The Tufts Daily - Wednesday, November 28, 2018

Page 1

Students call for renewed activism at Tufts amid attempts to curtail civil rights of transgender, non-binary individuals see FEATURES / PAGE 4

JUMBOS GIVE BACK

Teams initiate clothing donation drives, charity games

Men’s cross country overcomes falls to finish 25th in return to NCAA Championship see SPORTS / BACK PAGE

SEE SPORTS / BACK PAGE

THE

INDEPENDENT

STUDENT

N E W S PA P E R

OF

TUFTS

UNIVERSITY

E S T. 1 9 8 0

T HE T UFTS DAILY

VOLUME LXXVI, ISSUE 52

tuftsdaily.com

Wednesday, November 28, 2018

MEDFORD/SOMERVILLE, MASS.

Dark Money at Tufts, Part 3: Tufts policies fail to assess donors’ controversial histories, motives by David Nickerson

Executive Investigative Editor

Editor’s note: This is the third part in a fourpart series from the Daily’s Investigative Team. Part 1 was published Monday, and Part 2 was published Tuesday. Both can be found online. Part 4 will be published in print and online Thursday. Tufts has received over $22 million in donations from the seven foundations examined in this investigation, with a portion of the funds earmarked for specific university programs and institutes, including some at The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. Some of these donations were accepted without full knowledge of the donors’ histories of funding controversial scholarship elsewhere in the United States despite a donation review process that involves several university offices, according to interviews with Tufts administrators and faculty.

ALEXIS SERINO / THE TUFTS DAILY

Tufts’ Executive Director of Public Relations Patrick Collins told the Daily in an email that the university evaluates charitable contributions for research on “a case by case basis.” “The decision to apply for and/or accept sponsored research funding is made on a case by case basis,” Collins said. “All grant applications and awards are reviewed by the researchers involved, the Office of the Vice Provost of Research, and other offices, such as Corporate and Foundation Relations and Legal, as necessary.” These offices accept donations on the basis that they help students by providing learning experiences and research opportunities, they are vital to the researchers’ scholarship and they “contribute to the university maintaining and enhancing its reputation as an elite research institution,” according to Collins. Collins did not respond when asked if Tufts assesses the credibility and funding histo-

The International Security Studies Program office in the Cabot Intercultural Center is pictured on Nov. 27.

see DARK MONEY, page 2

Tisch College board member discusses Indian microfinance industry by Robert Kaplan Staff Writer

Tufts alumnus and Bharat Financial Inclusion Ltd. founder Vikram Akula (LA ’90) discussed the history and legacy of his company, formerly known as SKS Microfinance, an Indian microfinancial firm founded in 1998, on Tuesday night in the Cabot Intercultural Center. Hosted by the Jonathan M. Tisch College of Civic Life, the Tufts Entrepreneurship Society and The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy’s Institute for Business in the Global Context, Akula was introduced by Alan Solomont, dean of Tisch College. Solomont explained the continuing connection Akula, a member of Tisch College’s board of advisors, shares with the university. Akula began the talk by tracing the story of Bharat Financial Inclusion Ltd. and his own. “I was born in India and grew up in upstate New York,” Akula said. “I used to go back to India and witness this tremendous poverty and come back to the wealth of the American suburb. It was a jarring experience.” see MICROFINANCE, page 3

Please recycle this newspaper

Mostly Cloudy 44 / 35

/thetuftsdaily

MIKE FANG / THE TUFTS DAILY

Vikram Akula (LA ‘90), founder of SKS Microfinancing, now known as Bharat Financial Inclusion Ltd., speaks about microfinance in India at the Micro-Meltdown talk in the Cabot Intercultural Center on Nov. 27.

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

tuftsdaily

tuftsdaily

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

NEWS............................................1 FEATURES.................................4 ARTS & LIVING.......................6

FUN & GAMES......................... 7 OPINION.....................................8 SPORTS............................ BACK


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.
The Tufts Daily - Wednesday, November 28, 2018 by The Tufts Daily - Issuu