SMFA professors of the practice bargaining surpasses 18-month mark as administration sends update to students
Eli Brigham Assistant News Editor
An email was sent to all Tufts students on Oct. 31 about disagreements with the professors of the practice at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts, as negotiations over a collective bargaining agreement enter their 18th month.
The email, attributed to Bárbara Brizuela, dean of the School of Arts and Sciences, and SMFA Dean Scheri Fultineer, raised concerns within the SEIU Local 509, the union which represents the PoPs, over their demands and the unexpectedly slow progress of talks.
“Collective bargaining between Tufts and the PoPs began in April 2024, and the university has put forward a proposal that is both financially and structurally sound,” Brizuela and Fultineer wrote in a statement to the Daily.
In response to Tufts’ financial proposal and explanation for why bargaining has stalled,
an SEIU Local 509 spokesperson with direct knowledge of negotiations described a sentiment of consistent disrespect for their demands for wage increases.
“The university is refusing to make fair offers. We know Tufts
can afford our proposals,” the spokesperson said. “We know that Tufts has chosen to make discretionary payments in all sorts of situations, not only to hire administrators, some of whom make over a million dollars a year but
also to support tenure track faculty, to support students.”
SMFA students expressed frustration with the slow progress and hoped for more frequent communication from the administration.
“18 months is just way too long to not have direct communication and give answers [to students and faculty],” Julia Wilkinson, a second-year in the combined degree program, said.
“The lack of communication is probably also not helping with [bargaining] between the staff and the administration,” Maya Ventura, another second-year in the combined degree program, said.
In their email, Brizuela and Fultineer asserted that Tufts’ proposal for wage increases balances competitive pay and fiscal security, while also raising concerns about the longterm feasibility of the proposal offered by the SEIU Local 509.
“Our recently revised fiveyear compensation proposal includes an average 6% salary increase in the first year … followed by guaranteed compounding increases over the following four years,” they wrote. “The union’s latest
Tufts sees slight dip in international enrollment amid national decline
Angela Palma Contributing Writer
Last month, The New York Times reported a 19% decline in international student travel to the United States this August compared to last year.
At Tufts, the percentage of international students across all degree programs decreased from approximately 15% in fall 2024 to 14% in fall 2025. In particular, the number of Tufts-sponsored F-1 and J-1 student visas dropped by roughly 3.6% from last year.
Currently, 1,912 international students representing 124 different countries are enrolled across all Tufts campuses, 1,554 of whom study on the Medford/Somerville campus.
“While this summer presented many anticipated challenges for the incoming international student population, most international students successfully arrived as expected for the fall 2025 semester,” Patrick Collins, Tufts’ executive director of media relations, wrote in a statement to the Daily.
Anna Garson, director of the International Center, highlighted the university’s continued commitment to fostering a diverse global community.
“Going into the 2025 academic year, we are very lucky to have welcomed such a vibrant and resilient group of new and returning international students. The number of Tufts visa-sponsored students may be slightly down this semester, but we actually have a more globally diverse population this year than last,” Garson wrote in a statement to the Daily.
The Tufts International Center has worked to provide support for students in the face of policy changes.
“We have shared regular immigration updates through community messages, newsletters, workshops, information sessions with guest immigration attorneys and beyond,” Garson wrote. “We’ve participated in national and campus advocacy and have also worked to get students and scholars safely back to campus when more imminent policy changes or executive orders threatened to make travel more difficult.”
An Iranian graduate student at The Fletcher School, whose name was withheld due to safety concerns, explained how the past year has posed new challenges for international students on campus.
The student added that, while it was always difficult for Iranian students to obtain visas to study in the United States, the travel ban limiting the entry of Iranian nationals into the country has made the barrier for Iranian students pursuing degrees at U.S. universities even more severe.
“The acceptance rate [for Iranian student visas] was never high, but now it’s zero,”
the student said. “No one holding an Iranian passport can enter the U.S. since [June 8] this year,” the student said. “So if you see any Iranian nationals in the U.S., they either have passports, green cards or entered the U.S. before this executive order was applied,” the student explained.
For students from countries affected by U.S. travel bans,
political tensions and restrictive immigration policies make even short visits home risky. The choice to study abroad may come with the trade-off of missing family milestones, cultural traditions and years of physical connection with loved ones.
“I don’t dare leave and visit my family,” the student said.
YENA RYOO / THE TUFTS DAILY
The School of the Museum of Fine Arts is pictured on March 12, 2023.
ELIN SHIH / THE TUFTS DAILY
Bendetson Hall, where the Tufts Office of Undergraduate Admissions is located, is pictured.
International Center, students reflect on enrollment drop
DECLINE continued from the front
Housing remains one of the immediate concerns for many international students. With limited off-campus options and rising rental prices around Medford and Somerville, securing affordable housing
can be particularly difficult for students who cannot visit the United States in advance or sign leases without a credit history.
While the student said the International Center has been doing an overall good job in their support for international students, the student said they wished Tufts
could show more support to international students when it comes to finding affordable housing off campus. The student faced various barriers in their search to live off campus.
The student concluded by saying, “Ask your international colleagues to share their stories, because usually people have no
idea of the situation. … I believe these experiences being shared helps a lot in improving the community and their understanding of their peers.”
“This was just my story; there are many students from different nationalities who have their own stories that relate to the challenges of being an international student.”
SMFA Student Government Association holds elections
Carlos Del Cañal Fernández Staff Writer
The School of the Museum of Fine Arts Student Government Association at Tufts held elections for three positions last week for the roles of SGA president, first-year representative and community development lead. The elections for all other positions took place last spring. The results are as follows:
President: Yolanda Jiang
First-year representative:
Zakaria Tourabi
Community development lead: Nadaly Soto
Yolanda Jiang, who formerly served as the community development lead, will take on the responsibility of leading SGA meetings and setting semester-long agendas. First-year
representative Zakaria Tourabi will take charge of connecting first-year students on the SMFA campus and representing their concerns with the SGA. Nadaly Soto, community development lead, will be focusing on organizing community events and collecting feedback from community members.
Current SGA Vice President Cassandra Kellner wrote in a statement to the Daily that, throughout the year, the SGA will continue to work with SMFA administrative offices and Tufts departments to focus on issues affecting SMFA students.
“We’ve been collecting student feedback about services like transportation and dining and implementing changes that better SMFA student life,” Kellner wrote. “Other members are working to make budgeting
more streamlined and collaborating with the curriculum committee to provide more structure and direction for career paths.”
Additionally, Kellner wrote that the SGA plans on arranging
a student exhibition that will be put on display at the Barbara and Steve Grossman Gallery in the spring. Their next event, “SGA Snackin,” will be held on Wednesday.
Medford Public Library to launch new digital database
The Medford Public Library plans to build a digital database of its content following approval by the Medford City Council in late October. A soft launch of the database will be published early in 2026.
Funding for the project comes from a Bloomberg Philanthropies Digital Accelerator Program grant.
Jenna Barry, the head of reference at the Charlotte and William Bloomberg Medford Public Library, said the digitization of the library has long been in the making.
“[The creation of the digital database] has been something that we’ve wanted to do for a long time, and winning this grant made it possible for us to do it,” she said. “We were very excited to be able to undertake the digitization of all of the materials, because we know it’s going to make a huge difference when they are searchable, findable [and] viewable online.”
In establishing the digital database, Medford Public Library partnered with AM Quartex, a digital asset management company, to build the library website and train staff on how to upload and create collections.
Jessica Kowalski, associate director of sales at AM Quartex, discussed her experience working with the library team on the digital project.
“My role is just really being here to cheer them on and to support them with the tools that they [need]. They’re really doing the work. We’re just here to support them along the way,” Kowalski said.
Kowalski outlined what AM Quartex has been hoping to achieve through its partnerships with the Medford Public Library and archives around the world.
“Our goal as a company is to decrease barriers to archival research. That might be through publishing collections and distributing those worldwide,” Kowalski said. “The goal more broadly is to have a tool that’s easy for people to use or to help gain
visibility for collections, whether that’s locally or by researchers who might be interested across the world.”
She added that the digital archive would be able to weave connections between members of the Medford community separated by time and distance and could introduce new members of the community to the city’s history and character.
“There’s people that move to the other side of the country or elsewhere and you still want to connect, perhaps with the history or places that you’ve lived in or genealogical research and understanding where your family has lived,” Kowalski said.
Kowalski went on to emphasize the database’s important ability to create increased access to archival information.
“It’s really exciting to participate in that enablement of allowing people to engage with local history, local heritage,” she said.
“For a long time, you had to go into a physical space in order to engage with them and so it made it really limiting to the people who are able to work with those materials.”
Barry spoke about how bringing modern resources, such as the digital database, fits into the library’s goals.
“We’re a library that fits a modern interpretation of what a library should be, which is not just a place to come get books and renew them, but we’re a library with a maker space, a tech lab, a recording studio,” Barry said.
As part of the grant, the library will implement Optional Character Recognition, a transcript service that scans physical
materials and transfers them into files, into the new database. Through OCR, the library plans to eventually scan all of its archives.
“We’ll have local scrapbooks, lots of historical documents, lots of local authors, lists of persons [and] all of the Medford historical registers. There’ll be thousands of items in the repository by the end of 2026,” Barry said.
Barry expanded on the importance of scanning archives, which will both protect historical documents and increase their accessibility.
“We definitely want to preserve history. Some of the documents that we’re scanning are 200 years old and starting to get really fragile,” she said. “If we don’t scan them, a lot of them are going to be lost to time and degradation. … I would say our overarching goal is to make local history more accessible to anybody in town or anybody who’s interested about the history of Medford.”
Kowalski said she has high hopes for the future of the digital database.
“We’re just really thrilled and excited for Medford to come on to join our community, to see what they publish. Our real hope is that they publish initially and that they get to continue to add to their site and grow enthusiasm for their history,” Kowalski said.
