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Medford/Somerville, Mass.
Thursday, September 3, 2026
Matriculation: Defining Moments of the Past Year Tufts announces free tuition policy for families earning up to $150,000 annually Anika Parr
Deputy News Editor
Originally published September 9. Tufts University announced on Tuesday that U.S. undergraduate students from families earning less than $150,000 a year with typical assets will attend tuition-free, beginning in the fall of 2026. The new policy, referred to as the Tufts Tuition Pact, intends to make the university’s commitment to affordability more transparent and accessible. “The cost of higher education continues to be a major concern for families across the country,” University President Sunil Kumar said in an announcement. “By covering tuition for students from families earning under $150,000, we’re not only easing that burden — we’re sending a clear message that Tufts is committed to meeting the full need of all its students.” Under the Tufts Tuition Pact, students from families earning less than $60,000 per year will receive financial aid with no loans. For
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Bendetson Hall, where the Tufts Office of Undergraduate Admissions is located, is pictured. families earning up to $150,000, Tufts will cover the full cost of tuition, and often other expenses, based on a sliding scale. While expenses such as on-campus housing, meals, books and supplies may not be fully covered for students from families earning more than
$60,000 annually, these costs are still taken into account when determining need-based financial aid eligibility, according to Meaghan Hardy Smith, associate dean of financial aid. “Tufts remains committed to meeting 100% of demonstrated need for all admitted students,”
Hardy Smith wrote in an email to the Daily. “That means families who qualify for the Tuition Pact may also receive additional needbased aid to help cover these other expenses.” Additionally, any families with incomes up to $200,000 may also receive scholarships and grants that
cover the cost of tuition, depending upon their individual circumstances. To help families better understand their potential costs, JT Duck, dean of admissions, encouraged prospective students to use the Tufts Net Price Calculator to estimate their true cost of attendance. The Tufts Tuition Pact does not change how financial aid eligibility is calculated, according to Hardy Smith. As the university continues to review financial aid eligibility on an annual basis, families must continue to meet the income and asset criteria for the tuition-free benefit to be renewed each year. “If family income decreases, students may become newly eligible; if income increases above the threshold, their aid package will adjust accordingly,” Hardy Smith wrote. The policy aims to dispel concerns about Tufts’ “sticker price,” which often does not reflect what families actually pay after financial aid. see TUITION, page 2
Analysis of Epstein files reveals frequent communication between Steve Tisch and Epstein Evan Vezmar and Julian Glickman Deputy News Editor and Editor-in-Chief
Steve Tisch, a Tufts alumnus and donor whose family name appears on several campus buildings, was revealed last Friday to have communicated frequently with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein about women, dinner invitations, football games and Epstein’s private island. More than 3 million files were released by the Department of Justice on Friday under the Epstein Files Transparency Act, which Congress passed in November. The Daily reviewed hundreds of those files and found dozens of email correspondences between Tisch — a film producer and owner of the New York Giants — and Epstein. The identities and ages of most of the women discussed were not immediately clear, though some were identified as college-age. Tisch has not been charged with any wrongdoing. “We’re continuing to monitor this matter and any unfolding information,” Patrick Collins, executive
The Steve Tisch Sports and Fitness Center is pictured on Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. director of media relations at Tufts, said in a statement to the Daily. Roger Goodell, commissioner of the National Football League, said at a Monday press conference that the league would look into Tisch’s connections with Epstein. It was not clear whether a formal investigation had been launched. In a public statement released by the Giants on Friday night, Tisch distanced himself from Epstein.
“We had a brief association where we exchanged emails about adult women, and in addition, we discussed movies, philanthropy, and investments,” Tisch wrote. “I did not take him up on any of his invitations and never went to his island. As we all know now, he was a terrible person and someone I deeply regret associating with.” Epstein solicited women for Tisch, with the two using euphemisms for prostitution.
KAITLYN WELLS / THE TUFTS DAILY
In several exchanges, Epstein offered women to Tisch, referring to them as “conquests” in a May 2013 email. “New one for you,” Epstein wrote, to which Tisch replied, “Who?” The two also used euphemisms commonly associated with prostitution to describe women. In one exchange, Tisch asked Epstein whether a specific woman was a “pro or civilian.” In another June message, Tisch asked whether
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a woman was a “working girl,” to which Epstein replied, “nwver.” In another June correspondence, Epstein told Tisch that he had a “new present.” Tisch replied by asking whether the “present” was in New York and later asked if he could “get my surprise to take to lunch tomorrow.” Tisch also separately asked whether there was “somebody in NY you wanted me to meet,” before discussing a specific woman’s background. Epstein described her as an “exotic” French-speaking girl but denied that she was a prostitute. On several occasions, Epstein included Tisch on email chains with women. In one message, Tisch wrote to a woman named Veronika, “Jeffrey Epstein is very excited about you and I meeting each other. I like that idea. Do you?” He complimented a photo she had sent and offered times to meet. Veronika told Tisch that she had “heard a lot of great things” about him and said she looked forward to meeting him. Epstein later interjected, telling Tisch that she was traveling and still attending universee FILES, page 2 news -eatures arts & pop cu/ture ads op&n&on sc&ence sports
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THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 2026
T he T ufTs D aily Editorial Julian Glickman Editor in Chief
Olivia Bye Sadie Roraback-Meagher Managing Editors
Julia Segal Maya Godard Associate Editors Amelia Sammons Executive News Editor Sera Kwon Executive Features Editor Sophie Herron Executive Arts Editor Olivia Zambrano Executive Opinion Editor Luke Fredericks Executive Sports Editor Addison Dion Executive Science Editor Gus Gladstein Executive Investigative Editor Max Lerner Editorial Board Chair
Multimedia Ellie Broscow Executive Audio Editor Elliot Riseman Executive Video Editor
Class of 2030 to receive free tuition for certain families TUITION continued from the front “Some families see the sticker price and automatically shut the door without understanding how much aid they may qualify for,” Duck said in the university release. “We really do want to make Tufts affordable to every admitted undergraduate, and the Tufts Tuition Pact communicates this more clearly than anything we have done before.” Although the official cost of attending Tufts has risen annually, the actual average cost for
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Founded in 1980, The Tufts Daily is the entirely student-run newspaper of record at Tufts University in Medford, Mass. An editorially and financially independent organization, the Daily’s staff of more than 100 covers news, features, arts and sports on Tufts’ four campuses and in its host communities.
Land Acknowledgement The Tufts Daily office is located on the colonized land of the Massachusett people and within the territories of the Nipmuc and Wôpanâak (Wampanoag) tribes.
