What sounds more like Tufts than puns, civic engagement, and the environment? It won’t come as a surprise that Tufts alumni are essential to The Boston Tree Party.

The Party is a diverse coalition of organizations, institutions, and communities from across the Greater Boston Area coming together in support of Civic Fruit. We call for the planting of fruit trees in civic space and promote the fruits of civic engagement. Each community has committed to planting and caring for a pair of heirloom apple trees.

Three Tufts Alumni are leading the way at The Boston Tree Party. Lisa Gross is the Chairman and Founder, Maura Schorr Beaufait is the Chief of Operations, and Beth Nollner is Project Coordinator. Between them they hold degrees from Tufts/MFA, the Friedman School of Nutrition, and the Urban and Environmental Policy graduate program.

Check out this short documentary: “Growing Civic Fruit: A Documentary Film about the Boston Tree Party”

You can follow the Boston Tree Party on Twitter at @BostTreeParty

Watch and listen as Ryan Clapp’s dream of an organization at Tufts focused on public education, discussions, educational networking and education advocacy becomes a reality! During his time at Tufts, Ryan worked hard to create the Tufts Education Society to bring together students interested in education, and to maximize the opportunities and resources Tufts already had, while establishing new ones.

See how the Tufts Education Society grew from one student’s idea to an officially recognized student group on campus:

If you were on campus recently, you couldn’t miss the campaign for TCU President. Behind the chalking around campus, the Facebook groups, websites and t-shirts were a lot of great ideas to address issues that Tufts students face. Candidates Wyatt Cadley (’13) and Logan Cotton (’13) stirred up discussion on a variety of topics.

At the second of two TCU Presidential debates run by the Tufts Elections Commission, their passion for Tufts truly shined! Check out this video, compiled by TUTV to highlight the two candidates.

In the election on Tuesday April 24th, Wyatt Cadley won the race, and will assume the role of  TCU President for next year. Both candidates built strong campaign teams and successfully engaged voters, with 49.76% of voters turning out – an increase of 1,000 voters from last year!

Tufts Korean Student Association (KSA) is more than just a campus culture group – their Big Brother/Big Sister program involves them with the Boston community as well. On a monthly basis, members of KSA are paired with children from Korea who have been adopted by American families for a day of cultural activities, crafts, food, and even, in the case of this video, Jedi training. Check out the video below for a fun look into the program and visit their website for information on how to get involved.

Undergraduate Carolyn Pace, E12, is one of 1,237 start-up applicants participating in this year’s MassChallenge. Her project, titled Root to Fruit, aims to help bring locally grown food to mass grocers while simultaneously improving the quality of life for farmers by giving them access to formerly inaccessable markets. Pace is looking to launch the program in Boise in the spring of 2013 and then expand to other Northwest areas by 2016. You can hear Pace explain more about her start-up in the video below, as well as sign up and vote for her proposal here.

Last month, the Tufts School of Medicine posted videos on YouTube of their annual Multicultural Performing Arts Show (MPAG), hosted by the university’s Office of Multicultural Affairs. The show consists of students and professors putting on performances for the rest of the student body in an effort to raise funds for college diversity scholarships for high school seniors in the Boston area. Here’s one performance from this year’s show, but make sure to visit their YouTube page for more videos.

Searching for a job after graduation, even just for the summer can be stressful.  Searching for a job abroad? That’s even more challenging.

Emily German (A12) is up to the challenge. Emily is vying for a competitive scholarship to help her get the training she needs to teach English in Chile! The scholarship competition is judged on a written submission as well as “Likes” on Facebook.

Let’s face it, though: searching for jobs abroad is a daunting task, and teaching certification courses carry pretty hefty price tags for a recent college graduate. I am determined to follow through on my dream to live and work in Latin America, however, and winning this scholarship would give me the opportunity to obtain top-quality TEFL certification and acquire the skills I need to become a professional English teacher.”

“I believe that education breaks down all barriers: it sparks inquisitiveness and fosters understanding about other people and cultures, which in turn engenders greater communication and cooperation, from the local to the international community.

So far, Emily’s submission has 269 likes. Help a Jumbo follow her dreams – vote for Emily and share on Facebook and Twitter! Voting ends on 4/15/12.

Four Tufts computer science students – Greg Wong, Jason Cheng, Sean Chung, and Xihan Zhang - are heading to Seattle, WA to compete in the US finals of the Microsoft US Imagine Cup competition. Under the name “Team Eos/Medivise,” the group developed a cloud and mobile-based service that automates the process of monitoring patients undergoing tuberculosis treatments.

Medivise was entered into Imagine Cup’s Software Design Competition, which focuses on “creating real-world applications and solutions that can help make the world a better place.” Teams use Microsoft tools to create software applications that aim to solve global problems like hunger, environmental sustainability, and access to education and healthcare.

Check out the team’s submission video:

March 11th marked the one year anniversary of the 9.0 earthquake in Northern Japan. To demonstrate their remembrance of the devastating event, as well as their continued support of its survivors, the Tufts Japanese Culture Club put together a video that compiles existing video footage of the earthquake aftermath coupled with information on both the effects and JCC’s efforts. You can visit their website to learn about what they’re doing to show their support, as well as watch the video below.

Dan Halpert, E12, has big post-graduation plans, and we’re not talking about immediately starting a 9 to 5 job. Halpert is looking to bike across the country as a member of Bike and Build, an organization for people who want to spend their summer alternating between biking, building affordable homes and shelters, and spreading the word on the affordable housing crisis. To raise funds for his trip, Halpert has set up a website and a biker profile where people can learn about his cause, as well as donate. He currently has reached about a third of his $4500 goal. In his profile, Dan explains his motivation for the trip:

Neighboring my hometown, and just a few hundred feet from my house, is Bridgeport, CT, where one can witness the affordable housing crisis and high levels of homelessness first hand.  Growing up so close to that made me realize how much we take for granted the simple pleasure of a roof over our heads and that affordable housing should be granted to every person, regardless of their socioeconomic standing.

You can donate to Halpert’s cause here.