The Tufts Daily - Monday, February 14, 2022

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T HE T UFTS DAILY

VOLUME LXXXIII, ISSUE 13

MEDFORD/SOMERVILLE, MASS.

tuftsdaily.com

Monday, February 14, 2022

MONACO TO STEP DOWN IN 2023 Tony Monaco reflects on 12-year tenure at Tufts by Chloe Courtney Bohl Executive News Editor

University President Anthony Monaco will step down as president of Tufts in summer 2023, concluding a 12-year tenure. “It’s always good practice for an institution to have a transition in leadership every 10 to 15 years so that it can benefit from fresh ideas and new perspectives,” Monaco told the Daily. “So I feel this is the right thing to do at this time for Tufts.” Monaco formally notified the Board of Trustees of his decision over the weekend. In a message to the Tufts community on Monday morning, Board Chairman Peter Dolan thanked Monaco for his leadership on the public health, academic, research and financial fronts. “I join the entire Board of Trustees in expressing our deep gratitude to Tony for his steadfast leadership of the university, for his dedication to Tufts, and for the clear moral compass and intellectual rigor that

have guided him as president,” Dolan wrote. Dolan added that the Board of Trustees “will immediately begin the process of forming a presidential search committee,” the details of which they will share in the coming weeks. All of Tufts’ past presidents have been white men. Monaco explained that while he will not be involved in choosing his successor, he hopes the Board of Trustees will consider the ever-increasing diversity of the Tufts community as they make their decision. “I won’t be involved in the process, that’s the responsibility of the Board of Trustees,” Monaco said. “But I’m confident that they will reflect the changed diversity of Tufts over my tenure in the pool of applicants that they bring in to consider. I hope that pool will be very diverse and represent the change that has happened.” Notable moments in Monaco’s presidency so far have included the university’s COVID-19 pandemic response, the introduction of the Tufts as an Anti-Racist

Institution intitiative, the removal of the Sackler name from all Medical School programs and buildings, the acquisition of the School of the Museum of Fine Arts and the initiation of the $1.5 billion Brighter World fundraising campaign. Monaco is timing the end of his presidential tenure to coincide with the conclusion of the Brighter World campaign in June 2023. “I’d like to see it through to the end,” Monaco said. “We’re confident that we can meet the goal and continue the momentum of alumni, donor and friend support for our academic mission.” Reflecting on the financial position of the university as he prepares to pass the baton to his successor, Monaco said that Tufts has continued raising money and growing its endowment throughout the pandemic. “We did well during the pandemic raising funds, I think, because our alumni did appreciate the work we did to keep our campus safe, and also to care for those that live around us,”

COURTESY TUFTS UNIVERSITY

University President Anthony Monaco is pictured. Monaco said. “We did increase the endowment from 1.9 billion [dollars] to 2.7 billion [dollars] at the moment … and that’s really helpful to support the schools and their academic programs.”

Monaco told the Daily he plans to keep pushing forward on the Tufts as an Anti-Racist Institution inititative during the remainder of see MONACO, page 2

Life in The Mods: 4 walls, 2 meals and an Uber Eats voucher by Skyler Goldberg Assistant News Editor

Since the start of the spring semester, hundreds of undergraduate students on the Medford/Somerville campus have tested positive for COVID-19, and many of them have been required to isolate in one of the modular housing units on the Vouté Tennis

Courts. Many will be familiar with the procedure by now: After testing positive, students have 90 minutes to corral their linens and toiletries, pack their suitcases and make the trek to their assigned unit. Administrators have laid out policies for Mod life, including food delivery and medical checkups. But some students say it hasn’t been enough.

“I feel like Tufts could probably do more on the front of activities for people in The Mods of some form. The Mods are on the tennis courts — it’s a pretty big space,” Kevin Golub, a sophomore who tested positive for COVID-19 and spent several days isolating in The Mods in January, said. “I feel like they can find ways to break up the day for people, whether

IAN LAU / THE TUFTS DAILY

The Mods, housing for COVID-19-positive students, are pictured on Feb. 1.

it’s an organized walk or an outdoor game of some kind … because sitting in that cell — just four walls — it’s really depressing.” Tufts Dining delivers brunch and dinner to students in The Mods, who are told to place their first order by 11 a.m. and their second by 5 p.m., according to sophomore Ashley JonesFlores, who was sent to The Mods in late January. But as a vegetarian, Jones-Flores said she was unhappy with the food selection. “Their vegetarian options were not that great, so I would end up Uber Eats-ing or DoorDash-ing food pretty much once a day,” she said. Out of five entrees offered to them, JonesFlores said two of them were vegetarian. Golub said the university subsidized one Uber Eats order for him, but that he had to pay for subsequent deliveries. The Daily confirmed that $25 Uber Eats vouchers have been provided to students for certain meals. In addition to the delivered meals, students can grab snacks from a pantry in The Mods, Golub said. “They had cereals, granola bars, bags of chips, some

SPORTS / back

FEATURES / page 3

ARTS / page 4

Women’s basketball sinks two wins ahead of NESCAC Championship

Pini’s serves up original flavors from new Boston Avenue location

Nine Songs We Love for Valentine’s Day

iced teas and stuff like that, Powerade,” he said. Golub recalled having cereal for breakfast and using the milk he would save in his refrigerator from the previous night’s dinner. He expressed frustration at not being able to order breakfast delivery from Tufts Dining. “The fact that I had to hoard cereal boxes for breakfast is ridiculous,” Golub said. “In our experience, students wake up and look for breakfast at varying times of the morning, and the average student eats on campus twice a day,” Director of Dining and Business Services Patti Klos wrote in an email to the Daily. “As a result, we purposefully make snacks available that can be used for breakfast. Even though we make two deliveries a day, students can order items they can have in the morning for breakfast.” When a blizzard swept through campus one weekend in late January, students in The Mods were asked to walk to the Dewick-Macphie Dining Center. Many of them didn’t have boots or appropriate snow gear. see MODS, page 2 NEWS

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