The Tufts Daily - Thursday, March 9, 2023

T HE T UFTS D AILY

Thursday, March 9, 2023

by Daniel Vos Deputy News Editor

Students gathered outside of the Mayer Campus Center on March 3, before the Global Climate Strike in Boston, to protest Tufts’ fossil fuel investments and rising global carbon emissions. Rachel Kyte, dean of The Fletcher School, spoke at the rally, offering support to protesters calling for divestment.

versity to follow other universities around this issue. … This investment is not going to produce the kinds of equitable growth that we need going forward,” she said. “People are going to lose money. And the people who will lose money at the end of the day will normally be the taxpayers who will suffer as a result of public bailouts of private institutions that will ask for help.”

The Inflation Reduction Act is an important move forward. It’s not everything, we need much more than that. And you need to keep the pressure up in solidarity with people like you in every corner of the world. Because this has to work for everybody. There is no way we succeed in making this transition with just the 1% ending up better off than they were before.”

Originally published March 7 AARON GRUEN / THE TUFTS DAILY Tufts Climate Action rallies at the Mayer Campus Center on March 3.

Kyte described a dark future for institutions tied to fossil fuel finance. She highlighted growing pressure on the university to ban such investments, of which Tufts currently holds an estimated $90 million.

“I’m glad that you are going to put pressure on this uni -

Her speech centered on fighting the climate emergency at every level of society. She called on governments, universities and students to reevaluate their role in the crisis and become leaders for change.

“We have a governor [of Massachusetts] and a mayor of Boston now fully aligned,” Kyte said. “You need to keep the pressure up domestically.

Artem Dinh, a Ukrainian and Vietnamese senior at Tufts, spoke to protesters about the influence of petropolitics in the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, condemning European countries for purchasing gas from Russia and, as a result, perpetually funding Russian aggression.

UNIVERSITY see CLIMATE, page 2

“Every single missile and the bullet that comes on Ukrainian

soil and hits Ukrainian people is actually paid by European taxpayers’ money,” Dinh said. “How come? Well, because Europeans

UNIVERSITY

Tufts aims to purchase former Zeta Psi building at 80 Professors Row Zeta Psi, which currently owns the more than 150-year-old building, planned to demolish the old fraternity house; however, the Somerville Historic Preservation Commission effectively denied the fraternity permission to demolish the house, unanimously deeming it “historically significant” during a March 7 meeting.

The Tufts chapter of Zeta Psi was disbanded in 2021 following several COVID-19 policy violations; however, the national fraternity still owns the house on Professors Row. Rocco DiRico, executive director of government and community relations at Tufts, said during the public meeting that the university now intends to purchase the building.

“Tufts University has been negotiating in good faith with the owners of 80 Professors Row for months,” DiRico

said during the commission meeting. “Tufts intends to use this property to provide more on-campus housing for our undergraduate students.”

Tufts Public Safety has a new comfort dog

A highly trained black Labrador puppy will be available as a mental health resource for students through the Tufts Department of Public Safety. She will be able to interact with students who need comfort after experiencing a traumatic event, and she can recognize when students and other members of the community are hesitant to interact with her and will be respectful of their boundaries.

The puppy is a rescue dog trained by Hero Pups, a nonprofit which works to match veterans and first responders with comfort dogs. The puppy and her handler, Officer Rob Moschella, will attend various campus events as representatives of Tufts Department of Public Safety. As part of her introduction, students can vote on the dog’s name on the TDPS website.

Green Exercise Initiative installs energy-producing treadmill

The Green Exercise Initiative installed an energy-producing treadmill in the Steve Tisch Sports and Fitness Center last weekend after four students juniors Olivia Landau and Aoife Schmitt and seniors Marcus Hardy and Evan Ensslin — proposed the project for an engineering management class.

“And at the end of our class, our professor told us that the project is actually feasible,” Landau, the project leader, said.

The group was awarded $5,382 by the Green Fund to purchase, ship and install the treadmill at the fitness center. Energy produced by the treadmill will result in a profit of $138 per year, and depending on the success of the pilot project, Tufts Athletics may explore the possibility of replacing all gym equipment with energy-producing equivalents.

Landau said that the goal of the project is to make students more conscious of their energy usage.

“Hopefully, by using our treadmill, students will realize how much effort it really takes to produce energy,” she said.

cNN’s abby Phillip on april 3

The Edward R. Murrow Forum on Issues in Journalism will return to Tufts for the first time since 2018 at noon on April 3 with CNN’s Abby Phillip slated as this year’s speaker. Sponsored by Tisch College’s Solomont Speaker Series, Phillip will discuss her work at CNN with Tufts alumnus and trustee Neil Shapiro (A’80).

“I am thrilled to headline the 15th Edward R. Murrow Forum on Issues in Journalism at Tufts University,” Phillip wrote in a statement to the Daily. “Murrow’s legacy is more relevant than ever in our changing media landscape, and his impact on journalism remains profound. I look forward to a robust conversation about the future of media and reporting, and to sharing my experiences and perspectives with the Tufts community, especially students.”

Phillip is CNN’s senior political correspondent and anchor of “Inside Politics Sunday,” an hour-long dive into the week’s most important political stories. Phillip joined CNN in 2017 to cover the Trump Administration and served as White House correspondent until 2019. In January 2020, she moderated CNN’s Democratic Presidential Debate in Iowa, and in November 2020, she anchored special coverage of 2020’s Election Night in America.

“Tisch College is proud to welcome Abby Phillip to campus as this year’s Murrow Forum speaker,” Dayna Cunningham, the dean of Tisch College, wrote in a statement to the Daily. “As an anchor at CNN, and a leading journalist of color, her voice is shaping political analysis and reporting in this country, at a time when our democracy is strained, our institutions are

The Fletcher School hosted a panel titled “How Has the Russia-Ukraine War Changed the International Security Environment?” on Feb. 27.

Chaired by Monica Toft, the director of Fletcher’s Center for Strategic Studies, the discussion included Professors Daniel Drezner and Kelly Greenhill, and visiting scholars Pavel Luzin and Volodymyr Dubovyk, who is affiliated with Odesa I. Mechnikov National University in Ukraine.

Panelists explored the economic, security and regional implications of the war, examining the impact of the invasion of Ukraine a year after the conflict began. Arik Burakovsky, assistant director of the Russia and Eurasia Program at Fletcher, shared his insights on the thought process that went into structuring the event in an interview with the Daily.

“The Center for Strategic Studies … [was] interested in finding a way to mark the one-year anniversary of the war, and, of course, we started with the big puzzle: Why were experts surprised that the war even happened, and then why do they continue to be surprised that the war is not yet over?” Burakovsky said. “We really wanted to focus on international security because that’s a significant interest of many Fletcher students. … We wanted to convene a group of panelists who could speak on a variety of cross-cutting issues.”

Rachel Kyte, dean of The Fletcher School, opened the event, addressing the role Fletcher has in answering questions the Russia-Ukraine war sparked.

“What does [the war] mean for the norms of large power behavior?,” Kyte asked. “What

does this mean for neutrality? … While I hope that peace will come soon to Ukraine, it’s our job at Fletcher to roll our sleeves up and try to understand and try to pick a way forward.”

Toft began the discussion by sharing statistics from the conflict.

“Russia is firing, on average, 20,000 artillery rounds a day. … Ukraine is firing [4,000 to 7,000],” Toft said. “$166 billion in military, financial and humanitarian aid has been pledged to Ukraine by supporting two different countries, so this is truly an international war with serious global security implications.”

Toft then asked Drezner to explain what the war means for the global economy. He addressed the changing regional dynamics between President Vladimir Putin and the European Union from an economic perspective.

“The question going forward is in terms of the economic effects, the most significant, I think is that Russia has lost its energy in a way that it had been threatening for 10 to 15 years over the European Union,” he said.

“The EU needed Russian natural gas and oil in order to be able to have relatively low energy costs. … The real question you have to ask … is how much are we moving from what had been perceived as a pretty globalized economy, to one that is dominated by economic blocs?”

Greenhill then discussed how perceptions on conventional war were disproved by the invasion.

“The claim that was out in the world that conventional war is dead … is bunk,” she said. “The obituary for international war was premature by a little bit, but Russia’s failure to overtake Ukraine … as anticipated, will now … spell

the death knell of conventional conflict.”

She also touched upon the possibility of nuclear conflict through a spiral escalation model, a scenario with deadly implications.

Toft then shifted the focus of the discussion from the international to the regional, turning to Luzin, who spoke about the domestic impact of the war on Russia.

“One year of the war … eliminated a significant part of [the] beneficiaries of this war,” Luzin said. “On Feb. 24, 2022, there were tens of millions of Russians who supported Putin, who supported [the] Russian army in this aggression. Currently … [these] numbers decrease. Why? Because people lost much more.”