institutional funding, philanthropy, and federal and state resources.” As the number of U.S. high schools represented in Tufts’ applicant pool continues to grow, Duck hopes to expand geographic diversity — especially in regions like the Southeast — by emphasizing Tufts’ affordability through the pact’s messaging. “The clarity of the ‘tuition-free for families earning under $150,000’ message is designed to break down cost barriers early in the college search process and encourage
FILES continued from the front sity. He also said Tisch would have to organize her plane ticket if they wanted to meet. Epstein and Tisch often planned and discussed meetups with women On several occasions in 2013 and 2014, Tisch and Epstein planned meetings between Tisch and women whom Epstein had solicited for him. These conversations often centered on the women’s physical characteristics while also discussing their personalities. Epstein maintained a degree of secrecy in his communications with Tisch, asking in one correspondence to “send me a number to call I dont like records of these conversations.” The files also show Epstein communicating with women about meeting Tisch. One woman, identified as Katya, told Epstein that she had Googled Tisch and learned he was an
Oscar-winning producer and owner of the Giants. “I’d love to meet him,” she wrote. In a later email, Tisch asked Epstein whether coming over to Epstein’s home would mean “trouble.” Epstein responded by offering to invite “the russain Katya” and provided her contact information. In another exchange, Tisch told Epstein about a lunch he had with a friend of Epstein’s assistant, calling her a “very sweet girl,” and asked for information about her. Epstein agreed to find information and asked Tisch whether he had reached out to a different girl whom Epstein described as “great a-- fake t--.” Epstein told Tisch that she was in acting school and had an older boyfriend, describing the girl as “trustworthy” and “earnest,” while referring to a third woman as “a civilian” who “rarely tells the full truth , but fun.” Other email chains suggest Tisch met with specific women. In
a June 2013 email, Tisch thanked Epstein, who replied that he was “glad to help.” Epstein also asked Tisch how the meetings had gone. “How did polina do?!did you connect with Veronica?” he wrote in a May email. Tisch replied that “Polina did a very nice job” and that he was “waiting to hear back from Veronica.” Epstein invited Tisch to his island several times and likely attended a Giants game in Tisch’s suite. In multiple emails, Epstein told the Giants owner that he was in — or would be traveling to — the Caribbean, likely referring to his private island, Little Saint James, and invited him to visit. “You are welcom to come to the caribean to visit. you will not suffer,” Epstein wrote in a January 2014 email. In his public statement on Friday, Tisch said he never accepted Epstein’s invitations to the island. Tisch also invited Epstein to attend Giants games in 2013,
according to Epstein’s daily schedules. A September 2014 email from longtime Epstein assistant Lesley Groff indicates that Epstein likely agreed to attend a VIP screening for “The Equalizer,” a film co-produced by Tisch, at an event Tisch was co-hosting. In one correspondence, Epstein expressed an interest in continuing communications with Tisch regarding women. “I am happy to have you as a new but obviosly shared interest friend,” he wrote. Josué Pérez contributed reporting. Correction: This article was updated to indicate that Tisch’s family name is on several buildings on campus. Only one building, the Steve Tisch Sports and Fitness Center, is named after Tisch specifically. The Tisch Library is named after Tisch and his brother, Jonathan, who is the namesake of the Jonathan M. Tisch College of Civic Life.
SMFA professors, university ratify collective bargaining agreement after nearly two years of negotiations Julian Glickman Editor-in-Chief
Professors of the practice at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts University ratified their first collective bargaining agreement with the university on Tuesday, ending nearly two years of tense negotiations. The five-year agreement includes raises for all PoPs and safeguards for international employees, according to representatives from the union rep-
resenting the PoPs and university officials. Negotiations began in April 2024, with PoPs and their union, SEIU Local 509, advocating for higher wages, among other changes. In October 2025, faculty members at SMFA launched the “Save the SMFA” campaign, aiming, in part, to increase the number of professors of the practice. City councils in both Boston and Medford passed resolutions during the negotiations in support of the PoPs. The university and the
PoPs reached a tentative agreement in late January. “We believe this contract is fair and sustainable and reflects Tufts’ continued commitment to building strong, collaborative relationships with our unionized employees while fulfilling our responsibilities as thoughtful stewards of the university’s long-term mission and resources,” Patrick Collins, the executive director of media relations at Tufts, wrote in a statement to the Daily. “We were especially proud of the immediate raises for all PoPs as well
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students to see Tufts as a realistic option,” Duck wrote to the Daily. The university plans to share this new policy through admissions outreach, high school partnerships, community-based organizations and direct communication with prospective families with the goal of reaching students from every part of the country. “I’m excited for the new audiences, whether here in the Boston area or across the country, that may now consider Tufts a viable option,” Duck said in the university release.
Newly released files reveal Tisch–Epstein relationship
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students has declined in recent years due to the increasing financial aid provided by the university. For fiscal year 2026, the university has allocated over $143 million for undergraduate financial aid, helping to keep the average student debt at graduation from Tufts below $15,000 — significantly less than the national average of nearly $40,000. “Tufts has made significant investments in financial aid in order to ensure affordability for students across income levels,” Hardy Smith wrote. “This has been possible through a combination of
The rhino statue outside the SMFA main building is pictured on Mar 24, 2017.
SEOHYUN SHIM / THE TUFTS DAILY
as robust protections for international workers, including cost coverage for green card and visa fees,” Dave Foley, the president of SEIU Local 509, wrote in a statement to the Daily. “As attacks on higher education continue, we look forward to continuing our work with the university to ensure that all working people have the opportunity to join a union, bargain together for livable wages and fight for stronger work protections for all. PoPs who serve as department chairs are not included in the agreement, Collins said. He added that an agreement was reached on a Promotion and Advancement Committee, which will “support faculty development in a way that meets the academic and operational needs of the university while ensuring transparency and consistency in advancement processes.” “As a faculty organizer, unionizing has been both difficult and deeply meaningful for me,” Neda Moridpour, a SMFA professor of the practice, wrote in an Instagram post by SEIU Local 509. “This work clarified that collective action is not about any one individual, but about establishing conditions that allow us as educators to remain, contribute and care for our communities over time.”
THE TUFTS DAILY
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 2026
FEATURES
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FEATURES
Bring Jumbo home: 2 Tufts students lobby administration to bring Jumbo’s skeleton to campus Olivia Bye
Managing Editor
Originally published February 5. Senior Jack Wilan was digging through records of Tufts history in the Tufts Archival Research Center last fall when he became fixated on the story of Jumbo the Elephant. Wilan wasn’t looking to learn about Jumbo, Tufts’ beloved mascot who was once one of the most famous circus attractions in the world. Instead, he was looking for information about class year distinctions in the 1900s, the topic of his research project for the archival research seminar “Tufts in American History.” But after encountering Jumbo in story after story dating back over a century, Wilan quickly latched onto the mascot and its significance to Tufts’ history. "[Jumbo is] one of the few throughlines of the identity of the university,” Wilan said. ”[Both] Tufts students today and Tufts students 100 years ago, 150 years ago, would recognize [Jumbo] as an integral part of the university.” Like most students at Tufts, Wilan was already aware of Jumbo’s surface-level history, a legend repeated on campus tours and baked into the university’s identity. Jumbo was the star performer of showman Phineas T. Barnum’s legendary traveling circus show “The Greatest Show on Earth” from 1882 until 1885, when he was struck and killed by a train in St. Thomas, Ontario, Canada. Barnum, one of Tufts’ primary benefactors at the time and a founding member of the Board of Trustees, donated Jumbo’s hide to the Barnum Museum of Natural History in 1889, now known as Barnum Hall, a building he had personally commissioned. Lacking an official mascot, Tufts students adopted Jumbo as their unofficial mascot
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The Jumbo statue is pictured next to Barnum Hall.
