THE TUFTS DAILY Est
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Where You AM Showers Read It First 48/32 THE TUFTS DAILY Est. 1980 VOLUME LXIII, NUMBER 39 THURsday, MARCH 29, 2012 TUFTSDAILY.COM David Harris selected Judiciary rules Friends of Israel ad not in as university provost violation of Senate bylaw University President Anthony BY LAINA PIERA Senate has come to an agreement upon in question to remove ambiguity. Monaco yesterday in an email to Daily Editorial Board the issue.” The third issue was whether the sena- the Tufts community announced The Judiciary accepted the com- tors in question violated the bylaw as it the selection of David Harris as the The Tufts Community Union (TCU) plaint and held the public hearing. Cory currently stands. The Judiciary in a 4-2 university’s next provost and senior Judiciary, after a public hearing Tuesday Faragon, a senior, and Matt Parsons, a vote decided that the senators did not vice president. night, decided by a vote of 4-2 that the junior, joined Zuniga as complaintants, violate the bylaw in question. Harris is an expert on race and eth- seven TCU senators that signed the in accordance with a clause in the TCU Until the bylaw is clarified, the bylaw nicity, social stratification and public Friends of Israel (FOI) advertisement in Constitution which states that at least is going to be interpreted to “forbid the policy. He is currently senior associate the Tufts Daily earlier this month did not three members of the TCU must sub- use of Senate’s name as the subject in dean at Cornell University’s College of violate any Senate bylaws in signing the mit the complaint. All three complain- statements that are claiming to repre- Arts and Sciences. advertisement. tants are current members of Students sent the body as a whole, such as ‘The He has previously served as for- for Justice in Palestine (SJP), but they Senate supports/believes,’” according mer deputy assistant secretary in The Controversy submitted the complaint independently to Bodwin’s email. the U.S. Department of Health and The advertisement in question was from the organization. Human Services, as Cornell’s first published on the back page of the March Prior to the hearing, Kaytrosh had sub- The Opening Statements vice provost for social sciences, the 5 issue of the Tufts Daily. The top of the mitted a motion that the Judiciary dismiss The hearing began with a five-minute first deputy provost of the univer- page reads “As a student leader at Tufts, the complaint on the grounds that the opening statement from the complain- sity, interim senior vice provost for I support the U.S.-Israel Relationship” Judiciary doesn’t have the constitutional tants and the defendants. research and as interim provost. He followed by the names of forty student authority to hear the complaint, but the “On March 5th, in the middle of a was also previously associate chair leaders, along with their titles and orga- Judiciary dismissed the motion under the two-week series of events for Israeli of the Department of Sociology at nizations. Of those, seven currently serve grounds that the accusations named in Apartheid Week and Israel Peace Week, the University of Michigan and is as TCU senators: Jon Danzig, a senior, the complaint qualified as a reason for a Tufts Friends of Israel, along with Tufts the founding director of Cornell’s Matt Roy, a freshman, Arielle Evans, a Judiciary hearing, according to Judiciary American Israel Alliance ... published Institute for the Social Sciences. sophomore, Ali Silverstein, a sopho- Chair Greg Bodwin, a junior. a full page ad on the back of the Tufts “He has an exceptional record of more, Tim Lesinski, a senior, Dan Katter, Daily,” Zuniga said. “Given the timing of scholarship and academic leadership a freshman, and TCU Parliamentarian The Verdict its publication, it’s undeniable that the at Cornell, one of this country’s great J.P. Kaytrosh, a senior. The Judiciary ruled on three central ad was supposed to send a message to research universities,” Monaco said After the list of names, there is a dis- issues brought up at the hearing. the campus about which side of the line in his email to the community. “He claimer that states “The views expressed The first was with regards to the way these students leaders stood on in recent is committed to the core values that are my own and do not represent the in which the wording of the bylaw would political discourse.” define Tufts as an institution of aca- positions or opinions of my stated leader- be interpreted. The Judiciary by a 6-0-0 “Senators, more than other student demic excellence and global impact, ship role or organization.” vote ruled that the “bylaw is to be inter- leaders, carry social capital with their including active citizenship, access After the advertisement was pub- preted by a reasonable interpretation of titles and should not