EDITORIAL
‘Cold War’ brings bygone era to life see ARTS&LIVING / PAGE 4
Tufts should break with Sacklers, Purdue Pharma
Super Bowl LIII will be game of contrasts see SPORTS / BACK PAGE
SEE OPINION / PAGE 8
THE
INDEPENDENT
STUDENT
N E W S PA P E R
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TUFTS
UNIVERSITY
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T HE T UFTS DAILY
VOLUME LXXVII, ISSUE 6
tuftsdaily.com
Wednesday, January 30, 2019
MEDFORD/SOMERVILLE, MASS.
Carmichael to house only first-years, Harleston to house only sophomores next year by Liza Harris News Editor
Starting in the 2019–2020 academic year, Carmichael Hall will be a residence hall for only first-year students and Harleston Hall will house only sophomores. The new policy seeks to maximize bed space and improve the housing options for both first-years and sophomores, according to former Associate Director of Housing Operations Matt Austin. The decision was made because of a lack of beds for sophomores in Carmichael Hall and an abundance of beds for firstyears in Harleston Hall, Austin told the Daily in an interview last semester. “If we kept our building mix the same this year to next year, we would have way too many first-year beds and not enough sophomore space,” Austin said. “To make things balance and have enough beds for sophomores and also have the right amount of beds for incoming first-year students, this change was necessary.” Joshua Hartman, director of residential life and learning, said that upperclassmen were also taken into consideration when making this decision. “In order to maximize the number of junior and senior lottery numbers we can distribute, we need to align building capacity with expected class size,” Hartman said in an email to the Daily. However, the decision has other significant impacts, including the creation of an all first-year residential quad. “Having a first-year residential quad between Miller, Carmichael and Houston is hugely impactful. I think that that will be a really great addition to our community,” Austin told the Daily. Hartman echoed this sentiment. “We believe that a strong first-year
quad experience provides an exciting new opportunity for programming, residential engagement and increased opportunity for interaction between buildings,” Hartman said. Austin believes that the decision will positively affect sophomores, as well, because they will have access to the single bathrooms in Harleston Hall. “Sophomores … would prefer to have [single] … bathrooms … so moving sophomores into Harleston where we have those [single] … bathrooms is a huge plus,” Austin said. “In theory, things should get better as you go through the housing here.” In addition, Austin told the Daily that much of Latin Way will house sophomores next year, creating a potential sophomore community downhill. “We’re excited about what that could look like for our sophomore community,” he said. “Our ability to fold in CoHo [Community Housing] has really helped us have more space for sophomores in Latin Way.” Hartman said that reactions from students have generally been positive. “When the decision was made last year to have Harleston shift to a first-year building, many rising sophomores were upset by the loss of the opportunity to live in Harleston,” he said. “We have shifted back to provide Harleston as an opportunity for sophomores and we have heard positive things so far from students about the shift.” Dean of Student Affairs Mary Pat McMahon described the change as a win-win. “We’ve always had a lot of first-years who live in singles and don’t want to live in singles … But we have a shortage of singles for other people or less than the demand is,” McMahon said. “So Carm makes a lot of
BEN KIM / THE TUFTS DAILY
Harleston Hall is pictured on Jan. 29. sense for a first-year residence hall, especially with the community space downstairs.” Construction on Harleston Hall will take place over the summer to ensure that the building is ready for sophomores next fall, according to Hartman. “Harleston will have significant roofing work completed this summer in time for students to move back in August,” Hartman said. According to Austin, the Office of Residential Life in conjunction with the Office of the Dean of Student Affairs made this decision. The idea to change the housing options for different classes has been in the works since the summer of 2018 but was finalized late in the fall 2018 semester. “It’s been a few months that I’ve at least been thinking about it, but in terms of really getting the change implemented, that’s been probably in the last six weeks,” he said.
Austin acknowledged that the building switch does not address the housing shortage for juniors and seniors that many students have protested. “There’s not really a big effect [on the housing shortage] in this particular change because sophomores and firstyears are all required to live on campus, so whether we have this building as firstyear or this building as sophomore doesn’t really matter,” Austin said. However, he also said that the university recognizes students’ desire for more on-campus housing options. “If we had more housing or if we could build faster, I’m sure we would fill it,” Austin said. “Students would want to live on campus. So I think we’re on the same page about recognizing the need for housing, it’s just a matter of folks at the university pushing that agenda forward.”
Board of Trustees creates subcommittee on student affairs by Charlie Driver News Editor
The Tufts Board of Trustees voted to create a Student Affairs Subcommittee in November in hopes of further progress towards the recommendations the Student Life Review Committee (SLRC) made in spring 2017. Mary Pat McMahon, dean of student affairs for the School of Arts and Sciences, said that Deb Jospin (J ’80), then a trustee and a member of the SLRC, led the creation of the committee. According to the bylaws of the Board of Trustees, the subcommittee will exist under
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the larger Academic Affairs Committee, which previously was the main arena for Trustee input on student life. Insiya Naim, the student representative of the Academic Affairs Committee, said that the decision would formalize student life as a focus for the Board. “Prior to the introduction of this subcommittee, the Board’s agenda didn’t have a concrete section on student life, but now, through the subcommittee, we will be able to critically analyze what is helping and hindering student life,” Naim, a sophomore, told the Daily in an email. The chair of the subcommittee, Trustee Kalahn Taylor-Clark (J ’99, M ’01), said
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that the subcommittee would feature voices from the Board of Trustees, as well as those of students and alumni. According to McMahon, the specific student and alumni representation on the subcommittee has yet to be decided. Taylor-Clark explained the benefit of trustee input on student life. “The value of having trustees addressing student life is that their leadership and commitment of resources are reflected in their abilities to understand where gaps exist and to identify holistic solutions to improving student life at Tufts,” she wrote in comments provided to the Daily by email.
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According to the Tufts Office of the Trustees website, all of the trustees who will sit on the subcommittee are alumni of one of Tufts undergraduate and graduate programs. One, Maria Madison (J ’82), is a parent of two Tufts students. The trustees are aware that their experience as students differs in many aspects from the life of current Tufts students, McMahon said. “The Tufts trustees tend to have this really deep appreciation of the fact that there are aspects of the current experience that really resonate with their experience
NEWS............................................1 ARTS & LIVING.......................4 OPINION.....................................8
see TRUSTEES, page 2
FUN & GAMES.........................9 SPORTS............................ BACK