$100 million microfinance fund established by eBay A capella group Enchant- founder helps small businesses worldwide ed breaks into crowded see FEATURES / PAGE 4 campus scene Men’s squash end their season as Chaffee Cup SEE WEEKENDER / PAGE 6 champions see SPORTS / PAGE 10 THE INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF TUFTS UNIVERSITY EST. 1980 THE TUFTS DAILY VOLUME LXXI, NUMBER 22 MEDFORD/SOMERVILLE, MASS. THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2016 tuftsdaily.com Faculty passes resolution Annual ‘It Happens instituting Indigenous People’s Day Here’ event by Emma Steiner and Vibhav Prakasam News Editor and Assistant News Editor discusses student The Arts and Sciences and experiences with Engineering (AS&E) faculty voted yes- terday afternoon in favor of replac- ing Columbus Day with Indigenous sexual assault People’s Day in the university’s academ- ic calendars. The vote, which passed by Ariel Barbieri-Aghib with one objection and two absten- Assistant News Editor tions among approximately 60 faculty members, took place during yesterday’s Students packed Cohen Auditorium AS&E faculty meeting from 12:00 p.m. for the third annual “It Happens to 1:20 p.m. in the Coolidge Room of Here” event last night, where students Ballou Hall. gathered to listen to the personal sto- This faculty vote, based on the Dec. 6 ries of their peers with sexual vio- Tufts Community Union (TCU) Senate lence on campus. The program, which resolution that promotes the recog- was organized by the Consent Culture nition of Indigenous People’s Day, Network (CCN) at Tufts, began at means that all Tufts AS&E academic cal- Middlebury College in 2011, and was endars will now list Indigenous People’s ALEX KNAPP / THE TUFTS DAILY first presented at Tufts in April 2014. Day in place of Columbus Day on the Students in support of Indigenous People’s Day gathered outside of Ballou Hall Feb. 24 The event focused on highlighting second Monday of October each year. while faculty voted on proposed change. the anonymous experiences of sur- While the vote does not affect the vivors of sexual assault through the calendars of Tufts schools such as the People’s Day resolution, along with movement, referencing a letter of sup- Middlebury-initiated forum, which School of Medicine and the Fletcher TCU Vice President junior Gauri Seth port circulated among faculty express- allows students who have experienced School of Law and Diplomacy, Benya and Diversity & Community Affairs ing solidarity and alliance with the sexual violence to submit their person- Kraus, chair of TCU Student Outreach Officer sophomore Anna Del Castillo. student coalition. A total of 61 facul- al accounts for another student to read Committee, said that the Indigenous TCU Senate has twice passed resolu- ty members from a diverse range of on stage. People’s Day at Tufts coalition may be tions in support of Indigenous People’s departments signed on in support of Last night’s event opened with pursuing further efforts to institute this Day, reaching the faculty voting body Indigenous People’s Day. the CCN providing a list of on-cam- change. once before in 2014 — only to be voted Visiting Assistant Professor of Native pus and off-campus resources for The Senate resolution also calls for down. The current resolution, which American and Critical Indigenous dealing with sexual harassment and special events to be held on Indigenous was unanimously passed by Senate on Studies Matt Hooley, author of the fac- assault. A screen inside Cohen list- People’s Day in order to acknowledge Dec. 6, 2015, was a slightly edited ver- ulty letter of support, told the Daily ed three different specialists stationed indigenous communities and raise sion of the original resolution written that changing the name of the holiday in the Aidekman Arts Center and awareness. The specific nature of the by Andrew Nuñez (LA ’15) and Genesis would allow the university to acknowl- the Remis Sculpture Court through- events is intentionally not specified in Garcia (LA ’15). The reworking of the edge and discuss how it is implicated in out the duration of the event. Nandi the resolution to allow room for dis- resolution called not only for a name the oppression of indigenous peoples Bynoe, sexual misconduct resource cussion of what indigenous communi- change in the holiday, but also for pro- and to start creating more space for specialist, Alexandra Donovan, sexu- ties or peoples want and need, Kraus, gramming in recognition of indigenous indigenous communities both on the al misconduct prevention specialist, a sophomore, said. Any programming communities to be held on Indigenous Medford/Somerville campus and out- and Humanist-in-Residence Walker would focus on centering indigenous People’s Day. side the university. Bristol were all available to speak to voices at Tufts and in the surrounding Kraus and Breza, a first-year, dis- Kraus and Breza said that it is par- students. communities, she said. cussed the importance of the movement ticularly important that Tufts has taken During the event, which