use it to influence and diversity.” lished, Jimmy Zuniga, a senior, filed its wording.” others,” he added. According to a Tufts University press a complaint against the senators to “We have two reasons behind this: Zuniga said that he does not believe release, Harris already feels a connec- the Judiciary, as well as to the Office first, the standard of intent cannot always that the disclaimer on the bottom of the tion to Tufts. of Campus Life and the Committee be applied, since its creators are not advertisement does enough to erase any “I feel a strong kinship with Tufts, on Student Life. In his complaint, he always as accessible as they were tonight,” social capital generated from their titles. from its founding traditions of liberal addressed Bylaw 2, Section 9 of the Bodwin said in an email to the attendees “Senators are supposed to be repre- arts, social justice, practicality, inclu- Senate bylaws, which states that “the of the hearing. “Second, it’s necessary to sentatives for the student body,” he said. siveness and internationalism, to its passage of legislation shall be required the functioning of student government “They are not supposed to alienate their contemporary commitments to access, before the official position, view, deci- that outsiders are able to understand constituents or use the Senate name with- enhanced research and strategic man- sion, or endorsement of Senate may be its rules; if they are to be interpreted by out Senate sanction to endorse political agement,” Harris said. determined, advertised, or announced. intent, this is impossible.” stances. ... The senators who signed the His position is effective July 1. To this end, no individual may use the The second issue was with regards to FOI ad thus failed to adhere to their own Senate’s name or logo in advocating on the ambiguity in the wording of the bylaw bylaws.” behalf of projects, ideas, or initiatives in question. The Judiciary in a 6-0-0 vote “If they really didn’t mean to express —by Laina Piera without a supporting piece of legis- decided to mandate that the Senate lation unless it is clearly stated that change or clarify the wording of the bylaw see JUDICIARY, page 2 Nasr leaving Tufts to become SAIS Photographers speak to aspiring photographers, filmmakers dean at Johns Hopkins Vali Nasr (LA ‘83), pro- holds a Ph.D. in political sci- fessor of international poli- ence from MIT. tics at the Fletcher School Nasr is an expert in politi- of Law and Diplomacy, will cal and social developments leave Tufts to assume the in the Muslim world, democ- position of dean of the Paul racy promotion and interna- H. Nitze School of Advanced tional politics. From 2009 to International Studies at 2011, he was senior advisor Johns Hopkins University, the to U.S. Special Representative Fletcher School announced for Afghanistan and Pakistan Tuesday in a press release. Richard Holbrooke. He is also Nasr will assume his position a columnist for Bloomberg at Johns Hopkins on July 1. View and a member of the Nasr is currently associate U.S. Department of State’s director of the Fares Center Foreign Affairs Policy Board. for Eastern Mediterranean Nasr has authored sever- Studies. al books on Middle Eastern He graduated summa cum political affairs, includ- laude and Phi Beta Kappa ing “The Shia Revival: How from Tufts in 1983 with a Conflicts within Islam Will degree in international rela- Shape the Future” (2006), a tions and earned a master’s New York Times best seller. degree from the Fletcher He joined the faculty of JUSTIN MCCALLUM / THE TUFTS daily School in international eco- the Fletcher School in 2007. Magnum Photographer Antoine D’Agata (right) and his colleagues Peter von Agtmael and Susan Meiselas nomics and Middle East stud- (not pictured) spoke to the students of the Program for Narrative and Documentary Practice and Exposure ies the following year. He also —by Craig Frucht in the Alumnae Lounge. Inside this issue Today’s sections The Daily takes an in- ‘The Jazz Club’ runs News 1 Editorial | Letters 12 depth look at the roles Thursday through of the Educational Saturday at the Cohen Features 3 Op-Ed 13 Policy Committee. Auditorium. Weekender 5Comics 16 Arts & Living 7 Sports 19 see FEATURES, page 3 see ARTS, page 7 2 THE TUF T S DAILY NEWS Thursday, March 29, 2012 Judicial hearing explores interpretation, meaning of Senate bylaw JUDICIARY continued from page 1 the views of their organization, they shouldn’t have so carelessly flashed the Senate name along with their titles,” he added. “Their decision to endorse this statement without Senate consent repre- sented not an exercise of free speech and public discourse, but rather an attempt to misuse their titles to hamper the very possibility of public discourse at Tufts.” Kaytrosh said that the bylaw has never previously been construed to stop members of the Senate from stat- ing their beliefs.