students go to TARC if they are curious about what students were dressing like in the 1970s, Jumbo’s tail, old Alpha Tau Omega photos, information about alumni and much more.
“Sometimes people just want to see the ads,” Santamaria said. “The ads are really amusing from the earlier decades; it’s a lot of cigarette ads.”
When flipping through the pages of old newspapers, you’ll find a plethora of ads for pizza stores, much like Pizza Days. Or a full-page “Happy Birthday” message with a quirky photo of an old student.
Bush’s personal favorite issue is an April Fool’s paper from the 1950s.
“Basically, the entire issue was about a fake Tufts-Harvard merger. Like, ‘Oh, the new mascot is going to be John Harvard riding Jumbo,’” Bush said.
Despite the odd and fun finds, at the end of the day the newspaper archive is an invaluable resource to preserve the records of the most important part of Tufts: the students. Whether it be for a research paper or a fun browse, Newspapers @ Tufts shows us a world of the past, revealing the differences and the similarities between then and now, on both a local and global scale.
“If you’re interested in any part of Tufts, you’re able to look into that history, as defined by the students, since the beginning,” Landis said.
Katie Galligan Assistant Features Editor
The Tufts Daily Magazine creates new chapter for the Daily
Editor’s note: The Daily’s editorial department acknowledges that this article is premised on a conflict of interest. This article is a special feature for Daily Week that does not represent the Daily’s standard journalistic practices.
Regular Daily readers may have been surprised to see magazines in our newsstands at the end of last semester — for 45 years, the Daily has regularly published a traditional tabloid newspaper. But on Dec. 5, 2024, the Tufts Daily Magazine made its debut.
Senior Henry Chandonnet, the magazine’s founding editor, is responsible for the concept.
Chandonnet dreamt up the idea for the magazine while busy in the Daily newsroom as a managing editor, hoping to provide himself with a dynamic project for his senior year. He has worked at a myriad of publications and, as of June, has been writing for Fast Company.
“I didn’t want to wash up, but I also was not in love with the idea of going back to writing newspaper content,” Chandonnet said. “I’ve been working in magazines for three years now, and I just like that writing a lot more. I think that it does something different than what the Daily does already.”
Chandonnet decided to bring his magazine experience to the Curtis Hall basement. Former Associate Editor Caroline Vandis (LA’24) worked closely with
Chandonnet on the Daily’s managing board and remembers him hypothesizing what a magazine at the Daily would look like over the course of a semester.
“I wish I [remembered] the exact moment that it was conceptualized, because that’s kind of like being there for the Mona Lisa,” Vandis said. “I think that Henry is … such a visionary. The whole semester he would talk about what he wanted to do next, and it usually came up in the form of this magazine.”
Chandonnet said that, at the time of brainstorming, creating a magazine felt quite far away. But, by the time he was returning from studying abroad his junior spring, he was determined to make it happen.
“I was getting to the end of abroad, and I was like, ‘Oh, I’m kind of either [going to] do this or nothing’ I would rather keep a foot in the Daily [because] I care about it,” he said. “It’s a type of coverage that I didn’t think that the Daily was doing, so I pushed for it.”
The project was designed, planned and advertised almost exclusively by Chandonnet, with the support of the Daily’s managing board. He spoke with senior Rachel Liu and junior Julieta Grané, former editors-in-chief, both of whom signed off on the project.
“I think we had a conversation or two of being like, ‘I want to do this.’ And the answer was: ‘If you can do it, do it,’” he said.
In terms of assembling a team, Chandonnet turned to senior
White, former production director. She became the magazine’s inaugural designer.
“I had worked with Olivia [during] my managing board semester, and I really trusted her,” he said. “And I also knew that she had done magazine design before, which is different than newspaper design, and so having somebody with that knowledge, I thought, would be really helpful.”
The magazine counters the Daily’s typical short-form, quickly-produced content. It offers long, complex pieces that writers work on for months before they are sent to print. By contrast, Daily writers often work on articles within a matter of weeks and pieces are reviewed and copy-edited over the span of just one day.
“I only have seven stories. … All the stories for this semester, for this issue, were assigned by the beginning of February, and then [are] not publishing until three months later,” Chandonnet said. “That gives a lot of room for me to really work with people, and that takes different forms.”
The lengthy process also offered Chandonnet an opportunity to share edits back and forth with writers in several rounds rather than in one night.
“I want to be really constructive with people,” he said. “I found it very helpful, and it makes me really happy to look at the magazine and say, not only am I happy with these stories, but the writers are happy with
these stories, the designers are happy with these stories.”
The first issue featured stories on Tufts Dining, cargo bikes and even the size of pant legs. Senior Kaitlyn Wells, a former managing editor and executive features editor for the Daily, wrote about the divide between student athletes and non-athletes. As a Features section writer, she found the magazine writing to have similarities and differences from how she usually operates at the Daily.
“I found myself reverting back to the habits and writing customs that we have in Features. …
Having experience in features was good preparation for writing this magazine article because it flows more like a Feats or Arts article,” Wells said. “Writing in this style for TD Mag felt more personal. … As the writer, [I] was able to be present in the article instead of being very third person.”
Chandonnet also sees the magazine as an opportunity to give Daily staff members a new way to hone their skills and try out a new writing style, as typical Daily writers are often encouraged to stay within the bounds of traditional news style guides.
“The Daily has such an amazing trove of writers and of people who care about tasks and people who are curious and want to look into things,” he said. “I wanted to give Daily writers the opportunity to expand their horizons.”
The design of the magazine also pivots sharply from the Daily’s usual content; stories are
laid out in three columns rather than five, and White had more freedom in the design than layout editors usually do with the tabloid paper. Pages also had more diversity in photo and caption layout than in the traditional paper.
“I think the magazine layout is fun because it’s a lot more creative,” Aisha Karim, sophomore and executive layout editor, shared. “Olivia had a lot of creative freedom.”
Chandonnet’s peers heaped praise on his self-starter attitude and his dedication to the magazine.
“This wouldn’t have happened without Henry, and I hope people carry on his legacy,” Vandis said. “I hope it inspires other people to do new and creative things and take initiative.”
Wells agreed. “I’m just proud of how he built this new publication from scratch. It’s no easy feat,” she said. “I think it’s intimidating at a campus like Tufts, where there are already quite a few student publications, to start something new. But regardless, he went for it and I think a plurality of voices should always be celebrated.”
In a world of short-form social media content and breaking news stories, Chandonnet hopes the magazine can offer slower, more drawn-out stories.
“I love big stories about really ancillary things, and that’s [something] that the Daily really doesn’t get to do,” he said. “I hope that other people have as much fun with it as I am.”
Olivia
Claire Wood Features Editor
AARON GRUEN / THE TUFTS DAILY
Henry Chandonnet is pictured.
Daily staff members discuss fundraising and alumni support
“We have different tasks spread out between members. We have our assistant business directors and ad managers, and they do work like reaching out to clients,” he said. “My role [is] more administrative tasks, including having meetings regularly and making updates to our [managing] board members regularly, and also managing the overall accounts.”