Luzin elaborated that Putin’s support has eroded because of the war’s death toll, even while Russia provides money to the families of killed soldiers.

“Even if [Russian citizens] are completely pro-Putin, even if they send their husbands, sons to the war and got some money with dead bodies of husbands and sons and brothers and so on … But what do you do with this money?” Luzin proposed. “This money [is] in

rubles and these dead bodies? They will never be resurrected.”

Professor Volodymyr Dubovyk rounded up the panel with his interpretation of the current political situation in Ukraine.

“Ukraine is not some country where you have a monopoly on power by Zelensky,” he said. “Yes, he has high ratings, he’s an international rockstar, but at the same time, he has a parliament to deal with, the opposition and the media, this vibrant civil society and so on. … Ukraine is still there. It hasn’t disappeared from a political map. Apparently, it’s going to be there, you know, as a sovereign state. We don’t know with what exact borders, but it will, so that’s already a major victory.”

Later, the panel broke for questions, and discussed a range of topics, including ChineseRussian relations, the Russian elections of 2024 and the possibility of Ukraine joining the EU, with questions from students that brought the event to a close.

“The hope is that students got a better understanding of the Russia-Ukraine war, of the various international security dynamics that are at play.” Burakovsky said. “And also thought about what the future … will be. I think it’s anyone’s guess when this war will end.”

this money is being used to fund the Russian war regime in Syria, Georgia, Ukraine [and] Moldova.”

Dinh also touched on personal experiences with climate change in Vietnam.

“I’ve seen firsthand how rice paddies [are] being abandoned because of sea level rise,” Dinh said. “The sea level rises, people cannot grow rice anymore because it’s salted water. … And my city gets flooded. … Every year the flood gets worse.”

Shoshana Daly, another student who spoke at the protest, has been an organizer with Fridays for Future for two years.

The nonprofit, which hosted the Boston Global Climate Strike, was founded by youth climate activist Greta Thunberg in 2018 and has since gained international recognition.

Daly accused the university of “greenwashing,” a practice of deceptive marketing to appear environmentally conscious.

“They hope that behind the sustainability department and environmental studies program that we won’t be able to see that they continue to perpetuate a problem that they claim to try to change,” she said. “Today we are here to say that tomorrow is too late; universities, big corporations and politicians are treating climate change as if it

is a problem of tomorrow. But it’s not. It’s here now.”

Julia Silberman, an organizer for Tufts Climate Action, criticized Tufts’ $90 million investment in fossil fuels.

“Fossil fuel divestment might have been a radical concept 10 years ago, but not anymore,” she said. “Institutions across the world have divested over $40 trillion from the fossil fuel industry. … We know that frontline communities, namely people of color and low income communities, have been impacted first and hardest by climate change. Meanwhile, the Tufts administration and trustees will continue in safety, using the university’s endowment to fund these injustices.”

Kyte was optimistic that much can be done to mitigate the effects of climate change.

“We don’t have time; we’ve handed you a mess,” she said. “We’re not going to leave you alone with this mess. … In this transition that we are going to live through for the next few decades — successfully, because we can if we put our minds to it — we will have to build justice into that transition. At the end point, we have to have a system that is more equitable than the one we have today.”

Following the demonstration outside the Campus Center, protestors made their way to downtown Boston to march for climate action.

students, workers rally in support of dining workers’ bid for higher wages, summer stipends

by Henry Chandonnet Staff Writer

Originally published March 6

Over 100 students, workers and union leaders rallied for a new contract for Tufts Dining Services union employees outside the Mayer Campus Center on March 1.

UNITE HERE Local 26, the local organization with which Tufts dining workers unionized in 2018, co-led the rally with the Tufts Labor Coalition. Members from both the Revolutionary Marxist Student Group and the United Labor of Tufts Residents Assistants spoke at the rally.

With the union’s contract expiring on June 30, 96% of workers agreed to a set of four demands to increase wages and benefits. The rally culminated with the delivery of these demands to the local office for Tufts Dining Services and Catering. The first of these demands was wage parity with dining employees at Harvard University, who make more than dining workers at Tufts by $6 per hour on average.

Arthur Laskaris, a dining service attendant at Carmichael Dining Center, was clear with his intentions for attending.

“[I’m here] to show support for my co-workers … and to

show that our demands are reasonable,” Laskaris said.

Laskaris, who has worked for Tufts Dining Services for just under two years, is what the union would call “non-legacy.”

Since he was hired after the 2018 union contract was signed, he receives different benefits than those who have held their positions for longer. This difference is the subject of one of the union’s other demands: standardizing benefits for all Tufts dining workers.

“I am a non-legacy as opposed to legacy,” Laskaris said. “[The demand] makes sense, so that we’re all on equal footing, all employees.”

Other demands included mandatory replacement, meaning that Tufts Dining Services would refrain from outsourcing labor when current employees leave. Workers also demanded summer stipends when there is no work available, as many dining employees are left wageless and unable to apply for unemployment in the summer season.

For Laskaris, the fight for summer stipends hit close to home.

“I’m on the lower end of the seniority scale, so it’s very unlikely that I would get summer work,” Laskaris said. “What do you do when you need to feed yourself in the summertime? Well, you start to rethink things.”

Patrick Collins, Tufts’ executive director of media relations, declined to address any of the union’s specific demands but affirmed the university’s commitment to bargaining.

“We’re committed to constructive engagement at the bargaining table and fair treatment of all Tufts employees,” Collins wrote in an email to the Daily. “Out of respect for the union and the negotiation process, we think it is appropriate to limit our discussion of specific proposals to the bargaining table.”

Cole Lewis, a first-year student and member of the Tufts Labor Coalition, helped to organize the student portion of the rally. Lewis spent much of the rally handing out pins supporting cafeteria workers and revving up the crowd.

Lewis was clear in his goal for the rally.

“[We want to show] the Tufts administration that whatever the workers are advocating for, whatever the union’s advocating for, that [we’re] behind it, because Tufts dining workers are integral to our experience here and we should support them with whatever they need,” Lewis said.

Lewis also emphasized that students’ role within the rally was to support, not to lead.

“I come from a place of privilege that I’m not a worker at Tufts,” Lewis noted. “It’s important to recognize that people like me … shouldn’t necessarily be the ones driving this. We should be supporting and doing labor for people that are actually experiencing it, that are leading it.”

Students and dining workers alike marched through the streets, banging on buckets with drumsticks and screaming out chants. While the union leaders

Phillip will discuss journalism at Tisch College event

MURROW

continued from page 1

under scrutiny, and our communities are confronting big challenges. We look forward to hearing from Abby about her own career and journey, and about the civic role of the press at this critical time.”

Shapiro is the president and CEO of WNET in New York City, the largest public media enterprise in the US. Before joining WNET in 2007, he was president of NBC News. He has won 32 Emmys, 31 Edward R. Murrow Awards and three Columbia DuPont awards.

Hosted by the Jonathan M. Tisch College for Civic Life, the Murrow Forum discusses current topics in journalism with notable figures in media. Past speakers have included Anderson Cooper, Katie Couric, Lester Holt and George Stephanopoulos.

The event is co-sponsored by the Department of Political Science, the Film and Media Studies Program, Tufts ACTION, the Africana Center, the Tufts Archival Research Center and the Murrow Center for a Digital World at The Fletcher School.

The Murrow Forum will take place in Distler Performance Hall. Registration for in-person attendance is now open.

went onto the porch of the dining management offices on Curtis Street to deliver the demands, student leaders stayed among the crowd, cheering in solidarity.

Laskaris expressed his gratitude for the students who stood alongside him, pointing out that the students were why he loved his job.

“We’re here to serve the Tufts community, students and everyone else who walks through those doors; I like that, I really enjoy that,” Laskaris said. “Here, you get to build relationships.”

HENRY CHANDONNET / THE TUFTS DAILY

Students and workers rally at the Campus Center on March 1.

FeaT ures

Tufts’ connection to slavery, Part 2: The royall slave Quarters and the Tufts family

by Guillem Colom Assistant Features Editor

Located less than a halfmile from the Joyce Cummings Center, the Royall House and Slave Quarters was an integral part of the Ten Hills Farm that functioned as a slave plantation and encompassed current land now a part of the Tufts campus. The Slave Quarters serve as a painful reminder of the impacts of slavery on systemic social and economic conditions that disproportionately harm communities of color.

The Slave Quarters also function as an example of Tufts’ relationship with slavery. The family of Charles Tufts, the founder of the university, accumulated wealth that was maintained over generations due to his family’s involvement in the Medford slave economy. The Slave Quarters was the locus of this involvement.

The central figure of this involvement was Isaac Royall Jr. After his slave-trading father Isaac Royall Sr. purchased the Slave Quarters in 1732 and died in 1739, Royall Jr. inherited the property at the age of 20. Royall’s ownership of enslaved Africans enabled him to become one of the wealthiest men in the Massachusetts Bay Colony during his time.

