About this Issue

What's in a Name

In some ways, this first issue of Tufts Magazine is not a new publication. Granted, it weighs a few ounces more than Tuftonia. Its heft reflects the decision to include, for the first time, an extensive recognition of donors. You'll be seeing much more of the traditional fare of news and features in future issues.

On the occasion of a name change, we find that little has really changed beyond the masthead. Tufts Magazine will continue to be a home for the voices of Tufts many graduates. Indeed, it is these voices that most often have given the magazine its distinctive flavor.

Consider the February 1930 Tufts College Alumni Bulletin, where we find John Libby, secretary of the Maine Tufts Club, giving the upshot of an annual meeting in Portland. The distinguished speaker, Professor 'Pop' Houston, was late. "Upon his arrival, the roast chicken began to disappear," writes Libby. "Then the temporary secretary took charge of the meeting, and realizing the helplessness of the gathering to stop him, proceeded to voice some characteristic views. Finally he ran out of gas and gave Prof. Houston a chance to open his bag of news from the Hill."

Meanwhile, over in Pittsburgh, Tufts graduates faced the new year with confidence. "Our campaign to have the brothers and sisters pay their dues has been remarkably successful, with eleven out of thirty-five paying their fifty cents within two months of when they were first asked," signed, "Yours in the bonds, William Maulsby, Sec."

In the early 1940s, alumni were hardly stifled by the diminished size of the Bulletin (a mere three by four inches, in observance of the war effort). The editor was up to the challenge. Notable deeds of graduates were collected under the department "The Little Beggar," the sobriquet of a Scottie poised for a biscuit of news.

Writes the editor: "Under the whiplash of Marjorie Gott, J40, the Wee Scottie performs in the interests of Alumni." It is the sincere sentiment of Miss Gott that class notes "should be both the pride of alumni, and presented in a delectable manner by themselves, about themselves, for themselves. Classmates ought to have the truth, the whole truth, etc.- varnished or unvarnished, rubbed down with the pumice of circumstance and polished with the writer's wit. In this way will these pages become of such interest as to entice the reader beyond the limits of his own class and time-Millennium!"

Subsequent Tufts alumni magazines--Tufts Topics, the Tufts Alumni Review, The Criterion and Tuftonia--carried on this enthusiasm through decades marked by enormous changes. Today, Tufts Magazine has its own set of challenges. It is now sent to more than 70,000 graduates. And judging from the unbroken stream of class notes and club reports, we are more than prepared for the "Millennium" that Miss Gott so earnestly envisioned.

The publication does, however, prompt us to take a closer look at how we, as editors, do our job. In our stories, we must anticipate an array of readers' needs, exemplify the excellence and vitality of the university, stimulate thought, provoke discussion and inspire action. In short, we must renew a focus on better ways to communicate. We look foward to sharing these with you here on the pages of the new, and not-so-new, Tufts Magazine.

Laura Ferguson
Editor-in-Chief

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