Tufts cosponsors 11th annual Gore "Family Re-Union"

Tufts' Applied Developmental Science Institute recently cosponsored the 11th annual "Family Re-Union" held at Vanderbilt University to address major concerns affecting families and children. Professor Richard Lerner of the Eliot Pearson Department of Child Development gave a keynote address at the conference, which was held last month, gaining positive recognition for the University, administrators and faculty said.

Tufts took an active part in preparing for the "Family Re-Union," participating in conference conceptualization and design, organizing the symposiums, and inviting participants, Lerner said.

Both Tufts and the Gore family have a history of strong involvement in promoting positive development in youth and families, Lerner said. Lerner is currently co-teaching a course on positive youth development with former Vice President Al Gore, who along with his wife Tipper, has moderated the conference since its beginning in 1992. Lerner was active in bringing Gore to campus last semester to host a symposium of national child development experts.

"This conference provided great visibility on a national stage for Tufts, as well as an opportunity to influence policy-making nationwide," Lerner said.

Dean of the University College of Citizenship and Public Service (UCCPS) Rob Hollister said that the "extraordinary national visibility" Tufts gained as a result of conference participation has other benefits. "Tufts' leadership role in events like these calls attention to our excellence in the related areas of Child Development and of Citizenship and Public Service," he said. "This also helps to attract to Tufts the best faculty and students, and financial resources."

A group of administrators, students, and faculty represented Tufts at the Re-Union. The delegation included Dean of Arts and Sciences Susan Ernst, members of the UCCPS National Advisory Committee Alan Solomont and Fran Rodgers, Child Development Professor Don Wertlieb, and Omidyar Scholars Zach Baker, Kimberly Boehler, Mary Smith, Corey Probst, and Randi Wiggins.

All UCCPS Omidyar Scholars had the opportunity to attend, according to Hollister.

"Tufts was strongly represented at this event and UCCPS was pleased to be part of that group," Hollister said. UCCPS was founded in 1999 to encourage civic engagement and community building among faculty and students. Omidyar Citizenship and Public Service Scholars, the largest student component of UCCPS, were invited to go as part of their scholarship program.

Baker, an Omidyar Scholar and community health major, attended the event because his scholarship projects involve working with children. "The basic premise was that youth should be treated as assets within the community," Baker said. He described the event as a combination of speakers and workshops addressing young people as agents of change within their community.

Despite the conference's political nature, Baker said, the event was beneficial. "Lerner was there to give the developmental perspective and Al Gore was there to show the political perspective," he said. "They wanted to mesh them together to show how policy and developmental psychology could work together."

Lerner serves as Bergstrom Chair in Applied Developmental Science and director of the Applied Developmental Science Institute at the Eliot-Pearson Department of Child Development. His work with the conference is one example of the many accomplishments of Tufts faculty that deserve recognition, Ernst said.