lasted As faculty entered Ballou Hall for and the significant amount of support this first step in acknowledging indig- around two hours, students of vari- the meeting, about 20 students stood the resolution has received from the enous people’s history, as the univer- ous genders read aloud 34 stories that silently nearby holding signs reading Tufts community. The resolution had sity’s Medford/Somerville campus sits had been submitted anonymously to “#IPDatTufts.” Students continued to received widespread support from both on the land that once belonged to the the CCN. stand outside the building through- students and faculty, Kraus said. She Wampanoag Tribe. According to the Audience members had varied out the duration of the meeting as noted that at least 50 student groups tribe’s website, the tribe once popu- reactions to hearing submitted sto- a symbol of solidarity in the move- had signed on to support the resolu- lated the entire area from present day ries, sharing hugs, tears and affec- ment to promote Indigenous People’s tion, and that the online petition in Provincetown, Mass. to Narragansett Bay. tionate gestures throughout the event, Day, according to the Facebook support of the resolution had over 1,200 Kraus noted that the date of the and reminding one another about the event, “Show of Solidarity for student signatures when it was deliv- meeting had been scheduled during developing support network for survi- Indigenous Peoples’ Day.” ered to the faculty committee yesterday Majors Week, a time when many fac- vors of sexual assault at Tufts. The faculty vote was preceded by before the vote, surpassing a similar ulty members may have been impeded The third iteration of “It Happens a brief presentation by Kraus and Feb. 2 petition at Brown University by from attending due to the majors-relat- Here” provided an outlet for people TCU Senate’s LGBT Community about 100 signatures. ed events. Specifically, the vote was on to discuss their personal experienc- Representative Parker Breza, both of Kraus also noted the significant whom co-authored the Indigenous amount of faculty support for the see INDIGENOUS PEOPLE'S DAY, page 2 see IT HAPPENS HERE, page 2 For breaking news, our content archive and Contact Us NEWS............................................1 Please P.O. Box 53018, COMICS ......................................7 recycle this exclusive content, visit newspaper Medford, MA 02155 FEATURES ................................4 tuftsdaily.com OPINION ....................................8 617 627 3090 ARTS & LIVING ......................5 Cloudy FAX 617 627 3910 /thetuftsdaily @tuftsdaily tuftsdaily tuftsdaily SPORTS ....................................10 56 / 33 [email protected] WEEKENDER...........................6 2 THE TUFTS DAILY | NEWS | Thursday, February 25, 2016 tuftsdaily.com THE TUFTS DAILY ‘Indigenous People’s Day’ to replace ‘Columbus Day’ in all SARAH ZHENG AS&E calendars Editor-in-Chief INDIGENOUS PEOPLE'S DAY success of the student group in securing members on this question. The central EDITORIAL continued from page 1 a positive faculty vote and acknowl- administration will continue to stay Nicholas Golden the same day as Majors Week events of edged the importance of yesterday’s apprised of these discussions and con- Mengqi Sun the History department, Anthropology discussion on this issue. sider additional steps as appropriate.” Managing Editors department and the Consortium “This is a matter on which it is Tufts now joins universi- Nicholas Pfosi Associate Editor of Studies in Race, Colonialism and important to hear from the universi- ties such as Brown, Cornell Diaspora (RCD), whose faculty mem- ty-wide community,” Thurler told the University and the University of Arin Kerstein Executive News Editor Isha Fahad News Editors bers had shown particular support for Daily in a statement. “We understand California, Berkeley in celebrat- Abby Feldman the resolution, she explained. Kraus that AS&E students have already begun ing Indigenous People’s Day instead of Melissa Kain Sophie Lehrenbaum said that this scheduling of the vote and reaching out to students on our Boston Columbus Day. Emma Steiner the potential absence of faculty from and Grafton campuses. The history of Kraus added that the Indigenous Ariel Barbieri-Aghib Assistant News Editors Kyle Blacklock those departments could have signifi- the proposal and the recent positive People’s Day at Tufts coalition plans Gil Jacobson cantly affected turnout of supportive vote by the AS&E faculty will also be to organize a rally of support in the Robert Katz Liam Knox faculty. Regardless, the vote was passed shared with the university’s academic future, which would bring indigenous Catherine Perloff successfully. and administrative leadership councils. speakers, artists, performers and food Vibhav Prakasam Hannah Uebele Kim Thurler, the executive director Each school will need to consider how as a celebration of indigenous commu- John “Joe” Walsh of public relations, congratulated the best to engage their respective faculty nities and history.