The Royall House and Slave Quarters now serves as a museum in Medford, Mass. Kyera

Singleton, the executive director of the Royall House and Slave Quarters, understands how the legacy of Royall Jr.’s enslavement of Africans continues to reverberate through local communities of color and impacts broader struggles for racial equality.

Singleton outlined how the Royall family became embedded in slavery.

“Isaac Royall Sr. was originally from Massachusetts. He [and] his family [were] in Dorchester,” Singleton said.

“He actually leaves, like many white colonists do at the time, to try to make their wealth in the transatlantic slave trade. So, he ends up in Antigua, running and owning one of the largest sugarcane plantations in Antigua, … and then they moved back to Massachusetts in 1737.”

Alexandra Chan, an archaeologist and former visiting assistant professor of anthropology at Vassar College, further explained the Royall family dynamics and some of Royall Jr.’s motivations in maintaining the Slave Quarters.

“Isaac [Royall] Sr. made [the Royall House and Slave Quarters] a country estate … but Isaac [Royall] Jr. wanted to display his riches and made himself the center of elegant hospitality,

and threw soirees and parties all the time,” Chan said. “[Isaac Royall Jr.] made all these big improvements on the house. … He tried to make it look more like a Roman villa. … There was some grandiosity about him that his father didn’t seem to have.”

In Chan’s 2007 book, “Slavery in the Age of Reason: Archaeology at a New England Farm,” she details the type of labor that Royall Jr. forced enslaved people to perform. Such labor had significant implications for the broader nature of Northern and Southern slavery. Chan outlined the characteristics of enslaved labor in the North.

“The overwhelming majority of [enslaved people in New England] … were generalist farmhands [who performed] basic domestic work … because the economy did not support gigantic plantation-style farms,” Chan said.

Exploiting enslaved people for capital, Royall Jr. used such wealth to ingratiate himself with the Medford and Massachusetts social and political elite. From 1743–52, he served as a deputy to the Massachusetts Bay Colony General Court and became a noteworthy figure through other avenues. Such avenues included a 22-year commitment as a member of the Governor’s Council from 1752–74.

Singleton spoke to how well-connected Royall Jr. was to elite leaders.

“The [Royall] family was extremely well-connected, [and they were] extremely wealthy,” Singleton said. “Isaac Royall Jr. [became] a very prominent businessman. Not only does he own property [through the Slave Quarters], but he [owned] another plantation in Bristol, R.I. He owned other property in western Massachusetts.”

Royall Jr. knew many people, and one of those people was Simon Tufts, an ancestor of Charles Tufts. A prominent Medford physician and member of the General Court, Simon Tufts was embedded in similar social and political circles as Royall Jr. The two developed a working relationship that endured through the American Revolutionary War. Because his family were loyalist supporters of the British empire and built their wealth from slavery based on ties to the empire, Royall Jr. became a target and left his Quarters to go to Nova Scotia three days before the Battle of Lexington in 1775.

Singleton described what Tufts then did to help Royall Jr.

“Simon Tufts was the administrator of Isaac Royall Jr.’s estate once he fled for Nova Scotia and then England at the start of the Revolutionary War,”

NICHOLAS PFOSI / TUFTS DAILY ARCHIVE

Singleton said. “Tufts was … the person that Isaac [was] writing to instruct [Tufts] to try to sell some of his enslaved people when he is struggling financially [and] once he is no longer in the country.”

The evidence for Royall Jr. and Tufts’s partnership is clear. A receipt dating back to Aug. 6, 1777, provided by the University of New Hampshire’s Milne Special Collections and Archives, was given to Royall Jr. by Tufts for turning in eight pounds of counterfeit New Hampshire bills.

Royall Jr. and Tufts developed a friendship and deep admiration for each other that is further evidenced by the correspondence between them, along with communication between Tufts and close confidants. In a letter dated from March 28, 1780, which was provided by the Charlotte and William Bloomberg Medford Public Library Archives, Royall Jr. writes to a confidant about Tufts’ attempts to defend Royall Jr. amid legal challenges.

“Some time past I received a letter from my attorney, Dr. Simon Tufts at Medford … wherein he says that the committee of Medford for the last year voted my estate out of his hands, as they said I was an absentee, and forbade him having anything further to do with it,” Royall

The Slave Quarters at the Royall House in Medford is pictured on Oct. 10, 2014.

Charles Tufts elevated social status, gained wealth through connection to slavery

ROYALL continued from page 4

Jr. wrote. “I have wrote Doc. Tufts and desired him … to sign a suitable petition or memorial in my name and behalf or my attorneys to the General assembly, setting forth … the true causes of my leaving the Province at the commencement of the [American Revolutionary] war.”

In another letter dated from April 18, 1780, which was also provided by the Charlotte and William Bloomberg Medford Public Library Archives, Tufts informs Royall Jr. about proceedings regarding his estate in Bristol, R.I.

“Not having the opportunity to send the foregoing, I come now to acquaint you that we have been called again to defend your Estate at Bristol,” Tufts wrote. “I am sorry that I have to continue this disagreeable topic by telling your Honor That this State have also Filed a Bill against your Estate to be heard and determined at Concord. … Great Perplexity attend me, as not a Day passes but have something to do about the Estate and after all can’t save it.”

Simon Tufts was not the only Tufts family member who was involved in slavery alongside the Royalls. According to public records provided by the Royall House and Slave Quarters, Timothy, Samuel and Aaron Tufts leased the Royall House for seven years starting in 1769. Based on genealogical data that is housed at the Tufts Archival Research Center, Timothy, Samuel and Aaron Tufts were cousins of Simon Tufts.

A significant reason why the Tufts family name was prominent at the time was because of the family’s wealth gained from slavery. This elevated their social status and

was likely one factor that later helped Charles Tufts become a community leader in his generation.

Singleton discussed the implications of the Tufts family’s involvement in slavery.

“We often think about historical actors based on their individual actions, but some of the [Tufts] family members [were building wealth through ties to] the business of slavery,” Singleton said. “When you start to … follow the money, and you start to look at the relationships, you see that it is not so simple as [finding out whether] the Tufts founder was involved in slavery.”

Even with these facts, there are still open questions that contemporary scholarship surrounding local slavery in Medford and Boston seeks to address. Chan’s book attempted to discover more of the Slave Quarters’ history through archaeology.

Chan spoke about the historical gaps that still need to be filled regarding the Slave Quarters.

“One of the things that I am still waiting to learn more about is with regard to the plant and animal remains [found] at the [Slave Quarters],” Chan said. “Given this idea that [enslaved] people in the North had more freedom of movement [compared to enslaved people in the South], … one could expect that [activities such as hunting and fishing] that you find on slave sites in the South … might be amplified [at the Slave Quarters].”

Despite this, Chan said that she has not found evidence of enslaved people at the Slave Quarters engaging in hunting or fishing.

Local efforts to address slavery reflect national endeavors attempting to reconcile

scIeNce

America’s legacy with slavery. One example came in 2019 through the 1619 Project, a New York Times initiative led by journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones that sought to discuss systemic issues borne from the legacy of slavery. Although the project remains controversial because of some of its characterizations of American slavery, it was one of many examples of a broader effort to reframe American history through the lens of slavery.

Kerri Greenidge, assistant professor of studies in race, colonialism and diaspora and co-director of the Tufts African American Trail Project at the Center for the Study of Race and Democracy spoke about the ideas that can better frame national conversation on slavery.

“One of the things I would suggest and I think [race, colonialism and diaspora] as a department … would say is that … starting with 1619 is [just] a way to frame the work that was done,” Greenidge said. “We know that the first African-descended person [arrived] on what [became] North America in roughly 1540. … That doesn’t mean that 1619 is irrelevant, but it means that if you want to get at the actual story of Tufts and Blackness, … we cannot have this overly broad view based on a specific moment in Virginia in 1619.”

Chan discussed how Tufts students can become more informed on the issue.

“The most important thing [Tufts students can do] is to stay open and curious,” Chan said. “I think that in our society today, the knee-jerk reaction for a lot of people when they come across uncomfortable knowledge is to just shut it down. … I am not looking for anyone to feel shame. I am looking for people to be curious.”

Professors receive $8 million for biotech startup

by Taylor Escudero Contributing Writer

Morphoceuticals, a biotech company co-founded by Tufts professors Michael Levin and David Kaplan, recently received $8 million in seed funding from Prime Movers Lab and Juvenescence. The company is taking a new approach to the challenge of regenerative medicine by exploring the bioelectric controls of the human body to induce the regeneration of tissue, limbs and organs. Levin hopes their work can revolutionize regenerative applications and help millions of people with various injuries and health conditions.

A few years ago, Levin and Kaplan successfully regenerated the hind leg of a frog using a wearable bioreactor called a biodome. This biodome contains a “payload” of drug compounds to motivate the cells to start regenerating the lost limb. Just 24 hours of exposure to the biodome enabled regenerative growth in the frog’s hind leg over the next 18 months.