before it was officially recognized by the school in the late 20th century. Throughout the years, students developed several traditions regarding the beloved stuffed elephant, including dropping pennies into his trunk and pulling on his tail for luck before exams. Even after Jumbo’s hide was destroyed in the 1975 Barnum Museum fire, the mascot’s influence continued to permeate the Tufts campus. Today, Tufts athletes touch a peanut butter jar of Jumbo’s ashes for luck before games, and Jumbo’s taxidermied tail is by far TARC’s most requested item for students to see. In his research, Wilan began to wonder where the rest of Jumbo’s remains were — namely, his skeleton. A quick search informed him that Jumbo’s skeleton had never been in Tufts’ possession, and had instead been donated by Barnum to the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. While the museum previously displayed the skeleton in their Hall of the Biology of Mammals until its closure in 1969, the bones were last found in 2017 to be sitting in the museum’s storage facilities in Brooklyn. “On one hand, we have this once living being, Jumbo the Elephant, with a fascinating story … that students here and alumni and professors and even the administration legitimately care about and are interested in,” Wilan said. “And at the same time, you have an actual skeleton, which has been in storage since forever and has no plans to be shown at all. There’s a real opportunity here to bring Jumbo back, to bring the story … of the real elephant back to the university.” With this, Wilan’s campaign to bring
Jumbo’s skeleton to Tufts was born. While he recognized the improbability of the university possessing the bones permanently, he envisioned the museum loaning them to Tufts for a temporary exhibition
on campus. Wilan sent an email to the Office of the President with his proposal, and was led to TARC director Dan Santamaria and Director of Tufts University Art Galleries Dina Deitsch. While Wilan was able to speak with both administrators last December, he expressed that he was met with concerns over a lack of space and funding impediments, leaving him unsatisfied. "[Jumbo] is the one thing that everyone in this university actually cares about and integral to our story … and your problem is that you don’t have space?” Wilan said. However, according to Santamaria, these constraints cannot be bridged, especially considering that Tufts has not had a natural history museum since the Barnum Museum and is not properly equipped to care for the skeleton. “Natural history artifacts of this size and scope require specific experience and expertise beyond staff at the Tufts University Art Galleries or in TARC,” Santamaria wrote in an email to the Daily. “There is also no exhibit space appropriate for display of an elephant skeleton on the Medford campus. The cost of safely transporting, storing, reassembling, and providing security for the skeleton would be extremely high.” Santamaria also noted that the likelihood of the AMNH loaning the bones of Jumbo to the university is extremely low, as Andrew McClellan, a professor of history of art and architecture, had already made a similar inquiry in 2014 while working on a Jumbo-based exhibition. He was told that Jumbo was a ‘type specimen’ for the species of African elephants and
could not be loaned. After a string of rocky meetings, the project appeared to have hit a dead end. That’s when Deitsch’s assistant pulled Wilan aside and informed him that another student had also reached out to her recently about a potential exhibition to honor Jumbo’s legacy. Stephen Strout, a Tufts graduate student in the Educational Studies program, first became aware of the history of Jumbo over the summer while teaching a Tufts College
Accelerator Seminar. The course, titled Critical Animal Studies, examined the relationships and systems of oppressionbetween humans and animals. While creating the curriculum for the course, Strout included Jumbo as a site of exploration for discussion on humane animal education. However, upon learning that P.T. Barnum’s treatment of Jumbo was consistent with cruel practices towards circus animals at the time, Strout wondered why Jumbo’s nuanced history lacked visibility on campus. He especially noted the lack of information on the plaque next to the statue of Jumbo outside of Barnum Hall. “You go to read that plaque, [and] it’s this cryptic nod to P.T. Barnum donating Jumbo, as if Jumbo is this entity that can be donated, and then Jumbo is positioned outside of Barnum Hall, the very man that kept him in chains,” Strout said. According to Strout, finding more information on Jumbo’s background and history required digging into the archives, like Wilan did. It was then that Strout connected with Four Paws, an animal welfare organization looking for a home for a sculpture of another elephant named Madhubala who had been rescued from inhumane zoo conditions in 2024. According to Strout, Four Paws had expressed interest in rehoming Madhubala to Tufts towards the end of 2025 as a nod to the university’s pachyderm mascot. However, according to Strout, Four Paws also requested that Tufts institutionally acknowledge the complexities of Jumbo’s story as a traveling circus animal should they acquire Madhubala. Although Strout was met with opposition, he connected with Wilan in January, where he found reassurance in learning of Wilan’s shared concern for Jumbo’s representation on campus. “When you’re met with apathy, you’re made to feel like you’re caring about something stupid … but meeting [Wilan] is like, okay, he’s coming at it from a different angle [of] returning Jumbo, but he’s also very interested in Jumbo’s true story,” he said. For both Wilan and Strout, the motivation to center Jumbo’s history and legacy on campus largely stems from a feeling of a lack of school spirit and identity. “I do think a lot of students here generally feel a lack of school spirit,” Wilan said. “There’s not a strong [school] identity … but Jumbo the elephant is actually one of the few things that I think people do feel strongly about.” Strout agreed, stating, “This school lacks identity more than any other academic institution I’ve ever been at. But you meet the students, you talk to the students … I’m so inspired by how awesome these people are, but they are not uplifted in the way I think they should be by the administration.”
Wilan’s decision to campaign for the exhibition of Jumbo’s skeleton comes after his frustration with a series of administrative decisions surrounding longstanding traditions at Tufts. This includes the university’s decision last fall to paint over the Tufts cannon weekly after announcing an adoption of institutional pluralism and the demolition of the former Zeta Psi house in 2025, a fraternity that had been active on campus from 1856 until it was disbanded in 2021 for violating Tufts’ COVID-19 guidelines. Wilan expressed frustration with what he viewed as a lack of response from both students and administrators to these significant changes regarding Tufts traditions. “As a student of history, it’s just upsetting to see no one giving a s--,” he said. “There’s just a lot of easy things that can be done [to] build spirit and build community.” Wilan and Strout both acknowledge that bringing Jumbo’s skeleton or Madhubala’s sculpture to Tufts are not easy tasks, and that significant costs and efforts would likely go into achieving such projects. But both students expressed a desire for the university’s administration to engage with the conversation in a deeper way than Wilan and Strout experienced in initial meetings. Their next steps in bringing Jumbo’s skeleton to campus are to gauge student support and general interest in the campaign. Wilan has drafted a petition that he plans to start collecting signatures for around campus, while Strout plans to take the petition to the Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts. Additionally, Strout aims to continue to be in talks with administrators at the Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine to lobby for the adoption of Madhubala’s sculpture. Santamaria agrees that other means of honoring Jumbo’s complicated history are worth pursuing. "[Jumbo] is a beloved mascot and symbol of community and connection but also an example of the impact of western colonization and of animal cruelty. I agree that it would be beneficial to tell the story of Jumbo in a more nuanced way,” he wrote. According to Santamaria, TARC is currently in the planning stages of a digital exhibit on Jumbo and would be interested in collaborating with students and faculty on campus to create the exhibit. However, Wilan continues to advocate for the retrieval of Jumbo’s bones, arguing it has potential to unite the Tufts community. “We have a passion for this university. We have a care for the university, for the spirit of the university, for the story of the university, for the story of Jumbo the elephant. There’s a real story to be told, and there’s a skeleton that’s [been] sitting in storage since the ‘70s. How do we inspire any sort of action?” he said.
