The Tufts Daily - Thursday, April 18, 2019

Page 1

Ethics Bowl demonstrates real-world applications of philosophy see FEATURES / PAGE 4

MEN’S BASEBALL

Jumbos beat 3 teams to close out home stretch

Men’s tennis faces stiff competition against NESCAC foes 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 LXXVII, ISSUE 54

Thursday, April 18, 2019

MEDFORD/SOMERVILLE, MASS.

tuftsdaily.com

Controversial incidents prompts student outcry, administration response by Alexander Thompson and Alejandra Carrillo

News Editor and Assistant News Editor

After a series of incidents across campus, including eggings and vandalism, stoked controversy among students, senior administration officials responded in a campus-wide email last Friday outlining their support for an accepting campus culture. The incidents mentioned in the email, titled “Affirming our Values and Support for Students,” included a series of eggings that took place over the last weekend in March, pro-Trump slogans painted on the Cannon and the removal of Students for Justice in Palestine’s (SJP) posters from the the Tisch Library steps. Dean of Student Affairs Mary Pat McMahon, Chief Diversity Officer Robert Mack and Executive Director of the Office of Equal Opportunity Jill Zellmer signed the email, which was sent out the evening of April 12. The email comes in the wider context a number of identity-based incidents this year, including the posting of white supremacist flyers in November 2018 and the antisemitic flyering of Hillel in January. According to Mark Keith, deputy chief of the Tufts University Police Department (TUPD), the first egging of a Tufts affiliate took place on the night of March 29, followed by another the next day and a third on the March 31. Keith also said that TUPD had been informed second-hand of another possible egging of a non-Tufts affiliate that took place some time during the night of March 28 or the morning of March 29. There may have been a second egging

on Sunday, as a two groups of Tufts students wrote in separate Facebook posts that they were attacked on the afternoon of March 31 at different locations. MJ Griego, a senior, wrote in a public post on Facebook shortly before 12:30 p.m. on March 31 that Griego and two friends had been at the Boston Avenue Dunkin’ Donuts when an individual driving a “dark grey/black SUV” threw an egg which hit one of their friends, who was not injured. Griego noted in the post, as did the email from the administration, that March 31 was International Transgender Day of Visibility, and that their two friends are transgender. In a content warning for the post, Griego called the incident “antitrans violence” and “transmisogyny.” At 3:13 p.m. that same afternoon, Shaikat Islam, a sophomore, published a public Facebook post including photos of shattered eggs, in which he wrote he had been egged on Curtis Street in front the Muslim House at 3 p.m. and that he would be filing a police report. Both Griego and Islam did not respond to multiple requests for interviews. The Daily was unable to verify the identities of the other individuals who reported to TUPD that they were attacked. Keith said that after “four to five” days TUPD was able to identify a suspect in the eggings thanks to eyewitnesses. The TUPD investigation revealed no common background or identity between the targets or evidence concerning the motivation of the attack. Mack said that he was not aware of any proof that the eggings were targeted based on identity.

“Is it possible that our students were attacked just out of time and location, yes. And is possible that they were targeted and it was a hate crime, yes, but there’s no way for me to know that,” he said. After the suspect was identified, TUPD then filed for what is known as a “showcause” hearing against the suspect in Somerville District Court which will occur on May 20, according to Keith. A “showcause” hearing is carried out before a clerk magistrate to determine if there is sufficient probable cause to issue someone with a criminal charge. As the suspects have yet to be charged pending the hearing, Keith declined to name the suspects. The administration email claimed that TUPD had filed a complaint of assault against the suspects, which is not strictly correct. This was confirmed by review of relevant filings in the Somerville District Court by the Daily. The Cannon, which had been painted in honor of those killed in the Great March of Return by SJP, was painted over with “TRUMP 2020” and “#MAGA” in large red letters on April 1, according to Marley Hillman, a member of Green Dot. The Daily was unable to confirm the identity of the perpetrator. Members of Green Dot, an organization that focuses on building a safer community by working to prevent sexual assault on campus, painted over the political message with one in support of sexual assault survivors, according to its website. However, the Cannon was later defaced once again with messages in support of Trump.

“MAGA was painted in such a way that it was clear what they were covering up … what message they intended to stifle,” Hillman, a sophomore, said. They criticized the university’s delayed response to the series of incidents. “I think that it [email] came roughly 10 days too late,” Hillman said. “I feel that by bundling the three incidents, the Cannon painting, the eggings and the SJP posters getting ripped down, into one minimizes the importance of each incident and the severity of each of them individually.” They also believe a culture of hostility against survivors remains at Tufts. Mack defended the administration’s decision to respond to all of the incidents in one email. “To name those in one email felt appropriate, it didn’t require separate email communication for each individual component,” he said. In addition to the painting over of the Cannon, posters advertising events by SJP, the same student organization who had first painted the Cannon, were found ripped in half on the Tisch Library steps. Parker Breza, a member of SJP, said the incident was malicious. “It was clear that they [posters] had been ripped intentionally because all the other posters which were put up at around the same time were perfectly intact and perfectly fine,” Breza, a senior, said. SJP later put up new posters again in the same place and once again found that they had been torn and ripped off the wall.

see EGGINGS, page 2

Admissions accepts largest class yet, hosts Jumbo Days for prospective students

by Austin Clementi

News Editor

This year, Tufts Admissions has accepted its largest class yet. Applicants to Tufts received their admissions offers on March 28, according to the Tufts Admissions website. Dean of Admissions Karen Richardson said 14.6% of those who applied were admitted — the same acceptance rate as last year. “The admitted group includes an increase in the number of BFA [Bachelor of Fine Arts] students we hope to enroll for the SMFA [School of the Museum of Fine Arts] campus

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as well as an attempt to account for incoming students who will opt to do the new Civic Semester program as well as students who will do 1+4 or gap year programs,” Richardson said in an email to the Daily, referring to the new semester-long program which allows first-years to complete their first semester overseas and earn credit. According to TuftsNow, 22,725 students applied to join the Class of 2023, reflecting a 5.7% increase in applications from last year. With an acceptance rate of 14.6%, approximately 3,318 students were accepted, also an increase from last year. For breaking news, our content archive and exclusive content, visit tuftsdaily.com @tuftsdaily

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In the email, Richardson explained that Admissions bases yield projections on several factors, such as the yield rate for each individual program in previous years. “It’s not an exact science, and there are external factors (such as whether our peer schools over- or under-enroll) that can affect what our yield will be. That’s where the wait list can come into play,” Richardson said. Richardson also gave several statistics on the accepted class, which had a mean SAT composite score of 1477 and a mean ACT of 33.5. Forty-nine percent of the accepted applicants to the School of Arts and Sciences

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were male; in the School of Engineering 46% of accepted students were male. According to Richardson, the new class represents 65 countries, 49 states, Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico. More than half the class attended public high schools, and 12% identify as first-generation students. Among statistics that she found interesting, Richardson said that she was pleased by an increase in the number of domestic students of color for this year.

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

see ADMISSIONS, page 2

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


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