September 3, 2025
Dear Tufts community members,
In November 2024, I requested Provost Caroline Genco to charge a faculty working group to explore the appropriateness of a statement of institutional neutrality for Tufts. The working group, under the leadership of Vice Provost for Faculty Colleen Ryan and Professor of International Law at Fletcher Ian Johnstone concluded its work this spring and submitted a report with a recommendation to Provost Genco and me.
The working group concluded that a community like Tufts learns from “multiple and often conflicting viewpoints” and the “term neutrality … could be interpreted as a directive to quash some speech or mandate other speech.” Therefore, the final recommendation of the working group was that Tufts should instead adopt a statement on institutional pluralism by which university leaders “refrain from making statements on political and social matters that do not bear directly on the university’s core mission” and instead allow a plurality of individual voices within the Tufts community to speak for themselves.
On April 15, the Academic Council, which is the highest policy-making group at the university (consisting of the senior leadership team, school deans, vice presidents, and vice provosts), voted to adopt the recommendation and advance it to the Board of Trustees for final consideration. On August 6, the Board of Trustees affirmed the following core principles from the working group’s recommendation:
- In the interest of protecting and encouraging pluralism of viewpoint among its faculty, students, and staff, leaders at the university will refrain from making statements attributable to Tufts as an institution about political or social matters that do not bear directly upon the university’s core teaching, research, and service mission or its corporate responsibilities.
- This continues Tufts’ long-standing commitment to free speech, open inquiry, and academic freedom.
- It implies neither neutrality nor indifference on the part of Tufts leadership, faculty, staff, or students. Rather, it intends to encourage Tufts community members to speak in their own voices.
These core principles are in keeping with Tufts’ Declaration on the Freedom of Expression and will be posted as a statement alongside the Declaration on the Trustees’ Office website. The full working group report and the rationale the group used to reach the recommendation is on the Provost’s Office website. I encourage you to read the Tufts Now Q&A with Vice Provost Ryan and Professor Johnstone to learn more about the group and their deliberations. In addition, the Provost’s Office will be holding a community conversation on Wednesday, October 15. More information about the event will be shared soon.
Given the adoption of these principles, neither the university nor I will issue statements on political and social issues that do not directly affect the Tufts community or the core business of the institution. But I believe it is not enough to simply refrain from comment and hope that more voices will be heard. We must actively take steps to ensure that pluralism flourishes. Toward that end, I’m pleased to share two new initiatives that will support existing and ongoing efforts at Tufts.
Center for Expanding Viewpoints in Higher Education
Tufts is launching the Center for Expanding Viewpoints in Higher Education. The vision for the center is a positive, collaborative one, where the idea of expanding viewpoints is taken seriously, especially in the classroom.
One of the ways this center will help do that is by providing substantive materials and support to faculty members who want to bring in multiple viewpoints on sensitive issues within their own classrooms.
The center will not depend on any school funds. It has obtained philanthropic funding from several donors across the ideological spectrum who have given wide-ranging gifts, reflecting the pluralism for which we strive.
The center will be initially led by Professor Eitan Hersh, who has formed a faculty advisory group and who will partner with other faculty, centers, and schools to deliver on the center’s mission.
I truly believe that when students and faculty engage in respectful debate and learn from perspectives across the ideological spectrum, they will advance their own thinking, sharpen their arguments, and challenge orthodoxies. While I am proud of the way that Tufts has shown its commitment to pluralism in the past through our existing academic offerings, I am convinced that more can be done to enable community members to engage productively with individuals and viewpoints not commonly discussed at Tufts, from across the political, social, and ideological spectrum.
I encourage you to learn more about the center on Tufts Now and by reaching out to Professor Hersh and the center’s associate director Arik Burakovsky. You can also learn about opportunities for faculty engagement with the center by joining its email list.
Interfaith America’s From Prejudice to Pluralism
Tufts is one of 11 colleges and universities selected to participate in Interfaith America's new program, “From Prejudice to Pluralism: Addressing antisemitism and Islamophobia by building a culture of pluralism.” This academic year, a multidisciplinary faculty and staff cohort will engage in a series of conversations on these urgent issues through a framework for pluralism rooted in respect, relationships, and cooperation, with the goal of sharing learnings and next steps for campus engagement in the spring. This initiative is led by University Chaplain Rev. Elyse Nelson Winger, Vice Provost for Faculty Colleen Ryan, and Assistant Director of Human Resources Business Partners Jannel Hill.
With the adoption of the Statement on Institutional Pluralism, the creation of the Center for Expanding Viewpoints in Higher Education, and our inclusion in the From Prejudice to Pluralism initiative, I am confident that Tufts will continue to be a leading voice in fostering pluralism within higher education well into the next 175 years of our history.
Best regards,
Sunil Kumar
President, Tufts University