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THE TUFTS DAILY
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 2026
How a heavily trafficked intersection motivated one group of students to take safety into their own hands Ellora Onion-De
Senior Features Editor
Originally published Nov. 21, 2025. “Unreasonable.” That is how one Tufts senior, granted anonymity to avoid legal ramifications, described the Somerville intersection between Curtis Street and Sunset Road. It’s an intersection that any student living on the side streets off of Curtis (known as Winthrop Street in Medford) will cross illegally anywhere from two to six times per day. However, there is no crosswalk at this popular crossing. Those who choose to scurry across the street illegally must peer down the wide and straight road to check for the cars that barrel towards Boston Avenue. After making it across, however, one is immediately connected to campus by a sidewalk that provides a straight shot to the popular study spot, Ginn Library. “It’s clear to anyone … that there should be a crosswalk where there’s just not a crosswalk,” the senior said. “If you were following the law, you would have to walk a minute in either direction to find an actual crosswalk, which would be an unreasonable expectation on anyone. And therefore it leads to lawlessness, because anyone … is going to cross illegally because there’s not
really another reasonable option.” Another student, junior Maddie Miniati, lives on Sunset Road and crosses the intersection every day to get to and from campus. While sometimes she opts to walk to the crosswalk at Professor’s Row and Curtis, other times that just isn’t where she wants to go. “The sidewalk is perfectly lined up, so it should just keep going into a crosswalk. Also, because there’s a [parking lot] there, it’s hard to tell who’s stopping when, who’s turning when, and not to mention Sunset itself is sort of a hidden turn to begin with, so a lot of people miss it anyway,” Miniati said. “So I think a crosswalk there would help everyone — drivers, pedestrians.” Miniati added that at night, “because you can’t really see over the hill, you kind of have to look out for lights … you have to watch out, because you can see the cars, but the cars can’t see you.” For the senior, he and his friends decided they couldn’t stand idly by and watch as people continued crossing the street despite the lack of a crosswalk and the speeding cars. “That intersection is dangerous and puts many students at risk. And so some friends and I considered, like, really, someone needs to do something about this,” he said. One of his friends tried to get in touch with a Somerville city coun-
cilor, but no change was brought about. The student’s theory as to why no concrete action has been taken to make the intersection safer has to do with its location. “I think part of the problem might be it’s an area that maybe is controlled by … Somerville, but it’s also adjacent to Tufts campus and directly adjacent to Medford,” he said. “So perhaps, no one body feels particular responsibility for it.” So the student, alongside some friends, decided to take an alternative route. Following published guidance from guerrilla crosswalk-painters in Los Angeles, the group secured ‘official’ paint for laying down crosswalks — it’s durable, water-resistant and thick. Next, they gathered the correct measurements for all Somerville crosswalks, which, notably, have different dimensions from the Medford crosswalks. “We spent a couple nights in a parking lot nearby doing tests, seeing how long [the paint] would take to dry and seeing how straight we [can] get the lines and such,” he said. And then in the middle of the night, the group donned high-visibility vests, put duct tape on the street and attempted to make a crosswalk. “We got a chalk line, and we got all the measurements down. We
marked … the exact measurements of where the lines should be … spaced apart as per Somerville regulation,” he said. “And then TUPD pulled up on our asses.” After the Tufts Police questioned their actions, the group ceased its operations. The plan was not perfect — the student said they had their concerns. One worry was that without a yield sign, if someone were to be hit by a car, they could blame the crosswalk. But, he said, someone could also be hit because it’s a dangerous intersection and there is no crosswalk. “The main concern was that … this would be a surprise for cars. You wouldn’t necessarily know that there’s a crosswalk there,” he said. To account for this problem, the group’s plan was also to order a “slow” or yield sign to install on either side of the crosswalk. After the operation didn’t go as planned, the senior had little faith that Tufts would advocate for a crosswalk. “I’ve had interactions with Tufts before, trying to get them to act locally — specifically on off-campus housing issues — in which they’ve been extremely hesitant to do anything because of potential liabilities. The university really doesn’t want to get involved in local issues, because they consider everything as
a potential opportunity for them to get sued,” he said. However, according to Rocco DiRico, the associate vice president of government and community relations at Tufts, no member of the Tufts community has brought the intersection to his attention. “If any students, faculty, or staff brought concerns to our attention, we work with the city to try and address the issue,” he wrote in a statement to the Daily. DiRico also wrote that “the safety and security of our students both on and off campus is a top priority for the university.” Regarding collaboration between Tufts and the cities of Medford and Somerville, DiRico said that the university “has a great working relationship” with the local communities, and has stepped in to assist during emergencies such as the COVID-19 pandemic. “And most importantly, we support our students, faculty, and staff that volunteer at countless nonprofits, schools, and government agencies,” he wrote. For now, masses of off-campus students will continue to cross the Sunset-Curtis intersection illegally. But maybe a crosswalk will exist one day — whether by student advocacy for a Tufts-Somerville collaboration … or by the surprise appearance of a crosswalk in the middle of the night.
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ARTS
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 2026
5
ARTS & POP CULTURE The decline in reading comprehension Claire LeCates
Deputy Arts Editor
Originally published April 8. When asked what I’m studying, I normally shrug and noncommittally say “English.” I want to make it clear that I’m aware it’s a somewhat romantic pursuit, set apart from the new standard of preprofessional studies and STEM obsessions that have spread throughout the undergraduate world. It’s easy to interrogate myself and try to identify the point of studying English literature. I find myself searching for an answer that feels like it’s moving further and further away in an increasingly artificial world. It’s no secret that the English major has been steadily declining in recent years. According to one report, English was the “fastest-declin[ing] major from 2013– 2018, with a 25.5% decrease in the number of graduates.” The discipline faces a real threat in the face of funding cuts to the humanities and the widespread proliferation of large language models such as OpenAI’s very popular ChatGPT. In response, university English departments try to widely advertise what the major offers. The Yale English Department website lists the benefits of an English major, one of which is “to acquire tools that will never lose value.” The department directly addresses concerns of the reduced value of an English degree as a result of artificial intelligence. “The ability to
learn to think as you write is something AI can’t replicate,” the website states. “Reading and writing cultivate the mind in ways that can’t be replaced by machines.” Tufts’ Department of English sends periodic emails to undecided undergraduate students, urging them to attend its open house to learn more about what the major offers. This cynicism about the state of the humanities arrives concurrently with a decline in reading comprehension. In 2025, National Assessment of Educational Progress scores showed alarming results: Roughly 40% of American fourth graders were underperforming in reading, scoring beneath the NAEP basic level. According to the NAEP, this means that “they likely cannot recognize a reason for a character’s action implied in a story.” Additionally, around a third of American eighth graders (“the largest percentage ever”) failed to reach the NAEP basic reading benchmark. In 2024, the NAEP found that only 35% of high school seniors were deemed prepared for college-level reading. It seems absurd that American students, belonging to one of the richest nations in the world, should be approaching functional illiteracy in the 21st century. While basic reading comprehension is, by some measures, at an all-time low, English grades have somehow improved overall. The ACT found that from 2010 to 2022, the number of A’s received in English rose from 47% to 56%.
Two students are pictured reading in the early 1980s.
While it’s difficult to measure grade inflation across universities, many professors seem to be desperately trying to pass underperforming students and, in doing so, lower the standard for an A. There are a few possible explanations for this sudden and severe decline in academic performance. One plausible explanation may be shortened attention spans. Gloria Mark, a psychology professor and researcher at the University of California, Irvine, is well known for her research on attention spans. When she first began measuring attention spans in 2004, the calculated average was 2.5 minutes. In 2012, that number decreased to 75 seconds, and in the last seven or eight years, it decreased again to 47 seconds. These statistics paint a worrying picture of the future, one where we become less and less able to focus our attention. Reading is one practice that seems to be at immense risk. Another feasible contributor to the reading comprehension decline is large language models. A new MIT study suggests that ChatGPT can interfere with learning and deteriorate basic critical thinking skills. Participants aged 18–39 were divided into three groups: one with access to ChatGPT, one with access to Google’s search engine and one with only their own minds as a resource. Participants were asked to write SAT-style essays while
their brain activity was recorded using an electroencephalogram. Researchers found that over the course of several months, “ChatGPT users got lazier with each subsequent essay, often resorting to copy-and-paste by the end of the study.” Their ChatGPT use had a measurable effect on brain activity, with the EEGs reporting “low executive control and attentional engagement.” Meanwhile, the brain-only group were both more satisfied with their essays and consistently showed the “highest neural connectivity.” The study makes it clear that, if ChatGPT use was continued, there would be detrimental effects to participants’ ability to think for themselves and stay engaged with their work. However, the study does not condemn AI use completely. After writing a first draft of the essays, participants were asked to rewrite them, this time with access to ChatGPT. Even while using ChatGPT to aid a rewrite, the brain-only group still showed “a significant increase in brain connectivity across all EEG frequency bands,” proving that AI use may actually be conducive to learning under specific conditions. Large language models are certainly the new Goliath threatening literacy, but they are working in conjunction with other forces in the education system. As Georgia Lavigne, a lecturer in Tufts’ English department, remarks, “there are methods of teaching reading at the elementary level that have pro-
liferated nationwide that actually impair some critical reading skills at early junctures.” It’s true, too, that websites like SparkNotes and LitCharts, which offer summaries and analyses of many texts, have become widely available to students. However, unlike ChatGPT summaries, these are written by graduate students and professors. Interestingly, SparkNotes has been owned by Barnes & Noble since 2001, though it seems counterintuitive given that it offers an abridged and simplified summary of the same books Barnes & Noble sells. It is easy to place the blame on artificial intelligence and online resources such as SparkNotes, but it is important to consider our own role in the national failure to sufficiently educate our children. An article in The Atlantic by Walt Hunter, a professor of English at Case Western Reserve University, encourages pushing students outside of their comfortable reading boundaries. According to Hunter, misunderstanding and confusion are integral to the reading comprehension process. Hunter suggests encouraging students to raise their hands and say something totally off-base about a convoluted passage, as long as that mistake is their own and not ChatGPT’s. Emphasizing the value of studying literature and accepting both its joys and inconveniences is a path forward.
