Tufts Observer (2025)

04/09/2025

GIM tOO gOOd tO miss.👀

This cOming Tuesday, dOn’t miss us in the Crane Room at 8pm to discuss the exciting OppOrtunities to get involved this semester. This includes writing, creating, designing, and more.

Reach out to us with any questions!

P.S. catch us at the club fair in section J this Saturday, September 6th from 1-4pm to ask questions and learn more!
Reach

16/05/2025

From Inception to Drift, another semester of Observing has come and gone. We present to you some (mostly) never seen before scenes of this semester at the O! 😱
Thank you to all our amazing Observers and readers for our 130th year- we'll be back next semester!! 💫💫

09/05/2025

“Departments across Tufts are grappling with the practical effects of the cuts, which vary depending on their reliance on federal research dollars. Some faculty members have already begun to scale back or even pause their projects, unable
to secure the funding needed to continue.”

Slash and Burn: Federal Funding Cuts and the Response from Tufts by Mallika Sinha

Art by Ruby Marlow
Print Design by Unmani Tewari
Graphic Design by Emilia Ferreira

08/05/2025

“Sidechat succeeds because it meets student needs and offers something that Tufts culture does not: a space to be candid, find belonging, and feel heard without social consequences. It is a refuge for loneliness and a megaphone for the voiceless. It can both nurture connection and foster conflict.”

Anonymous Karma by Jason Lee

Art by Jaylin Cho
Print Design by Unmani Tewari
Graphic Design by Julianna Rodriguez

ID 1. A collage of magenta and pink-grey illustrations of arrows are placed atop a dark grey background. In the lower right corner of the page is an illustration of a femme-presenting person laying on their stomach and using their phone. Atop the phone are two emerging illustrations: a pink, cracking heart & a yellow-orange textbox. On the top of the page, placed on top of a magenta box in bold white text, is the following: “Anonymous Karma by Jason Lee”
ID 2. On the same dark grey background is a collage of magenta and pink-grey illustrations of arrows. In the middle of the page, placed on top of a magenta box, is the following quote from the piece written in bold white text: “Sidechat succeeds because it meets student needs and offers something that Tufts culture does not: a space to be candid, find belonging, and feel heard without social consequences. It is a refuge for loneliness and a megaphone for the voiceless. It can both nurture connection and foster conflict.”

07/05/2025

“After several months of delays, the Boston Ave. residence hall eventually won approval from the Medford Community Development Board on February 5, 2025… Based on the university’s projection, the Boston Ave. residence hall could be open for the class of 2028’s senior year.”

Making Room or Taking Space? Boston Ave. Residence Hall By Lecia Sun

Art by Felix Yu
Print Design by Ruby Offer
Graphic Design by Nina Zimmerman

ID 1) The image has a yellow backdrop. In the bottom half, there is a grey image of students looking up at a building with trees and grass surrounding it. In the top half, “Making Room or Taking Space?” Is written in capital letters with a haunted looking brown font. Just below reads “Boston Ave. Residence Hall” and “By Lecia Sun” in the same brown font.
ID 2) The background is the same yellow as the first image, this time the image in the bottom half is white and very faint. It looks like a few white shapes on top of the yellow background. The text reads “After several months of delays, the Boston Ave. residence hall eventually won approval from the Medford Community Development Board on February 5, 2025… Based on the university’s projection, the Boston Ave. residence hall could be open for the class of 2028’s senior year.”

06/05/2025

“Is it possible to foster an open intellectual environment in a culture where the cost of speaking up often feels higher than the cost of staying silent?”

The Silent Killer: Censorship on College Campuses by Ishana Dasgupta

Art by Isabel Mahoney
Print Design by Allen Wang
Graphic Design by Alexa Licairac

ID 1) The first image features a bold, layered title reading “The Silent Killer: Censorship” in varying shades of grey, pink, and maroon. The author’s name, “By Ishana Dasgupta,” appears below in smaller grey text. The background is dominated by a stylized, high-contrast image of a retro blonde woman in a short dress, posed on her hands and knees in front of a blurred wall of books. A thick, bright pink bar censors her eyes.
ID 2) The second image zooms in on the woman’s face and torso, continuing the pop-art aesthetic with bright, unnatural colors and sharp outlines. Her eyes remain obscured by the same bright pink bar. Overlaying there is light pink text quote: “Is it possible to foster an open intellectual environment in a culture where the cost of speaking up often feels higher than the cost of staying silent?”

05/05/2025

“The Observer joins a multitude of students, organizations, staff, alumni, and the school administration itself in condemning the detainment and unjust treatment of Tufts doctoral student Rümeysa Öztürk.”

