Tufts is back on top. The softball team clinched Tufts’ third-ever Div. III national title — the first for the program — with a 6-5 win over SUNY Cortland in Eau Claire, Wisc. on Monday afternoon.

The Jumbos capped their undefeated run throughout tournament play with a thrilling, come-from-behind victory to notch Tufts’ second national title this year. Though head coach Cheryl Milligan sent rising junior ace Allyson Fournier to the hill — coming in sporting a 24-1 record and sub-1.00 ERA — Cortland drew first blood with a lead-off home run to open the game.

Despite the setback, Tufts fired right back in the bottom half of the frame, tying the score at one on rising senior catcher Jo Clair’s home run. The Jumbos then took the lead in the second when rising junior first baseman Kris Parr smacked a solo shot, later extending that lead to 3-1 in the third when rising junior outfielder Bri Keenan scored on a wild pitch.

After cutting Tufts’ lead to one in the fourth, Cortland surged ahead with a three-run fifth inning. Trailing 5-3, the Jumbos answered with three runs of their own in the bottom half to pull ahead. Another rising junior outfielder, Michelle Cooprider, knotted the score at 5-5 with a two-run double before rising junior second baseman Gracie Marshall put Tufts on top with an RBI single.

Though faced with her biggest test all year by far on Monday, Fournier took it from there, retiring the final seven batters to cap off the win, in which she surrendered 12 hits and five runs while striking out eight. A 46-3 Tufts squad concluded its title run with 19 consecutive victories, and to the surprise of many, all but three players are set to return and compete for another title next season.

Tyler Maher contributed reporting to this post

Chloe Feinberg ('96) with her children Ava, Charlie and Oliver eating the frozen treat. Credit Tim Lienhart

It was hard to miss the line around the frozen yogurt machines when walking into Dewick last Monday and Tuesday. Herds of people gathered to sample Dewick’s new frozen dessert feature, Chloe’s Soft Serve Fruit. People were even heard in class commenting to each other on how long they waited on line to try this stuff. But what was it? A unique concoction of fruity deliciousness coming out of a frozen yogurt machine that looked like frozen yogurt, but it wasn’t.

As it turns out, Tufts Dining Services converted the usual ice cream/frozen yogurt machine to serve Chloe’s Soft Serve Fruit Co.  This fresh new dessert feature, Chloe’s Soft Serve Fruit, is made of only three ingredients: “fruit, water and a touch of organic cane sugar.”  Chloe’s Soft Serve Fruit tastes creamy and decadent, but is dairy-free and a single serving is less than 90 calories.  The best part is: there is no need to worry about how much you eat because there is no guilt in indulging in this uniquely tasty treat!

Imagine the creamy consistency of frozen yogurt, the wholesome benefits of fruit, and the sweetness of one’s favorite frozen dessert, but without all of the artificial ingredients that often go unnoticed.  It is hard to understand without tasting it how something can be so good, yet made of only three simple ingredients (all of which you can pronounce!).

During the sampling, most commented on the lack of after taste compared with the typical frozen yogurt found in the machines at Dewick. This healthy treat is also gluten free, vegan and Kosher Pareve for all of those with any dietary restrictions or preferences. Such a commitment to healthy choices is clearly at the core of Tufts Dining’s principles, which was well-received by the students and evidenced by the comment board last week.

The product alone was wonderful but the story is even more interesting.

Alums Feinberg and Epstein. Credit Stefan Thaleman.

Two of the founders Chloe (Feinberg ’96) and Jason Epstein (’96) went to Tufts and frequented the Tufts Dining Halls. After Tufts Chloe went to Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law and became a Manhattan Assistant District Attorney. Jason has been a lifelong entrepreneur and is currently a partner in a private equity fund in New York. Together, they have a six year old and twin five year old children.

“I think my love for social dining originated at Dewick-Macphie,” said Feinberg. “Crazy but true.”

“We created Chloe’s Soft Serve Fruit Co. with the intention of bringing the consumer the joy of frozen treats without the artificial ingredients, allergens and most importantly, the guilt,” she continued. “It truly satiates the frozen treat craving. We started the company almost 3 years ago and to be able to return to Tufts is a real thrill and just another reason to visit more frequently.”

Jason Epstein is also thrilled to contribute to his alma mater. “I made a commitment to give back to Tufts and it’s great that Chloe’s Soft Serve Fruit Co. can help promote clean eating on campus,” Epstein added.

Trigger Warning: this post discusses sexual assault and rape.

ASAP posted testimonials inside the Campus Center.

In the face of national incidents such as the Stuebenville rape cases, the Tufts community has come together to speak out against the rape culture on college campuses across the country.

Students may have seen the testimonials of sexual assault survivors in the Mayer Campus Center, and others may have heard the so called “consent vigilantes” outside the buses before they departed for Winter Bash.