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6
ARTS
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 2026
THE TUFTS DAILY
‘I Want Your Sex’ is a call for Gen Z to touch grass, and each other Noah Goldstein Staff Writer
Originally published April 28. Has Gregg Araki ever truly been a provocateur, or is he just a breezy, sex-positive activist stuck in an important filmmaker’s body? The anarchic energy of his early work points to the former, but his latest, despite its provocative title “I Want Your Sex,” suggests he may have evolved into something closer to the latter — if there’s a difference between them at all. Really, he just wants Gen Z to have fun, regardless of how many ball gags and handcuffs it takes to get there. In his first feature since “White Bird in a Blizzard” (2014), Araki has tapped Cooper Hoffman as the paragon for all ‘Zillenials’ — that is to say, he’s broke and sexually confused. In a trademark opening that vaguely recalls Billy Wilder’s “Sunset Boulevard,” Hoffman’s character Elliot is seen wearing only a bright pink bra as he drunkenly stumbles out to the back patio of a Los Angeles mansion. There, he finds world-renowned artist Erika Tracy (Olivia Wilde) drowning facedown in the swimming pool. It’s clear he’s too drunk to know how or why she ended up there. Flash back 9 ½ weeks — surely a wink at Adrian Lyne’s 1986 erotic landmark of the same name — and we’re at the start of their entanglement. As Elliot recalls it to the frowning detective duo (Margaret Cho and Johnny Knoxville) seated across from him in an interrogation room, it all began when he interviewed to become an assistant at Tracy’s studio. The artist — whose almost exclusively latex outfits make her look like an avant-garde Power Ranger — proceeds to engage him in one of the more awkward and, ironically, “not safe for work” job interviews ever, only to eventually reveal that he had the job all along. Tracy’s erotically-charged pop art — think vaginas rendered in chewed gum — is perhaps second only to Adrien Brody’s in terms of shallow trashiness, but for a penniless UCLA grad like Elliot, the gig is a dream come true, even if he complains to coworker Zap (Mason Gooding) that
the constant chewing will give him lock jaw. So when Tracy begins to seduce him, it comes with promises of both career advancement and sexual awakening. Even when Erika’s assistant, the scowling Vikktor (Daveed Diggs), warns Elliot that he is neither the first nor will he be the last assistant boy toy at the artist’s disposal; he pays little mind. It’s not like he has much to lose anyways. At least, that’s Elliot’s way of thinking of things. But as the film continues we begin to see how much worse this floundering 20-somethingyear-olds’ life can get. Initially, his relationship with the artist opens the door for all his wildest sexual fantasies to come to life, but soon enough, he’s in way over his head. In many ways, Araki uses Erika Tracy as a vessel to push his own philosophy. Though the director and his character almost certainly differ on some opinions — she is adamantly anti-woke and disregards the idea of a safe word in the bedroom — they share a common goal: get Gen Z to loosen up, both mentally and physically. Elliot isn’t the only one for whom understanding intimacy is difficult. In fact, in contrast to his girlfriend Minerva (Charli xcx), a graduate student who is almost exclusively stationed in bed with textbook in hand, Hoffman’s character looks like the next star of Playboy. Even when they do have sex — for Minerva, going at it yet again after only 11 days is almost unfathomable — it’s less of a passionate encounter than a mutual endurance test, conducted mostly in eye rolls. Elliot does find some solace in best friend and roommate Apple (“The Studio” breakout Chase Sui Wonders, here the highlight of a star-studded yet under-resourced cast) but when she too gets caught up in the affair via a hilariously bizarre ménage à trois, things take a turn for the even worse. At rock bottom, Elliot is heard recording a podcast — a running gag that shows the 66-year-old Araki has at least some knowledge of the younger generation’s obsessions — where he recounts his relationship with Tracy to be like a drug: the highest of highs and the lowest of lows. Rather ironically, the construction of Araki’s film proves
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Gregg Araki is pictured. similarly erratic. Some scenes — the Apple-Elliot-Erika threesome, the climactic sequence leading to Erika’s drowning — are genuine highs. When everyone keeps their clothes on, the film struggles to match them. Other aspects that are typically strengths in Araki’s rough-aroundthe-edges filmography, like the detailed production design or rowdy editing style, seem much too pared back in this piece. Given that this script lends itself to kitsch, especially in the hands of Araki,
who not only co-wrote it but practically defined the term ‘camp,’ it is easy to wonder why he didn’t go much further over the top. Had Araki made this film 20 years ago, it likely would have fallen in line with “Mysterious Skin” and the “Teen Apocalypse” trilogy as one of his best works. But now the director is older, and perhaps better psychologically tuned, which comes at the cost of a lessened willingness to go all-out. Truthfully, “I Want Your Sex” is ravishing entertainment that
draws strong performances — especially from Hoffman and Wonders — and moves briskly through its 90 minutes, but it lacks the flair and command that once defined Araki as one of his era’s most inventive directors. “I Want Your Sex” premiered at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival, and screened at Independent Film Festival Boston on April 24, 2026. It is set to be released in the United States via Magnolia Pictures on July 31, 2026.
8
OPINION
THE TUFTS DAILY
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 2026
OPINION Crazed obsession with queer media doesn’t mean authentic appreciation Olivia Zambrano
Executive Opinion Editor
Originally published March 12. Since its debut on HBO Max, “Heated Rivalry” (2025–) has amassed an astonishing 10.6 million U.S. viewers, with the two lead actors, Connor Storrie and Hudson Williams, achieving instantaneous Hollywood-level fame. The two experienced complete culture shock as they went from being everyday, run-of-themill restaurant servers to presenting at the Golden Globes, with Connor Storrie going on to host SNL and Hudson Williams appearing as a guest. While I expected “Heated Rivalry” to go platinum in queer communities, I never anticipated this level of fame or appreciation from the general public. Looking back, I should have. This insane surge in viewership and fan appreciation paralleled that of “Red, White & Royal Blue” (2023), a drama about the gay romance between the First Son of the United States and the Prince of Wales.
While queer audiences do consume and love these forms of queer media, it’s impossible to ignore the fact that “Heated Rivalry,” a show about gay men, went platinum with straight girls, who made up the majority of the viewers by the end of 2025. “Heated Rivalry” is a perfect springboard to unpack the fetishization of gay men in queer media and subsequently evaluate why gay media is so popular, while sapphic media slips through the cracks. Even in articles purporting to support it, the show is diluted to its sexual scenes and its ‘steamy’ nature. Critics often completely ignore the fact that, at its core, “Heated Rivalry” is a gut-wrenching drama about the traumatic experience of being closeted in a homophobic and heteronormative space. The story ultimately follows the characters as they build the courage to be outwardly queer and choose love. I find it sickening that this storyline is watered down to a sex show for straight women that offers an ‘alluring’ opportunity for them to impose themselves upon a queer romance. This romance isn’t for straight women. While I agree that it should be shared with and appreciated by non-queer
audiences, it’s not an opportunity for straight women to enjoy observing gay sex. This surge of female support, if we’re being realistic, is likely what made “Heated Rivalry” the pop culture phenomenon it is. What I find so intriguing is that this level of fame would never transpire with a sapphic show or movie. Viewership of the third season of “The L Word: Generation Q” (2019–2023), the sequel to the hit show “The L Word” (2004–2009), reached only a dismal 67,000 viewers compared to the staggering 10.6 million viewers of “Heated Rivalry.” While “Heated Rivalry” amasses support from both queer audiences and straight women, shows like “The L Word: Generation Q” and films such as “Bottoms” (2023) and “But I’m a Cheerleader” (1999) are largely created by and for sapphic audiences. As a result, they rarely enter the mainstream cultural zeitgeist in the way “Heated Rivalry” and other films about gay men have. When pondering why these sapphic films would never amass such a fanbase among the opposite gender, or even a large fanbase of straight girls, misogyny presents itself as the answer. Straight men and women likely don’t
particularly want to watch a heartwarming romance about two women simply because masculinity has been marketed so intensely. Consider the Bechdel test, which asks whether a film has at least two named female characters talking to each other about something other than a male character. Male-focused media is so widespread that a test had to be invented to assess whether a film even fully develops its female characters. Thus, unfortunately, it makes sense that a film wholly about a relationship between two women would never reach the same astonishing levels of fame as films about gay relationships have. Ultimately, the surge in “Heated Rivalry”‘s fame points to the fact that gay media has been heavily co-opted by straight, female fans. This fetishization of gay media also presents an opportunity to examine why sapphic media has never — and, in my opinion, will never — reach the same level of fame, no matter how much I wish it would. To combat this, I urge straight and queer consumers of media alike to appreciate, not fetishize, queer romance, whether gay or sapphic.