In addition to receiving the grant, which is directed at nonprofits, the Medford Public Library is already closely associated with former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, a Medford native, and his family, having received a $3 million donation towards its construction.
BRIANA CHEN / THE TUFTS DAILY
The School of the Museum of Fine Arts Campus located in Fenway is pictured on Sept. 28.
CALLIE ZIMMERMAN / THE TUFTS DAILY
The Medford Public Library is pictured on Nov. 4.
Zahra Brady and Jessica Michael Contributing Writers
SMFA PoPs, administration remain in stalemate
financial proposal includes a roughly 30% wage increase over three years, with some faculty receiving up to an 18% raise in the first year.”
They added that, in justifying their proposal by comparing it to peer institutions, the union failed to differentiate between tenured and non-tenured faculty, potentially inflating average salaries.
“A more appropriate comparison, such as with recent job postings from peer institutions, indicates that the university’s proposal is in line with the market for these positions,” Brizuela and Fultineer wrote.
In response, the SEIU Local 509 spokesperson said
the union’s comparison was based on Tufts’ own selection of peer institutions through the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System . Therefore, they argue, the university should either raise salaries to match its peers or compare itself to different institutions.
“At the end of the day, if they really aren’t pleased with [the peer comparisons], they could change those at any point simply by paying their faculty something much closer to the actual cost of living in Boston,” they said.
Responding to allegations that the union’s proposal may not be financially sustainable, the spokesperson noted other areas in which Tufts spends significant amounts of money on salaries.
“Faculty at SMFA, compared to Tufts’ peer institutions, make the worst salaries across the board when adjusted for cost of living,” the spokesperson said. “Therefore we’re hoping that Tufts, as a very wealthy institution, would choose to prioritize the faculty who are keeping its doors open.”
According to Patrick Collins, the executive director of media relations at Tufts, PoPs still receive annual merit-based pay raises even without potential wage increases.
“PoPs received a 2.5% wage increase on September 1, 2025,” Collins wrote. “Merit pay is directly connected to an employee’s performance of job responsibilities and achievement of goals for the year and reflects Tufts’ pay for
performance philosophy. It is not tied to inflation.”
Despite the impasse on wage bargaining, Collins explained that the union and Tufts have reached some agreements.
“The university has reached tentative agreements on over 20 proposals. These agreements typically involved concessions from both the university and the union, drafts that we passed back and forth with edits and redlines, reflecting a collaborative effort to resolve key issues,” he wrote.
Beyond bargaining around wages, several non-financial issues remain disputed, namely the restructuring of SMFA departments, the use of mediators and support for international faculty. The spokesperson said the university did little to help international faculty with visa and green card
applications until sweeping federal changes were enacted.
“Tufts supports international faculty in many ways, including through visa sponsorship and other services provided by the Tufts International Center … [as well as] covering visa expedition fees on a case-by-case basis.” Collins wrote.
The spokesperson also shared concerns around a lack of consultation and feedback in the consolidation of studio departments.
“The restructuring of departments really speaks to the lack of space for faculty, staff and student voice at the SMFA,” the spokesperson said.
In the school-wide email, Brizuela and Fultineer also requested that the union engage in mediation to forge “a constructive path forward.”
Jonathan Tisch, family donated $1.3 million to anti-Mamdani super PAC in NYC mayoral election
Theo
Weller and
Arinze Ezem-
Ozakwe Staff Writer and Contributing Writer
Originally published Nov. 10.
New York City’s recent mayoral race, which ended Tuesday, drew attention across the country — including from the Tisch family, one of Tufts’ biggest donors. Over the past six months, the family contributed over $1.3 million to Fix the City, a super PAC focused on opposing the mayoral candidacy of Zohran Mamdani, a democratic socialist who ultimately won the election.
According to records from the New York City Campaign Finance Board, Jonathan M. Tisch and his wife Elizabeth Tisch donated $250,000 to Fix the City. The family’s contributions have sparked conversation at Tufts about the large sums that can be spent through super PACs, as well as the family’s opposition to a progressive candidate like Mamdani, who has garnered strong support among students.
Fix the City has raised over $35 million, making it the largest outside political spending force in New York City’s history. It has spent more than $29 million to boost the campaign of former Gov. Andrew Cuomo and to attack his opponents in the election. Major billionaire donors included members of the Tisch family, who collectively ranked as the committee’s fifth-largest contributors.
Fix the City is a super PAC originally established to support Cuomo’s mayoral bid before expanding its mission in June 2025 to oppose the election of Mamdani. Super PACs, unlike traditional political action committees, do not contribute directly to political candidates or parties; instead, they spend independently on election related communications such as advertisements.
As Tufts Professor of Political Science Deborah Schildkraut explained, super PACs emerged
as a workaround to campaign finance limits.
“They have some pretty strict limits on how much they can give directly to parties and candidates,” she said. “[A super PAC] doesn’t give money directly to candidates or parties, but is still spending on what’s called electioneering communications.”
Senior Curran Holden, vice president of Tufts Democrats, expressed her view in opposition to excessive money in politics through super PACs, calling herself a “professional Citizens United hater,” referring to the Supreme Court case Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, which led to the creation of high-spending super PACs.
“There needs to be change … around our campaign finance system, which would allow
for the creation of a campaign finance regulation system that’s much more comprehensive,” Holden said. “I think that in general, having less money in politics is a good thing.”
Maya Lawrence, a first-year from Brooklyn who voted for Mamdani, said she was aware of super PAC activity during the election and was not surprised to learn of the Tisch family’s involvement because Mamdani’s left-wing policies don’t align with the interests of the ultra-wealthy.
“I was also pretty happy with the outcome, as I voted for him. … I feel like a lot of people are particularly used to these kinds of super PACs being used by very wealthy families,” Lawrence said. “His policies that he was proposing sets a very specific incentive on more left-wing policies that are
particularly, I wouldn’t say, anti wealthy people, but it doesn’t benefit them in any way.”
Holden mentioned that most members in Tufts Democrats supported Mamdani and criticized Cuomo due to his political record and history of sexual assault allegations.
The Tisch family, who has contributed at least $98 million to Tufts, is among the wealthiest in the United States, with an estimated net worth of $10.1 billion, according to Forbes. Their fortune originates from brothers Preston and Laurence Tisch, who built Loews Corporation into a multi-billion-dollar holding company beginning in the ‘50s. Preston’s sons, Steve and Jonathan Tisch, both Tufts alumni, have since donated extensively to the university, funding several major facilities and endowments.
While the family did not respond to requests for comment, some speculate that their wealth or religious background could be factors in their opposition.
Mamdani-style politics are additionally a departure from the politics that have dominated New York since Mayor Edward Koch in the late ‘70s, which was marked by the encouragement of business development after the city’s financial crisis in 1975.
“New York was in a rough spot economically, and it got out of that by reorienting its economy around Wall Street and around the financial sector,” Holden explained. “And that [reorientation] has been very successful in increasing the gross amount of wealth in New York City but … you also have to distribute it fairly,” Holden said. “And I think that there was a lot of opposition to that, partially from people who had a vested interest, but also from people who felt like the politics they knew for 40 years was changing, and that is, of course, scary.”
Mamdani has pledged to retain Jessica Tisch (Jonathan Tisch’s cousin) as New York City police commissioner, though he has previously criticized the New York Police Department as “racist, anti-queer and a major threat to public safety” following protests about the murder of George Floyd.
Mamdani has approved of Tisch’s current track record as commissioner. When asked if donations from her family to the Fix the City super PAC might suggest she is not interested in the job, Mamdani said no because “[he is] not hiring the family,” according to CNN.
Despite the Tisch family’s financial backing of Cuomo, Mamdani’s victory has energized many young voters, including those at Tufts, who may view the election as a rejection of billionaire influence in politics.
POP continued from the front
ANN MARIE BUNKER / THE TUFTS DAILY
Jonathan M. Tisch College of Civic Life is pictured in March 2021.
The story of Venerable Vineetha Mahayaye: What you find when you leave everything behind
It is human nature to care about how others perceive us. We curate ourselves based on those expectations, learning early on what earns love and attention and what does not. You were told you were the funny one, so now you are afraid people will judge you if you are serious. You have always assumed you were bad at math because you were never placed into the accelerated math class in third grade (and might not be over that one).
It is possible that you’ve recognized some of these misconceptions — maybe you’ve invested in some therapy, picked up a selfhelp book or two. But what if the only way to find your authentic self was to leave everything behind — to walk away from modern comforts and live alone for two years in a cave in the forest?
For Buddhist Chaplain Vineetha Mahayaye, that was the only way. Mahayaye became a monk at 10 years old. For him, there was no grand revelation, no moment of nirvana under the bodhi tree.
“I really wanted to wear the robe,” he said. “I really wanted to spend the time at the temple. It’s something very simple.”
His parents disapproved. He could barely dress himself — how was he to live alone in the monastery? But his aunt, a devout Buddhist, persuaded them. They relented, warning him that once he became a monk, he could never return to life as a layperson.
“In Sri Lanka, people have this idea, in general, if you become a monk, you should stay as a monk,” Mahayaye said.
So, at 10 years old, he made a lifelong vow. In the monastery, he quickly became accustomed to a routine of discipline: He rose before dawn to chant, ate in silence and swept the compound until every leaf was gone. He learned how to clean his robes, how to arrive at the dining hall at 7:30 a.m. — or else not eat at all.
Perhaps most importantly, he also studied. He studied the sacred languages — Sanskrit, Pali and Sinhala — as well as the Pali Canon, the core collection of Theravada Buddhist scriptures.
“I had this strong goal that I want to be successful in education, and I want to build myself without anyone else’s support,” he said.
He knew discipline, knew how to follow the rules — but finding belonging was harder.
