SMFA acquisition sees increased variety in Medford/ Somerville arts offerings see FEATURES / PAGE 5
GOLF
Jumbos shoot 620 in win at Allendale Course
LCD Soundsystem isn’t losing its edge just yet see ARTS&LIVING / PAGE 7
SEE SPORTS / BACK PAGE
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VOLUME LXXIII, NUMBER 44
tuftsdaily.com
Monday, April 10, 2017
MEDFORD/SOMERVILLE, MASS.
TCU Senate passes resolution urging divestment from companies involved in occupied Palestinian Territories by Zachary Hertz News Editor
Members of Tufts Community Union (TCU) Senate passed a resolution calling for Tufts to divest from four companies that it says are involved in the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian Territories. The resolution, which drew an audience of more than 100 students, passed with 17 in favor, six opposed and eight abstentions. Several audience members held pieces of paper with a crossed-out image of a table, which urged Senate to vote on the resolution rather than tabling it, while others held signs reading “I support Palestinian Human Rights,” “Stand with Israel” and “Divest from these companies profiting off of the occupation.” TCU Parliamentarian Adam Rapfogel introduced the resolution and reviewed the resolution process for students in attendance. Then TCU Historian Rati
Srinivasan read the text of the resolution. Following non-substantive changes related to the grammar and spelling of the resolution, the meeting entered the discussion phase. Several authors spoke to provide background for the text of the resolution, which calls for Tufts not to invest in Elbit Systems, G4S, Northrop Grumman and Hewlett Packard Enterprise, and to screen its investments for human rights compliance. According to the resolution, it is unclear whether Tufts currently invests in those four companies. The authors stressed that the goal of the resolution is to make a statement that Tufts should not profit from human rights abuses. Others argued that the resolution’s political statement is beyond the scope of TCU Senate. The meeting then entered a question-and-answer period, during which students in the audience were allowed to direct
questions to the authors of the resolution. Some students raised concerns that attendance at the meeting could be impacted by the start of the Jewish holiday of Passover. To address this, comments were collected online from students and Rapfogel, a sophomore, read a selection. A motion was raised to move to debate and it passed. After ten minutes, a motion to table the resolution was raised but was denied 13-4. Following another 30 minutes of debate, another motion to table was raised and the rules were suspended to debate the motion to table, after which the motion failed. Five amendments were proposed to the resolution. The first was deemed friendly and integrated into the resolution, and the other four were deemed unfriendly and not included. Finally, a vote was held and the resolution passed with 17 in favor, six against and eight abstentions.
Tufts hosts national conference for firstgeneration students by Jesse Najarro
Assistant News Editor
More than 250 students from across the country came to Tufts over the weekend for the nonprofit Class Action’s fifth annual First Generation College Student Summit, according to Class Action Executive Director Anne Phillips and Associate Dean for Student Success and Advising Robert Mack. The annual summit was a part of Class Action’s mission to uncover classism and uplift the voices of low-income people in partnership with colleges and universities, according to Phillips. She explained that some schools operate under the assumption that students will always succeed through hard work, thus disregarding the structural obstacles they often face. “Colleges and universities are definitely middle-class, white normative,” Phillips said. “[Some schools act as though they] have to fix students that don’t come from a middle-class background.” Mack, who has served on the event’s planning committee in the see FIRST-GEN, page 3
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Tufts presents Senior Awards to 12 graduating students by Lydia Ra Staff Writer
The Tufts Alumni Association hosted the 2017 Senior Awards Ceremony last Saturday afternoon in the ASEAN Auditorium. This year, 12 members of the Class of 2017 were given awards for their achievements in academics, leadership and community service. The awards ceremony was preceded with a dinner reception in the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy’s Hall of Flags. David Meyers (LA ’96), president of the Tufts Alumni Association, began the event by welcoming the guests and seniors who were gathered there. Meyers went on to introduce the nominated seniors, providing a description of their achievements and participation on campus. The nominees in turn delivered their own acceptance speeches, each lasting no longer than five minutes. The first senior to deliver his speech was Carlos Gonzalez-Barrios, an animation major from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts (SMFA) at Tufts. Gonzalez-Barrios was acknowledged for his commitment to bettering his education, attending two years of the Tufts Pre-College Program before matriculating at the SMFA. “Your financial and social challenges were numerous, coming from a small town in Mexico,” Meyers said as he presented the award to Gonzalez-Barrios. “But you have made remarkable contributions from the community of which you came from.” Gonzalez-Barrios said that he had never expected to receive a senior award. He added that he feels that Tufts truly understands what the SMFA stands for after it acquired the school last summer. “I’m very hopeful about the collaborations we are going to do together,” he said. Another notable honoree at the ceremony was football tri-captain Chance Brady, a history major and Bridge to Liberal Arts Success at Tufts (BLAST) Scholar. Meyers recognized Brady
Sophomore Muna Mohamed, the program coordinator for the First Generation College Student Summit, speaks at an event on March 4, 2016.
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NEWS............................................1 FEATURES.................................5 ARTS & LIVING....................... 7
see SENIOR AWARDS, page 2
COMICS.......................................9 OPINION...................................10 SPORTS............................ BACK