more deeply entrenched, self-censorship-causing fear: social anxiety. Social anxiety can often be found lurking in the background of self-censorship issues. Of the 55% of Americans who said they censored themselves in a 2022 survey from The New York Times, 57% said they were worried about retaliation. However, even more people had social concerns; 65% were afraid of being harshly criticized, and a whopping 94% were trying to avoid conflict. These social anxieties thrive in the classroom, where self-censorship stretches beyond a student’s personal beliefs to their interpretations of books or solutions to math problems. Many students fear being judged by other students for a wrong answer, thinking it will reflect poorly on their level of intelligence. This isn’t a new issue, either; it’s a seed planted in our early years, watered by the hellscape of pandemic-era Zoom classes and blooming in a competitive academic environment. As I approach teaching my students, I’ve been asking myself the question: What’s so wrong with being wrong? That feeling of shame or embarrassment that comes with a wrong answer is teaching us a lesson that shouldn’t go anywhere near our classrooms — that if we don’t feel 100% confident in our answers, we shouldn’t speak up. But while we may save ourselves a moment of unpleasant emotions, we’re in reality depriving ourselves, and our peers, from a crucial opportunity for learning. Studies show that making mistakes in the classroom is an extremely effective learning technique, which makes sense: Why would we even be
sitting in a classroom if we already fully understood what’s being taught? Unfortunately, shutting down instead of speaking up is a difficult instinct to train out of people. Our brains will oftentimes nearly shut down their centers of reasoning as a reaction to the fear of being wrong. What we need instead are classrooms of students and teachers who are ready to accept and encourage mistakes. This doesn’t mean we shouldn’t help a person find their way to a correct answer, or educate someone if they say something unintentionally (or even intentionally) offensive. It means that we need to resist
our urges to immediately correct and attack, and instead focus on the more nuanced process of educating. The most crucial first step to this process of education is creating an environment where making mistakes is normalized. Now that I’m standing on the other side of the classroom, my biggest wish — my challenge to my students, to all students — is this: Speak up. Be proudly wrong, or proudly misguided or even proudly and unexpectedly correct. By doing this, we can take the first steps toward a new culture of being wrong and learning from our mistakes.
Exercise your freedom to say the wrong thing
Liam Chalfonte
Former Executive Tufts Daily Magazine Editor
Originally published Sept. 2, 2025. There’s a special kind of anxiety I feel sitting in a room full of students, suspended in the silence between a professor’s question and the first raised hand. As I’ve spent the past week preparing to teach a class as part of Tufts’ Explorations program — a part of our Experimental College in which upper-level students instruct incoming first-years about a topic of their choice and help them adjust to college — I’ve been thinking, and worrying, about that dreaded silence. Why, in so many classrooms full of skilled learners, is this such a familiar phenomenon? If you’ve turned on the news at any point in the past decade, you’ve probably seen a rather insidious suggestion: political censorship. The phantom of cancellation, some claim, looms over the heads of well-meaning students, forcing them to bite their tongue on any speech that doesn’t fit their professor’s agenda. Particularly, this is a critique lobbied by conservative circles, who (admittedly correctly) point out that colleges tend to be left-leaning spaces. However, the reality isn’t so simple. Data shows that the gap in self-censorship between liberal and conservative students is not as wide as it can often be made out to be, being only around 6% higher for conservative students. This is hardly a surprise in a day and age where a fellow Tufts student can be kidnapped solely for voicing a left-leaning opinion. And while these political fears are legitimate, they might merely be a scapegoat for a
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THE TUFTS DAILY
SCIENCE
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 2026
9
SCIENCE The Rotjan Marine Ecology Lab settles into life at Tufts Addison Dion
Executive Science Editor
Originally published April 9. This fall, the Rotjan Marine Ecology Lab settled into its new home within the Department of Biology. Previously located at Boston University, the lab has brought along exciting marine biological research and bright researchers in its move to Tufts. Principal investigator Randi Rotjan (AG’07) is a Tufts alumna, earning her Ph.D. in biology prior to pursuing a postdoctoral fellowship at Harvard University. Prior to serving as a principal investigator and professor at BU, Rotjan ran a coral reef research program with the New England Aquarium. Today, she continues to work with nonprofit organizations supporting ocean conservation. In addition to conducting research at Tufts, Rotjan is an associate professor of biology and a Provost Catalyst Leader. This spring, Rotjan taught “Population and Community Ecology” and will be leading a seminar in marine biology in the fall alongside other biology faculty. Rotjan’s lab broadly focuses on marine ecology and evolution. For example, through research in metabolism, researchers in the lab can study how the ecology and evolution of organisms are predicted to shift with a changing climate. Additionally, the lab studies how deep-sea organisms work, what they do and how they fit into an ecosystem. Through thinking about corals and conservation, Rotjan believes that they can think more generally about “how to protect and buffer marine ecosystems from the coming change.” Located in the newly renovated Bacon Hall of the Medford/ Somerville campus, the Rotjan lab is home to an impressive array of equipment. Their aquarium systems have been designed to accommodate the needs of various species, from those that typically thrive in tropical environments to those that live in temperate environments. The precision of these systems allows for the safe collection of organisms from the field and enables the lab to store organisms for long-term research projects. The lab hosts many researchers, including principal investigator Rotjan, two visiting affiliate principal investigators, a lab coordinator, a lab tech, two postdocs, two Ph.D. students, 11 master’s students and 25 undergraduates. Jacob Jaskiel is a Ph.D. candidate at BU who began working for the Rotjan lab in the winter of 2017. He just defended his thesis on the early life history and population dynamics of larval tuna. Following his graduation this spring, Jaskiel plans to pursue a post-doctoral fellowship at Tufts. “Randi [has been] like a ‘Noah’s Ark’ for a lot of students,” Jaskiel said.