“There [were] friend groups, but I didn’t belong to any of them,” he said.
Even beyond his peers, finding a connection with his superiors was challenging.
“I couldn’t make a strong connection with the head monks, like chief monks at the temples, and I felt lonely. I felt miserable.”
Left to fend for himself, he turned inward. His teachers praised his intellect, and he leaned into it. He became the bright student and the self-sufficient monk.
Those two identities carried him far. He went off to study at one of the top universities in Sri Lanka, then earned admission to Harvard Divinity School, where he pursued a master’s degree in divinity. At Harvard, his world widened.
“When I started studying at Harvard Divinity School, I started learning about Mahayana Buddhism, Tibetan Buddhism and also about other religious traditions,” he said. “It was a very nice experience to know other people as human beings … [that] whatever practices we believe in, whatever practices we do, we share this one common humanity.”
But even as he grew more open-minded and succeeded in his classes, something did not quite feel right. Though he could recite the teachings, analyze the Pali Canon and quote his professors with ease, he still felt lost.
“I knew the practice as some descriptions [but] I did not experience it,” he said. “It’s like I knew the description of the mango, but I did not eat it for myself.”
This desire for something ‘real’ led him to question the life he had always known: “I [had] been a monk for my whole life, and I really wanted to experience the world outside.”
But the thought of exploring terrified him, and the expectations of others only amplified the pressure.
“I had a really good connection with my professor, and he really [respected me], and one of the worries that I had [was about] what would happen when [he learned] that I’m going to disrobe,” Mahayaye said. “And then my parents had really high [standards] for me.”
On his parents’ comments about potentially disrobing, Mahayaye recalled, “They were telling me, ‘You’re going to disrobe? Then what? What [will] other people think of you? They would think of you badly. They would think that you are a bad monk.’ That’s the Sri Lankan way of thinking.”
Eventually, through the conflict, he found clarity.
“I realized, ‘Oh my god, I am not living the life that I want to live. I am maintaining what others want me to be like,’” Mahayaye said.
After finishing his degree at Harvard, he returned to Sri Lanka and went to the forest. He was not trying to escape being a monk, but looking to find a way back to it. When the noise of expectations receded, he considered what kind of monk he actually wanted to be. There was no electricity, no water, no internet. Just the small, steady voices of the birds and the wind.
In a neighboring cave lived an elderly monk. Mahayaye
approached him for guidance, asking which meditation he practiced. According to Mahayaye, the elder monk simply replied: “I meditated before, but now I do not find anything to be meditated on.”
At first, the answer frustrated him.
“I was very confused because that thing was not aligned with my knowledge … [and] my studies of 20 years,” Mahayaye said.
He dismissed the man as foolish, but it was not until weeks later that he realized how wrong he had been. No matter how much Mahayaye tried to intellectualize everything about the practice, he began to realize that what he was missing was not in the books. The practice was not a scripture to be analyzed — it had to be lived.
“I began to question my own practice with his help. And then I realized, there is something that … cannot be put into words,” he said.
After 2 1/2 years spent living in the cave, Mahayaye felt ready to leave the forest.
“I felt very confident, and I realized now it doesn’t matter whether I live in a city, whether I live with people, whether I live in a cave, it doesn’t matter anymore,” he said. “This time I am doing my practice. … I am being mindful of how my body is. This mindfulness is the practice.”
Shortly after leaving the cave in 2024, a friend told him
about an opening for a Buddhist Chaplain at Tufts University. He applied, and soon, he was back in Boston.
A year later, I sat with him in his office — a small, quiet room in the Interfaith Center with a Buddha shrine in the corner and a well-loved tea kettle on the counter.
At Tufts, he leads mindfulness programs three times a week. He’s back in the university setting where he’s spent much of his life, but this time, he’s not the one behind books. Instead, he brews tea for everyone, passes around snacks from Whole Foods and reminds his students to question their beliefs and question him because “If they do not question, there is no journey.” You might spot him around campus in his saffron robe, walking along the Mystic River. Often alone, but rarely lonely.
He does not preach the practice from above; he sits beside his students, guiding us to find it for ourselves.
“He’s just so human about the way that he practices Buddhism,” Michelle Burger, a senior at Tufts and co-president of the Tufts Buddhist Mindfulness Sangha, said.
Like anyone else, he laughs easily, gets nervous before events and sometimes sends many emails when he’s anxious about details. He calls his parents every day.
When I asked Mahayaye what enlightenment is, he
gave one of his characteristic non-answers: a metaphor about tasting food that I could not quite follow. But upon reflecting, I have begun to sense what he meant. Maybe enlightenment is something beyond words — something we, as humans, keep trying to define and contain.
Enlightenment is not some divine transcendence reserved for the chosen few. It’s not about escaping humanness but existing as we are — knowing we will feel longing and loss and jealousy and joy and even love, and it is all part of the journey.
“He’s made me realize that … the point is to hold your emotions and acknowledge them, but also let them be free and realize that they are not you,” Burger said.
I asked whether he could ever see himself falling in love — something forbidden for Theravada monks.
“It could happen, and if I have to disrobe, I [will] just disrobe,” he said. “Once your mind is ordained, once your mind is a monk, it doesn’t matter. … Whether I am a monk, [or] I am a layperson, I eat, I walk, I will behave and I’m not afraid of anything right now.”
Robe or no robe, artist or engineer, the quiet one or the comic relief, at our barest and most honest, we are human.
And maybe, that’s enough.
Sera Kwon Assistant Features Editor
BRIANA CHEN / TUFTS DAILY
Buddhist Chaplain Vineetha Mahayaye is sitting in front of Goddard Chapel on Saturday.
All
of this,
and here we are
Ben Rachel
If you have been keeping up to date with my column publications, you would know (based on my last column) that I was recently in the trenches and in the midst of midterms. As of this past Wednesday, I finished all my midterms for the fall 2025 season — just in time for finals!
When I finished my midterms, a strange feeling of uneasiness fell over me. Not because I was stressed or busy or anxious, but rather because I had nothing to stress or be anxious about (other than getting those grades back of course — all hail the curve).
It’s a weird feeling — being in a place where there are no upcoming exams or life events or just things I have to worry about. In college, that space is almost always unattainable. In my three years of Tufts, it seems like there has always been something that I have to stress about or work on. But, for the first time in my tenure here, I found myself at this intersection of serenity and unease.
Of course, my brain did not stay quiet for long. Within hours, it had found a new project to
Munching with Max
Second chances
Max Druckman
Originally published Nov. 5.
We all make mistakes. Whether it be hitting your 5-year-old brother in the face with a pitch or smashing your side-view mirror into your friend’s mailbox, sometimes, we
overthink and worry about: studying abroad. Well, ‘worry’ is a strong word, as I was just researching potential places to visit while I’m in Barcelona next semester. (If you have any suggestions, please stop me when I’m running late to my classes!)
After spending my previous two weeks in Tisch Library’s Hirsh Reading Room burying my head in textbooks and Canvas and searching up GPA calculators, it was nice to look at pictures and videos of Florence, Casablanca and Toulouse (not to make anyone jealous, of course). With it though came that same feeling of unease. The same weird feeling I had when I finished midterms — Re: the beginning of this article — came back to me, but this time for something completely different.
Isn’t it strange to think about where we are? Like, what are we doing? Who are we?
Out of everything in this world, here we are. I’m in the middle of Tisch Library, studying at one of the best universities in the world, researching places I can go visit when I study abroad next semester in one of the most beautiful cities in the world. Wow. I don’t even know where to start. How lucky I am to be able to even write those words.
It’s hard to zoom out and look at the big picture when you are in the middle of daily stress. Just last week, that feeling did not even come close to crossing
just mess up. (Don’t ask me where I came up with those examples.)
The same is true in the world of food. Chefs are people, too, and they’ll inevitably have a bad day in the kitchen every once in a while. Unfortunately, for someone who makes a living (lol) by sharing my gut reactions, the first impression of a restaurant — whether the staff have had an ‘off day’ or not — is the one that stays with me.
My memory of a recent disappointing culinary first impression was triggered when
my mind. Instead, it was filled with anxiety about my exam and worries about my coding assignment. I spent my days hoping the hours would tick faster and the slides on Canvas would flip by quicker, thinking to myself, “Oh, I just have to make it to next Wednesday and all will be good.” At the end of the day, I should be grateful that my main stress is economics exams. I should be thankful that I get to study and I get to code for 20 hours.
But that’s just not realistic. And that’s okay.
It’s human nature to fixate on the stressors and the bad. It’s easy to measure time in deadlines. Gratitude doesn’t come easily. It’s unrealistic to fault ourselves for not always being happy and content with how lucky we are because sometimes it just doesn’t feel like it. Sometimes, it feels like every turn is the wrong turn and the walls are closing in faster and faster.
In a world that constantly reminds us to ‘practice gratitude,’ it can feel like a personal failure when I don’t consistently feel blessed amidst the chaos around me. We are always surrounded by and available to a relentless stream of information, deadlines and comparisons, making it nearly impossible to maintain that ‘zoomed-out’ perspective. The pressure to be constantly aware of our good fortune can, ironically, become a source of stress.
While I can intellectually recognize my luck and fortune — to be studying at
my friends alerted me that Sally’s Apizza, a New Haven institution, had recently opened its doors in Dorchester and Woburn. I visited Sally’s original location over the summer on a drive back to New Jersey from Tufts. My expectations for that initial visit were immense, compounded by the hour-long pickup wait and line out the door of the establishment.
Unfortunately, Sally’s was unable to back up its iconic reputation. The pie was soggy and lacked flavor. Each bite was
a world class university, planning a semester abroad — the emotional truth is sometimes simpler: It’s also okay to just feel tired, overwhelmed and uneasy without having to justify it against a global scale of chaos.