The other main source of revenue comes from alumni donations, largely organized by The Tufts Daily Alumni Council. The council, made up of about a dozen Daily alumni, was founded in 2021 to “support current and former staff of The Tufts Daily by providing guidance, support, fundraising assistance, and networking opportunities,” according to the Tufts website.
The Daily’s alumni liaisons serve as a bridge between the newspaper and the council, working closely with the council on various projects including fundraising, panel events and the Daily’s Support Fund Stipend program.
Ad revenue and donations are essential to the operations of the Daily, as the paper has several large expenses that it must cover every semester. The first is printing costs, a substantial expense since each print edition of the Daily costs around $750 to produce.
Additionally, the Daily pays its employees who are eligible for compensation, which includes paper distributors and executive board members who are on workstudy. The Daily also offers three stipends each semester through the Support Fund Stipend program, two for $400 and one for $600, that are awarded to active members of the Daily with financial need. Dai estimates the total budget for the payrolls sent out to students each semester to be around $6,000.
Fundraising and alumni support is crucial in allowing financial programs such as stipends and work study to continue. In 2023, the Daily Alumni Council worked in partnership with the Daily to raise $36,000 in the paper’s first major capital campaign, which broke all previous fundraising records.
Every Giving Tuesday since this fundraising campaign, the Daily has initiated a smaller push to fund operational expenses and support ad sales.
Senior Marlee Stout, an alumni liaison as well as former associate editor and executive copy editor for the Daily, plays a large role in coordinating he Daily’s Giving Tuesday initiative.
“We work with [the Daily Alumni Council] … to set a goal, like, ‘How much money are we trying to raise?’ and then set a narrative around what that money is going to be used for so people have a concrete [idea] so that they’re not just sending money into the abyss,” she said. “We’re using this to buy cameras, or we’re using this to print our newspaper, or pay [for] our website,” she said.
Meanwhile, as business director, Dai oversees communication with clients who purchase ad spots in both the printed and online version of the newspaper.
“For our business department, to keep a really balanced budget and to keep our financial health of our organization, I think that it is really crucial for
us to maintain our client relationship and really engage and communicate actively with our clients to ensure that they want to advertise with us,” he said.
For Dai, this means ensuring that clients are aware of the Daily’s widespread outreach, which includes 750+ printed editions of the Daily every week, 30 distribution locations around campus and locally and over 100,000 monthly visitors to the newspaper’s website. When purchasing ads, clients are given the option as to whether their ad is presented in a print edition, on the website, in a newsletter or through social media. The ad’s format, in addition to other factors such as its size and whether or not clients choose to purchase a custom design, all influence its overall cost.
Stout maintains the importance of the Daily remaining financially independent.
“Obviously we still cover TCU, and I think it’s still important that we are independent from them so
that we can cover them honestly and accurately, and then separately, also cover the university without being constrained by any sort of financial obligation,” she said.
Beglin agreed, calling the paper’s financial independence “critically important.”
“How can a newspaper fully cover the Tufts administration and TCU Senate while being reliant on them for funding?” she wrote.
For Larsen, there was never any doubt that financial independence was the way forward.
“The idea that that legislative body [that we were covering] would also have oversight on us is noxious from an inherent journalistic point of view. That’s a very terrible system,” he said. “We [at the Daily] were so under-resourced and so stretched thin as human beings, let alone as an institution, that we were sort of incorruptible, because we’d already decided [to be financially independent].”
In the fall of 1988, Beglin took over as editor-in-chief. While she completely supported the decision for the Daily to gain financial independence, she stated that her main role in taking over operations was to continue making the best newspaper possible.
“My direction was to try to have the best news, features, arts, sports and opinion sections this little pirate ship of barely-adults could manage,” she wrote. “[Financial independence] was absolutely the right decision, and my role was to keep the momentum going.”
37 years later, the Daily continues to be financially independent as a result of the efforts of its staff from both past and present. Today, Tufts is the smallest college in the country to offer an independent student-run newspaper. With the continued support of both the Tufts and local communities, the Daily looks towards being able to maintain its independence for years to come.
PETER WOLFE / THE TUFTS DAILY
Members of the Daily’s business department meet on Sunday.
EDITORIAL
From the past 45 years to the next 45, where will the Daily go?
Since 1980, The Tufts Daily has been “where you read it first” — though our official slogan was originally “the first word in campus news.” For the past 45 years, we have prided ourselves on continuously delivering important, insightful and accurate news to Tufts’ campuses and host communities on a daily basis. While our mission has remained the same, the Daily has undergone many changes since our founding. In celebration of the Daily’s 45th anniversary, this editorial board wanted to take a moment to reflect on all the ways that our beloved newspaper has evolved, and how we hope to continue adapting in the next 45 years.
Every Wednesday night, you can find our team of writers, editors and staff working hard in the basement of Curtis Hall to roll out a fresh paper for distribution on Thursday morning. Until 2020, our papers were printed five nights of the week. Though the change was originally made to mitigate the spread of COVID19 during the pandemic, printing once a week has allowed us to more effectively achieve our goal of producing high-quality journalism. We still publish daily online, and send out a newsletter to subscribers six days a week.
In September 1996, we published our first webpage on the Tufts website. Our first independent site was published on tuftsdaily.com in September 1999 and our current edition was developed in 2023. As our readership has shifted to focus on online content, we
saw a growing need for multimedia integration and protection from cybersecurity threats.
The Daily is proud to call Curtis Hall our home. Though a flood in 1988 forced staff to temporarily relocate to Miller Hall, they were back on Boston Avenue a mere two years later.
1988 also saw the first publication of our Weekender edition, which has since come and gone from the Daily’s rotation. 2024 marked the first edition of the Tufts Daily Magazine, a new long-form publication expanding on cultural phenomena on and around campus.
If there is one aspect of the Daily that has been truly ubiquitous since its inception, it’s our devotion to covering hard-hitting topics. In 1985, the Daily reported on a night-long sit-in at Ballou hall organized by an ad hoc committee on institutional racism to protest Tufts’ investment in U.S. corporations operating in South Africa. Five years later, the Daily covered the campus-wide boycotts in protest of the proposed cuts of up to $500,000 in financial aid.
Truly, there aren’t many topics that are as synonymous with Tufts as its high cost. In fact, the front page of the Daily’s inaugural issue was an article on the recent tuition protests written by Mike Feibus, the Daily’s co-founder and first executive editor. Since then, countless articles have covered tuition increases or written about the impacts of them — as recently as this past November, the editorial board called for Dean Bárbara Brizuela to consider instituting a fixed-rate tuition.
The fight for a more affordable Tufts is far from over, and we intend on reporting on it for years to come. Though we don’t know what our newspaper will look like for the next 45 years, we certainly have visions, challenges and goals that we are prepared and excited to see the Daily meet.
This editorial board anticipates seeing the Daily cover numerous events and ideas in the future. In the short-term, we’re watching the second administration of President Donald Trump target education and research; Tufts has joined the response and the Daily is already there to cover it. In a few years, Tufts’ newest residence hall will open on Boston Avenue, which will change the dynamics of students moving off-campus and reduce the dependency on landlord-managed
properties that are the site of many stories. Tufts may even see a legislative push against early-decision and legacy-based admissions as more years pass following the prohibition of race-conscious admissions.