ADDISON DION / THE TUFTS DAILY
The aquarium set-up in the Rotjan Marine Ecology Lab is pictured. He mentioned that she’s always trying to get people involved, which has greatly helped in both the relocation of the lab and its various research projects. Both Jaskiel and Rotjan alluded to the phrase “a rising tide floats all boats” as their lab’s motto. Recently, many researchers in the Rotjan lab have been sifting through a large data set of plankton that came from the Sea Education Association in the Pacific Ocean. They had been collecting samples on their cruises for many years, and now undergraduates and Ph.D. students alike are working together to quantify the data. Having been processing, sorting and quality-checking this data since he was an undergraduate, Jaskiel is excited to finally have enough data to “synthesize some of the things we’ve been working on for over a decade.” He contends that there are many ecological projects to be explored from the data, such as the potential to work with different zooplankton and fish assemblages. Being a 10-year member of the Rotjan lab, Jaskiel is amazed at the progress of the plankton project, from the collection of samples to finally seeing the data come to life. “The life cycle of that project has been really awesome,” he said. Taylor Lindsay, a postdoctoral researcher for the Rotjan lab, specializes in a species of temperate coral called ‘Astrangia poculata.’ She’s interested in how mothers invest in their eggs, as well as variations in energetics along different gradients, such as light, food or latitude. Beginning her position in September, Lindsay mentioned that much of her work thus far has been supporting the lab’s move to Tufts. From
buying new equipment to building up the facility, she remarked that, until recently, they hadn’t had the necessary resources in place to conduct research. With the aquarium systems up and running, Lindsay has recently been able to conduct her first fieldwork period alongside other researchers. Regarding future research with Astrangia poculata, Lindsay plans to collect specimens along the East Coast, from North Carolina to Cape Cod. She’s interested in how they “differ along that latitudinal gradient.” On a closer scale, she’s interested in exploring local specimens and how they spawn over the course of the summer. Lindsay believes that it’s been beneficial to have such a large network of people to rely on with varied research focuses. She joked that Rotjan is “like an octopus,” using her expertise in marine biology to support numerous research endeavors and curious young scientists. Despite their varying research interests, Rotjan believes her lab members collectively lean into complexity, embracing intricacy and intersectionality. “We don’t just work with one organism. We ask questions and then, whatever tools we need, or organisms lend themselves to those questions in whatever ecosystem, that’s what we follow,” she said. To strike a balance, Rotjan tries to run a field program, a wet lab program and a computational program simultaneously. She contends that all three are necessary to truly understand the ocean’s complexities. First, time in the field allows researchers to experience organisms firsthand,
situating them within the context in which they are studying through scuba, snorkel or intertidal work. Locally, an agreement with the University of Rhode Island has enabled lab members to conduct scuba diving projects at its facilities. Through this, they can collect data or conduct underwater experiments, such as studying the natural ecology of a species in its habitat. Requiring a longer journey, the lab also plans to embark on research cruises in the coming years. The team conducted a trip to the Miami area in February, collecting samples and getting used to working on the water. In addition to sampling along the East Coast, the Rotjan lab also collects organisms from the equatorial Pacific. Deep-sea coral research is one of the academic areas supported by these expeditions. To fully understand the research, however, computational analysis is required. While far away and often time-limited, computer modeling technology allows researchers in Medford to simulate the deep-sea environment their fellow researchers are experiencing. One expedition can support the work of many, spanning oceans and bridging research gaps. Finally, wet-lab work might involve taking corals from the field and measuring various aspects of their metabolism, from heart rate to responses to changing conditions. Interest in ecological research is currently growing on the Medford/ Somerville campus and beyond. Tufts is currently developing a new program in collaboration with the Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences to accommodate
this interest, in which master’s students have the opportunity to live in Maine and take classes related to the marine sciences. “There’s about to be a whole lot of marine bio here at Tufts,” Rotjan said. All three lab members praised the Tufts biology department for its welcoming nature throughout the move. “It just feels a little different,” Jaskiel said. “It’s fresh and new and exciting.” Lindsay seemed to share the same sentiment, reflecting that it’s been a learning curve. “There’s so much to learn when you join a new institution, and we’re all just trying to figure it out,” she said. “The vibes in the department have not changed over 20 years, which is pretty amazing,” Rotjan said. “It’s a really collaborative, really joyful, really, really high standard-of-excellence department.” Rotjan also remarked that she’s excited to be sharing a space with other departments and welcomes the possibility of collaboration this brings, especially with peers within the School of Engineering and the Department of Earth and Climate Sciences. “You share the same space. You run into each other all the time. Your students are back and forth, taking each other’s classes, and the collaborative potential just kind of unfolds,” she said. Only time can tell what fascinating discoveries will come out of the Rotjan Marine Ecology Lab. Whatever they may be, the lab’s arrival on campus has certainly ushered in a new wave of excitement surrounding marine biological research at Tufts.
10
SPORTS
THE TUFTS DAILY
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 2026
SPORTS The unassuming athletic powerhouse in a city of giants Ben Lable Staff Writer
Originally published March 27. When people think of Tufts University, they think of strong academics, Jumbo the elephant and a tight-knit community marked by quirky personalities. Unbeknownst to most, however, Tufts has quietly developed into an athletic powerhouse at the Division III level, despite the general lack of interest among the student body and attention from the university tour guides. In a city with four massively popular professional sports teams — Atlantic Coast Conference football at Boston College, Northeastern and Boston University hockey and Harvard’s Ivy League matchups — it is easy to see how a small Division III school wouldn’t be portrayed as a ‘sports school.’ Let’s get it straight: I don’t intend to convince you that Tufts is, by any means, a ‘sports school’ in the way that LSU, Alabama, Michigan or USC are. Their football stadiums seat tens of thousands of people, while our football players sit on folding chairs after coming off the field. They also have tons of nationally-televised games, have fanbases across the globe tuning in and are allowed to pay their players. If anything, they operate more like professional franchises than collegiate teams. However, Tufts has quietly established itself as one of the top programs in Division III athletics, deserving recognition as an elite and well-rounded sports institution. There is a little-known competition, both within and outside the collegiate athletics realm, called the Learfield Directors’ Cup. Schools get points based on their teams’ placements at NCAA tournaments, with a national championship adding 100 points. At the Division III level, the top 18 sports are counted for the cup, four of which must be men’s basketball, men’s soccer, women’s basketball and women’s soccer. The next-highest 14 sports, regardless of gender, are then used in the standings. In 2021–22, Tufts earned its first-ever Learfield Directors’ Cup and has since placed second, fourth and third. As for this year, Tufts sits very comfortably in first place after putting up the third-highest scoring fall season ever with 485 points. Let’s start with the team that has solidified this fall season lead in the standings. Tufts soccer isn’t just good — it’s elite. This year, we didn’t have just one incredible program, but two, as both the men’s and women’s soccer teams brought home NESCAC titles, with the men also winning the national championship.. The women’s team came into the season ranked No. 18 in the country
by the United Soccer Coaches poll and rose as high as No. 3 late in the season. After winning the NESCAC championship, they entered the NCAA tournament behind 2025 NESCAC Player of the Year Elsi Aires and Defensive Player of the Year Lena Sugrue, both seniors. Ultimately, the Jumbos lost in the Final Four, capping off a season with a record of 18 wins, three ties, and just two losses. The men, on the other hand, found their way to the finals of the NCAA tournament in Salem, Va. to face off against Trinity University. Down 1–0 with under 10 seconds left in the game, senior Mateo Bargana scored an absolute screamer to tie the final and set up overtime. If that shot had sailed a little high, the game would have ended, leaving the Jumbos trophyless. However, when overtime started, Tufts’ success felt like fate. Five minutes into overtime, junior Xavier Canfin scored the walk-off goal that brought the national championship back to Medford for the fifth time since 2014. The Jumbos finished the year with 20 wins, just one loss and three ties, a dominant season for a program that has solidified itself at the top of Division III and is likely to compete for years to come under head coach Kyle Dezotell. Tufts was the only college, at all levels, to boast two national championships in the fall season, with women’s field hockey also taking home the trophy. Thanks to senior Hannah Biccard, who scored the game-winner after the NCAA finals against Johns Hopkins went to overtime, the Jumbos secured the title. She was later named the 2025
National Field Hockey Coaches Association National Player of the Year at the Division III level. Women’s volleyball brought home the NESCAC title and the NESCAC Coaching Staff of the Year award while managing to put together a run to the regional finals at the NCAA tournament. This largely came out of nowhere, which adds to the impressiveness of their accomplishments. In the preseason American Volleyball Coaches Association poll, the Jumbos were nowhere near the top 25 and weren’t on any of the voters’ ballots. The cross-country teams rounded out the fall success. The men’s squad secured seventh place at the NCAA championships, their first NESCAC title since 2012, while the women’s team placed 11th overall. Entering the winter season, Tufts slowed down their pace slightly. Women’s swimming followed suit behind Madeleine Dunn, the 2026 NESCAC Swimmer of the Year. She propelled the Jumbos to the runner-up spot in the NESCAC championships and 12th place overall at nationals. Men’s swimming and diving was equally competitive in the NESCAC as they also brought home second place but finished 25th at nationals. While track and field is midway through its season, the men have already shown potential to bring home the eventual NESCAC title after falling narrowly to Amherst in the New England Division III Indoor Championships. The women, however, will be the team to beat in May, as they placed first at the same tournament. At the NCAA Division III Indoor Championships, sophomore Elysse Cumberland won
Tufts men’s soccer celebrates their 2025 NCAA DIII Championship win.