Perhaps, then, the goal isn’t to permanently zoom out, but rather learn to toggle the lens. To be fully in the stress of an exam one week, and to allow ourselves to be fully in the unease of the quiet the next, without judgement for either. The truth is, the unease isn’t a sign that I’m doing something wrong or have completely forgotten how fortunate I am; instead, it’s a sign that I’m moving, that the scenery is changing. It’s the price of admission for a life that includes both
devoid of crunch, and, despite picking up the order as soon as my name was shouted, the pizza was cold.
With the new locations opening nearby, my housemates were eager to try the famous Sally’s. When I relayed my negative experience to them, they dismissed it. (Apparently, not everyone listens to my food recommendations. Just you, reading this.) Instead of fighting their insistences, and being the benevolent individual that I am, I figured that I’d give Sally’s a second chance. After all, one bad day should not define a person, a pizza or a restaurant.
Maybe I’d just disliked Sally’s the first time because I was in the endless purgatory that is Connecticut.
So, this past Saturday, I found myself stuck in traffic on I-93 up to Woburn, olive branch in hand, ready to give Sally’s an attempt at redemption. I ordered two pies, one classic Mozzarella and Tomato Sauce and one Basil Burrata.
I will preface my review by acknowledging that I did get takeout, meaning that despite my reheating it in the oven, the pizza was not fresh when I ate it. Still, as pizza is the ultimate takeout food, I think it’s fair that I judged Sally’s after bringing it home.
My first reaction was that Sally’s trademark coal-fired, thin crust style had survived the migration from Connecticut to Massachusetts. The pies were sliced into an uneven number of thin slices. The underbelly was still soft and, even after a trip to the oven, the slices were
grueling midterms and dreams of Barcelona.
So, for now, I’m just trying to be here. Not to force gratitude nor to feed the unease, but to simply acknowledge this strange, quiet point on the map. Our journey is all of this: the frantic cramming, the sudden and abrupt quiet, the dreamy planning and the ultimate guilt for not enjoying it all perfectly. It’s a messy, human process. For every single one of us, everything that is happening, every feeling, every moment — all of this is what it means to be right here, right now…
Presently, Ben Rachel
Ben Rachel is a junior studying economics. Ben can be reached at benjamin.rachel@tufts.edu.
floppy, lacking the “oven-kissed char” they promote. The endcrust, though, was crispy, a welcome development.
The mozzarella and tomato sauce was, in a drastic improvement from last time, fine. The cheese was plentiful, and the sauce was fairly flavorful, though overall spice was lacking. Though I could not get over how soft the slices were, there would be no dejected recollections of my second Sally’s encounter.
The Basil Burrata was a solid second choice. The burrata was creamy and plentiful, and the fresh pesto offered a tangy kick. The tomato sauce, like in the plain pie, was homemade and savory. In terms of secondary pie options, specifically vegetarian ones, it was a worthy entrant.
As always, my lucrative gut reactions:
Mozzarella and Tomato Sauce Pie: It was fine. Rejoice, Sally’s fanatics. Basil Burrata: It was there. Neither desiring nor regretting it. As my rapprochement with Sally’s shows, with one more opportunity to right the wrongs of a first impression, anyone can grow from bleh to meh (yes, those are two very different adjectives). So don’t be afraid to take your second bite of the apple or another kick at the can. The worst that can happen is that you end up with some mediocre pizza.
Max Druckman is a junior studying international relations. Max can be reached at max.druckman@tufts.edu.
GRAPHIC BY ISRAEL HERNANDEZ
Tasha Van Zandt’s ‘A Life Illuminated’ shines the spotlight on Dr. Edith Widder, Tufts alum
“A Life Illuminated,” a 2025 documentary by Tasha Van Zandt about famed marine biologist Dr. Edith Widder (J ‘73), premiered for Boston audiences on Oct. 22. The historic Coolidge Corner Theatre in Brookline hosted the first evening of the 2025 GlobeDocs Film Festival, an annual event premiering documentaries produced by The Boston Globe. A Q&A session with key players in the documentary filming process followed the screening.
Van Zandt captured the extraordinary life and accomplishments of Widder through a mirage of stunning visuals. From footage of color-changing squid to bioluminescent marine snow, the visuals in “A Life Illuminated” reinforced the otherworldly aspect of the deep sea.
In the Q&A session of the film screening, Van Zandt and producer Sebastian Zeck got candid about the filming process, discussing the experience of getting to dive in a submersible during the shooting of the film. They mentioned the challenges of the limited diving time and sensitive camera, which, coupled with the pressure to get the perfect shot, made for a unique filming experience.
Widder is no stranger to filming in demanding environments. In 2012, she was the first scientist, along with a team of researchers, to film the giant squid in its natural habitat. This historic discovery landed her on the cover of numerous national publications and television productions, garnering the attention of people worldwide.
Van Zandt was among these onlookers, revealing in the Q&A session that the video inspired her to make a film sharing Widder’s story.
Widder, a Tufts alum, is renowned in the field of marine biology for her contributions to the understanding of bioluminescence — the production of light energy triggered by a chemical reaction in an organism’s body. A beautiful yet elusive phenomenon, there is still much left to be understood about its unique role in deep-sea ecosystems.
Towards the start of her career, Widder remarked how one used to be able to “pick up a marine biology textbook and find no mention of bioluminescence.” The film takes the viewer on a journey through Widder’s lifetime of scientific accomplishments, surveying the contributions she has made toward the field as a whole.
Widder earned a Bachelor of Science in Biology from Tufts University, a Master of Science in Biochemistry and a doctorate in neurobiology from the University of California, Santa Barbara.
She worked as a senior scientist for many years at Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute in Florida. In 2005, she founded the Ocean Research and Conservation Association, which aims to tackle marine ecosystem degradation and use technology to grapple with complex scientific issues. Widder has remained committed to ORCA and its mission since its foundation.
Widder has made great contributions to the field of submersible science, completing over 250 dives in Johnson-Sea-Link submersibles and spearheading the creation of innovative submersible instrumentation.
Perhaps one of her most outstanding achievements is ORCA’s Eye-in-the-Sea, a remotely
operated deep-sea camera system that can detect and measure the bioluminescence of marine organisms. According to ORCA, the EITS “uses low-light imaging in combination with far-red illumination that is invisible to most deep-sea animals.” With EITS, Widder has been able to document a myriad of marine life, from bioluminescent jellyfish to giant squid, most famously.
Her EITS enabled her team to capture the first-ever footage of bioluminescence. In the film, Widder mentions that she was driven to share the experience of viewing bioluminescence with the world, something that would otherwise be limited to a finite group of people who could access submersibles.
The EITS was also what enabled Widder to record the famous squid video. She devised a plan to attract the squid with ‘e-jelly,’ an optical lure that resembles a jellyfish and can imitate bioluminescent displays. The lure can imitate the bioluminescent patterns of the common deep-sea jellyfish Atolla wyvillei, in turn attracting predators such as the giant squid.
From the very start of the film, viewers are captivated by the suspense surrounding the outcome of Widder’s latest expedition. Exploratory by nature, Widder sought to understand the evasive ‘flashback phenomenon.’
When diving, she’d noticed that when she’d flash the submersible lights out into the water, the bioluminescent organisms would flash back at her. She has observed this phenomenon many times over the course of her career but has never been able to record it.
Obtaining a video of the flashback phenomenon was Widder’s research aim when she took Van Zandt and Zeck
down in the submersible during filming. However, before revealing the anticipated experimental results, the film takes the audience on a journey through time.
Widder spent her formative years at Tufts studying biology. As a female scientist, her mother, who had received a doctorate in mathematics from Bryn Mawr College, served as Widder’s greatest inspiration as a scientist: “And so, with her as a role model, I just, you know, had a very strong sense that women could do anything they wanted to do,” Widder said.
Thus, she never let her gender deter her from pursuing a career in academia. Instead, she reminisces on the professors who had the most influence on her, such as Ned Hodgson, former professor and chair of the biology department at Tufts.
She recalls him describing in a lecture what it felt like to “discover something that nobody had ever known before in the history of the world.” Widder said that by the end of the class, she “was on the edge of [her] chair” and knew that someday she wanted to feel that same way.
And she certainly did — over the course of her career, Widder has been the first person to observe many phenomena, from the flashback to the recording of the giant squid.
This did not come without challenges. “You end up having to make compromises that are difficult,” Widder said. When funding agencies would ask her what she was going to find, she aptly responded, “I don’t know. That’s the point.”
She noted she often had to “[walk] a fine line to be able to get the funding,” especially when the nature of her work is so exploratory.
When asked if she had any advice for aspiring marine biologists, Widder advised undergraduates to become an expert in the specialized field that they are most interested in. When it comes down to a highly selective sea-faring expedition, she stressed that students should take openings where they can find them.
Whether this gap be in molecular genetics, acoustics or spectrometry, Widder maintains that there are numerous ways for students to become involved in marine biology. She believes that this specialization will ultimately “get you on the ship a lot faster than just a very broad background in marine biology.”
Widder’s specialization in instrumentation is what has enabled her to share the wonders of bioluminescence with the world. Thanks to Van Zandt’s suspenseful cinematography, viewers sat with bated breath as they watched Widder try to capture the mystifying phenomenon.
After a series of painstaking failed attempts, the screen finally illuminated with bioluminescence, the blue and purple sparkles of light indicative of Widder’s success.
The film not only retells Widder’s life of discovery but also takes viewers on an immersive experience through the trials and errors of scientific exploration. By the time the audience views the flashback phenomenon at the end of the film, they feel as if they’ve gone through all of the emotions with Widder: curiosity, fear, excitement, and ultimately, satisfaction.
“A Life Illuminated” shines the spotlight on the deserving Dr.Widder, finally illuminating to audiences worldwide her immense dedication and contributions to the marine sciences.
