News & Events: Publications: The E-News

May 2005  |  Volume 1, Issue 1, Page 4


Salil Bhandari, peer teacher, watches as a student in his Magic course performs at the Anniversary Party at Hotung Cafe.
  

Forty Years and Counting
(continued from page 1)

With the anniversary logo secured, the ExCollege began preparing for their birthday bash in April of 2004 at Hotung Cafe. Fliers were posted all over campus to advertise the party. The cannon was painted by two work-study students and the then Program Assistant, Terin Holbrook, on a rainy night to let all of Tufts in on the ExCollege's celebration.

Perspectives leader Brad Callow, A '04, and his band, The Residents, provided musical entertainment at Hotung while visiting lecturers, ExCollege alumni, and students got together to celebrate the department's history. Associate Director Howard Woolf and Allan Rice, A '04, prepared a retrospective documentary to visually illustrate the ExCollege's growth through the last 40 years, while students in a peer-taught course on magic entertained tables with their newly learned skills.


Former faculty and student board members, peer teachers & seminar leaders, and friends of the ExCollege join in the Anniversary Dinner.
 

Moving to the Fall, Elliot Freeman, A '04, this year's Program Assistant, assembled his own visual display of the ExCollege's development at Tufts through a month-long display in Tisch Library. The exhibit featured timelines, alumni profiles, and controversial courses that the ExCollege has sponsored throughout the years.

To cap off the year of celebration, the ExCollege hosted a 40th Anniversary Dinner for faculty, alumni, and friends during Homecoming Weekend in October. It was a grand success with over 70 people reminiscing about the past and helping us to plan for the future.

With the last 40 years behind them, the ExCollege staff is hard at work producing courses and events worthy enough to have their own celebration in the future.


Dean of Students Bruce Reitman, students Marchaun Morrison and Zeleka Yeraswork, and Economics lecturer Anna Hardman listen to student Laura Fruitman.
 

Opening Up The Classroom
(continued from page 2)

A great deal of useful information was elicited at the table discussions alone. The dinnertime “Expectations” dialogue considered how pre-conceptions of Tufts University led to both students and faculty/staff finding themselves eventually on the Medford campus. Tables were asked, “What attracted you to Tufts?” and “How would you have described Tufts to someone else before you got here?”

It appeared that the unparalleled primary attraction to Tufts was its respectable academic reputation.  Beyond academics, attendees reported that Tufts' appeal came from offering the best of both worlds: a suburban campus outside a major city, a university with "small school" feel despite a "big school" range of opportunities, and a place of high academic rigor without cut-throat competition.

Tables were also asked to brainstorm ideas for what the most important aspects are of the university experience. This was an opportunity for students to share their activities and concerns juxtaposed with those of faculty and staff members from their college days. Responses ranged from the importance of teaching students how to think, to having a culture of school spirit, to having an understanding administration. Some conversations then turned to possible gaps between expectations of Tufts and students’ and faculty members’ experiences, causing some to take issue with the media’s portrayal of college life.

When each table was asked to identify one part of the Tufts experience they’d most like to change, there was a surprisingly ubiquitous call for expanded public gathering facilities to be used for casual interaction between students and faculty. Other changes involved improving on-campus housing, making better use of our proximity to Boston, and creating more ethnic diversity. Of the Tufts virtues noted that shouldn’t be changed, students and faculty alike sang the praises of Tufts’ commitment to academic freedom, varied extracurricular opportunities, and opportunities for innovation. The event was a great success in allowing students and faculty to interact in an engaging manner and walk away with new ideas about the Tufts experience.
 

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