“That’s really unheard of in biotechnology,” Interim CEO of Morphoceuticals Michael Hufford said. “You really don’t hear about a very short-term intervention like that, incredibly brief, 24 hours, leading to such an incredibly long period of regeneration and culminating in something as remarkable as a fully functioning limb.”

While the technology succeeded on a frog limb, it must first be tested on mice before any clinical trials on humans can be done. According to Levin, $8 million in funding will help Morphoceuticals hire more staff, buy high-tech equipment, rent space and pay for experiments

that will help obtain Food and Drug Administration approval and advance research goals.

“We need to have many conversations with the FDA to figure out what is a path … towards safety and efficacy testing,” Levin said. “So, part of the money will go towards hiring people who know how to put together FDA packages.”

Conducting thorough experiments to get FDA approval is a crucial milestone for Morphoceuticals, as it will allow them to begin clinical trials on humans and provide treatments sooner. Initially, these treatments will focus on computing a set of drugs that will improve amputee stump health. Enhancing the health of amputee stumps will lead to less inflammation, better vascular use and healthier skin in the affected area. Such treatment will be as simple as applying a topical drug.

“Instead of applying electricity, we’re just modifying the ways that [our cells] are talking to each other, using drugs that modify these ion channels and gap junctions,” Hufford said. “It’s just a topical application that triggers that program [in our cells] to rerun and regrow the limb.”

Levin spoke about the implications of his work.

“There’s a huge need for people with birth defects, traumatic injury, cancer, aging, degenerative disease, all of these things,” Levin said. “I get phone calls and emails every week from people in the most unbelievable medical scenarios. People with kids who have birth defects, spinal cord injuries, lost limbs, cancer.”

Levin and Kaplan’s work aims to spark a revolution in biomedicine that will eventually lead to limb and organ regenera-

tion. Levin compared Morphoceuticals’ work to the development of computers, which first focused on hardware in the ’40s and ’50s and has since transitioned to software development.

“All of the biomedicine today is very focused on the molecular hardware, so genome editing, CRISPR pathway rewiring, protein engineering, single molecule, single cell approaches,” Levin said. “We need to move beyond the focus of molecular hardware and really take advantage of the software of life.”

Levin and Kaplan’s research have been particularly exciting for the biology and biomedical engineering departments. Collaborations with other research labs on campus have allowed many undergraduate students to become involved in this research.

“The Kaplan Lab has a huge number of undergraduates in the lab and so it’s great that they provide so many opportunities,” Catherine Freudenreich, chair of the biology department, said, adding that the Levin Lab also supports many undergraduate research projects. “I think [both professors] are very well liked by the undergrads.”

Beyond research, Kaplan is the faculty mentor for a neurobiology club on campus, and Levin co-teaches a developmental biology lab course, Freudenreich said.

Levin emphasized the “critical unmet need” that Morphoceuticals addresses.

“We are in a place where we have preventable biomedical suffering in incredible amounts,” he said. “This [technology] is an [absolutely] vital path for humanity forward. That’s what I want people to focus on.”

Carmen Smoak

Let’s Talk Art

Photography with Tommy Kha

Howdy! My name is Carmen, and I know very little about art. Last semester I was lucky enough to take a course at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts and attend the Artist Talk Series that they host every semester. The art world can feel like a black box, but listening to artists describe their thought process and the meaning behind their work makes art more universally approachable. For this column, I invite you to join me as I learn about art through the SMFA artist talks.

This week, the SMFA hosted photographer Tommy Kha for an artist talk. Based in New York City and Memphis, Tenn., Kha produces work focused on queer and Asian identity. While speaking, his background in improv comedy shone as he wove a playful and engaging thread through all his different works and projects.

Kha’s pieces are all part of one long, ongoing body of work that reflects his own changing identity. Speaking to a room of young artists, this theme of an unplanned artistic journey strongly resonated with me.

Humorously relatable in their raw portrayal of even the most awkward moments, such as an unrequited kiss, Kha’s works embrace a youthful exuberance while breeching complex topics such as race, sexuality and identity. His eclectic body of work ranges from a colorful and striking 13-year project featuring photos of unrequited kisses with strangers to more earnest works featuring his own mother.

Speaking about the commonality between all his pieces, Kha said that he “chases ghosts,” both his own ghost and those of others with whom his life has intersected. Even without a proton pack, Kha pursues these ghosts with an infectiously joyful spirit and a deep desire to satisfy his curiosity with the world.

Often turning to himself as the subject, Kha often experiments with his own self-image in his series entitled “Façades.” Using masks of his own face as well as short clips of puzzles of his own image with changing pieces, he prompts questions about the boundary and composition of self.

Kha’s experimentation extends to how he chooses to present his work. Photos wrapped around corners and overlaid onto one another are common features in his gallery shows. He places great importance on how his pieces interact with one another, recognizing that nothing functions within a vacuum.

Listening to him speak brought a smile to my face while planting questions about race, culture, identity and sexuality in my mind. Kha artfully switches between lighthearted and sincere notions, using a sense of playfulness as the connective tissue for intricate social commentary.

Leaving his talk, I felt empowered to view life as both eccentric and consequential, knowing that the two are more interconnected than they are oppositional.

Carmen Smoak is a sophomore studying applied environmental studies. Carmen can be reached at carmen. smoak@tufts.edu.

wee K e N der

Saba S. and Jack Clohisy

Queeries

Queer women have always been icons

Here in Queeries, we love talking about and reflecting on our queer history. The intersection between LGBTQ+ history and women’s bravery is an interdisciplinary field that explores the history of identity in the United States. March is Women’s History Month, when we commemorate and celebrate the women in America who have played a crucial role in our history. As we continue to talk about queer history, we want to acknowledge the transgender women at Stonewall who paved the way for LGBTQ+ rights, yet were pushed out of the gay rights movement. We owe Women’s History Month to them and could all stand to be better allies in a world that continues to be a dangerous landscape for Black LGBTQ+ individuals.

Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera are two trans women of color, and their activism in the late 1960s and early 1970s formed the pillars of the gay liberation movement. Johnson and Rivera were the co-founders of STAR — Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries — and they fought for gender liberation and LGBTQ+ justice in New York City.

At that point in history, homosexual acts remained illegal in most states. Riots arose in the ’60s because of police raids at gay bars and clubs. On June 28, 1969, members of the New York’s LGBTQ+ community finally fought back. Johnson and Rivera led the charge, throwing bricks and Molotov cocktails at the corrupt police officers and started the uprising that needed to happen.

Not only did Johnson and Rivera act as powerful crusaders, but they also created a community. The two created a branch in STAR which acted as a safe place for LGBTQ+ youth to live and be their authentic selves, specifically helping young queer people of color. These two women helped change pop culture as they created a movement that embraces sexuality and gender expression, regardless of labels.

Historically, trans people of color have been subjected to violence from white, cisgender, heterosexual Americans and face incarceration at disproportionate levels. We must look to the leaders and pioneers of the past to better understand how the liberties and freedoms that exist for many queer people in America are owed to the labor and resilience of Black trans women. We thank them for their contribution to queer liberation efforts. Today, we live in a society in which queer people can openly enjoy civil liberties and freedoms, but this was a wholly different experience for queer people over 50 years ago. The mere existence of this column is a testament to the broadening of queer expression and voice, and we owe much of this opportunity to the queer and trans women who fought hard for the freedom to be queer.

Saba S. is a columnist at the Daily. Jack Clohisy is a senior studying computer science. Jack can be reached at jack.clohisy@tufts.edu

by Nate Hall and Odessa Gaines Arts Editors

“The Wife of Willesden” (2021), a new play written by British novelist Zadie Smith, is a distinctly modern work of theater. It’s full of references to Beyoncé, Jordan Peterson and #MeToo. Thus, it might come as a surprise that the play, now playing at the American Repertory Theatre, is based on a poem that’s more than 600 years old.

Geoffrey Chaucer, known as the “father of English literature,” is best known today for writing “The Canterbury Tales,” a collection of poems. Published after Chaucer’s death in 1400, the stories were written mostly in Middle English verse and became an important contribution to the world of English literature. One of the most famous poems in his collection, “The Wife of Bath’s Tale,” is narrated by Alyson, the titular “Wife of Bath.” In her new play, Smith examines the Wife of Bath through a modern lens — Alyson is reimagined as Alvita and the story’s setting is moved from Bath to Willesden, a racially diverse region of Northwest London.

The play is set in a lively pub where local residents come together to share their stories. All eyes are on Alvita (Clare Perkins), a middle-aged British Jamaican woman known as the “Wife of Willesden,” when she makes her first entrance onto the stage. Alvita’s been married five times, and she’s not afraid to speak her mind when it comes to love, religion and gender roles. She’s a master storyteller, quickly attracting attention of the bar’s tenants as she recounts her tales of sex and marriage. Just like in Chaucer’s original story, the bulk of the play is a “Prologue,” in which Alvita introduces herself and recounts her own life story. After the prologue, Alvita moves on to her tale — a story of justice set in colonial Jamaica.

