Former Vice President Al Gore will arrive on campus tomorrow to discuss "family-centered community building" with a group of 150 students in the Cabot Intercultural Center's ASEAN auditorium. Students attending the event, to be centered around the topic of youth development, were nominated by professors and selected by a faculty committee. Most are involved in either child development or psychology.
During his time at Tufts, Gore also plans to meet with youth development experts for a symposium on the topic. The visit is part of Gore's effort to develop a Masters program curriculum on "family-centered community building." Tufts is one of 19 participating universities, along with Columbia and Cornell. Dean of Natural and Social Sciences Susan Ernst and child development professor Richard Lerner coordinated the event. Ernst asked each academic department to recommend five students to attend Gore's speech.
Last semester, Lerner spoke on youth development in both of Gore's courses entitled "Family-centered Community Building" at Fisk and Middle Tennessee State universities.
Attendance at the event is capped at 150 to facilitate interaction between Gore and audience members, leaving many students disappointed with the limited availability of seats.
While Gore is rumored to be arriving before 11 a.m., sources would not confirm the details surrounding his arrival for security reasons. Disruptions to students' regular schedules are not anticipated.
The former vice president's visit to Tufts was originally planned for last September but had to be rescheduled after the terrorist attacks left him stranded in Vienna, Austria.