Some of the leading voices in this educational and activist movement have been members of Tufts Action for Sexual Assault Prevention (ASAP) and the Consent Culture Network.

“We’re really trying to be a pressence for consent, promote awareness of it, and promote awareness of the resources on campus,” said freshman Bruce Bausk, a member of ASAP, told the Daily.

Nate Matthews, a sophomore who participates in both groups, explained how CCN grew out of collaboration across various groups.

“The original idea for Consent Culture Network was to bring together a bunch of different groups that were concerned with consent issues, there was ASAP which was at the time called PACT which combined with SAFER, SPEAC, Vox, the Women’s Center, SAGE, certain parts of the Greek Community,” he told the Daily.

Members of both groups teamed up recently to produce a fun-spirited video aimed at educating viewers on the serious subject.

“I was thinking about all the different things that people use as excuses for victim blaming, and those are like ‘they were wearing something sexy, or cause they had sex in the past’ or they were asking for it because they started having sex with me, or whatever,” said Matthews, who came up with the idea for the video. “But none of those are excuses because you are still forcing people to do something they don’t want to do and traumatizing them.”

Matthews initially struggled with how to make the message more relatable, but found universality in an off-beat food.

“So i thought, what could be a metaphor to explain this? What if it were food?” he told the Daily. “The only time I had ever seen a person wear clothes that support a certain type of food was the ‘Eat more Kale’ shirts, so that’s why it became Kale.”

The video, titled Asking for Kale, has gone viral much to the excitement of Bruce Bausk, a freshman member of ASAP and star in the short.

“I think it’s been really well received,” said Bausk. “The last time I checked it had over 800 views, and that’s great considering it’s only been up for a few days.” To date, the video has now received over 1,200 views. One viewer was even inspired to teach on the subject matter.

“One of my friends wants told me now she wants to teach a course in the ExCollege ‘Kale and Social Movements’ and she was like, “This is perfect for my class! I’m totally going to incorporate it!,’ ” Bausk said.

Matthews told the Daily “Asking for Kale” has been circulating beyond the Hill, having friends from other colleges contact him to say they liked the video.

“I feel like Tufts needed it because everyone in the world needs it,” he said. “We’d like to emphasize that yes, rape happens at Tufts, there is rape culture at Tufts, but that’s because it’s everywhere, and it’s not a Tufts specific problem.”

ASAP and CCN are planing more projects similar to these, including posters campaigns, tabling at events, and another upcoming video on “how to ask for consent sexily,” according to Bausk.

As the groups move forward, Matthews is hopeful that work like “Asking for Kale” will continue to have an impact on campus and beyond.

“My hope is that [the video is] well done, it’s a good way to explain it, and thus people who are concerned with consent will try to use it as a tool to educate against the ingrained victim blaming system,” Matthews said.

Courtesy Abby Setterholm

As quickly as she set foot on campus, Abby Setterholm, a junior at Tufts University, set her eyes on the Balch Arena Stage and got involved in student theater.

“I always performed in high school,” said Setterholm. “I chose to attend Tufts, because the theater opportunities were so available.”

Since freshmen year, Setterholm stage-managed six productions, most recently Pen, Paint and Pretzel’s (3P’s) spring major “Alice in Wonderland.”

Setterholm, though, appears on the stage herself in Tufts’ own HYPE! Mime Troupe, which celebrates its fifteenth anniversary this year with a performance this evening in Cohen Auditorium at 8PM.

As HYPE! turns fifteen, Setterholm reflected on the audition for the group which she describes as a “very creative collective.”

“I was blown away that Tufts had a mime troupe,” said sophomore Kevin Criscione, another member of the troupe. “The absurdity of it was just fascinating, and I wanted to be involved in this exotic theatrical group, not a full scale production.”

Criscione joined what he describes as a “close-knit group of imaginative, and more than able” mimes last year. HYPE! is the only collegiate mime troupe in all of New England, with less than a handful nationwide, according to Criscione.

“We take pride in the skits,” remarked Criscione. “[Especially those] that run deeper than comedy, and our best shows offer a blend of humor and stronger motifs.”

Their fall show featured this very mix, ranging from dramatic skits such as “Tock Tick,” to more humorous skits such as “A Very Civil War” in which, prompted by Vivaldi’s “Four Seasons,” the retelling of the American “Civil War” becomes a very “civil” war.

Rarely have Tufts freshmen ever seen live pantomime performances before their arrival, like Ryan Fleer who was delighted to watch HYPE! perform at the Orientation Supershow, a performance where Tufts performing groups showcase their art.

“I never expected to see an actual mime troupe when I came to college,” Fleer said, “but now I can’t imagine Tufts without it.”

