What support has Tufts provided to the community?
On November 8, 2023 President Sunil Kumar, Provost Genco, and the school deans sent a message to the Tufts community providing a comprehensive update on how the university is supporting our collective well-being. This message included information about campus safety, freedom of expression and its limitations, enforcing boundaries, federal support, resources and conversations, and leadership and action.
The university created this Israel-Hamas war website to provide lists of support resources available for students at each school as well as faculty and staff as well as campus safety information, anti-doxxing guidance, and leadership messages.
What guidance has the university provided to faculty to promote a positive classroom environment?
Our Center for the Enhancement of Learning Teaching (CELT) has compiled resources for faculty about teaching in the days after a crisis and these resources were shared with faculty on October 10 following the initial attacks. Additional resources were compiled and shared with our academic deans and deans on October 31 to share with their faculty, including guidance on how to address the war in class and how to refrain from it if it does not directly pertain to the pedagogical material for that specific class guided by the Statement of Principles from the American Association of University Professors (AAUP). We are working on launching additional programming that will include workshops and individual or small group facilitations for faculty.
What programming has Tufts hosted to address emerging issues related to the Israel-Hamas war?
Since last October 7, we have redoubled our efforts to foster greater dialogue through a number of initiatives and efforts. The university has held community dialogues around the human dimensions of the conflict. These have included community conversations with Eileen Babbitt at each of Tufts’ schools, as well as a community dinners and dialogue sessions focused on sustaining community during times of conflict. In addition, the University Chaplaincy has continued to offer pastoral care for all students, faculty, and staff and has held weekly multifaith gatherings for peace.
This year’s orientation programming included a mandatory antisemitism education session and a panel featuring alumni discussing their efforts at communication across differences during their time at the university. This programming will continue throughout the academic year and include monthly offerings for faculty and staff on anti-bias, microaggression and inclusive dialogue, including those offered by the newly relaunched Generous Listening and Dialogue Center.
Through the newly established Coordinated Response Team—led by the provost, executive vice president, vice provost for education, vice president for human resources, and vice provost for institutional inclusive excellence—we have created many opportunities to foster conversations that will lead to greater understanding. Under the umbrella of Tufts Talks Openly, this programming has included training opportunities for faculty and staff to create space for difficult conversations, faculty training on inclusive teaching, and upcoming sessions for both students and employees on antisemitism and Islamophobia.
We are one of nine Massachusetts universities participating in the Boston area Dialogue and Action in the Age of Divides initiative. This series, which has already held two events, brings together faculty from across universities to discuss issues currently dividing our campuses and societies. At Tufts, the events are followed by discussion groups so we can focus on how these issues are affecting our university specifically.
More information about this programming can be found in the following TuftsNow pieces:
Understanding Hate and How to Counter It: A Q&A with senior university leaders on new anti-bias and non-discrimination trainings aiming to create more inclusive environments
At Hillel, Asking Hard Questions about the Conflict: A new series seeks to bring critical thinking and civil discussion to bear on the current crisis
Creating a Safe Space for Difficult Conversations: A Fletcher School specialist in international conflict management has been facilitating discussions across Tufts' campuses about the crisis
Developing More Inclusive Classrooms as Spaces for Challenging Dialogues: Tufts educators are supported with strategies for embracing awareness of identity in order to have productive conversations around conflict.
‘Dialogue & Action in an Age of Divides’ Panel Series Launches: Tufts joins eight other Bay State institutions in this cross-university initiative.
What Do You Know about Islamophobia? A Tufts workshop examined the misconceptions that fuel discrimination against Muslims, Arabs, and Palestinians.
Understanding Antisemitism to Create More Allies on Campus: A workshop offered the Tufts community a chance to learn more about Jewish identity and the history of antisemitism.
A Table the Size of a University: Students, faculty, and staff from across the university are sharing meals—and food for thought—through the community dinner series Tufts Table.