Addison Dion Contributing Writer
COURTESY TASHA VAN ZANDT
Dr. Widder is pictured on a dive in a submersible.
ARTS & POP CULTURE
In ‘George’s Yard Sale,’ Somerville becomes a portrait of change
Noah Goldstein Assistant Arts Editor
Sometime in spring 2025, Ray Feinleib found himself in a tough situation. Needing only one more course to complete a bachelor’s degree in film and media studies at Tufts in the twilight of his academic career, Feinleib (LA’25) had chosen to take “Advanced Documentary.” Yet, on the weekend before spring break, with the course’s final project’s due date set for the first week back, he found himself with nothing.
At first Feinleib had planned to make a film about high school referees and their quests to move up in the hierarchy of local sports, but that project was soon abandoned. His next idea, a documentary focusing on Boston’s underground standup comedy circuit, was similarly fruitless.
So, seemingly out of ideas without any tricks up his sleeve, Feinleib took a leap of faith; on a housemate’s suggestion, he walked down Powder House Boulevard to George Laturny’s driveway. And after only a few minutes of talking, Feinleib had found what he was looking for.
“I think that this doc was perfect for me,” Feinleib said. “It combined that interest to find something in the mundane, and my interest in playing with old stuff and finding out its story.”
While Feinleib’s passion for thrifting is evident throughout “George’s Yard Sale” — whether it be a stack of antique movie posters or a pile of stuffed animals, he takes extreme care in showing the items on offer in Laturny’s front yard — by the time he settled on a final cut, the film had evolved
into something that speaks to larger issues. Talking to the Somerville residents who frequent the sale, Feinleib began to uncover a story about gentrification and the area’s ever-changing housing landscape.
“A yard sale is taking things from one person’s house and putting them into your house, and rehoming things, recycling things and going out with the old in with the new,” he explained. “I think it’s the perfect parallel with the housing market.”
Yet the approach of “George’s Yard Sale” is far from argumentative. Heavily inspired by the unique documentary stylization of filmmakers like Lance Oppenheim and John Wilson, Feinleib understood his responsibility was to simply “capture the whole breathing organism” that is Somerville.
What’s most striking about Feinleib’s work is the way it distills a web of complex questions about housing inequity into a concise, nine-minute piece that feels both comprehensive and clear. Though he enrolled in “Advanced Documentary” without ever having attempted a non-narrative project, Feinleib’s editing carries a tone and rhythm that feel remarkably assured — the mark of a far more experienced documentarian.
“Ray showed an intuitive sense of how an audience might respond to a more elegant edit,” Professor Natalie Minik, who teaches the course and is credited at the end of “George’s Yard Sale,” wrote in an email to the Daily. “He understood that efficiency and clarity can make a film more powerful.”
Though the film’s distinct atmosphere is a testament to Feinleib’s splicing ability, the story is brought
to life by the testimonies of many interviewees. With participants ranging from younger residents and Tufts students to lifelong Somerville natives — one of whom proudly remarks he’s lived there for 75 years — the documentary succeeds in authentically representing the breadth of people and perspectives that shape the community.
For Feinleib, the process of listening to residents proved to be a novel yet fulfilling experience.
“Tufts is this big place on a hill,” he remarked. “You never have to interact with the community if you don’t want to. And so taking that step to talk to people and hear from them was huge.”
What Feinleib came to understand was that every resident shapes Somerville’s housing story differently. Though rising property values are a near-universal concern, the search for
someone to blame — if blame even applies — proves far more complicated than it first appears. Although the addition of the MBTA Green Line and the growing presence of Tufts students and young professionals have contributed to the problem, rising costs reflect a broader national trend, positioning Somerville as a poignant yet representative case study.
In many ways, the film serves as an ethnographic portrait of a community where the old and the new are perpetually intertwined — and the yard sale is the perfect vehicle for that exploration.
“There’s a flight of young people moving into the neighborhood who are having to furnish their homes, and they can’t do it without stopping by this ageold watering hole,” Feinleib mentioned. “It’s impossible to make
new of an old home without reintegrating these older factors.”
After being named the winner of Boston’s GlobeDocs Film Festival “Emerging Filmmaker” contest — an annual award given to a local filmmaker aged 18–25 years old — Feinleib remains uncertain about what the future holds. Having only recently purchased a camera of his own — after long holding reservations about making such a decisive investment — he now finds himself back home in New Jersey, continuing to seek out stories that merit being told.
“It’s just a matter of finding the next thing that’s hiding in front of me and hiding in plain sight,” Feinleib concluded. “If it’s not documentary filmmaking that works out, I still want to remain curious about what’s going on around me after this experience.”
Indigo De Souza stands still in the noise
Before singing her fifth song, “Be Like the Water,” given it was a week before Halloween, Indigo De Souza recounted a recent visit to a haunted house. She realized that the good thing about a haunted house is that you can always just close your eyes; the ghosts and demons aren’t allowed to touch you, and if you stand real still, you won’t touch them either. So, in the haunted house, she stood very still and closed her eyes. This song is about that, she said, slightly unsure about how much sense the story made.
“Be like the water/ Go where you’re going/ Say what you need to/ You know you’re dying/ I won’t be sorry/ And I won’t be silent/ I’m temporary/ I am an island,” she sang.
The song begins with this set of commands, which the second verse immediately qualifies with “Even if you do it/ It’s okay to change your mind.” In her lyrics and banter, De Souza spoke with conviction, but with a self-aware-
ness that seems to act as a form of self-defense. She stood her ground on the rights and wrongs of the world, but remained keenly aware that the ground is fragile. Her goal, it seemed, was not to fight or to provoke. These songs and her words were made for herself and the people who need them; they aren’t intended to transform or to revolutionize.
Three months before the concert, the music review site Pitchfork rated the band’s newest album, “Precipice,” a 6.6/10. The review begins with: “Indigo De Souza is at her best when she goes big—not necessarily meaning glossy production or fancy flourishes, but monumental feeling.” Despite acknowledging De Souza’s skill as a musician, the
reviewer argues that De Souza is playing it safe in “Precipice” and that the album is personal but musically generic. Ironically, four months after the review — two weeks after her show at the Royale — she headlined Pitchfork Music Festival London. She wore a white shirt for the show, on the front of which was a circle with 6.6 on the inside; on
the back were direct quotes from the review.
I learned about all of this after the concert, but even if I knew beforehand, the concept of originality would’ve felt trivial. In every song, the steady drumbeat sent waves throughout the venue while De Souza’s voice traveled high like something independent of gravity and form. The demons and zombies, prematurely dressed for Halloween, screamed and hollered in this exorcism of grief, a loud profession of love.
The penultimate song, “Real Pain,” from the band’s 2021 album “Any Shape You Take,” to me, encapsulated the night. In the recorded version, the song features hundreds of screams submitted by her friends and fans, layered alongside her vocals. The screams were quieter during the performance, but De Souza’s own voice meandered higher than she ever did that night, as if trying to take on the shape of the screams of those she loved. She closed her eyes, and for a few moments, the world was just her voice, morphing in color and in form.
COURTESY RAY FEINLEIB
George Laturny is pictured in his garage.
Jake Ren Staff Writer
JAKE REN / THE TUFTS DAILY
Indigo De Souza is pictured at the Royale.
Late Night At The Daily
Emily: “i know we’re not changing it but i want people to know i dislike it”
MINI CROSSWORD
HOROSCOPE
MARCH 21-APRIL 19
TAURUS LIBRA SCORPIO
APRIL 20-MAY 20
ARIES GEMINI
MAY 21-JUNE 21
SEPTEMBER 24-OCTOBER 23
JUNE 22-JULY 22
You are experiencing a reality check under the Virgo moon today, Cancer. New questions regarding signi cant matters may arise, and di erent areas of your life may need reorganization. While these questions may not be resolved quickly, you are faced with a unique opportunity to reevaluate your priorities. Keep in mind that imperfections are inevitable and part of what makes us human! Don’t be afraid to lean on others for support.
JULY 23-AUGUST 23
Today is a productive day for you, Leo. You may nd yourself feeling particularly motivated to explore new or complex topics due to an increased sense of curiosity. This provides you with an advantageous opportunity to get work done; just be wary of getting distracted. Engaging with peers and your community will help you stay grounded today.
AUGUST 24-SEPTEMBER 23
Focus on yourself today, Virgo! It’s a good time to tune into your emotions and rediscover what makes you happy or self-con dent. Miscommunications under Mercury Retrograde may feel frustrating, but by slowing down and emphasizing logical thinking, you can turn these frustrations into strengths.
OCTOBER 24-NOVEMBER 22
SAGITARRIUS
NOVEMBER 23-DECEMBER 21
boost comes at the beginning of a more frustrating period over the next few months. Keep in mind your strengths as you move forward, remembering what skills you were able to utilize today to bring success. Today provides an increased sense of clarity for you, Capricorn. This may come through internal realizations or the advice of others, but all are important to keep in mind as you move forward. Today allows you the opportunity to get closer to those in your life, but you must ensure you listen to their opinions and concerns in order to maintain true connections with others.
DECEMBER 22-JANUARY 20
AQUARIUS
You may nd your priorities shifting today, Aquarius, noticing a heightened sense of connectedness with a higher purpose, or nding deeper meaning within your day-to-day life. Material possessions may seem less important. Instead, you are favoring connections with family and other relationships. Embrace these changes, exploring how these new perspectives can transform your life for the better and push you to develop a sense of groundedness.
PISCES
FEBRUARY 19-MARCH 20
Your focus turns to self-expression today, Pisces. You may realize changes within your identity that provide you with additional clarity. These new ideas are easily expressed today and feel supported by the Universe. Embrace this transformation and trust your intuition as you go about your daily life.