her second straight indoor triple jump national title, helping lead the women’s track and field team to a tie for ninth place. The final winter team that will be bringing in points for the Learfield Directors’ Cup is men’s basketball. Carried by senior and NESCAC Player of the Year Scott Gyimesi, the Jumbos recently lost in the Elite 8 of the NCAA tournament, just their second trip all time and the first of many to come under coach Brandon Linton. Now, if this year has shown anything, it is that Tufts competes at a high level across a wide variety of sports. What is even more surprising is that the spring season could be even more dominant than the seasons before it. Both women’s rowing and men’s lacrosse currently hold back-toback NCAA titles, and all evidence suggests they are both favorites to complete the three-peat. Men’s lacrosse is currently on a 35-game winning streak after seven wins to start this season, a mark that dates back to the 2024 NCAA tournament. This means that in the 2025 season, they went a perfect 23–0. As for women’s rowing, they took home first place at the Head of the Charles Regatta earlier this year, their third straight title at the prestigious event, a sign that definitely points toward them defending their national title again. The other spring sports teams also have high expectations set for them. Women’s lacrosse currently sits at No. 3 in the Intercollegiate Women’s Lacrosse Coaches Association Coaches Poll after defeating former No. 3 Colby and No. 6 Gettysburg. They are coming off a season
in which they won the NESCAC title and made a run to the NCAA finals, where they narrowly lost 10–9 to Middlebury. The stakes are just as high for men’s tennis. Although they lost 2025 NESCAC Player of the Year Vuk Vuksanovic, the team still sits at No. 2 in the latest Intercollegiate Tennis Association poll and recently defeated No. 1 Claremont-MuddScripps 4–3. After last season’s heartbreaking loss in the NCAA semifinals, they will look to finally bring a national title home to Medford. As for the rest of the spring sports, softball is looking to repeat as NESCAC champions and make a deeper run in the NCAA tournament. Baseball is already off to an 11–2 start, an impressive turnaround after finishing last season at 16–21. Women’s tennis sits at No. 16 in the ITA rankings and should be poised for a strong run in the NCAA tournament. All of this goes to show that Tufts operates like an elite sports school, with tons of teams making deep NCAA runs, winning NESCAC championships and garnering all different types of awards. While this year has already started off so dominant for the ‘Bos, this coming spring has the potential to be nothing short of historic and should bring home another Learfield Directors’ Cup. With momentum carrying across multiple teams, this season could solidify that reputation and add another chapter to an already impressive run of success. While it is highly unlikely that Tufts will ever shift to Division I, their recent success should set the stage for sustained dominance in Division III for years to come.
COURTESY TUFTS ATHLETICS
THE TUFTS DAILY
SPORTS
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 2026
11
Fantasy football permeates students’ lives Jaden Gardiola
Former Staff Writer
Originally published Nov. 25, 2025. In preparation for this article, I was sitting in Tisch Library writing questions for interviews when, either serendipitously or ordained by a higher power, I overheard a strikingly topical conversation. One student said to another that they didn’t understand fantasy football before explaining that fantasy football couldn’t possibly be worth as much time as some students offer to it; after all, ‘fantasy’ is in the name. For many students in leagues across campus, however, fantasy football a real source of entertainment and joy. Tufts junior Aaron Dickson compared his fondness for fantasy football to an affinity for literature. “I think it’s just something that’s consistent, and everybody ends up finding their passion somewhere,” Dickson said. “I might not understand someone that wants to sit here in Tisch and read books for eight hours a day. But if that brings [someone else] happiness, then good for them.” Dickson, who, at the time of his interview, was first in his league’s standings, elaborated, saying that a large part of fantasy’s appeal lies in its ability to connect him to American football. “I think one big thing is it helps me connect with the sport on a better level,” Dickson said. “Before I started fantasy, I didn’t really watch a ton of football. But now it’s a priority, almost, to tune into as many games as I can and see how my players are performing.” Fantasy football is an online game based on the real-life performances of professional football players in the NFL. Users assemble teams of NFL players, who, depending on their in-game performance, score an arbitrary number of points week in and week out, which contribute to a user’s team’s total. Each week, the team you assemble is pitted against another team. By the end of the week, the team with the most points wins. Senior Jordan Port said fantasy football’s unpredictability plays a large role in the draw and in what makes it so much fun. “I think it’s just exciting. You never know what can happen,” Port said. “You get a little dopamine rush when you see your player get a huge touchdown.” For fellow senior Jacob Kao, who, at the time of his interview, sat atop his league, the allure of fantasy sports, inaneness aside, comes at least in part from the feeling of responsibility a manager has over their team. “It’s in the name. … It’s completely made up,” Kao said. ”[But] it gives you the feeling that you’re the coach of a team and that you’re responsible for selecting a lineup.” Kao added that the aspect of being in a league with friends
GRAPHIC BY EMILY O'HEARN makes the activity heavily appealing as well, describing his fantasy league as “a fun activity that we all can do together.” Each interviewee noted that, while fantasy sports have a unique ability to create community, in many leagues, this quality often materializes in uncompromising trash talk. Kao, for example, said that since his league’s members are largely Tufts students, chatter in his league happens both online and in person. With regard to the latter, Kao said the topic of fantasy football can often fuel faceto-face conversation between league members. “It’s probably like the first thing we talk about,” Kao said. ”[We say things] like, ‘I destroyed you,’ or ‘you destroyed me.’... It gives you an excuse to talk about something.” Port, who is a member of the league in which Kao sits in first place, said fantasy football “is
just another way for us to interact with each other.” Similarly, Dickson said he occasionally engages in face-toface trash talk with his fellow league members on campus. He recalled one instance of pride this season when one of his players, Las Vegas Raiders wide receiver Tre Tucker, performed shockingly well for Dickson’s team, despite limited expectations that he would do so. In some fantasy football leagues, pride isn’t all that’s at stake — money may be on the line, in which managers will “buy in” to the league at the start of the season to create a large amount of prize money for the league’s top teams to claim at the end. In others, humiliating punishments performed by the team in last place incentivize performance. In order to prepare for the upcoming week, managers are tasked with proactively researching and understanding favorable
statistics among their players, so as to hopefully predict which players might maximize their team’s weekly point output. “You kind of get like a little dopamine rush when you see your player get a huge touchdown or something like that,” Port said. ”[Fantasy football is] a harmless way to make watching football even more fun, because now you can really focus on specific players, even if it’s not your team that you’re rooting for.” Even still, most players — Dickson, Kao and Port included — would agree that a large part of fantasy sports is inherently luckbased. Kao began playing fantasy football in middle school, while both Port and Dickson picked up fantasy football in high school. Despite starting at different stages of their respective lives, all three have found success playing. Clearly, experience is almost certainly not a deciding factor in success.
“At the end of the day, it’s pretty hard to predict when someone’s going to get injured, or someone’s going to have a down day,” Port said. “Fantasy is pretty volatile, so sometimes you’ll have a really good week, and then the next week you’ll be terrible.” To the notion that there is, inherently, an asinine quality to fantasy football, Port, like Dickson, described fantasy football as an activity that people feel strongly or passionately about that gives them joy. “I’d say that a lot of the things that we do in life are kind of fake, in a way,” Port said. He compared fantasy football to collecting items as a hobby. “It gives you joy and you enjoy spending the time looking into it.” What lengths would managers go to win their fantasy leagues? With egos, money and the prospect of humiliation on the line, for some, the stakes couldn’t be higher. Dickson put it best: “You know sometimes you have to burn some bridges along the way,” Dickson said.
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