Smith, author of the bestselling novel “White Teeth,” makes her playwriting debut with her adaptation of this classic Chaucer tale which is set in her

hometown of Willesden. The play, which debuted at the Kiln Theatre in London in 2021, made its North American debut at the A.R.T. in Harvard Square on Feb. 25. After wrapping up its limited run on March 17, the play will transfer to the Brooklyn Academy of Music with an opening night of April 1.

As you enter the theater, you’ll be amazed by the scale and beauty of the set. The entire stage has transformed into a Willesden pub, with patterned carpets covering the floor and dozens of lamps hanging from the ceiling. The walls of the bar itself are stacked with rows upon rows of alcohol. The line between audience and performer is blurred as several audience members sit onstage at tables and benches.

Perkins steals the show as Alvita, the storyteller at the center of the play. Her powerful stage presence, physicality and comedic timing keep the play’s momentum going. Along with Perkins, there are several other standout performers: Ellen Thomas as Alvita’s religious Aunty P; George Eggay as a Nigerian pastor who disapproves of Alvita’s lifestyle; and Scott Miller as Ryan, one of Alvita’s husbands. And the cast elevates the show with their audience interactions — the blurring of lines between the audience and the performers makes it feel as if you’re in the bar with Alvita, listening to her tell her story.

The play’s religious commentary is sharp and hilarious — even Black Jesus (Marcus Adolphy) makes an appearance. Adolphy leans into the humor of the role, interrupting Alvita’s story with religious advice, paired with a halo created by a silver drink tray. At one point, the literal voice of God booms out throughout the theater, exclaiming “Everyone be asexual!” to prove a point during one of Alvita’s arguments with Aunty P.

At several moments, Alvita’s story is interrupted as the cast breaks into spontaneous dance, paired with flashing lights and a sparkly disco ball. The first random dance sequence is, fittingly, to “Super Freaky Girl” (2022), where Alvita

REBECCA CURTISS / AMERICAN REPERTORY THEATER

makes it abundantly clear that she wants a man who can put his whole self, physically speaking, into their shared love — specifically, by twerking and getting a bit freaky in the bedroom. Other scenes, like Ryan and Alvita’s first meeting to “This Will Be” (1975), add something new and fresh to this retelling. These musical interludes are interspersed throughout the play, as Nicki Minaj, Natalie Cole and Earth, Wind & Fire make key moments in Alvita’s story more engaging for the audience.

A strength of the show is how effectively Smith translates Chaucer’s tale into modern English. Smith accomplishes the difficult feat of swapping out the archaic language of Chaucer for modern lingo, mixing in some British and Jamaican slang. By subtly maintaining Chaucer’s use of rhyming couplets throughout, the story becomes all the more entertaining.

However, after a smooth transition into Alvita’s tale, the show loses some momentum. Alvita tells a story that mirrors “The Wife of Bath’s Tale,” swapping out medieval Britain for 18th-century colonial Jamaica. In order to seek retribution after committing a heinous crime, a young Maroon man (Troy Glasgow) is forced to travel the land to find the answer to the question “what do women want the most?” Although Alvita is still acting as a narrator in this part of the play, the sudden change of pace is a bit jarring and leaves something to be desired. When Alvita finally returns to close out the story, it’s a relief to see her back in the spotlight again. Despite the pacing issues, the story ultimately feels complete and wraps up well in the end.

A classic story told through a modern lens, “The Wife of Willesden” is the adventure of a woman who knows what she wants, and instead of allowing others to deem her less for taking it, she is empowered by her own passion and sex-positivity. By breathing new life to a centuries-old story, Smith’s play brings new voices into a tale of female empowerment, love and human connection.

Zadie smith’s ‘The wife of willesden’ puts modern spin on a classic chaucer tale

COURTESY

The cast of “The Wife of Willesden” is pictured.

oliver hazard makes the royale its living room

by Matthew Winkler Assistant Arts Editor

Indie folk band Oliver Hazard recently brought their down-toearth spirit and love of music to Boston. The band, made up of Michael Belazis, Griffin McCulloch and Devin East, opened for The 502s at the Royale on Feb. 26. In an email to the Daily, Belazis related the band’s origin story, process of songwriting and thoughts on all things music.

The founding of Oliver Hazard reads like a storybook. The band formed when Belazis was visiting his childhood hometown of Waterville, Ohio, where he met up with a few old friends. Throughout the course of a week they wrote some tunes and fortunately won a Facebook raffle for studio time to record one free song. They entered the studio on March 30, 2017, and instead of focusing on producing a single, they used the time to play straight through 10 of their songs live to create a debut album.

“This album was created by 3 friends, to be performed for friends,” Belazis wrote. “We never thought it would become bigger than that.”

Since that fateful day, the band has been steadily growing while keeping its small-town, authentic quality. Now it has over 1.4 million Spotify listeners, has toured with bands such as

America, Mt. Joy and The 502s and played at musical festivals like Bonnaroo, Mountain Jam and Americanafest.

As its community has grown, maintaining a personalized connection with its audience remains important. In 2018 Oliver Hazard started the Living Room Tour, where it performed in over 60 living rooms across the United States.

“You’d be surprised how similar it is performing for 30 people in a living room and performing for 1000 people in a theatre,” Belazis wrote. “In a way, the living room shows prepare you to talk to a massive crowd in a very calm, friendly, and familiar way. It makes the room feel a lot smaller and less intimidating. I never thought those shows would translate so well into the larger venues.”

Even after regularly playing for 1,000-person venues, the band’s small-town beginnings persist as an integral part of their identity. The band’s name comes from the historical figure Oliver Hazard Perry, who ha a lot of significance on Lake Erie.

“We wanted to choose a name that had a local tie to where we grew up, so we borrowed his first and middle name,” Belazis wrote.

Today, the band continues to honor its roots by hosting “Oliver Hazard Day,” an annual music festival in the band’s hometown

of Waterville, Ohio. Originally an event suggested to the band by the mayor of Waterville, it has become important in allowing the band to include the city in its project. As it continues to grow, the band hopes to bring more great musicians who would normally ignore Waterville. In correspondence with the Daily, Oliver Hazard announced Saturday, Aug. 12 as the date for Oliver Hazard Day 2023.

From a spectator’s perspective, the group is filled with humanity, passion and love, which clearly translate to their music. The highlight of their sound is tight vocal harmonies shared between the three of them aided by traditional folk song structure — major key fingerpicking and plagal cadences galore. Belazis explained this distinctive style of singing.

“When we first got together as a band, that was one of the defining features we noticed as well,” Belazis wrote. “We could all sing in unison and in harmony. That was a happy mistake/coincidence. … We definitely want to continue driving that quality into more of our upcoming songs.”

Much like singing, songwriting is a communal process for the band.

“Usually we will bring a ‘song’ to the writing table, whether it be a verse or chorus, or both,” Belazis wrote. “Then we will all

try to collaborate on where we each think the song could evolve into.”

A specific example of the band’s creative process can be seen in the creation of its newest single, “Ballerina” (2023).

“I walked into the room one day after practice and I heard Devin playing a beautiful guitar riff. I immediately told him I loved it, I sat down and the song fell out of us,” Belazis wrote. “Devin had some beautiful and relatable verses prepared. It almost sounded like his guitar was dancing, so I came up with the Ballerina chorus.”

Such a collaborative, community-oriented approach helps to create an earnest, heartwarming feeling in the band’s music.

While this can easily be heard on recordings, Oliver Hazard is at its best live, where real human connections are made. Even though Oliver Hazard opened for The 502s, its performance was easily the highlight of the night at the Royale. When placed next to the candor and passion of Oliver Hazard, the flashy energy of The 502s could not distract from its disappointing musical performance marked by outof-tune saxophone playing and mediocre singing. In contrast, Oliver Hazard maintained cohesive, effortless vocal harmony throughout while connecting with a room of hundreds as if the band was singing to a living room of 30.

MATTHEW WINKLER / THE TUFTS DAILY

Oliver Hazard is pictured performing at the Royale.

Fun & G A mes

Last Week’s Solutions

SUDOKU - PUZZLE BY ANUSHKA SINGH

Alex: “It is pretty big. It’s like yea big.”

CROSSWORD - PUZZLE BY LUCAS CHUA

Difficulty Level: Capturing a “yea big stinkbug.”