The Daily has stood firm through the loss and rebirth of local news publications. We hope the Daily continues its legacy as college newspapers, local publications and journalism as a whole continue to be challenged.
We invite more of our university to be involved in the Daily. Joining a section of the Daily, or even occasionally writing a letter to the editor or op-ed is a great place to start. We especially invite Tufts’ leadership, administration and faculty to share what’s on their minds with the readers of the Daily. Even a story about your
favorite weekend activities or new year’s resolutions would suffice.
It would be naive to not comment on artificial intelligence. Just as technology of the past few decades has fundamentally reshaped life, AI moving from a simple voice assistant like Amazon Alexa or Apple’s Siri to OpenAI’s many models that can write coherent, multi-page documents will be a topic that journalism needs to confront.
The Daily may even be there to cover the often-joked-about flattening of Walnut Hill or a renovation of Braker Hall that finally replaces the perennially broken chairs in its basement. Through it all, the Daily is here for our readership at Tufts, in Medford or Somerville and beyond through the world-wide-web!
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EDITORIALS: Editorials represent the position of The Tufts Daily Editorial Board. Individual editorialists are not
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OP-EDS: Op-Eds provide an open forum for campus editorial commentary and are
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STELLA JEONG / THE TUFTS DAILY
Archival issues are stored in the Daily office on Monday.
GRAPHIC BY ALEX STEPHENS
ThethenDaily, and now
PHOTOS BY: BRIANA CHEN, LIA FAYNBERG, DYLAN FEE, RACHEL LIU, STELLA JEONG, NICHOLAS PFOSI, ELISE SAMSON AND PETER WOLFE
VIEWPOINT
The good, the bad and the ugly state of journalism today
Sorsha Khitikian Staff Writer
For the past several weeks, I have gotten countless notifications from news outlets detailing the newest action from the Trump administration that systematically discredits news sources. From targeting the Associated Press for referring to the Gulf of Mexico as such — instead of President Donald Trump’s newly minted “Gulf of America” — to investigating NPR and PBS with the goal of ending their government subsidies, the Trump administration is interfering in the press’ ability to report critically on his policies.
News organizations serve as a check on the government, reporting on and occasionally criticizing decisions in order to hold the government accountable to the people. By continually discrediting news sources, Trump is telling his supporters to stop putting their trust in institutions that have a democratic duty to hold him in check. And it has worked: In 2024, 33% of U.S. adults reported having little trust in mass media while 36% of Americans reported having no trust at all. But while Trump is speeding up the process, his rhetoric alone did not spark the downfall in media trust. Since the 1990s, Americans have consistently reported rising rates of distrust in the media. I attribute this loss of trust to the decline of local news.
Local news sources have slowly eroded away in the past few decades. Over 2,100 local newspapers have closed since 2004 and over 200 counties in the United States have no local news source, with an additional 200+ at high risk of losing their local news organizations. I blame this erosion on Gannett. The owner of USA Today, Gannett is a corporation that merged with GateHouse Media in 2019, which jointly controlled hundreds of local papers across the country. Since the merger, the company has sold off, closed down and merged these local papers, leaving news deserts in hundreds of communities, including right here in Medford, until Gotta Know Medford’s kick-off this year. Gannett’s merger put a nail in the coffin of an already struggling local news industry, which was already feeling the rising costs of print and declining readership.
The lack of local news is correlated with lower voter turnout, less knowledge about candidates, lower civic engagement within communities, more governmental corruption, more government waste and more political polarization. Local news is a check against government policies as well as a community-building tool, and the disappearance of these newspapers leaves people without either. Now, in a political climate where Trump is effectively tearing down the national news
landscape, which I believe would replicate the negative effects we see with the loss of local news nationwide, the fight to keep news organizations alive and shielded from governmental interference is all the more vital. A free press at both the local and national level is essential.
Now, I’m sure you’re wondering: What does any of this have to do with the Daily?
The Daily holds a very unique position within our news landscape. As an institution present on Tufts campus for 45 years, the Daily has published hard-hitting journalism, including in-depth research into Tufts University’s relationship with Saudi Arabia and constant coverage of the Students for Justice in Palestine encampment last spring alongside fun satirical editions of the print paper. The Daily has been able to expand its coverage over the years, which couldn’t happen if Tufts students didn’t engage with its content. So how, in an environment where news is distrusted by many, has The Tufts Daily gained the trust of the student body and earned its mantra: “Where you read it first?”
Firstly, institutional independence. The Tufts Daily, while affiliated with the university, is completely self-funded. It receives no money from the Tufts Community Union, which
allows the Daily to publish articles that paint the university in an unbiased light. Readers can trust that the articles they’re reading aren’t being regulated by the larger institution.
Secondly, transparency about journalistic practices. The Daily has made an effort to inform the student body about its policies pertaining to ethics. In an op-ed published last week, the Ethics & Inclusion Committee of the Daily clarified how Daily journalists will conduct interviews within the Tufts community, explained sourcing practices and provided information to help keep students safe from immigration crackdowns. The Daily maintains an open dialogue with the Tufts community about how the paper can build and maintain trust.
Thirdly, the people. The Daily is a huge organization, with hundreds of members across editorial, production, business, the Ethics & Inclusion Committee and the Education Committee. I can personally attest to the fact that everyone I’ve met at the Daily is passionate about what they do, which leads to amazingly creative ventures happening all the time. It’s a great culture to work in.
Fourth, it’s local. The Daily essentially serves as a local paper would, except that the community is a campus, not a
town or a city. This means that the Daily serves as a community-building organization, both for those involved and for Tufts at large. The Daily also makes a point to write about its host communities, with a special edition dedicated to them.
But the Daily isn’t perfect. While, as a consumer of news, I love the Daily, I have some concerns about the Daily’s editing process. The truth is, we’re all student volunteers. That means we aren’t professionals, and we are learning how to do this journalism thing as we go. Luckily, we have a lot of editorial checks done on an author’s work to ensure what’s being published is accurate. Fact-checking and article readability are checked at every stage of the editing process, with the final product having been seen by at least 3 to 4 editors. However, institutional checks on editors — to ensure the edits made are appropriate — are mostly completed by the managing board. Because the board is only made up of a few people who have many additional responsibilities, the checks they are supposed to complete can slip through the cracks.
I just went through an experience with the editing process gone wrong. Last week, I had an article published about Leonard Peltier, an Indigenous activist
who was released from prison after almost 50 years. I wrote my article and received my edits — articles are sent back to opinion authors after two rounds of editing. Then, the article was looked over by section executive editors again and sent to the managing board for further editing — once an article gets to this step, the author doesn’t see it until publication. The next morning, my article was published with substantial issues. There was misinformation present, culturally specific acronyms were changed and factual content had been removed. Now some of these edits were understandable, such as the changing of acronyms, as it was done to comply with the AP Stylebook; even so, no article should contain misinformation. I went to the managing board to get the article taken down, but that didn’t happen. Instead, the article was re-edited without my approval, republished with no warning to readers about changes made and now my article misspelled the word “Indigenous.” I was finally able to get the article taken down a day later, but the underlying problem still needs addressing. Editing mistakes weren’t caught that should have been, which led to an article published under my name that was absolutely damaging to my credibility as an author.
