NEWSWIRE

NEW KIDS ON THE QUAD A Thai pop star, a student who grew up in a Congolese refugee camp, the winner of this year’s Intel International Science Fair, and a world-champion mule packer are among the members of the undergraduate Class of 2018.

The newcomers—1,352 first-year and 22 transfer students—hold the distinction of passing the most selective admissions process thus far, with an overall acceptance rate of seventeen percent. “We’ve been blessed with an expanding applicant pool and high-quality academicians who bring compelling personal stories to the class,” said Lee Coffin, dean of undergraduate admissions. full story

INFLUENTIAL SCIENTISTS Five Tufts researchers—Jeffrey Blumberg; Bess Dawson-Hughes, M75; David Kaplan; Andrew Levey; and Dariush Mozaffarian, dean of the Friedman School—have been named to Thomson Reuter’s 2014 list of the World’s Most Influential Scientific Minds. The list of the top thinkers in twenty-one fields is based on how many times their publications were cited by other scientists between 2002 and 2013. full story

HUMANIST IN RESIDENCE This fall, Tufts became the first university in the country to hire a Humanist for its chaplaincy staff. Walker Bristol, A14, is Humanist in residence, a two-year position created at the urging of students, alumni, and others. “We have many strong religious and philosophical communities at Tufts, including those who are spiritual but not religious,” said the university chaplain, Greg McGonigle. full story

LONG-AWAITED FOOTBALL WINS The Jumbos’ 24–17 victory at home over Hamilton College on September 20 snapped a losing streak dating back to 2010. Many of the 3,524 fans rushed the field at the end of the first game of the season. The team added a second victory a week later, a 42–24 win over Bates in the Homecoming game on September 27. full story

RIGHT THIS WAY A smartly conceived new system of signage is helping people navigate and locate Tufts’ health sciences campus in downtown Boston. “We’ve been invisible for a long time,” Harris Berman, dean of the medical school, pointed out. “All of this new art is intended to help people find us and then to find their way around the place.” full story

MORE NEWS Keep up with all the latest Tufts news and events at now.tufts.edu.