Tufts University in popular culture

The following is a partial, incomplete list of references to Tufts University in popular culture.

Literature

*Hannah, the heroine in Curtis Sittenfeld's second novel, "The Man of My Dreams", goes to Tufts. Interestingly, the heroine in Sittenfeld's first novel, "Prep", was rejected from Tufts.
*Large portions of Tufts' alumnus and bestselling author Darin Strauss's forthcoming novel, "More Than It Hurts You", take place at the university.
*Scott Adler, recurring character in Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan series and eventual U.S. Secretary of State, graduated first in his class at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy.
*Ken Erdedy, character in the novel "Infinite Jest" by David Foster Wallace and a marijuana addict and resident of Ennet House, likely attended Tufts University, evidenced among other things by the memorabilia in his household (p.25, 360, 362).
*Jenna Blake in the "Body of Evidence" mystery novels attends Somerset University, a fictional version of the Tufts campus.
*Susan Silverman of Robert B. Parker's Spenser mystery series teaches at "Taft University", a thinly-veiled stand-in for Tufts, and Parker uses the Taft setting in several books.

Film

*Julie Merkel, a cutthroat prep school student in the film "Cheats", a 2002 comedy starring Mary Tyler Moore, wants desperately to attend Tufts.
*Some outdoor footage of the Tufts campus was shot in fall of 1967 for the 1969 movie "Charly" starring Cliff Robertson and Claire Bloom.
*The indoor shots of the prom scene in the movie "The Next Karate Kid" were filmed in the Cousen's Gymnasium at Tufts.

Television

*Pete and Berg, the lead characters in the sitcom "Two Guys and a Girl" met as undergraduates at Tufts.
*The gate to the President's Lawn was featured in the opening credits of the sitcom "Sabrina, the Teenage Witch".
*Elaine Benes, played by Julia Louis-Dreyfus in the sitcom "Seinfeld", mentions that she attended Tufts, and that it was her "safety school".
*In "Daria", the title character goes off to attend fictional Raft College around Boston. Many "Daria" fans think that Raft may be a thinly veiled fictional version of Tufts.
*Dr. Jordan Cavanaugh, title character from "Crossing Jordan", played by Jill Hennessy, graduated from Tufts' medical school.
*Amy Abbott on the WB drama "Everwood" was rejected from Tufts in an episode of the show.
*Dr. Jennifer Melfi, psychiatrist to Tony Soprano on "The Sopranos" graduated from Tufts Medical School.
*Kenny, a Stuckeybowl employee on the TV show "Ed", graduated from Tufts (and, when asked about it by Ed, replied, "It's in Massachusetts").
*Toyota ran an ad in the late 1970s/early 1980s that portrayed a student setting off for college in his new Toyota and driving cross-country from his home in Southern California. The ad finished with his triumphant arrival in front of Eaton Hall. For years, this commercial was shown before all campus movies.

References