My article was not the first time editing has gone sideways (this has unfortunately occurred in a previous article of mine about Indigenous issues), and I’m certain this won’t be the last. But luckily, institutions can change to address issues like this. In fact, it already has! In response to this whole ordeal, I have now been offered the opportunity to see my articles after the entire editing process is done to make sure this doesn’t happen again. I think the Daily should make this offer to all authors, especially for sections like Arts or Opinion where every word can matter for the argument being made. Instead of a reactionary measure, having authorial final checks could be a preventative measure. Implementing this, in my view, could further demonstrate the Daily’s commitment to factual accuracy and building community trust.
I want to reiterate: The Daily isn’t perfect. But if I didn’t hold trust in the Daily, I wouldn’t be writing this article. Being able to criticize our institutions, both news and government, is a vital step in maintaining our democracy and building trust, one that Trump is actively trampling over. And as a local paper, the Daily has that much more of a responsibility, and a desire, to hear about things it can do better. As we look forward to the next 45 years, I am excited to see how the Daily adapts to community feedback and an ever-changing news landscape.
Here’s to 45 more!
VIA NIEMAN LAB
Peter Navarro, the Jumbo who is shaping Trump’s trade policies
Bridget Lonergan Contributing Writer
From the classrooms of Tufts University in Medford, Mass., to the political arena of Washington, D.C., Peter Navarro has built upon his Jumbo roots to influence the economic policies of the United States. But who is this Tufts alumnus, and what does his rise to the White House mean for Americans, and particularly, for the students of his alma mater?
Navarro graduated Tufts University with a Bachelor of Arts in 1972. After college, he joined the Peace Corps in Thailand, where he discovered his passion for public policy. In 1979, Navarro earned his Master’s in Public Administration from Harvard Kennedy School; after earning his Ph.D. in economics, he became an economics and public policy professor at the University of California, Irvine. During his time teaching, Navarro attempted to enter politics, unsuccessfully running for the mayor of San Diego in 1992. One political commentator claimed that Navarro was once “San Diego’s Bernie Sanders,” reflecting his progressive stance on issues like working class welfare and environmental protection. However, Navarro’s views shifted dramatically due to his concerns over China’s impact on American industries.
The catalyst for this shift, according to Navarro, was the decline of job prospects for his UC Irvine students. Upon investigation, he linked their unemployment to China’s accession to the World Trade Organization in 2001. Navarro coined the term “China price,” describing how China’s actions, such as currency devaluation and poor labor conditions, made it difficult for American companies to compete. In 2006, Navarro published his book “The Coming China Wars,” which sharply criticized the Chinese government and pushed for American protectionism.
His anti-China stance and push for tariffs drew attention, especially from Donald Trump, who listed Navarro’s book as a favorite in 2011. Navarro officially joined Trump’s 2016 presidential
Linda Huang
Coffee Table Socioeconomics
Some food for thought from the Daily’s business model
Editor’s note: The Daily’s editorial department acknowledges that this article is premised on a conflict of interest. This article is a special feature for Daily Week that does not represent the Daily’s standard journalistic practices.
In light of Daily Week and celebrating the Daily’s 45th anniversary, I dedicate this column to
campaign as an economic and trade advisor. In this role, he stood out as one of the most radical protectionists alongside Trump, influencing the enactment of tariffs on $300 billion worth of foreign goods from China, as well as a revision of the North American Fair Trade Agreement in the form of a new trade deal with China. Navarro’s close alliance with Trump continued after Trump’s presidency, culminating in his testimony on the Jan. 6 insurrection in February 2022. Navarro refused to comply with a congressional subpoena related to his time in the White House, claiming it was his “duty” to withhold his note, and was sentenced to four months in prison for contempt of Congress.
Navarro’s dramatic shift in political affiliation has sparked questions about his true motives, but he maintains that his loyalty lies with the party that supports the working class. Growing up in a low-income household and humbled by his work in Southeast Asia, Navarro has long identified with the working class.
In a recent interview with The
appreciating the success of the Daily’s business model and operational capability. I also want to highlight the lessons we can take from it, especially for students at Tufts, a school which I think falls short on its business education — come back for my next column, where I will discuss this.
As Tufts’ only financially independent student organization and publication, the Daily receives no funding from the university or Tufts Community Union. Its editorial, business and production teams work together to ensure the publication’s smooth operation.
The Daily’s business operations are entirely managed by its seven-member business development team, which oversees financials, cash flow, advertisements and client relations. Some of the Daily’s regular clients include Boston Pads, the University Chaplaincy and the Tufts Gordon Institute, all of whom
York Times, he said, “The traditional Democratic Party was a lot like MAGA, in that it was the party of the working class, American manufacturing blue collar workers. The goal of that party, at least what it said it was, to increase the real wages and prosperity of blue collar workers.”
Indeed, his intentions were genuine in his initial party shift. Navarro’s books on China raised valid concerns, though his arguments were extreme, and were supported by his strong background in economics. However, by the time he fully aligned himself with Trump, he had become a key architect of the trade war, gaining influence he had never achieved in his prior political endeavors in San Diego. His rise to power marked the point where his core values shifted as loyalty to Trump ultimately overshadowed the concerns that once motivated his career. Perhaps the greatest irony is Navarro’s stance as San Diego’s most prominent “not in my backyard” figure, only to later work for a real estate tycoon with little regard for the environment.
contribute to the publication’s revenue. Independence from TCU funding also means the Daily maintains its own bank accounts for purposes of financial management. The operational account, managed by the business development team in collaboration with the Campus Life Financial Office, covers day-to-day expenses such as printing costs and student stipends, while the fundraising account is overseen solely by the Alumni Council. Altogether, these financial structures allow the Daily to operate like any other professional publication.
Although the Daily does not disclose its financial details, its business model is not confidential and thus could be a valuable source of inspiration for more organizations. Other on-campus clubs can learn from its approach — becoming more strategic with fundraising, more efficient in building client relationships and adopting a more
Navarro’s protectionist approach to economic policy is objectively radical. During Trump’s first term, he clashed with the president’s other advisors, including Steven Mnuchin, Gary Cohn and Larry Kudlow, who supported more traditional, free-market trade policies. Today, Navarro continues to serve President Trump in his second term, controversially advocating for tariffs to stimulate domestic production and create jobs. While Navarro’s policies are designed to protect domestic industries, they raise important questions about their longterm effects on the very groups he aims to help. For Tufts students, many of whom face an uncertain job market and rising student debt, Navarro’s protectionism may offer both hope and challenges. If, as Navarro claims, tariffs compel foreign nations to lower their prices while boosting domestic production, factory construction and employment, then students may enjoy an easier transition into the workforce with plenty of job opportunities.
cohesive model that integrates business and treasury operations with content creation. In doing so, clubs could strengthen their financial sustainability and potentially break free from financial dependence on Tufts, in turn allowing more financial flexibility and room for growth.