MISSED CONNECTIONS

You: A “Yea big stinkbug” Me: Former (Future?) editor in chief of the Daily When: Wednesday March 8, 2023 Where: The newsroom

You: A Medford or Somerville city council member Me: Trying to link with you on LinkedIn When: Wednesday March 8, 2023 Where: LinkedIn

You: The hour of sleep I will not be getting Me: tired. When: 2 a.m. on Sunday March 12, 2023

You: A red solo cup Me: A scoop of Cherry Garcia When: Wednesday March 8, 2023 Where: The floor of the newsroom

Christian nationalism is democracy’s greatest threat

by Maxwell Shoustal Opinion Editor

Originally published March 7

The Founding Fathers of the United States knew firsthand the dangers of religious belief dominating governmental doctrine. American colonists fled Europe to escape religious persecution, and religious freedom was enshrined as a constitutionally protected right. Of course, religious minorities, especially Muslims and atheists, have still faced discrimination in the United States. However, the goal of true religious freedom set forth by our founders is certainly worth pursuing, as freedom of thought is an integral principle of a democracy.

An increasingly significant number of Americans today seem to either have forgotten or refuse to accept this fact. According to 2022 data from Pew Research Center, a majority of Americans believe that the founders intended for the United States to be a Christian nation, and perhaps more alarmingly, nearly half believe it should be. Due to its increasing popularity, Christian nationalism currently presents possibly the largest threat to our democracy, and politicians ought to make a stronger effort in rejecting it. Instead, conservative pol-

Eli Striker

The strike Zone

Mitigating the threat of Ukraine fatigue

Ukraine’s unyielding resistance to Vladimir Putin’s autocratic aggression has improved the country’s reputation on the international stage and led to a powerful alliance between Presidents Joe Biden and Volodymyr Zelenskyy. However, the greatest test of this partnership has yet to come. There is no end in sight to the Russia-Ukraine conflict, and Ukraine’s military is highly dependent on U.S. aid. Although

iticians pander to these groups, presumably because they now make up a notable share of the Republican base.

Since the 1970s, evangelical Christians have been gaining political power. Televangelist

Jerry Falwell was instrumental in drumming up evangelical support for Ronald Reagan, and the group has consistently voted Republican since. Evangelicals have been most vocal in their support for Christian nationalism, with 81% of white evangelicals arguing that the United States should be a Christian nation. The influence of evangelicals among conservatives is illuminated both through the selection of evangelical Christian Mike Pence as Donald Trump’s running mate and in the evangelical-backed policy shifts enacted by Trump during his presidency. The most significant of these changes has been the overturning of Roe v. Wade, a move that evangelicals fought hard for and which was accomplished after Trump appointed three Supreme Court justices during his presidency. The decision was authored by five conservative Christians who applied a Christian doctrinal view in their determination of what constitutes a “human person.” It is a dangerous practice to apply a religious perspective to an issue that has such tan-

the Biden administration has supported Ukraine rhetorically and politically, it is not surprising that Ukrainian leaders may worry that American politicians will not support a foreign war indefinitely. This strategic partnership is currently at a high point after decades of ups and downs, but future military aid could be jeopardized by a lack of support on Capitol Hill. Therefore, Kyiv faces external pressure to achieve sustained military success, as they must prove to Washington that military support is a worthwhile investment.

Unfortunately, Western countries have historically become disinterested in assisting Ukraine when Kyiv fails to meet its objectives. Ukraine’s 2004 Orange Revolution, a revolt in protest of fraudulent electoral results, was seen by Western nations as a potential inflection point after which

gible consequences in people’s lives. People affected by the overturning of Roe v. Wade are placed under the influence of a religious moral perspective that they may disagree with.

Christian nationalists now seem intent on fighting for the ideal of a white Christian nation, and their increasing extremism poses substantial threats to our democracy. For example, in the 2017 Charlottesville riots, white supremacists chanted “Jews will not replace us,” an idea that has been sold to and bought by conservative Christians as the ‘great replacement’ theory. The great replacement theory is a conspiracy theory that posits that the United States is being attacked in a plot by the Jewish elite and leftists in an effort to take the country from white Americans by replacing them with minorities. The census projects that the United States will “become minority white in 2045,” though there is no evidence to suggest that this is a result of any coordinated effort by elites in order to dominate white Christian Americans. Given that half of conservative white people believe that “being a Christian is very important to being truly American,” this frighteningly widespread belief threatens the principle of religious freedom in the United States. This ideology was not only cited by the Buffalo

Ukraine could democratize. However, Kyiv’s failure to reform in the years following the Orange Revolution created a sense of “Ukraine fatigue” within Washington, as legislators grew tired of providing aid that was perceived as unhelpful. The concept of “Ukraine fatigue” is fundamental to the current U.S.-Ukraine dynamic, as history indicates that America treats aid to Ukraine as an investment that must yield results.

Currently, domestic political support for assistance to Ukraine remains high, but questions regarding Ukraine fatigue linger. Military support requires congressional approval, and some Republicans believe that the United States should not spend taxpayer dollars on a foreign war. Members of the Trump-affiliated MAGA wing of the Republican party — led by firebrand Rep. Matt Gaetz — fittingly introduced

shooter as a justification for his racist massacre but also supported by figures such as Tucker Carlson, Rep. Lauren Boebert, Rep. Marjorie Taylor-Greene and Gov. Greg Abbott.

The anti-democratic violence inherent to the Christian nationalist movement was best displayed at the Jan. 6 insurrection, where imagery and rhetoric were rife with Christian nationalism, such as banners reading “Jesus is my savior, Trump is my president.” The comparison between Trump and Jesus is quite striking; perhaps Christian nationalists see Trump as a Godlike leader with the capacity to run the country in accordance with their religious principles.

a “Ukraine Fatigue” resolution to halt all aid to Kyiv. Recent political developments in Washington have delivered mixed results from a Ukrainian perspective. Far-right Trump allies had limited electoral success in the 2022 midterms, but Republicans recaptured control of the House of Representatives, and MAGA-aligned representatives currently exercise disproportionate power in the GOP’s slim majority. Although Biden and the governing Democratic Party have remained steadfast in their support of Ukraine, a vocal Republican minority could jeopardize the future of the Kyiv-Washington strategic partnership.

The Russian invasion poses an existential threat to both Ukrainian sovereignty and the health of global democracy. Although opponents of American aid contend that the war does not affect the United

An authoritarian religious government would make the United States not unlike the Taliban controlled Afghanistan, different only in that it is governed with Christian law instead of an Islamic one.

Many Christian nationalists are now rejecting the ideals of democracy or religious freedom, and their increasing numbers and capacity for violence presents a grave threat to our country. They envision themselves as being involved in a war of good vs. evil, with the ‘good’ being a white Christian nation. It is not absurd to worry about the threat of this war actualizing, as conservative media and politicians continue to fan its flames.

States directly, failure to support Kyiv would undermine Washington’s commitment to defending democracy and embolden supporters of autocracy worldwide. Fortunately, both Biden and Zelenskyy have recently made public steps to strengthen their mutual strategic partnership. Zelenskyy met with U.S. representatives in Washington to publicly — and successfully — lobby for additional aid, and Biden visited Kyiv in daring fashion to reiterate support for Ukraine. Although the grinding nature of the war may play into the narrative of Ukraine fatigue, there is reason to believe that upholding global democracy is a sufficiently strong incentive for Washington to maintain its strategic partnership with Kyiv.

Eli Striker is a senior studying international relations. Eli can be reached at eli.striker@tufts.edu.

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Former President Ronald Reagan is pictured speaking at the 41st Convention of the National Association of Evangelicals in 1983.

by Keshav Srikant

Contributing Writer

Originally published March 6

For years, Fox News, reported by Forbes as the most-watched cable news network in the United States, has attracted criticism. This stretches as far back as 2009 when the Obama administration controversially refused to refer to Fox News as a “legitimate news organization.” We now know they were right to do so. A few weeks ago, Dominion Voting Systems, as part of their defamation lawsuit against Fox News, released a trove of texts showing Fox News stars had expressed very different sentiments in private than the ones they displayed on air. For example, Sean Hannity, who called on his radio show for a special prosecutor to investigate claims of election fraud, said off air that Rudy Giuliani, who spread claims of election fraud, was “acting like an insane person.” Rupert Murdoch, the owner of Fox News, wrote that

Daniel Chung

The end of the World Has Just Begun

A pivot to Africa?

For the past few years, there has been increasing discussion in the foreign policy community about Washington’s role in the Global South: an often neglected part of international relations. With the primacy of the United States waning in institutions like the United Nations and in the Global South —17 African states abstained from a vote condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and one voted against it — the necessity for Washington to regain soft power influence over the region has been under a spotlight, as the United States seeks to preserve the global liberal order.

The case for government-owned media

after the 2020 election, Hannity was “privately disgusted by Trump for weeks, but was scared to lose viewers.” Perhaps the most revealing text from the Dominion lawsuit though was from Tucker Carlson, who — after a Fox reporter fact-checked a false claim about election fraud — wrote, “Please get her fired. … The stock price is down. Not a joke.” These are just a few examples of many, but they showcase how Fox knowingly spread false information about the 2020 election to maintain viewership and increase profits.