Horoscope by Gabby Romm
The Antithesis Ethicists
Eric Frankel and Kate McAndrew
I walked past someone I really want to be friends with in the library last night and didn’t say hi. Why didn’t I? I overthink all of our interactions and look for any indication she doesn’t want us to be close. I try not to intrude when she’s with her real friends, but she’s always with her real friends. How do you know when an acquaintance is a friend? How do I convince myself I’m worth her time?
Together:
Even though we’re two very different social beings (Kate, introvert; Eric, very much an extrovert), we’ve both felt this exact feeling. The constant questioning when you see them around campus: ‘Do I wave, do I take my phone out and awkwardly look at it, do I randomly fix my stare somewhere in the middle distance?’ The acquaintance to friend jump is a scary one. While we don’t know exactly why you didn’t say ‘hi’ in the library, we definitely understand the mental gymnastics you were doing — because we’d venture to say almost everyone has felt the same way at some point.
One thing to keep in mind is how it feels to be on the receiving end of a smile or hello. Personally, when someone says hello to me unexpectedly it makes my day. We think this is a pretty universal feeling. It’s easy to spiral into thinking you’re being overly friendly or weird but when it comes down to it, nobody is really thinking that about you. Instead they appreciate that you went out of your way to acknowledge them. Next time I say go for it.
The best way to figure out the line between friend and acquaintance is also the scariest one — to ask them out on a friend date (basically). If you’re both on the meal plan that is an easy way to get some time at Carm or Dewick. If that seems too big a leap, invite them to plans you have with other or mutual friends: Take the pressure out of it. It does not have to be high stakes, but you might have to be the one extending the invitation. Some people are better at reaching out than others, strive not to take it personally.
On that note, you don’t get to choose if someone else thinks you’re worth their time. A little daunting on the surface, but also a liberating realization! You are worth a whole deal, even if this person doesn’t have a huge desire to be your friend. Likewise, you get to choose who you spend your time with. What this person thinks of you is not a prescriptive statement of your value or your character. As much as this sounds difficult, hold this acquaintanceship/ friendship lightly and explore it gently. Don’t think of yourself as an intrusion, and if this person, or her ‘real friends’ (who also started out in the same position as you now!) aren’t amenable to your presence, then it is clear they’re not the type of people you want to be friends with.
At the end of the day, the only thing you can do is control your actions, and give yourself grace. It is natural to desire being liked and to crave connection. One person’s reaction to you is just that, their reaction. Remember ‘sonder,’ everyone is the center of their own universe. You got this.
‘In the Neighbourhood’ by Ezra Holzapfel
SUDOKU
What Reddit’s ‘snark’ pages can tell us about the fate of journalism
Annika Pillai Executive Arts Editor
In May, The New York Times ran a story about a young influencer with Stage 4 cancer who’d become the fixation of a Reddit ‘snark’ community. The subreddit’s members didn’t believe she was sick. They combed through her Instagram posts and created timelines tracking her hospital visits and medical details. They called it research. When the Times confirmed her diagnosis with her doctor and reached out to Reddit for a comment on its inaction, the platform banned the forum. By then, though, its members had already produced something that looked unsettlingly like journalism.
On Reddit, there are entire subcultures devoted to watching influencers and public personalities a little too closely. It’s called ‘snark’ — a mix of mindless gossip, genuine critique and obsessive commentary about the daily lives of people who have built followings online. There’s a subreddit for Los Angeles influencers, another for New York City ones, several for family vloggers, a few for former Christian fundamentalists. Many of these pages have over 100,000 members.
At their best, these snark pages do what most big-name journalists don’t have time for: They dissect the mechanics of influence, tracking when a ‘casual’ Instagram story is actually a paid ad, or when a brand deal crosses an ethical line. Some threads read like mini case studies in influencer marketing, showing exactly how someone’s lifestyle
content converts into sponsorship money. It’s tedious, detail-oriented work — the kind that requires patience and a slightly obsessive temperament. In that way, snarkers aren’t so different from reporters.
There is a minor caveat: They operate in the dark underbelly of anonymity in comment sections and lengthy threads rather than reputable newsrooms in the daylight.
Where did snark come from — and why? You could argue that these communities emerged because traditional media failed — or still doesn’t yet know how — to cover the world of influencers and social media seriously. Snark subreddits filled that gap; they became a place where users could point out contradictions, uncover undeclared partnerships or call out manipulative editing — a citizen fact-checking operation, occasionally doused in raging sarcasm.
However, though this space is seemingly built on accountability, it is no newsroom. These threads are long and obsessive, intensively detailing an influencer’s life. In one notable case, lifestyle creator Lily Chapman revealed that multiple Reddit ‘snark’ forums had been dedicated to her, ostensibly to hold her ‘accountable.’ She says that, in reality, their primary purpose was to tear down every aspect of her being — from criticism of her looks and her posture, to disparaging comments about her family and fiancé, to judgment on the way she cooked meals.
On the one hand, snark is driven by a genuine desire to see behind
the curtain. But on the other hand, it can’t resist the emotional payoff of tearing someone down. Within these subreddits, even well-intentioned critique is heavily doused in negativity. Disagreement is rare, and the top-voted responses are usually the sharpest, meanest takes. Over time, this creates an echo chamber — a kind of toxicity where intense speculation becomes fact — and normal — simply because it’s shared often enough.
Many users are drawn to Reddit’s snark subreddits because of the sheer scale of scrutiny available. In some communities, daily threads dissect influencers’ posts, parenting choices, wealth displays and relationship drama. Some members describe the forums as a way to keep themselves in check when it comes to being influenced by the curated images influencers present online. Yet even as users defend the space
SPORTS
as accountability, the commentary often turns bitter — threads frequently have to be removed for violating subreddit rules because the criticism ‘went too far.’
Reddit does have moderators, but they’re mostly volunteers or users themselves — overwhelmed, inconsistent and sometimes just as biased as the threads they’re managing. Without structure and adequate oversight, free reign can lead to a pit of chaotic toxicity.
All of this said, the appeal makes sense. People want transparency in an online world that runs on illusion. They don’t want to be deceived. And in the absence of reliable reporting on influencer culture, Reddit offers the next best thing. It’s messy, reactive and often unfair, but it can uncover cleverly hidden sponsorships and contradictions that traditional media might overlook.
Reddit snark pages highlight both the potential and the danger of unmonitored reporting. They show that audiences can uncover hidden truths, fact-check public figures and challenge polished narratives in ways traditional media sometimes cannot. But they also reveal what happens when accountability and ethics are removed from the equation: Speculation can become harassment, critique turns into doxxing and suddenly what was simply transparent reporting is actively harming individuals.
True journalism is not just about uncovering information — it requires ethics, integrity and respect for its subjects. What can we learn from snark? Discovering information is not enough — truly responsible reporting demands accountability and moral judgment.
Women’s soccer claims first NESCAC championship in 23 years
Max Druckman Senior Staff Writer
The phrase ‘better late than never’ is often used and usually rings true. Still, those four words don’t account for the rollercoaster of emotions that completing a task before ‘never’ brings. The Tufts women’s soccer team experienced this rollercoaster twice this past weekend, as they scored a late goal to beat Colby and a late equalizer that yielded a penalty shootout win over Williams to claim the 2025 NESCAC crown.
As the No. 1 seed in the NESCAC, the Jumbos hosted the conference’s tournament. Colby, whom Tufts had toppled 2–0 earlier in the season, represented their semifinal matchup.
“Our mindset going into the weekend was to entirely focus on our first game against Colby. It becomes difficult heading into potential double header weekends … but our team did a phenomenal job of staying focused on ourselves,” senior forward Elsi Aires wrote in a message to the Daily.
Against the Mules, the Jumbos came out flying. Aires stole the ball before finding
junior forward Waverly Sumner. Sumner slotted home after a stunning solo move, giving the Jumbos the lead after 10 minutes. Eight minutes later, junior midfielder Reese Birch poked in senior defender Lena Sugrue’s rebound after Sugrue’s corner kick hit the post. Within 20 minutes, the Jumbos had cruised to a 2–0 advantage.
However, forwards Abigail Jarvi and Ella Caraluzzi helped the Mules knot the game at two by two minutes after halftime. Undeterred, the Jumbos broke through with under 15 minutes remaining. Just after the 77-minute mark, Birch won the ball and found sophomore midfielder Maren Jones, who fired a cross-net shot past the Colby goalkeeper to give Tufts the lead.
“I was absolutely thrilled and filled immediately with joy,” Aires remarked on Jones’ winning goal. “I am always amazed by her composure in the final third and am so proud of her hard work this season.”
Junior goalkeeper Gigi Edwards saved a last-ditch Colby effort, ensuring that Tufts held their lead. When the final whistle blew, despite
a close win, the Jumbos were heading to their first NESCAC final since 2017.
The final pitted the Jumbos against the Ephs, whom they had beaten 2–1 at home in September.
The opening minutes were evenly matched. Both teams registered plenty of shots, with Edwards and Ephs goalkeeper Margaret Huelin making two and three saves, respectively, in the opening 20 minutes. After the 20-minute mark, the Ephs found an opening. Forward Elizabeth Stophel chipped over Edwards unassisted from a difficult angle, giving the Ephs a 1–0 advantage.
Despite trailing, the Jumbos kept pounding the net before halftime. They gained three corner kicks, compared to the Ephs’ zero, as the game took on a more physical character, with five fouls committed before the half.
The Jumbos continued on the front foot as the game continued. In the first 40 minutes of the second half, they outshot the Ephs 14–4, with Huelin making five crucial saves. Eventually, just past the 85th minute, the Jumbos won
a corner. Senior defender Anna Griffin sent the ball into the box, where sophomore forward Audrey Cromett chested it down. Cromett’s redirection found Birch, who punched the ball in under the crossbar and tied the game at 1–1. Despite losing 1–0 for over an hour, the Jumbos didn’t give up and now saw a path to victory.
