Introducing ELEVATE: Strategic Visioning for Inclusive Excellence at Tufts

Dear Tufts community,

Last week, President Kumar wrote to you about the launch of Tufts Beyond 175, a university-wide planning effort designed to connect, augment, and focus identified priorities and individual plans currently underway. Today, we are excited to announce the launch of ELEVATE, a meaningful step forward in advancing inclusive excellence at Tufts.

Creating a Shared Vision

ELEVATE is a multi-year campaign to create a set of university-wide goals for advancing institutional inclusive excellence and to make significant coordinated institutional progress toward achieving those goals. Mobilizing change requires collective effort, and hearing from voices across the Tufts community will be vital to creating a shared vision of inclusive excellence.

Mobilizing Change Through Community Engagement

Led by the Office of the Vice Provost for Institutional Inclusive Excellence (IIE), in partnership with the Provost and Executive Vice President, ELEVATE is dedicated to mobilizing transformative and sustainable change through community engagement and collective action. Critical to the university’s aspirational vision, ELEVATE will run concurrent with Tufts Beyond 175 and will provide relevant data and perspective to it. As a university-wide strategic visioning initiative, ELEVATE builds on our ongoing commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, justice, and accessibility (DEIJA). This initiative is a direct outcome of past work and celebrates the progress we have made. Our next steps forward allow us to envision a future rooted in inclusion and belonging for our communities.

Get Involved

Your voice matters as we ensure the essence and needs of our community are evident in all stages of this process. We invite you to visit the ELEVATE website to learn more about this important work, what got us here, and how you can get involved. This fall, you can expect the opportunity to participate in community engagement sessions in which your voice will be critical in helping us craft a vision forward.

Join us for the Fall Reception to Kick Off ELEVATE

We invite you to attend the IIE Fall Reception – details below.

IIE Fall Reception – October 23, 2024

4-6pm in the Joyce Cummings Center Atrium

Join us in community with good food, music and discussion

Kindly RSVP here.

In marking one year since renaming the Office of the Vice Provost for Institutional Inclusive Excellence (IIE), this reception builds on our commitment to integrate and prioritize DEIJA in every aspect of university life. This reception will serve as the formal community wide launch for ELEVATE. Please join us at our reception and learn more about this important initiative by signing up for the IIE email listserv for ongoing communication regarding ways to stay connected.

Thank you for your dedication and commitment to making Tufts a more inclusive and equitable community.

Warm regards,

Caroline Attardo Genco
Provost and Senior Vice President

Mike Howard
Executive Vice President

Monroe France
Vice Provost for Institutional Inclusive Excellence