More importantly, these operational models should be made known to students, providing more opportunities for hands-on experiences in business. A highly successful founder of a major corporate fishing group once gave me some of the best advice I’ve ever received: “Try to intern at a Fortune 500 company. Your goal is not to gain expertise in any specific field but rather to see how big corporations operate and understand their internal structures.”
This is exactly what I mean about the Daily. With its scale, outreach capacity and financial independence, the Daily could be
However, in advocating for trade restrictions, Navarro may unintentionally contribute to an economy that could make it harder for future Jumbos to navigate an already difficult financial landscape. If the majority of economists are correct, Navarro’s tariffs will lead to higher prices in the U.S., with the most significant burden falling on the lowest-income workers. In fact, even a basic economics lesson at Tufts University would quickly support this and contradict Navarro’s claims. If Navarro’s reputation of being an unpleasant and egocentric individual is true, then perhaps it is the popular opinion that is more worth trusting.
Ultimately, as Navarro continues to champion his bold stances, Tufts students must consider if his economic populism will create more opportunities for the next generation of graduates or add further obstacles. As the “postgrad question” looms, Navarro’s policies may force us to reconsider the future we are preparing for and whether the path ahead will truly lead to prosperity.
considered one of the most — if not the most — successful student organizations on campus, having one of the most mature and specialized business models.
Given Tufts’ limited focus on business education, I want to emphasize even more how important it is to understand how businesses function and how their financial sustainability is maintained. After all, there are many students at Tufts who have entrepreneurial ambitions. And, while not everyone aspires to be an entrepreneur, I firmly believe all students can benefit from having some business literacy. For those interested in pursuing this path, the Daily is a great avenue to learn about real-world business operations.
Linda Huang is a junior majoring in economics and international relations. She can be reached at peixuan.huang@tufts.edu.
New
VIA PICRYL
Peter Navarro delivers an address at the White House in 2017.
Late Night At The Daily
Gretta: “Does anyone know where my phone is? Not that any of you would know where my phone is.”
‘In This Issue’ by Nate Hall
MINI CROSSWORD
‘Headlines’
ARTS & POP CULTURE
Andy Milk returns to Medford with his suburban dad trio, Campsite
Maya Godard Staff Writer
In the mid-’90s, Andy Milk (LA’97) was playing at Delta Upsilon with his student band Johnny Wishbone, writing album reviews and a column for The Tufts Daily. Today, nearly 30 years later and following the diagnosis of a life-threatening heart condition, he is making his return to Medford on tour with his Long Island-based trio, Campsite.
Campsite first came together when Milk was reintroduced to bassist Michael Hirst at a house party in a small town on Long Island. The pair, who had grown up in the same small town on Cape Cod, reconnected over a shared interest in music. Soon, along with drummer Joseph Gitto — who was the lawyer for Milk’s company at the time — they formed the group now known as Campsite.
Milk endearingly described the group as “three suburban dad friends” juggling the musician’s life with that of a working parent. The band members agreed that, despite the occasional logistical challenge, having Campsite as a creative outlet has been greatly beneficial to maintaining their musical passions throughout adulthood and parenthood.
“It’s really just about rediscovering our identity as musicians,” Hirst said. A former SMFA student, prior to the school’s absorption into Tufts, Hirst got his musical start in the Boston DJ scene. After college, before forming Campsite, he played with a punk rock band based in DC and founded his own electronic music label.
Milk’s musical journey also started in his college years with the aforementioned Tufts student band Johnny Wishbone, which mostly played cover shows at on-campus events. Post graduation, Milk toured and released multiple albums with the rock band The Vital Might and worked on a handful of smaller solo and duo electronic projects.
Gitto, who first got his start as a drummer in a school band at 8 years old, played with local rock bands in his time at Skidmore College. In addition to playing in the college rock scene, he was a percussionist in the Long Island Youth Orchestra, with whom he toured and performed internationally.
The diversity in the trio’s musical backgrounds has contributed to an eccentric amalgamation of genres and influences for Campsite. When asked what the group’s music style was, the members dropped genres like punk, rock, jazz, funk and hiphop, to name a few. Because of this unique blend of tastes, Milk said they were never satisfied by playing just covers, so the band has stuck to writing their own music.
The songwriting process is primarily spearheaded by Milk, but aided by collaborative jamming and arranging. Campsite says they don’t face any challenges in this collaborative process thanks to their strong connection, both creatively and personally.
“You know, we get along really well. It’s just a three piece. So there’s no creative struggles,” Hirst said. “I think being friends, just full stop, I think that’s the core of the band.”
Hirst says that this bond was strengthened by a tragic life event which unfolded just around the time of Campsite’s formation.
After suffering a series of cardiac episodes, Milk was diagnosed with Giant Cell Myocarditis, a life-threatening heart disease.
Though he is no longer in the hospital long-term, Milk said he now wears a pacemaker, takes numerous medications and is still in and out of doctors’ appointments. But despite these major obstacles, Milk has not wavered in his dedication to music. In many ways, Campsite has been a beneficial distraction and outlet for Milk during such a difficult time.
“It was like a kind of therapeutic thing, in a way, to get together and kind of not be thinking about that too much,” Hirst said. “Maybe for Andy, I always try to get an update, try to keep it short and then we just want to focus on the music.”
Milk’s diagnosis came around the time Campsite started writing original music together, and the experience had a major influence on his songwriting. Formerly a large proponent of
The origins of the Daily’s Arts section
Sophie Herron Contributing Writer
Editor’s note: The Daily’s editorial department acknowledges that this article is premised on a conflict of interest. This article is a special feature for Daily Week that does not represent the Daily’s standard journalistic practices.
Whether it’s listening to a song that matches your mood perfectly, watching a favorite TV show after a bad day or exploring a new art exhibition with friends, we engage with and seek out art on a daily basis. It is no wonder then, that the Daily has included some form of the Arts section since its creation. Despite being just four pages long, the first volume of the Daily, published on Feb. 25, 1980, included two Arts articles and referenced the arts throughout. Instead of reviews, analyses or detailed recommendations, as is typical for current Arts articles, the original two focused on encouraging Tufts students to engage with local art by describing art happening in the area and why students should care.
“We at Tufts are lucky to have everyday exposure to Art, but how many of us take advantage
of it?” Josh Mayer begins “Escape Into Art,” the first Arts article published by the Daily, by posing this question to the student body. To demonstrate the availability of the arts to Tufts students, Mayer uses the previous Saturday night as a case study, referencing performances and film screenings both on campus and in the Boston area. He follows this summary with a list of campus groups that organize arts events at Tufts, many of which, including Torn Ticket, 3Ps and TUTV, are still active today. The article focuses predominantly on performing arts, in particular plays, concerts and films, but mentions a campus visual arts gallery. Through this wide range of topics, Mayer intends to prove that there are arts opportunities to suit any preference and any student, so lack of content does not justify lack of exposure. Additionally, the list of organizations demonstrates that art is brought to students by students, strengthening intra-Tufts communities. The Daily continues the trend established by Mayer, aiming to inform readers about the activities of student groups. For example, senior Nate Hall’s “Center Stage” series
highlights Tufts performing arts groups, mentioning past and future performances. Despite the omnipresence of the arts, readers still may wonder why they should fill their time with art given all the other activities available to them. Mayer answers the question simply: “Just take a break from your studies or parties [and] escape into Art — it makes life here all the more bearable.”