“In previous seasons, we would always have difficulty coming back from being down, but that’s not the case now. We continue to control what we can control, and put out our full efforts for the entirety of our games,” Aires noted.
The 1–1 tie yielded overtime, during which the Jumbos continued their pressure, registering the only two shots of the first overtime half. After both goalkeepers made critical saves in the final three minutes of the second overtime half, the whistle blew again, indicating a penalty shootout.
Senior midfielder Aoife O’Reilly, junior midfielder Emily Nicholas and Sumner tucked away their penalties, with the Ephs also scoring their first two spot kicks.
On the Ephs’ third attempt, Edwards took matters into her
own hands. She made a vital diving save to deny Williams forward Maya Lloyd’s attempt, giving Tufts a 3–2 advantage in the shootout. From there, Jones and Sugrue netted their attempts, clinching the Jumbos’ first NESCAC title since 2002.
“It was an unreal experience. I was so proud and excited for our team. We have been working so hard throughout the offseason and in season. It was extremely rewarding to have all of the early rises, extra lifts, and shooting sessions pay for every single one of us,” Aires wrote.
The win also yielded the Jumbos an automatic NCAA Tournament berth. Their first round matchup, against Lesley, will take place at home on Saturday.
“The only thing on my mind and my teammates’ is our game against Lesley,” Aires wrote. “We are very excited and grateful for another beautiful game together on Bello Beach.”
Even though the Jumbos left things late, their NESCAC crown came nonetheless. And, best of all, a national title, something the program has never attained, is still within reach.
Reddit is pictured.
Op-ed: The cOUnteR revolution: A restoration of the people’s forum in Medford
Emily Carney
A tale of two tickets
The ballot box in last week’s election symbolized the state of Medford — divided. The numbers depicted a city split into two primary voting blocs: Our Revolution Medford and the independents. Allied candidates tended to yield similar vote counts, indicative of bloc voting, while tight margins between groups and increased support for non-ORM candidates suggested a narrowing divide. For the independents, the gains were significant, but not enough to claim new seats. Not this time.
A town theatre model of government
Casting votes on Nov. 4 felt like casting actors in a play, as I felt that ORM councilors only heard public comments out of duty. Moreover, City Council President Zac Bears clarified that the Massachusetts General Law does not require public comments, which could result in further reductions in speaking time.
Certain City Council meetings feel more like performances than a real democracy. Citizens speak their minds on issues that affect them, but the six ORM councilors pledged to support the issues outlined in ORM’s “People’s Platform.” In short, ORM has replaced the traditional model of local governance with a coordinated bloc, unmoved by testimony.
Comments are heard but not always heeded, rendering civic engagement a hollow ritual.
Is this what representative government looks like?
“This is what representative government looks like,” Bears said during a contentious City Council meeting. Bears was describing the outpour of comments ahead of officially voting for Councilor Matt Leming’s late-night motion to reject one out of the 12 recommendations by the Community Development Board for Salem Street rezoning. The motion passed 6–0 after extensive public comments both for and against. I found Bears’ comment invalidating since a unanimous vote had just emerged from clear community division.
Is this what it looks like to derive power from the people?
The ORM councilors would probably (unanimously) say yes. They justify their agenda-driven votes in various ways. For instance, regarding a rental registry issue, Bears claimed in one City Council meeting that some public comments did not represent the popular opinion in the same way as thousands of votes did.
A vote hardly implies unwavering support for every policy a candidate ran on. I’ve yet to meet a politician I agree with on every issue, but we need not speculate. Some who voted for ORM have declared their
opposition to particular ORM ordinances. Moreover, representatives don’t just work for citizens who favor them. They work for the nearly 60,000 people who call Medford home.
Second, the “People’s Platform” is pushed as something that was crafted by the people of Medford. The term “People’s Platform” is misleading. Leming wrote in his blog that ORM “has a public platform that Medford residents painstakingly crafted.” He left out the catch: They can only contribute if they join ORM, and they can only join if they first accept the community agreement, which indicates support for the platform. The ORM website echoes the worthy goal that Medford be “collectively governed by” residents, yet I question how an exclusive group is capable of carrying it out.
Read between the warning signs
If you’re wondering whether ORM weakens democracy, don’t take it from me. Examine the fruits of the ‘revolution,’ which signal eroding trust within the community. There’s extreme polarization, of course, but more subtle signs, too: divisive rhetoric, limited transparency and suppression of dissenting views.
In the lead-up to the election, Leming posted a rather scary ad claiming his seven independent opponents were part of a “MAGA-aligned”
coalition. These seven included Paul Donato Jr., who organized the city’s first Pride parade and candidates who have kept their national politics private, but when pressed, express a lack of alignment with President Donald Trump. Many ORM supporters found lack of transparency among the independent voices slate concerning, but I see it the other way around. They mistook a lack of shared policy platform for lack of transparency, when in reality, each independent had their own platform (hence, independent). ORM is indeed very transparent about its policies — so transparent that they censor you if you dissent. Healthy democracy requires the opposite: open minds and open dialogue. Without these, even decisions following public dialogue feel anything but transparent.
When residents felt blindsided by rezoning proposals, rather than addressing their concerns, Councilor Emily Lazzaro initially faulted residents for failing to keep up with dozens of meetings and a detailed web page. Indeed, Medford’s website includes maps and links to rewatch lengthy meetings. These resources fall short of those mandated by Medford’s Comprehensive Plan, which calls for an accessible dashboard to track progress toward its goals. This raises the question: What would feel truly
transparent to those currently left in the dark?
Most importantly, progress itself should be guided by community input. I’m sure ORM would remind us that the “People’s Platform” does seek community input. It does, as aforementioned, seek contribution from coalition members. How can a platform that only accepts input from supporters represent all voices in a large city like Medford? ORM, in practice, blocks diverse viewpoints from influencing the democratic process on issues the “People’s Platform” dictates.
A bridge over troubled voters
The people of Medford deserve a government that prioritizes the common good over one agenda. After all, local elections are nonpartisan, and city councilors take oaths to represent without bias. How can councilors uphold an oath that contradicts their pledge?
I propose a counter-revolution. Not an upheaval, but a restoration, where everyone is invited to participate, no strings attached. I call upon my elected officials to listen, learn and deliberate in the light of day. I welcome them to bring their progressive ideas to the table instead of to the “People’s Platform.” I call upon my fellow citizens to attend meetings, remain vigilant and hold representatives accountable to their oaths.
Tufts admin, it’s time to rethink your graduation requirements
Liam Chalfonte Senior Staff Writer
Originally published Nov. 12.
Tufts’ graduation requirements are a behemoth. Without previous credit or double-counting courses, they make up about half of the classes students take at Tufts. This means Tufts has some of the most extensive requirements among peer institutions, with more courses needed than schools like Wesleyan and Northeastern — not to mention Amherst, which doesn’t have any required courses beyond the major. Between college writing, language and culture, world civilizations and distribution requirements, students spend many semesters completing required courses that may draw them away from classes they find interesting or that would benefit their lives or careers.
Take the language and culture requirement: For students entering without prior language experience, this requirement totals six courses — often adding up to more than 18 credits. That is more than a full semester’s worth of most students’ time at Tufts.
It’s also unnecessarily confusing. As a peer teacher in Tufts’ experimental college with a class full of first-years, I recently had to spend 10 minutes answering questions just to help my students grasp what the requirement even meant. I gazed out at a sea of confused faces trying to piece together this puzzle. It’s a problem I am struggling with myself as a senior putting together my graduation documentation. Finding out how to graduate shouldn’t feel as difficult as taking an exam.
This is not to say such requirements should be scrapped altogether; Tufts’ goal of having students graduate with more than a hazy understanding of a second language is an honorable one — as is the goal of familiarizing students with another culture. But balancing these goals with reasonable expectations for students’ workloads, and allowing them more space to explore their own interests, would make for a far more beneficial learning experience.
Tufts students are already overachievers. As of 2023, nearly 40% of Tufts graduates double-majored — a feat that requires at least 20 courses in itself. Beyond that, Tufts has a strong extracurricular culture, with students filling their time with leadership positions, workstudy jobs, research and other commitments. This desire to
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AMELIA VANDER MAY / THE TUFTS DAILY East Hall and Braker Hall are pictured on Academic Quad on Sept. 26.
graduate with packed resumes and wordy diplomas is something the admissions office actively seeks out when selecting Tufts students. Indeed, second majors and extracurriculars can be some of the most rewarding parts of students’ time here. However, trying to balance these activities with foundation requirements and tacking on extra majors and minors, often leads to overfilled schedules that ultimately take a toll on students’ mental health.
Not only are these requirements confusing and burnout inducing — they also affect the quality of courses Tufts offers.
The Bigger Picture
Beauty doesn’t always age like fine wine, but beauty standards sure do
Linda Huang
Originally published Nov. 12.
Men will never undertand!” screamed my house-
mate, after we finished watching “The Substance” (2024) — the exact same reaction I had after seeing “Sunset Boulevard” (1950) for the first time last Saturday at the Brattle Theatre in Harvard Square.
“The Substance” and “Sunset Boulevard,” two films set in
While it can be valuable to take classes outside one’s major, forcing students to regularly enroll in courses they have no desire to take hurts both the students and their professors. There’s an air of defeat in many professors’ voices during syllabus week when they ask how many students are taking the course simply to fulfill a requirement — and see a sea of raised hands in response. I’ve been one of those hands, once taking a 100-level philosophy class solely because it double-counted for my world civilizations and culture requirements. Such students weigh down these courses, causing
completely different time periods that use drastically different artistic styles and cinematic techniques, promote the same message about the beauty standards and body dysmorphia that women face — particularly due to the toxic norms of the Hollywood entertainment industry.