While it’s tempting to believe this prioritization of profit over ethical journalism applies only to conservative media like Fox News, other media companies do it too, albeit to a far lesser degree. Consider CNN, which often chooses to treat politics like a sport between two sides. This makes sense from a business standpoint: This approach can make news coverage more entertaining and lead to increased viewership.

Now, the time has come for a coordinated Africa strategy. In recent weeks, reporting has stepped up about China’s fading investments in Africa. Chinese loan commitments to African nations have fallen in the last few years, as fears grow in Beijing over the ability of debtors to pay loans back, and China pivots to dealing with the aftermath of its COVID19-related economic slowdown. Although Xi Jinping has already attempted to reassure African nations of a Chinese commitment to their economic security, Washington has nonetheless recognized this as a key opening to regain regional trust, sending Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and U.N. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield to Africa and pledging $55 billion in investment. Meanwhile, the Wagner Group, which had been regarded as Russia’s primary arm of influence in Africa, is

However, this perspective fails to reckon with the fact that politics and political elections have serious consequences for millions of people; treating politics like sports can also leave viewers confused and unclear as to what is going on. While CNN’s actions are not nearly as egregious as those of Fox News, it is another example of how the profit incentive in media can be problematic. Perhaps the most common example of profit incentives influencing journalism is clickbait headlines, which researchers at the University of Mississippi found have grown increasingly common in mainstream media. While they draw viewers and clicks, they often don’t accurately represent the article.

In American society, the goal of corporations is ultimately to maximize profits. This means that when for-profit news organizations are faced with choices where increased profit does not align with the ethical way to present

under threat of depletion as its forces are helping Russia in the battle for Bakhmut in Ukraine, undermining the role of Washington’s other global competitor in Africa.

The current moment is opportune for Washington to recommit to Africa. Developing countries currently face a $40 trillion infrastructure investment gap. Investment led by the U.S. through the Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment can help close the gap while pressuring China to improve its practices by creating an alternative to its Belt and Road Initiative that adheres to labor and environmental standards. And already, as mentioned earlier, sizable investment commitments have been made.

However, even now, the United States must be careful to manage its African commitment properly. Most foreign aid goes anywhere but to for-

news, organizations will mostly choose profit (like Fox News did). However, this is inherently problematic because journalists need to do what’s best for society. As the fourth estate, they inform the public and as such are vital protectors of democracy. The Washington Post sums up the need for good journalism well in its motto: “Democracy dies in darkness.”

Fortunately, there is a solution to this dilemma in journalism: government-funded media. Since such media wouldn’t be motivated by profit, they could inform society in an objective and beneficial way, even if doing so isn’t immensely profitable. Many other countries understand the importance of having trusted nonprofit media to ensure a society with informed citizens: The UK, Norway and Sweden spend a significantly larger share of their GDP on public media than the United States. Furthermore, trusted public media can decrease partisanship. Even in today’s polarized

eign governments, as D.C., like Beijing, remains worried about defaults and foreign corruption.

In response, Washington could increase guarantees of sovereign bonds, and the U.S. Agency for International Development should expand the Economic Support Fund, both of which are fairly cost effective measures. On top of this, unlike the Belt and Road Initiative, America must support more than just physical infrastructure, which has not produced strong results. A good place to start would be building up multilateral institutions while including local actors as members, reinforcing transparency and empowering Africa to take control of its own destiny. The United States should also leverage its advantage over China in institutions of higher education by welcoming and training foreign students and building a network of sympathetic next-generation global leaders.

environment, government-funded media like PBS continues to be trusted across both sides of the aisle. Thus, increasing government spending on media would not only create a better-informed society but also decrease partisan polarization as well.

Some may critique government-funded media by arguing such media would never seriously criticize the government, as it is reliant on it for its funding. While this is rational in theory, this doesn’t actually occur in practice. For example, the BBC, funded by the UK government, had no hesitation in grilling Liz Truss, the former British prime minister, in interviews or reporting on government scandals that plagued former Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s administration. As trust in media declines, partisanship increases and the bulk of mainstream media continues to put profit first, it is time for the American government to take steps toward creating and funding more public media.

All the while, the United States cannot lose sight of its own values as it focuses on competition with China and Russia. A report from earlier this month suggests that the temptation in D.C. is growing to support president Mahamat Idriss Debey of Chad to deny Russia another win in Africa. This would be a grave mistake, as Mahamat has engaged in persecution of protestors and extrajudicial killings, with Washington’s support for him offering Russia an opportunity to criticize American hypocrisy. The United States, to win in the Global South — and across the rest of the world for that matter — has to learn to truly set the rules of the road with an affirmative vision, not just respond to perceived threats.

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

Trust, intensity propel women’s basketball to a 11-game winning streak, Ncaa sweet 16

Matt Goguen

Keeping

Unexpected panic

Following their incredible second-half surge where they won 26 of their final 32 games, the Boston Celtics finished the 2021–22 season with an NBA Finals berth and two wins away from the prized Larry O’Brien trophy. The Celtics continued their dominance into 2023, where they led the league for most of the season. However, they are currently in a short slump, losing four out of their last six contests. While many Celtics fans hit the panic button immediately following a tough loss, there wasn’t much need for hysteria — until now. Following their brutal overtime defeat to the Cleveland Cavaliers on Monday night, stress is building in Boston.

by Keriann Slayton Staff Writer

In the opening weekend of NCAA Tournament play, the Jumbos established themselves as a force to be reckoned with on the national stage through dominant performances on their home court. Fresh off of a NESCAC Championship, Tufts continued its momentum against the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy and secured a commanding 72–57 victory to kick off its postseason campaign. A huge 11–0 run in the second quarter gave the Jumbos a comfortable lead that they would never relinquish, and contributions from throughout the roster displayed the wealth of talent that resides in Cousens Gymnasium.

Junior forward Maggie Russell led the scoring with 17 points, followed closely by fellow classmates guard Samantha Sousa and guard Hannah Kelly who notched 14 and 10 points respectively. First-year guard Sophia Davis shined in the second half, adding 9 points and four rebounds in her 16 minutes of action.

“I think we were moving the ball really well and just finding the best, open shots and just executing our sets

really well,” Russell said. “We were just playing really well together and we all trust each other to finish offensively.”

Tufts faced Skidmore College in the second round of the tournament, and while a commanding offense characterized the first half, the Jumbos’ consistent shutdown defense secured them a spot in the Sweet 16. Russell notched a game-high 23 points, and sophomore guard Sofia Gonzalez added 14 with three buckets from behind the 3-point line. Skidmore threatened in the second half, cutting the deficit to only 4 points in the last few minutes of the game, but the Jumbo defense stepped up under pressure and protected the lead, and the contest ended in a 59–50 Tufts victory.

“I think we were just really focused on … continuing to play great defense just like we did in the NESCAC Tournament,” Russell said. “Defense wins championships.”

Russell wears the NESCAC Player of the Year crown after winning conference weekly honors five times throughout the regular season and consistently serving as an offensive powerhouse for the Jumbos. She has scored 523 points on the season, bringing her career total to 950 with a year left to play.

“[I try] to work really hard in the gym, just always try to be the best version of myself and do whatever the team needs me to do to win,” Russell said. “I couldn’t do anything without our team and my teammates, and I think they do a great job trusting me [and] getting me open looks scoring.”

Tufts will host Wartburg College, Trinity University of Texas and the No. 1-ranked Christopher Newport University beginning on Friday to compete for a spot in the Elite Eight.

“I think it’s just a completely different intensity,” Russell said of the postseason games. “Every team is coming in hungry for a win … and we’re bringing the same energy. It’s really competitive and intense games where it’s a constant battle the whole time, so I think it’s really important just to keep our composure in these important playoff games.”

Tufts will have home court advantage against Trinity University at 7:30 p.m. Friday.

“I’m really excited that we get to host this weekend,” Russell said. “There’s just so much great energy from all the fans. … We just love playing at home and we’re so excited to be back at it this Friday.”

Although the Celtics were missing Jayson Tatum, Al Horford and Robert Williams III against Cleveland, they still held a 14-point lead heading into the fourth quarter. Even with a questionable foul call on Donovan Mitchell with five seconds remaining, Grant Williams couldn’t sink two crucial free throws and the Celtics eventually fell in overtime. Some could chalk up the defeat to fatigue due to their double overtime barnburner against the New York Knicks the night prior; however, the Celtics’ trademark grit has vanished over this horrific stretch. This isn’t an anomaly in today’s NBA; with the increased parity across the league, even the juggernauts eventually hit a rut. But the Celtics blowing major leads late in games is concerning, especially if they expect another deep playoff run.

