Somerville, MA, May 7, 2014 – Despite being distracted by exams and end of year ceremonies and activities, Tufts University students twice recently took to the streets and the Quad to protest policies and conditions they see as unfair and abusive – in favor of janitors and against poor treatment of sexual violence victims – and in the latter case, they appear to have made their mark.
On May 1, over 300 students, alumnae and faculty marched from the Tisch Library to the administration building, ringing it with a “human chain,” to show their disapproval of what they and the U.S. Department of Education say is the university’s poor treatment of sexual violence victims.
“It is our right to not walk past our rapist! It is our right not to wonder if our rapist is in this audience right now!” one speaker shouted to the crowd before the march started.
Tufts has been under investigation for its alleged poor policies related to sexual violence victims since 2008. On April 17 of this year, Tufts signed an agreement with the Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights (OCR) in which it agreed to a list of policy changes. However, on April 26, upon hearing that the department had determined it risks being declared out of compliance with the gender equity law Title IX, The Tufts administration suddenly backed out of the accord.
Students immediately mobilized to demand the university return to the agreement. Over 1,000 people signed an online petition and then hundreds showed up in the Tufts Quad.
“I am here today as an alum. I went through a lot of these processes on my own and with my friends,” Somerville resident and Tufts alumna Lexi Sasanow told Somerville Neighborhood News. “I know a lot of people who want nothing to do with this university after having graduated.”
When the government released its “Not Alone” report on sexual violence on campus late last month, it noted that 55 colleges and universities are currently under investigation for the way they handle sexual abuse reports. Six of them are in Massachusetts. Schools risk losing federal funding if found in violation of Title IX.
Following the demonstration, and a meeting with a student delegation, the administration agreed to return to OCR agreement, to fund a new position called “Response and Resource Coordinator,” and to undertake a number of other steps.
“The university regrest that recent events had the unintended consequence of causing some members of our community to feel unsupported,” the administration said in a May 1 statement.
A week earlier, on April 26, scores students, janitors and staff marched through the Quad to protest alleged violations of the janitors’ contact. Tufts is not party to the 2013 contract between the multinational billion-dollar properties giant DTZ and the 32BJ-SEIU (Service Employees International Union), but students in the Tufts Labor Coalition (TLC) said they want the university to weigh in.
“Tufts doesn’t employ the janitors, but it employs the janitors’ employer,” junior Giovana Castro, a member of the TLC, explained. “DTZ right now is breaking two parts of the janitors contract and so we wanted to show the administration and show DTZ that the student body is paying attention and that we care about what’s going on.”
Following the march, the students presented the administration with a list of demands. According to students, workers and the union, DTZ is violating the contract in two ways: by issuing vacation checks as a lump sum rather than with weekly checks, and by not moving as many part-time positions to full-time as is promised in the contract.
Worker Paula Castillo has spent almost 17 years cleaning the classrooms, hallways and bathrooms at Tufts while working for the various subcontractors Tufts has hired.
“This company is violating our contract,” she told Somerville Neighborhood News. “We are under huge pressure at work. They are not making enough of the positions full-time.”
Roxana Rivera, district leader of 32BJ-SEIU, said that she hopes the university will put pressure on DTZ.
“We have always believed that these goals of good full-time work and quality standards cannot be accomplished without Tufts or institutions like them actually stepping up, because they’re the ones that hire contractors. They need to say what standards they want,” she said.
In response to the letter and the march, Tufts issued a statement where it promised to respond to students’ concerns by the end of the term. However, the administration also pointed out that Tufts is not part of the contract between DTZ and the union.
“The SEIU/DTZ labor agreement provide for a formal, legal structure for resolution of disputes. We hope that our custodians will take advantage of this process if they believe that DTZ is violating provisions of the contract,” Director of Public Relations Kimberly M. Thurler wrote in her April 27 statement.
DTZ refused to comment, saying it does not speak to the media.