In “The Substance,” Demi Moore plays a former Hollywood star rejected from continuing as the host of an aerobics TV show because of her age. Struggling with self-hatred over her changing body, she turns to a magical serum called ‘The Substance,’ which allows her to transform into a younger, more conventionally ‘beautiful’ version of herself. However, she must revert to her original form every seven days. Unable to resist the fame and attention her younger body brings, she delays the
professors to move at a slower pace so that those students without a stronger background in the field aren’t left behind. Furthermore, classes are often offered that cater to students seeking to get requirements ‘out of the way,’ without forcing students to fully engage with the ideas behind them. What is the purpose of forcing students to branch out if we turn around and offer work-around classes that they don’t have to fully submerge themselves in these other disciplines? It’s hard to understand how classes such as “Self and Identity” fulfill requirements
transformation, ultimately exhausting the serum and morphing into a terrifying, deformed monster — the price she has to pay for succumbing to the temptation to alter herself.
Similarly, “Sunset Boulevard” follows Norma Desmond, an aging silent film star who refuses to accept that her fame has faded. Secluded in her mansion, she surrounds herself with portraits from her glory days, obsessively rewatching her old films and holding onto the illusion that the world still loves her. When struggling screenwriter Joe Gillis enters her story and becomes entangled in her delusion, he delivers the film’s defining line: “There’s nothing tragic about being 50, not unless you’re trying to be 25.” Norma’s obsession eventually spirals into madness, culminating in a chilling final scene: after committing murder,
for African, Hispanic or East Asian culture, despite the fact that the class doesn’t meaningfully engage with any of those regions. Similarly, I doubt students sleeping through “Dinosaurs!” lectures are getting the kind of scientific literacy the natural sciences requirement was meant to promote. To be clear, this is not a criticism of the professors or departments offering these courses — nor an argument against interdisciplinary learning. Rather, I think the creation of these classes can be seen as a symptom of the broader issues with how Tufts structures its requirements.
she descends the grand staircase, believing she is acting in a movie once again, though she is actually awaiting arrest.
While the former is set in contemporary Hollywood and the latter in the ’40s and ’50s, both emphasize the timelessness of the toxic standards that Hollywood imposes on women’s beauty and physicality. The excruciatingly grotesque, gory images of Moore’s character’s gradual physical decay in “The Substance” capture the horror of the internal war that haunts countless women. We constantly battle between accepting the loss of youth and beauty — and resenting ourselves for it — or sacrificing everything to feel young again, only to be consumed by the guilt of not living in the present.
The delusion and psychosis that Desmond embodies, coupled with the film’s
In order to fix these issues, I think Tufts could look to schools such as Boston University or Northeastern, which build their requirements out of tailored skill sets rather than broad subject areas. The current writing, culture, distribution and world civilizations requirements could be folded into one central curriculum of general education requirements, focused on cultural literary, quantitative and scientific reasoning and the arts and humanities. This would allow students more flexibility in their schedules and more freedom to explore their interests. After all, isn’t that why we’re here in the first place?
phenomenal choice of suspenseful music, leave viewers with an unforgettable, suffocating sense of discomfort. We fear facing the same fate: being haunted by an irretrievable beauty that will never return.
Women’s beauty and physicality are constantly held under scrutiny by society; we are always subject to a verdict upon the propriety of looks. Beauty does not always age like fine wine, but beauty standards sure do — and they hit women harder than ever. It’s more important now than ever to love your body as it is, to cherish your beauty in the present and to remember that you are far more than what’s reflected on the outside.
Linda Huang is a senior studying economics and international relations. Linda can be reached at peixuan.huang@tufts.edu.
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The Fifth-Year Master’s Degrees are offered through the following programs:
Graduate School of Arts and Sciences
Art Education, MAT Biology, MS Chemistry, MS Child Study and Human Development, MA Classics, MA Creative Practice, MA
Data Analytics, MS
Digital Tools for Premodern Studies MA Economics, MS
Education: Middle and High School, MAT Environmental Policy and Planning, MS Mathematics, MS Museum Education, MA Music, MA Philosophy, MA Sustainability, MA
Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning, MA
School of Engineering
Artificial Intelligence, MS Bioengineering, MS Biomedical Engineering, MS Biophotonics, MS
Chemical Engineering, MS Civil and Environmental Engineering, MS
Computer Engineering, MS
Computer Science, MS
Cybersecurity and Public Policy, MS
Data Science, MS
Dual Degree Program: Tufts Gordon Institute degree + other Engineering degree, MS
Electrical Engineering, MS Engineering Management, MS Human Factors Engineering, MS
Human-Robot Interaction, MS Innovation and Management, MS
Materials Science and Engineering, MS
Mechanical Engineering, MS
Offshore Wind Energy Engineering, MS
Software Systems Development, MS
Technology Management and Leadership, MS
Accountability: The driving force behind Tufts men’s basketball
team’s vocal leader; he’s the guy who speaks up when standards slip.
As the Tufts men’s basketball team gears up to tip off its season on Friday at Babson, they are driven by experience, hunger and a shared commitment to accountability. Building off of last year’s success, the Jumbos have a great advantage with all five starters returning.
Three things are undeniable about this year’s squad: The starters bring a wealth of game experience as leading players last year, the team’s desire for success has only intensified and each player pushes to uphold the program’s high standards.
D3hoops.com recently released its preseason rankings, placing the Jumbos fourth in the nation, a massive leap from their 16th-place finish last year. While preseason polls can be speculative — even arbitrary — given that not a single game has been played, this ranking stands as a testament to Tufts’ hard work, experience and the cohesion of the starting lineup.
For the Jumbos, it all starts with team captain and senior power forward Scott Gyimesi. Gyimesi averaged 15.3 points and led the team in rebounds per game last season — an impressive feat given that he stands at just 6 feet, 6 inches, while sharing the frontcourt with 6-foot11 center and senior co-captain Joshua “Bernie” Bernstein. Gyimesi proves day-in and dayout that rebounding isn’t simply a product of height, but of effort and will — a reflection of his driven approach to the game. His athleticism, strength and relentless energy make him both a respected leader and a presence that opponents fear.
In addition to setting the tone physically, Gyimesi serves as the
“[Gyimesi] sets the minimum standard that we should all be at. If you aren’t at that standard, then you aren’t at the right level,” Bernstein wrote in an email to the Daily. Gyimesi practices what he preaches. “We have a chip on our shoulder this year. We are going to attack each moment, practice, and game like it’s our last,” he wrote. That mentality is what is fueling the Jumbos: “discipline and adherence to [the] program’s values.”
While Gyimesi brings the fire, Bernstein is the anchor. If an opponent is lucky enough to get past Gyimesi or one of the team’s other athletic forwards, their reward is meeting the near 7-foot-tall Bernstein at the rim. Simply put, this team is a force to be reckoned with.
Bernstein approaches the game with a curiosity that sets him apart. He wants to understand not just what to do but how to do it and why it works, whether that be in relation to his positioning, how to anticipate rotations and what actions set up success. That commitment to detail reflects his dedication to doing things the right way. Bernstein doesn’t just go through the motions: He invests in the process, trusting that the results will follow.
When Bernstein talks, everyone listens; the team always knows it’s coming from a place of purpose. Whether he’s calling out a defensive rotation or encouraging others to maintain high standards, Bernie leads with intention. That balance, knowing when to listen and when to lead, is what makes him such an effective captain and a pillar of the team’s accountability-driven culture.
The final co-captain is junior guard Jon Medley, who brings a
unique mix of poise and swagger to the team. Whether it’s his confident demeanor or the fact that he lights it up in practice wearing an athletic sweatshirt under his jersey, Medley plays with unmistakable rhythm and control. He always seems to make the right play at the right time. He works hard, approaches the game with the right mindset and competes with intent every single day.
Medley stands out for more than just his confidence; his composure keeps the team steady with his unmatched consistency. “[Medley] leads by example, sets the defensive tone and his competitive drive is contagious,” sophomore Isaac Friedman wrote to the Daily. As a first-year, he appeared in 28 games, followed by a starting spot in every game he played last season. Medley has come into this program and done the right thing every day since the beginning, and it shows.
Rounding out the three captains in the starting lineup are two players who are just as
much of a threat on the court.
Senior guard James Morakis led the team in points per game last season and was recently named to the D3hoops.com Preseason All-American Fourth Team. In addition to his scoring, Morakis dished out 2.5 assists per game, demonstrating his multidimensional impact on offense. In what ended up as the final game of the season, he delivered a 36-point performance in a win-or-gohome second-round matchup of the NCAA Division III Men’s Basketball Championship against the University of Redlands. Morakis’ offensive prowess and ability to create scoring opportunities will be key to the Jumbos’ success this season.
The final starter, junior forward Dylan Reilly, is a 6-foot-6 3-point specialist and a complete all-around player. While Reilly’s shooting stretches defenses and opens up the floor, his value extends far beyond scoring. He’s a selfless teammate who’s constantly engaged, whether he’s knocking down shots, giving encouragement
from the sideline or continuing to run during drills when he doesn’t have to. His investment in the team’s success never wavers, and that commitment helps sustain the Jumbos’ culture of drive, discipline and accountability.
These five players bring everything — height, athleticism and a balanced mix of skills that make this team dangerous from every angle.
“Having all five starters returning this season is nice, but ultimately it doesn’t mean anything until we can translate it onto the court. And on top of that, we have talent throughout our entire roster who we will need to contribute in order for us to succeed,” Gyimesi wrote in correspondence with the Daily.
After they play Babson, the team will stay on the road, traveling to Beverly on Sunday for a matchup against Endicott. The highly anticipated home opener against Suffolk will follow those two games on Monday at Cousens Gymnasium.
Ben Lable Staff Writer
COURTESY TUFTS ATHLETICS
The 2025–26 Tufts men’s basketball roster is pictured.
PHOTOS BY: STELLA JEONG AND DOMINIC MATOS