Following the defeat to Cleveland, head coach Joe Mazzulla essentially chalked up the recent struggles to “empty possessions on offense” in an interview with SB Nation. While much of this is true — missing uncontested layups is a sin in professional basketball — the current Celtics’ defense is wet computer paper. As good of a player as Immanuel Quickley is, it’s unacceptable that he’s able to drop 38 points in TD Garden. While being fourth in defensive rating is nothing to scoff at, their current mark is almost 5 points higher than last season’s 106.2 rating. Marcus Smart, reigning Defensive Player of the Year, has seen a considerable drop in defensive production, and having Robert Williams III on the injury shelf doesn’t help either.

While their horrid rebounding will bounce back once Horford and RWIII return to the lineup, the Celtics must determine the main cause of their second half breakdowns. If that’s simply a poor mentality, Celtics fans should be worried. With Tatum already battling a horrible mindset in games against the Golden State Warriors, the Celtics’ lack of toughness will come back to bite them come April and May. Sure, the stalling offense and rebounds can be fixed by solid coaching and confidence, but grit cannot be taught. I still have faith in this team to create magic in the playoffs, but with the Milwaukee Bucks playing out of their minds currently, I wouldn’t buy those NBA Finals tickets just yet.

CLINT CHEN / THE TUFTS DAILY

The women’s basketball team plays against Merchant Marine on March 3.

Matt Goguen is a sophomore studying biopsychology. Matt can be reached at matthew.goguen@tufts.edu.

sP or T s

Ncaa Tournament inspires valiant effort from men’s basketball

by Spencer Rosenbaum Staff Writer

This time of year, every team lucky enough to make the NCAA Tournament has the same vision: to win it all. It’s March Madness; the pressure is inevitable.

Throughout the season, the Tufts men’s basketball team has demonstrated its ability to perform in pressure situations against the best teams in the country. Whether playing current No. 2 Saint Joseph (Conn.) to a tight game, only trailing Harvard by 5 at the end of the first half, winning several hardfought NESCAC regular season games — such as a 21-point victory at No. 7 Williams — or holding strong to get the victory at No. 3 Middlebury in double overtime with a packed opposing crowd, Tufts has proven repeatedly that it can step up on the biggest stages.

This past weekend of the NCAA Tournament would serve as the next opportunity for the squad to do just that. In the end, while Tufts was able to fend off Widener University in a 78–66 victory to advance to the second round, one of the squad’s best performances all year was not enough for them to advance to the Sweet 16 as they lost 77–72 to D3Hoops’ No. 5 Keene State.

In the Widener game on Friday, barring the hot 9–2 opening run for the Pride, the game was a back and forth affair for the entire first half. Perhaps propelled by one of the season’s highlights in an out-ofthis-world backward, over-theshoulder pass from senior guard Theo Henry that first-year center Joshua Bernstein emphatically dunked at the end of the first half, the squad began to pull away in the second half.

sports and society

Hellenizing college basketball

Originally published March 6

Ihave a friend who goes to Georgetown, a still-great school with a once-great basketball program. Aside from weekly Celtics mental health check-ins, an ever-increasing proportion of our conversations consist of three words, unmatched in history in their titanic importance: Fire Patrick Ewing.

The once-great Georgetown center, who brutalized the Big East for four straight years in

In the victory, the Jumbos’ depth was particularly apparent, with the bench putting up 51 of the 78 total points. Henry led the way with 19 points, including his 12 for 12 from behind the line, and he was followed by junior guard Casey McLaren, who had 12 points, all of which were from three. Henry discussed the nature of his strong performance.

“It’s clear the team needed me,” Henry said. “[Widener was] doing things to take away [senior guard] Dylan [Thoerner] and to take away [senior guard Tyler Aronson], and at a certain point, we have a saying, you just [have] to be a dude and step up.”

In Saturday’s matchup against the Keene State Owls, it was the opposite story.

Despite the caliber of their opponent and the size and

the early ’80s and now coaches the men’s basketball team as maybe the most overcompensated person in the history of human beings paying each other for things, has driven my friend beyond any reasonable level of madness. He is a tragic hero, trying to save his beloved from ruin. And he has found his malefactor.

On Saturday, Georgetown’s women’s basketball team was obliterated 69–39 by UConn in the Big East tournament. Not to be outdone, Ewing and Co. managed to lose to Creighton by a staggering 40 points earlier in the week to add to their sterling 7–24 record. It truly is tragic how far Georgetown basketball has fallen from grace. If the Hoyas are on their hero’s journey, this is the abyss.

Georgetown’s turn for the dramatic is what I love about college basketball. In the

noise of the opposing crowd, the Jumbos came out firing, slightly controlling the game’s tight first half. By the end of the first half, thanks to a last-second Thoerner 3-pointer, the Jumbos entered the break leading 37–35. The first half also featured a special moment for Aronson as he passed the mark of 1,000 career points.

“I knew how far I was away from 1,000 points, so I definitely wanted to get that during that game. But the more important thing was just doing everything I could to try and get the win for our team,” Aronson said. “They were taking away Dylan [Thoerner], face-guarding him because of his success in previous games, and how much of a threat he always is. So, I knew I had to kind of step up and carry

weeks leading up to the March Madness tournament, college basketball begins its ascent to bombastic insanity, and my pet theory that the whole sport is the closest thing America has to Greek mythology rises up from the ashes.

March Madness is a highlight of the sports calendar chiefly because it is chaotic. It represents the uncontrolled demolition of order in the sports world. Undefeated titans fall to mere mortals, and promising contenders meet their prophesied demises. It pits generations of collegiate supporters against each other in 67 single-elimination, winner-take-all games.

Even though the Hoyas haven’t a snowball’s chance in Hades of making the tournament, they have had a nice, tragedy-laden season for outsiders like myself to enjoy. But

game, they were unable to take control back from an Owls offense — led by center Jeff Hunter — that was prolific in the second half.

“They’re a great team. … To beat a team like that requires immense focus and doing things right, and in the first half, we were really on it,” Henry said. “We played a pretty good game overall, but the second half gets down to it, and foul trouble starts hurting us, they hit a couple of shots where we really shouldn’t have helped off of shooters, they really hurt us in the post — defensive struggles like that.”

Despite the Jumbos coming up short, they put everything on the line and it was undoubtedly a game and a season for them to be proud of. For the squad’s seniors, this season marked a formidable exit campaign, registering a 20–8 record, a trip to the NESCAC semifinals and a trip to the NCAA Tournament’s second round.

the offense for a little bit in the first half, which I thought I did pretty well.”

This game was especially significant for Aronson as he finally had the opportunity to face off against his brother, Keene State guard Spencer Aronson.

“I’ve been waiting to play against him my whole life,” Tyler Aronson said. “We went to different high schools and we were waiting for that matchup, and ended up in college, both playing at the [Division III] level, and finally getting to play him, especially in the NCAA tournament, was something really special.”

As the second half began, Keene State came out firing and took charge of the game. Although the Jumbos stayed with them for the rest of the

they are far from my favorite Greek myth of championship week. Enter the women’s SEC tournament, which on Saturday asked Dionysus for some wine and started doing backflips.

The Tennessee Lady Volunteers, with a truly awesome upset over LSU in the SEC tournament, punched their ticket to face the South Carolina Gamecocks in the final. The Lady Vols have felled one of the two beasts from the south, but beating South Carolina would have been a truly Herculean task. Either way, by erasing a 17-point deficit as huge underdogs, they are my heroes for the foreseeable future.

Even still, the defending champion Gamecocks have seemed inevitable the entire year, furiously ripping through their schedule like an act of God to land on a perfect

“After the season, I can really say that I lived my Tufts career with no regrets and [I’m] so glad that I got the opportunity to put on the Jumbos logo every time I stepped out on the floor, especially being from around here,” Aronson said. “It was just a really special time for me. You know, I’ve played a lot of games with that jersey on and I won’t forget any of them.”

Even with the strength of this senior class that will be moving on, the future is bright for the squad.

“I think [the program’s future is] in great hands. Another year of experience for the coaching staff, they’re only going to get better, and our young guys, so many of them are already in the rotation,” Henry said. “I’m confident that they’ll find [the leaders they need to step up], and hopefully can exceed what we’ve done this year and build upon it.”

32–0 record. Will they storm through March Madness with as much fury, or will hubris sink the impossibly great South Carolinians?

For LSU, the loss exemplified the sheer agony of defeat at the doorstep of glory. The loss spells doom for any real hope LSU had of securing a number one seed in the NCAA tournament and was an emotionally crushing defeat in a game they controlled by as many as 17 points. However much you believe college basketball is governed by Olympus, important to any mythology or sporting event is momentum, and LSU just lost all of theirs.

Beware the Ides of March. Oh, and while you’re at it, fire Patrick Ewing.

CLINT CHEN / THE TUFTS DAILY

The men’s basketball team is pictured on Feb. 3.

Oliver Fox

Oliver Fox is a sophomore studying history. Oliver can be reached at oliver.fox@tufts.edu.