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SMFA dual-degree students share experiences see FEATURES / PAGE 4
Jumbos dethrone Panthers in NESCACs
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THE
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T HE T UFTS DAILY
VOLUME LXXVII, ISSUE 19
tuftsdaily.com
Wednesday, February 20, 2019
MEDFORD/SOMERVILLE, MASS.
Donna Brazile discusses her political background, youth vote at Tisch College event by Austin Clementi News Editor
Donna Brazile, the former interim chair of the Democratic National Committee (DNC), came to Tufts last night for a public forum as the first event of the Jonathan M. Tisch College of Civic Life Distinguished Speaker Series this semester. Jen McAndrew, the director of Communications, Strategy and Planning at Tisch College, said in an interview with the Daily that Tisch College had been trying to bring Brazile to Tufts for some time. “She’s been really interested in coming here,” McAndrew said. “We try to bring a wide range of speakers every semester from diverse backgrounds and diverse viewpoints and diverse experiences in civic life, and I think Donna Brazile represents all of that.” Alan Solomont, the dean of Tisch College, said in opening remarks in the ASEAN Auditorium that Brazile had previously served as the campaign manager for Al Gore in his 2000 presidential run. According to Solomont, Brazile was the first black woman to serve as a campaign manager for a presidential campaign. According to Solomont, Brazile also served as the chair of the DNC’s Voting Rights Institute. He said Brazile had received the W.E.B. du Bois Medal from Harvard, recognizing her for her contributions to African and African-American culture. Starting the question and answer session, Solomont first asked Brazile about the purpose of the pictures on the wall
ANN MARIE BURKE / THE TUFTS DAILY
Donna Brazile, former chair of the Democratic National Committee, addresses the audience in ASEAN Auditorium on Feb. 19. of her childhood home — one of John F. Kennedy, one of Martin Luther King, Jr. and one of Jesus. She described her home life growing up in Louisiana. “My siblings and I were the first generation to have full voting rights, my parents did not have full voting rights. I’m the first
generation to be able to go to a public school that was integrated,” she said. Brazile went on to describe her home life, saying that since her parents worked frequently, she and her siblings only saw them early in the morning or late at night.
Brazile also noted that the picture of Jesus on her wall was a reminder of the family’s Catholic faith; the pictures of Kennedy and King symbolized the struggle in which her family took part. see DONNA BRAZILE, page 2
Women’s Center continues search for new leadership by Sara Renkert
Contributing Writer
Hope Freeman will continue her work as the interim director for the Women’s Center after stepping in during November 2018 to fill the opening left by former director K. Martinez. A committee to search for a new candidate is not currently active as the Office of Student Affairs considers a reorganization of the Group of Six, specifically within the Women’s Center, according to Dean of Student Affairs Mary Pat McMahon. McMahon said that there will continue to be changes in the coming months, hopefully with the outcome of hiring a new director. Freeman is also the full-time director of the Tufts LGBT center, where she has
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worked for the past several years on promoting inclusion of LGBTQ individuals on campus, according to a March 9, 2017 Daily article. With the addition of her recent role in the Women’s Center, Freeman explained that she has had to split her time between centers. “What I’ve been trying to do is when I am thinking about the LGBT Center, I am also thinking about the Women’s Center,” Freeman said. “I’m making sure [that] students, staff and interns feel supported, and that there is someone that students directly can reach out to get the support they need around their programming.” Freeman noted the need for the centers to have bigger budgets and more professional staff. She explained how the students working in the centers play a
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key role in ensuring that the centers run successfully, but she stressed the need for more organization and permanent structure. “We need people doing more specific assigned tasks, not one or two people doing a million tasks,” Freeman said. Freeman explained why she decided to accept the position. “[I wanted to make sure] the Women’s Center was on everyone’s mind and that the staff and administration were still talking about and thinking of the Women’s Center,” Freeman said. “That was what the director’s role was supposed to support. So I wanted to make sure the Women’s Center still had a voice in the room.” Freeman explained that while LGBTQ rights and inclusion are her passion, she
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wanted to make sure that the Women’s Center was not left behind. “[I] wanted to make sure that demographic [women], which makes up about 53 to 55 percent of the Tufts population, was heard, because that’s actually pretty significant,” Freeman said. “We want to make sure our largest population of a marginalized group is not being left out and not being talked about.” Assistant Dean of Student Affairs Nandi Bynoe explained why the Center appointed Freeman as interim director rather than continuing the search for a new director. “We are hoping in her interim director role that she is there as support for the students at the Women’s Center, keeping
NEWS............................................1 FEATURES.................................4 ARTS & LIVING.......................6
see WOMEN'S CENTER, page 2
FUN & GAMES.........................8 OPINION.....................................9 SPORTS............................ BACK