A Legacy of Excellence: Exploring the Rich History of Tufts University Athletics

Tufts University, located in Medford, Massachusetts, boasts a rich and storied athletic history. As the Jumbos, their varsity intercollegiate athletic programs have achieved considerable success, particularly since the formation of the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC). While Tufts may not reap the same financial rewards as Division I programs, its commitment to academic and athletic excellence has created a unique and thriving environment for student-athletes.

Early Gridiron Glory: The Birthplace of Modern Football

The intertwined stories of American college football and Tufts Athletics often surprise even long-time sports fans. Many journalists and historians cite a game between Princeton and Rutgers on November 6, 1869, as the “first,” but that contest more closely resembled a rough version of soccer: no tackling, no carrying the ball, and twenty-five players a side. The first showdown between Tufts and Harvard in 1875, by contrast, brought several defining elements of football to American soil: tackling, scrimmage lines, running plays, and eleven-man teams. Based on extensive research, long-time Tufts Athletics Director Rocky Carzo argues that the first true football game between two American colleges took place on June 4, 1875, when Tufts College beat Harvard 1-0 at Jarvis Field in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Football had been present on the Tufts campus informally since at least 1864. This remarkable chapter in Tufts and Football history might have remained hidden if not for the tireless research of Rocky Carzo, Tufts’ Athletics Director for more than three decades.

Tufts students likely first learned of the new game during a rugby match between Harvard and McGill University in May 1874. The game was played with rugby rules but was seen as an early version of football. Several Tufts students attended the game and challenged Harvard to a match the following year. Using recently established "Boston rules" for football, Tufts handed Harvard its first-ever football loss. Although there are few existing records of the game, players recount that Scott Campbell scored the game's only touchdown behind a block from Austin Fletcher with Francis Harrington kicking the extra point. After the completion of the match, Tufts players reportedly ran all the way back to the hill, rang the bell at Ballou Hall, and celebrated with a buffet supper, toasts, and speeches.

The Tufts Jumbos football program represents Tufts University in the sport of college football. The team competes in Division III of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) as a member of the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC). Tufts plays its home games at Ellis Oval, located on the campus in Medford, Massachusetts. A Tufts football team has played since the 1874-75 season.

The "Pop" Houston Era: Prioritizing Academics

In the early decades of the 20th century, Tufts football was primed for a big-time stage. As fate would have it, on that Tufts team was a 145-pound lineman named Clarence Houston, a senior who would return to his alma mater in 1920 to teach government and economics. The following year, Houston became Tufts’ first athletic director, a position he held until 1954. More than any other person in Tufts history, Houston shaped the future of Jumbo athletics. An authentic scholar-athlete, he wanted no part of the corrosive culture that had come to define college athletics.

Back at Tufts, “Pop” Houston, as he was affectionately known, took one look at the professionalization of intercollegiate football and wanted no part of it. In one of his first acts as Tufts’ athletic director, Houston banned first year students’ participation on the varsity football squad. Houston took his orders from President John Cousens, who led Tufts from 1920 to 1937. In those critical years between world wars, many college admissions officers received lists of admittees from the head football coach. Houston did all he could to create national academic standards for NCAA athletes, and he had his supporters.

In 1947, at the invitation of the NCAA Compliance Committee, Houston took a one-year leave of absence from Tufts to create enforcement statutes for athletes in what became known as “the Sanity Code.” Among other stipulations, the code permitted the awarding of scholarships, but only if recipients demonstrated financial need. Some might consider Houston’s efforts for the NCAA a lost cause. By the time Houston died in 1965, he had witnessed the 1951 dismantling of the NCAA’s Sanity Code.

NESCAC Dominance and National Championships

Although the NCAA abandoned the Sanity Code, it did eventually embrace NESCAC. In 1973, the NCAA adopted a tiered system that created Division III, including 28 national championship titles in which NESCAC members compete. Division III rules and regulations govern admissions, financial aid, and recruiting, including placing an implied limit on salaries for even the most successful coaches.

Since the NESCAC began sponsoring conference championships in 1999, the Jumbos have won a total of 55 NESCAC championships, including 7 during the 2019-2020 season. This success has been particularly evident in recent years.

Tufts was not known as an athletic powerhouse in the latter half of the twentieth century. However, it has since evolved into a dominant NESCAC force, winning numerous national championships and the NACDA Directors’ Cup in 2021-22 as the most successful Division III program in the country.

A Decade of Unprecedented Achievement (2010-2020)

The 2010s were a particularly fruitful period for Tufts Athletics, marked by numerous individual and team accomplishments:

Men's Lacrosse Triumphs: Just six months into the new decade the Jumbos made history as the men’s lacrosse team won Tufts’ first-ever NCAA team championship. Head coach Mike Daly’s team defeated Division III powerhouse Salisbury University 9-6 in a game that was played at M&T Bank Stadium, home of the NFL’s Baltimore Ravens. The title was the first of three won by men’s lacrosse, including back-to-back victories in 2014 and 2015, to go with nine NESCAC championships during the decade.
Julia Browne's Tennis Crown: On the same day that men’s lacrosse won its title, Tufts junior Julia Browne was in Fredericksburg, Virginia winning the NCAA Division III singles title in women’s tennis. In a dominating display, Browne did not lose a set while winning six matches over three days at the championship event. She defeated Grace Baljon of Williams College in the final 6-2, 7-5.
Field Hockey Dominance: The Jumbo field hockey team was already well known on the national scene after making back-to-back NCAA “Final Four” appearances in 2008 and 2009. In 2012 they returned to the Final Four and made history by becoming the first women’s team at Tufts to win an NCAA championship. Head coach Tina Mattera’s Jumbos rallied for a 2-1 victory over Montclair State University. The team went on to make national championship game appearances in 2016 and 2018 as well.
Diving Excellence: Capping his career in the most impressive way possible, Tufts senior Johann Schmidt won the NCAA Division III one-meter diving championship for the second time in his final competition as a Jumbo in Indianapolis. Schmidt, who added the title to his NCAA one-meter victory from his sophomore season in 2012, also graduated with six conference championships in the one- and three-meter diving events combined. He was the first recipient ever selected from the New England Small College Athletic Conference. The $24,000 scholarship recognizes outstanding academic achievement and the potential for success in postgraduate study.
Softball Dynasty: Finishing a perfect 51-0 season in dramatic fashion, the softball team won its third consecutive NCAA Division III championship with a 7-4 victory over the University of Texas at Tyler. Head coach Cheryl Milligan’s squad became the first Division III softball team to win three national titles in a row, including the 2013 and 2014 seasons. The victory extended Tufts' NCAA Division III record winning streak to 53 games and also tied the NCAA mark for most wins in a season (51) at the time.
Men's Soccer Supremacy: The men's soccer team won its fourth NCAA Championship in the last six years with a 2-0 victory over Amherst College in Greensboro, North Carolina. Head coach Josh Shapiro’s team became just the third program in NCAA Division III men’s soccer history to win four or more national championships, including 2014, 2016 and 2018. While winning the eleventh and most recent NCAA team championship at Tufts, the Jumbos finished with a program record twenty victories.

Facilities and Resources

Facilities are constantly updated to offer state-of-the-art training and resources to the athletes. Among many athletic facility improvements at Tufts during the decade, the 42,000-square-foot Steve Tisch Sports and Fitness Center was opened as a beautiful new home of the Jumbos. Featuring a dramatic central plaza, an expanded fitness center, new locker rooms, a film classroom, and an expanded sports medicine suite, the facility enhanced the student-athlete experience and underscored the university’s longstanding commitment to healthy living.

Tufts University is represented by 28 varsity athletics teams. The Jumbos of Tufts compete in the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC), which was founded in 1971. Since its inception, the NESCAC has grown to be the standard for NCAA Division III student-athletes across the United States.

The Tufts Jumbos are the varsity intercollegiate athletic programs of Tufts University, in Medford, Massachusetts. The Jumbos compete at the NCAA Division III level as a member of the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC). Like all Division III schools, Tufts does not offer athletic scholarships. The University mascot is named for Jumbo the elephant. P.T. Barnum donated this famous circus animal's stuffed hide to Tufts University, where it was displayed at the P.T. Barnum Hall for many years. The hide was destroyed in a fire in April 1975.

Read also: Tufts University Financial Aid

Hall of Fame: Honoring Jumbo Legends

To celebrate the rich history of athletics excellence at Tufts spanning more than 150 years, Tufts established an Athletics Hall of Fame which has now inducted two classes. A total of twenty-one outstanding student-athletes, coaches and administrators along with four memorable teams have entered the Hall of Fame during sold-out induction ceremonies held during the month of April in historic Cousens Gymnasium.

Academics and Athletics: A Balanced Approach

Student-athletes at Tufts not only excel on the grid iron, but in the classroom as well. Over the last three years, Tufts student-athletes have averaged a 3.47 GPA. Each year every institution across the United States with teams participating in the NCAA at the Division I, II, and III level are ranked in the Learfield IMG College Director’s Cup. The Director’s Cup awards points in a pre-determined number of sports for men and women based on record, standings and championships. Tufts University ranked 2nd out of 189 eligible Division III NCAA Colleges and Universities for the Fall 2019 season.

Tufts is committed to valuing the intersection of athletics and academics, today and in the future. The Tufts Athletics Faculty Liaison Program, launched with a pilot program in 2017-18, aims to enhance the relationship between faculty members and student-athletes. Student-athletes shine in Tufts classrooms, labs, and campus activities as well as on the field. Last year, 561 of them earned Academic All-NESCAC honors, the most ever for Tufts.

Community Engagement

In addition to their success on the field and in class, Tufts’ student-athletes are committed to community service. The group they were most involved with during the decade was Team IMPACT, a national nonprofit founded by Tufts alumni that connects children facing serious and chronic illnesses with college athletic teams, forming life-long bonds and life-changing outcomes. Joli Talusan, who joined the women’s soccer team, was the first of more than a dozen “teammates” drafted by Jumbo teams this decade.

The Jumbo Identity

At Tufts, students can be seen donning the ‘Brown and Blue’ colors in support of their peers. The legend of Jumbo the elephant is passed down amongst teammates.

The Tufts University Athletics Mission: WE ARE JUMBO PRIDE. Tufts Athletics gives our student-athletes a dynamic, transformational experience that begins on the playing field and continues throughout their lives. Jumbo athletes strive for excellence on and off the field. They experience the joy and personal growth inherent in high-level competition while cultivating lifelong connections with teammates, the Tufts community and the world around us.

Sailing Prowess

The Jumbos particularly stand out in sailing. The team competes in the New England Intercollegiate Sailing Association and has won the Leonard M. Fowle Trophy eight times. The Jumbos also won the 2001 Dinghy National Championship and won more championships in the 1990s than any other team. Several world and Olympic champions have been a part of the Tufts Sailing Team, among them is Tomas Hornos (class of 2010), who was world champion in 2007, and Kaitlin Storck, who was awarded the ICSA Women's College Sailor of the Year trophy in 2008.

tags: #tufts #university #athletics #history