The art of pantomime, though ancient, lives on through HYPE! Their skits and their mimes ensure that the art form remain relevant to the contemporary theater community.

“There’s enough universality within people’s bodies,” Setterholm said, her eyes aglow, “to make people cry, laugh out loud, think, and tell a story.”

After their last nights dancing on the Cohen Auditorium stage, the seniors Spirit of Color (SoC) dance group were emotional and nostalgic. Take a look at their ’senior dance’ one last time and hear about their favorite moments dancing over the last four years:

Warning: Explicit language.

This is the ninth installment of Madeline Hall’s column “Weird Love” which discusses the many oddities of affection as they appear in the year after the world didn’t end.

The first time I fell in love with someone was also the first instance that I lost love. I was just shy of 12, and I had fallen in love with a gap-toothed kid with a bowl cut, an aesthetic combination that I hope he grew into or out of. If anything at all was true in the world, it was that I loved him. This knowledge existed in tandem with the understanding that no one else would understand, though. I knew that. I knew that no one could take this blistering feeling seriously, despite its very real burn.

But I didn’t have physical proof that I loved him until my heart broke into perfect halves the day he moved away. It wasn’t until that moment that I understood the extent of my devotion, young as it was. So goes the story of the day I learned that absence made my heart grow fonder – February 27th, to this day, conjures faint shadows of the lamentation I entertained all those years ago.

We lose “loved ones” more often than comfort would ideally allow. And they are lost in all manners of avenues – death, departure, dwindling of fire. In the course of this column I’ve written about love as it exists, but never of its loss. And I defend that decision up until now; I can’t presume to speak complete truth to an experience that knows no limits of variation, and perhaps more varied than love in its emotional manifestations is the loss of love itself. But an end is nearing in the lives of every Tufts student, be it the end of a year, an undergraduate education, or of love in the instances of some who I know. If my departure from my chipper tone dismays you, it will only be so long as to allow a little grief in a few paragraphs.

A reader I know once lost a love to a sudden death before she could vocalize it; freak meningitis thrust a loss upon her before she could ever fully express it. Other readers lose love every time they must sit their love on a plane and send it across the country or across the world; San Diego and Spain swallow love in different time zones. Still others lose love, peaceably and civilly through an end of a relationship, but must see its shadow on campus walking to classes and living a life separately that used to be so intertwined. These are all losses in their own right, irrespective of their physical presence or absence.

Simply put, love in the absence of the loved, in the absence of its reciprocation, takes tolls.

After a certain point in life, loss of love sounded like Bob Dylan’s “Boots of Spanish Leather” to me. The pleading, lyrical conversation between Dylan and his departing love was offered to me by a friend enacting their own departure from my life. Despite their situational relevance, the lyrics still stand to encompass much of what I’ve felt about loss since that time. On good days since, material trinkets from the mountains of Madrid have successfully unraveled the knot of loss in my stomach and offered some substitution for that which I miss. But on harder days, there’s nothing to prevent that rope from winding again.

Much like I asserted that love isn’t found, I believe love can’t be fully lost either. There are alterations made to loves, of course; you sift affection through different nets and sieves and filter the life out of it, fundamentally changing its composition without destroying its form. These changes create that sense of falling through the holes in the net, but this time you’re falling out of something that you once fell into.

But even the sifted substance of love remains, a testament to its existence at one point in time. So you don’t lose love so much as you diminish its characteristics to the point where recognition is impossible. And maybe that sensation feels even worse.

I wrote this once a year or so ago when lamenting the end of my study abroad experience. The loss of location elicited broader contemplations of loss itself, and I rested on the following conclusions as a source of comfort:

“There’s something so eternally poetic about being taken away from the thing you love. Circumstance, distance, time all become these theoretical villains that make for unsatisfying targets of your anguish. And it’s easy to believe that the universe is predisposed to separation, that everything was created just to leave something else. The continents drifted, species wandered apart – even Adam & Eve were brought into existence only to leave the Garden.

It makes the human insistence on convergence that much more baffling, and perhaps that much more wonderful in the face of such adversity.”

To those that are losing others now, are feeling the effects of loss, or are lost themselves: the drifting stops somewhere, and gives way to love again. Rest assured, if not certain.

Jennifer Burton has already made an impact during her first year on the Hill, teaching courses ranging from fairy tales to film production. Hear a little bit more about her background at Five Sisters Productions and her latest project, ‘Old Guy.’

Spring Fling in 1990 featured The Band and Barrence Whitfield and the Savages. According to the original Daily article by Janine Billy, The Band’s music was “cool and soothing, but warm and soulful.” Photo by Karl Schatz (LA ’92)

Take a look inside the VSC Culture show, from dragons, to eating contests, to setting up and everything in between as the students promote Vietnamese customs.

by Denis Amisal