In the second Arts article in the Daily’s first volume, “Daily Double,” Czar Cygnus switches the focus from what has happened to what will happen, highlighting a band performance on campus and a film screening in Boston scheduled for the week of publication. While the article suggests evening entertainment to Tufts students, it also emphasizes the influence of the arts on Tufts and Boston social culture in general. This article also lays the foundation for future Arts stories that appear in several early issues, giving students a rundown of what performances to look forward to that night.
The young Daily also aspired to ensure all students knew when and where to engage with the arts, even without reading a
hard rock and grunge, Milk said Campsite’s originals took on a more subdued theme.
“It definitely influenced kind of the vibe, I think, a little bit of my songwriting, you know. I wasn’t going for really fast, high energy jumping around kind of music,” Milk said. “The song topics [are] also about how those episodes have affected my life and my family and my outlook on life and things like that.”
But beyond influencing the subject matter of Campsite’s music, Milk said that being faced with the reality of the life-threatening condition changed his overall perspective on music and his own creative process as a whole.
“It was close calls when I was in the hospital, [when I thought] that I wasn’t gonna come home, so that makes you rethink a lot of things and really want to just live in the moment and be present,” Milk said. “That’s kind of
influenced my creative process a little bit too. . . . I’m not overthinking things.”
Milk said that, with previous projects, he was often caught up in how his music would be judged and received. But following the introspection and conversations that came out of his diagnosis, he has come to enjoy the process in all of its imperfections.
“I think [with] this band ... I’ve gotten to the point of not caring what anybody else thinks, and it feels so good, and I actually think the music’s more authentic,” Milk said.
Campsite continues to promote this mindset, emphasizing authenticity and good times over perfection and profit. They said, especially for parents like themselves, it is more important to have fun and enjoy the creative process than obsess over making something perfect. “Do it, even if you suck,” Hirst said. Campsite is set to perform at Deep Cuts in Medford Square on Saturday, March 1.
full article. In the first issue’s list of meeting times and locations, music performances are included along with athletic events and special lectures. The current Arts section of the Daily doesn’t keep a calendar of events, but the advent of Tufts Tickets and social media makes it easier for organizers to coordinate other forms of publicity.
The influence of the arts in early editions of the Daily spreads beyond entertainment articles and activity listings. The first volume’s Viewpoint article calls on students to demand improvements at Tufts in the face of rising tuition and waning resources, the subject of the news article from the same issue. A thriving arts scene, despite disappointing support, is listed as a major
concern for students, right along with attending forums and joining political movements on campus. The modern Daily continues to consider arts in a political context by highlighting the political impacts of pop culture and local art. Over the past semester, the topics of these articles have ranged from in-depth reporting on the TikTok ban to an analysis of how Ireland’s history relates to its media representation. Over the decades, many things have remained constant about Tufts and the Daily since its first publication: People are still looking for things to do on a Saturday night, and high tuition is still a significant concern. Facing such difficulties, just as in 1980, the Arts section of the Daily is here to make your life more bearable.
COURTESY ANDY MILK
The members of Campsite are pictured.
STELLA JEONG / THE TUFTS DAILY
Back issues of the Arts section’s Weekender print spread are pictured.
What makes the Arts section special?
Editor’s note: The Daily’s editorial department acknowledges that this article is premised on a conflict of interest. This article is a special feature for Daily Week that does not represent the Daily’s standard journalistic practices.
Since the very beginning, The Tufts Daily has acknowledged the importance and significance of engaging with the arts. Now, 45 years later, it is just as important to recognize how art and art appreciation does more than allow for Saturday movie nights and predictions for the awards season. The arts allow for social and political commentary to be delivered in a digestible and emotionally relevant manner. And as the Arts section, we make it our duty to deliver this commentary with every issue we release.
As it currently stands, the Arts section strives to dig deeper into the overall impact that art has on Tufts’ campus and in the greater Boston area. Arts goes beyond analyzing the new trends plaguing our screens, critiquing why and how we make those choices. For instance, a current column running this semester entitled “Confessions of a Shopaholic” does more than simply outline
which styles are in and which are out. “Confessions” also looks into why we choose to wear, or not wear, certain styles. In a recent article, the column outlines how, despite social pressures deeming it otherwise, wearing merchandise for your favorite artist or piece of art is not something to be ashamed of. Rather, it shows the world who you are and how important a specific piece of art is to your life. Messages like this one remind the Daily’s readers to engage with the arts, regardless of what society may think.
The section has also followed the TikTok ban and its subsequent reversal. Written by Deputy Arts Editor and sophomore Annika Pillai, this two-part article series goes into depth about the U.S. government’s decision to ban TikTok in January. As outlined in the articles, TikTok is more than a place to mindlessly scroll. TikTok hosts a myriad of content creators, from musicians and comedians to scientists, stay-at-home moms and more. Regardless of your opinion on the platform, TikTok has been a hub for art creation and appreciation for several years. The decision to ban this app quickly put many creators and small businesses at risk of financial
loss. However, after the decision was reversed and TikTok once again became available on app stores this month, creators and users rejoiced at its return. The Daily’s coverage of these events served as a statement to our readers that these governmental decisions can have severe impacts on our art consumption and creation as the age of social media reigns supreme.
The past several years, the Daily’s Arts section has also attempted to expand its coverage to include non-traditional forms of art and media not typically covered by the paper. This semester, a new article series, “Video essayists you should watch,” explores an art form often overlooked by traditional media: the long-form video essay. While video essays are not completely new to the general public, they typically attract specific audiences. From pop culture deep dives into the early 2000s and analyses of relationships in Disney Channel shows to breakdowns of video games and discussions of TV show lore, YouTube video essayists can and do cover anything under the sun. This new series gives readers a glimpse into different YouTubers and their content, highlighting video essays as valuable pieces of art.
In its current form, the Daily has aimed to cover local and on-campus live performances of theater, dance and music. However, writers at the Daily have resisted simply giving a play-by-play of the events that occur onstage, instead attempting to break down the themes and morals of the art being presented. This trend is evident in the Daily’s reviews of theatrical performances, which focus on how the playwrights, artists, scripts and designs contribute to an overall message. Recent reviews have deconstructed the gender politics and racial injustices within performances. Rather than explaining the entire story of “The Odyssey,” Arts writers instead evaluate the journey through a modern lens, with a strong emphasis on storytelling as a tool for conveying the human experience.
While the Daily is no stranger to reporting on pop culture events in the world, such as the famous Kendrick-Drake beef or Britney Spears’ exploited life, a vital part of the Daily is reporting on how art holds a mirror to life. Recently, more emphasis has been placed on creating content that delves deeper into telling overlooked stories. “‘The Seed of the Sacred Fig’ is a brave response to authoritarianism” is a clear
example of this. This article goes into depth on “The Seed of the Sacred Fig,” a film whose director was sentenced to eight years in prison for his earlier work. While a highly acclaimed film, “The Seed” is likely not well known by many readers of the Daily. However, one Daily writer took it upon himself to highlight the importance of a film that gives a voice to the voiceless. If even one 800-word article encourages a single reader to step outside of their comfort zone, engage with art and listen to unique stories, the Daily is doing something right.