A Statement on Current Events By Ashlie Doucette, Lucy Belknap, and Sofia Valdebenito

Print Design by Ahmed Fouad
Graphic Design by Emilia Ferreira

ID 1) A grainy dark purple pattern lines the top and bottom of the square, with the rest of the image being covered in a blue collaged image of leaves. In bold, italicized lettering reads “A Statement on Current Events By Ashlie Doucette, Lucy Belknap, & Sofia Valdebenito”

2, 3, 4) The same grainy purple pattern lines the top and bottom of the images, with a larger band in the middle on top of the blue leaves. On the second slide and inside the large purple band in the middle reads, “First and foremost, the Observer joins a multitude of students, organizations, staff, alumni, and the school administration itself in condemning the detainment and unjust treatment of Tufts doctoral student Rümeysa Öztürk.” The third slide with the same design reads, “While these and similar actions by the Trump administration necessitate the work of journalists to accurately communicate them to the public, to say that the circumstances of Öztürk’s targeting put student publications in a difficult position would be a severe understatement. We at the Observer have felt a deep tension between our urge to cover the details and nuances of these topics in full and our instinct to protect the safety of our staff and contributors above all else,” and the last slide reads, “We understand that choosing not to write about difficult or controversial topics is exactly the response the Trump administration desires, where each new case like Öztürk’s only reinforces the “chilling effect” that has spread across the broader public and college campuses in particular. All of this to say, we want to make clear that our efforts to cover these issues are far from over. We hope that you, our readers and contributors, will continue to join us here.”

18/04/2025

“What do you call a wanting with nowhere to go? An ache that never arrives?”
Wanting Her Was the Kindness By Anh Ngo

Art: Lyla Sowder-Yuson
Print Design: Katie Ogden
Graphic Design: Alexa Licairac

ID 1) The background features a surreal grayscale portrait of a young woman with long black hair, gazing intensely outward. The left half of her face is peeled open like a hinged mask, revealing a vivid, full-color scene inside: a quiet, tree-lined street with telephone poles and painted road markings. At the top, the title "Wanting Her Was the Kindness" is written in soft green text, with the author’s name “By Anh Ngo” in bold italic black font underneath.

ID 2) The second slide zooms in on the inner scene of the open face, focusing on the vibrant street and sky. Overlaying the center of the image is a semi-transparent light gray text box, containing a quote in large green font: “What do you call a wanting with nowhere to go? An ache that never arrives?”

18/04/2025

“Is it possible to love something I no longer know? Perhaps I am foolish to believe that nothing is ever over until it is.”

NostalgiaProblem by Devon Chang

Art by Leila Toubia
Print Design by Meg Duncan
Graphic Design by Julianna Rodriguez

ID:
1) A muted-tone collage composed of various cutouts from two illustrations of bananas. In the center of the collage is an illustration of a banana, slightly warped and glitched. Above the illustration, in bold white font, reads the title: “NostalgiaProblem by Devon Chang”

2) A similarly designed collage background derived from the same illustrations. In the center of the page is the following quote from the text: “Is it possible to love something I no longer know? Perhaps I am foolish to believe that nothing is ever over until it is.”

16/04/2025

“We drive up the coast in May, and love
the world out the window: rockface, forest, fjord. Me,

wearing your t-shirt like a dress, peeling an orange, because you love
how citruses taste like spring, and how me-

ssy I am eating them, juice dripping down my chin.”

Golden Shovel for Norwegian Honey By Anna Rylandsholm

Art by Isabel Mahoney
Print Design by Rachel Li
Graphic Design by Nina Zimmerman

ID 1) The background is a golden orange color, with red images/outlines of a face and other abstract shapes in the foreground. The font is imperfect and handwritten in black ink, reading “Golden Shovel for Norwegian Honey” and “By Anna Rylandsholm.”

ID 2) In the second slide the background is the same golden orange. On the left side, there is a much clearer red image of a girl’s face, along with other red abstract shapes, taking up less than a quarter of the page. On the other 3/4 is the quote typed in black font “We drive up the coast in May, and love the world out the window: rockface, forest, fjord. Me,/ wearing your t-shirt like a dress, peeling an orange, because you love how circuses taste like spring, and how me- /ssy I am eating them, juice dripping down my chin.”

15/04/2025

“I can’t escape it: in the night I burn and in the day I drift.”

On Swan Swallowing By Elanor Kinderman

Art by Ruby Marlow
Print Design by Umani Twari
Graphic Design by Emilia Ferreira

14/04/2025

“By creating a tangible record of our words, we breathe newfound longevity into our ideas and allow them to be communicated to readers around the world.”
“As you make your way through this issue, it is my hope that at least a few of you find a kindred spirit, and realise that there is always hope somewhere.”

Letter from the Editor by Ivi Fung and Demi Ajibola

Art by Katharine (Kay) Glimcher
Graphic Design by Emilia Ferreira

ID 1) A dark purple background with white, blue, and purple marbled swirls and white stars is under the text “Letters from the Editors” and “Ivi Fung & Demi Ajibola” in bold white lettering.
2) Over the same purple background are the quotes from the respective letters that read, “By creating a tangible record of our words, we breathe newfound longevity into our ideas and allow them to be communicated to readers around the world” and “As you make your way through this issue, it is my hope that at least a few of you find a kindred spirit, and realise that there is always hope somewhere.”

Tufts Observer

04/09/2025

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