Many things have changed since 1980. Tuition has risen from about $8,000 to over $90,000. New student groups pop up every semester, and Tufts students continue to engage with the greater political climate. The Daily’s Arts section still turns out reviews with the hope of promoting the art scene in the local Boston area and on campus. The section strives to push its readers to engage with multiple forms of art, highlighting how the arts and the social climate contain a forest of stories, so dense and interwoven that one can spend forever dissecting, yet continue to find something unique and beautiful.
GRAPHIC BY RACHEL LIU
Odessa Gaines Executive Arts Editor
Watt powers Jumbos to NESCAC semifinals
Luke Fredericks Staff Writer
With 10 minutes left in their quarterfinal against Williams College, there was a question of which Jumbo would step up in crunch time. Would it be Scott Gyimesi, the junior who had already recorded 13 double-doubles during the season and 34 in less than three seasons? Perhaps it would be junior James Morakis, currently averaging over 17 points? Shockingly, it was an electric shooting performance sparked by the whiteout crowd from sophomore Zion Watt, who posted a career high of 15 points, making four threes in the span of five minutes, sending the Jumbos on to an 80–70 win and earning them a trip to next weekend’s NESCAC semifinals at Wesleyan University.
When asked about the impact of playing games in Cousens, Tufts’ head coach Brandon Linton said, “Whenever we can play in front of our fans, we just get an extra jolt, especially when it’s packed. So hoping that tomorrow’s a nice, packed atmosphere. And you know, if we have anything beyond that, obviously love for that as well.”
Linton’s statement was proven true right from tip-off. On the very first possession, the Jumbos went to their signature backdoor pick play to get an open corner three for their sharpshooter sophomore Dylan Reilly, setting the crowd ablaze and setting the tone for the afternoon.
Yet, there was a foreboding sense of déjà vu sweeping over the Tye Court floor during the last six minutes of Saturday’s first half when the Ephs went on a 21–5 run to cut what
had been an 18-point lead for the Jumbos to a 2-point game heading into the halftime break. The Jumbos had a memory of the first matchup between the two teams in January, where the Ephs had jumped out to a 22–12 lead before the Jumbos responded with a crucial 35–4 run spanning the halftime break to put the game away in their favor. To many inside Cousens, it seemed like a mirror image of the regular season matchup was playing out on the postseason floor. This seemed increasingly true as Williams took a 44–42 lead following guard Aidan Yates’ layup four minutes into the second half.
The Ephs, who had started the game cold from 3-point range, had begun to heat up toward the end of the first half, taking them from down 18 to up six in the second half with 10 minutes to play, as the Jumbos floundered from deep over the same span.
Once the Ephs had stretched the lead to six, the Jumbos worked the ball down low to junior center Josh Bernstein, who used his 6’11” frame to see over the Ephs’ defense and locate Watt, who drained the triple from the NESCAC logo, causing their coach Kevin App to burn a timeout.
After the Ephs squandered their offensive possession, the Jumbos’ two-man game took over, with Watt and Gyimesi running a give-and-go that led to Watt taking an open three to tie the game at 59. Two minutes later, with the Jumbos trailing by one, Watt would scoop a loose ball off the floor and unhesitatingly launch a three from a yard beyond the arc which swished into the net, giving the Jumbos the lead for
good. For good measure, Watt would finish off his dazzling display on the following possession. After Gyimesi drew a double team, he kicked out to the sophomore, who released the ball and turned to the crowd to celebrate, knowing, as he later told the Daily, “I had a pretty good feeling when it left my hand.”
Despite the best efforts of Williams star Alex Lee — who hit yet another deep three to cut Tufts’ lead back to single digits with three minutes to play — baskets from Gyimesi,
senior forward Truman Gettings and sophomore guard Liam Kennelly, as well as one final Reilly triple, put the game away and punched Tufts’ ticket to Connecticut. When asked postgame about the team’s mentality headed to Connecticut for the NESCAC semifinals, Watt said, “Our goal the whole year [has been] to get another banner, win a championship. We got a couple of tough games, we’re gonna have a good week of prep and go out and do our job.”
One thing is certain for this team: If they want to become the first Jumbos team in five years to achieve their goal of winning a NESCAC title, they will have to bring their A-game to the Nutmeg State. Their road to the championship goes through the Trinity Bantams, a team that is 4–0 against Tufts in the last two years, and will likely include having to be the first team all season to beat the No. 1 ranked Wesleyan Cardinals. If they can do all that, banner number one for the Class of 2025 could be days away.
STELLA JEONG / THE TUFTS DAILY
The team cheers as the Jumbos score during the game on Saturday.
STELLA JEONG / THE TUFTS DAILY
Sophomore Zion Watt passes to a teammate during the game on Saturday.
The beautiful game of 1980
Bharat Singh Staff Writer
If the modern football fan took a time machine to the year 1980, they’d notice a few similarities but a lot more differences. Arsenal, just as they did last weekend, lost to West Ham 1–0, only in a game with higher stakes, the FA Cup Final. Nottingham Forest won their second consecutive UEFA Champions League, then known as the European Cup, against Hamburger SV –– two finalists with contrasting current situations. Forest is third in the Premier League and dreaming of returning to Europe, whilst Hamburg is first in the 2. Bundesliga, Germany’s second division.
The Premier League, then known as the First Division, was won by Liverpool who will likely win it again in May. However, it’s hard to compare teams and players across generations. The title-winning Liverpool side of 1980, which would win six titles in 8 years, finished their campaign with 60 points, edging Manchester United’s 58. Today, Liverpool, with 11 games still to play, have 64 points, highlighting the higher win percentage and overall efficiency
of Arne Slot’s side. Perhaps this also illustrates the rising standards of the Premier League which has seen teams reach 100 points in the last decade. Last year’s winners, Manchester City, lost just three games compared to the 1980 Liverpool side that lost seven. While the headlines belong to Mohamed Salah today, it was Ian Rush and Kenny Daglish who ran the show in 1980.
Liverpool, Manchester United, Ipswich Town, Arsenal, Nottingham Forest and Wolverhampton Wanderers made up the top six teams. Everton avoided relegation while the three teams to go down were Bristol City, Derby County and Bolton Wanderers, none of which are in the top flight today. Liverpool, however, wasn’t the only successful side from Merseyside in the following years. Everton would win the league in 1985 and 1987.
Other usual suspects were also domestically successful across Europe. Real Madrid and Inter Milan won La Liga and Serie A, while Bayern Munich dominated the Bundesliga. This was also the year of the European Championship in Italy and the African Cup of Nations in Nigeria.
1980: A year in sports
Henry Blickenstaff Senior Staff Writer
Editor’s note: The Daily’s editorial department acknowledges that this article is premised on a conflict of interest. This article is a special feature for Daily Week that does not represent the Daily’s standard journalistic practices.
Though 1980 was an eventful year across all sports, one single moment stands head and shoulders above the rest — the Miracle on Ice. In the final round of the men’s ice hockey tournament at the Winter Olympic Games in Lake Placid, the United States upset the heavily favored Soviet Union in a 4–3 thriller, with Winthrop, Mass. native and former Boston University Terrier Mike Eruzione scoring the go-ahead goal. As the final seconds ticked off the clock, announcer Al Michaels famously exclaimed, “Do you believe in miracles? Yes!”
Beyond the Cold War undertones, the Miracle on Ice is the ultimate underdog story. The Soviets weren’t on just any hot streak coming into Lake Placid — they had won gold at each of the last four Olympics. Captain Boris Mikhailov and goaltender Vladislav Tretiak led a team that included 11 future members of the International Ice Hockey Federation Hall of Fame. They had faced the United States 12 times since the 1960 Olympics and won all 12 games by a combined score of 117–26.
Not only were the Soviets the titanic favorites, but hockey had little traction in the United States at the time outside of a few select areas. Americans made up just 9.1% of the NHL in 1980, and 78% of those players were from either Minnesota, Michigan or Massachusetts. All of the players and coaches on the 1980 Olympic roster were from either those three states or Wisconsin, with 12 of the 20 players and five of the six
West Germany emerged victorious, defeating Belgium 2–1 in the final. In Africa, it was host Nigeria that were crowned the continent’s kings, outclassing Algeria 3–0 and leaving Lagos in delirium.
The European Championship had a starkly different format and fan reception. For starters, only eight teams participated, with two groups of four. A highly defensive style from most teams meant the actual football was stale and failed to draw strong viewership and excitement except for the host Italy’s games. Instead, the newsworthy action was left to the stands. England fans, in keeping with their reputation at future tournaments, were involved in several brawls during the tournament’s opening fixture.
This year also saw the birth of several stars. Barcelona’s Xavier “Xavi” Hernández Creus, who would go on to anchor Spain’s midfield during their golden generation, Ronaldinho Gaúcho, the skill king from Porte Alegre, Steven Gerrard, Liverpool’s greatest ever captain and the Chelsea duo of John Terry and Ashley Cole to name a few. Between them, modern football would witness legends with several Champions
coaches hailing from Minnesota alone. NHL players weren’t even allowed to compete in the Olympics at the time, so it’s safe to say that the pool of American talent was exceedingly limited.
But somehow, some way, this scrappy group of college kids that represented just four states became nationwide heroes. Two days after slaying the Soviet dragon, they took down Finland to secure the gold, a game which has become almost a footnote in history due to the transcendence of the Miracle on Ice. In 1999, Sports Illustrated named the Miracle on Ice the greatest sports moment of the 20th century, a moment which is depicted in the brilliant 2004 film “Miracle.” Kurt Russell stars as Herb Brooks, the head coach who led the U.S. to glory at Lake Placid.
Speaking of the Olympics and the Cold War, the United States spearheaded a boycott of the 1980 Summer Games in Moscow in protest of the Soviet Union’s invasion of Afghanistan the year prior. 64 other countries joined the United States in the boycott, which was reciprocated by the Soviets and their communist allies at the 1984 games in Los Angeles.
In college football, 1980 was the first of running back Herschel Walker’s three illustrious seasons at Georgia. Walker led the Bulldogs, who had finished 6–5 the year prior, to an undefeated 12–0 season, capped off by a Sugar Bowl win over Notre Dame on New Year’s Day 1981. He rushed for 1,616 yards on 274 attempts, good for 5.9 yards per carry and 146.9 yards per game.
Leagues, a Balon d’Or and World Cups in store. As the Daily entered its first decade of production, the beautiful game entered one of its most iconic periods. The rise of France as a footballing powerhouse came with victory at the 1984 European Championships, with the spotlight firmly on Michel Platini. Two years later, Diego Maradona broke English hearts by creating one of the sport’s defining images, the Hand of God, in the World Cup. The ’80s also saw the birth of Italian footballing dynasties with clubs like A.C Milan, Juventus, SSC
With a Heisman win in 1982, Walker left Georgia as one of the most accomplished players in college football history. His career 5,259 rushing yards remain a SEC record more than 40 years later — and he only played three seasons in college. A 2020 ESPN poll ranked Walker as the second-best college football player of all time, behind only Jim Brown.
Meanwhile, in the NFL, the Pittsburgh Steelers won their fourth Super Bowl in six years with a 31–19 victory over the Los Angeles Rams on Jan. 20, 1980. It was the last championship for the vaunted “Steel Curtain” defense, which featured four Hall of Famers — defensive tackle Joe Greene, cornerback Mel Blount and linebackers Jack Lambert and Jack Ham. The 1980 season kicked off in September and ended in January of the next year, with the Oakland Raiders dominating the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl XV, 27–10.
Though the Steelers’ dynasty was at its end, a new dynasty was born in the NHL. In the Stanley Cup Final, the New York Islanders defeated the Philadelphia Flyers in six games, starting a run of four consecutive championships and five straight final appearances.
Led by future Hall of Famers Mike Bossy, Denis Potvin, Billy Smith and Bryan Trottier, the Islanders of the early ’80s are the most recent team to win three Stanley Cups in a row, much less four.
The Philadelphia 76ers, like the Eagles and Flyers, also fell one step short of a championship in 1980. In Magic Johnson’s
Napoli and Inter Milan beginning to attract the world’s premier talent. The baton of success would be passed on from Liverpool to Manchester United as the decade closed, further strengthening one of the world’s most intense rivalries. Despite all the modern evolutions the beautiful game has seen in the last 45 years, football still has elements that were seen in 1980 and the decade to follow. The game is a lot faster and it has more technology and higher performance standards, but the nostalgic reality of the past still holds true and blends into today’s sport.
rookie year, he and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar dominated the NBA Finals, leading the Los Angeles Lakers to a four games to two series victory. It was the first year of the “Showtime” era of Lakers basketball, characterized by quick play relying on fast breaks. The Sixers would get their revenge in 1983 after acquiring Hall of Famer Moses Malone, sweeping the Lakers in the finals that year. Luckily for the city of Philadelphia, they did win a championship in 1980 courtesy of the Phillies. Though the franchise was founded in 1883, it had been mired in futility for much of its existence, and this was their first-ever championship. Third baseman Mike Schmidt won the first of his three NL MVP awards while pitcher Steve Carlton won the third of his four career NL Cy Youngs. In their four games to two World Series win over the Kansas City Royals, both showed up big — Schmidt posted a 1.176 OPS while Carlton won both games he started.
If you’ve been paying attention, you’ll have realized that Philadelphia sports accomplished something miraculous in 1980 — all four major teams reached the championship series or game in their respective leagues. It’s the only time in sports history that’s happened. Whether you think the Miracle on Ice, Herschel Walker’s heroics at Georgia or Philadelphia’s run at a “grand slam” of sports was the defining story of 1980, there’s no denying that it was an amazing year for sports. (It wasn’t a bad year for journalism, either.)
