In an effort to instill a sense of community in Tufts alumni the world over, alumni chapters across the globe will be holding special events today to christen the first ever Tufts World Day.
World Day is intended to draw together Tufts graduates who are scattered all over the planet and give them an opportunity to celebrate their continuing association with the University, according to Gretchen Dobson, the Associate Director of Regional Programs for the Office of Alumni Relations.
"Our regional chapter program is offering alumni in major cities around the world a chance to connect through community-based activities," she said.
Alumni chapters are self-governing units that alumni establish in major cities to help graduates stay involved with Tufts. The respective chapters are responsible for carrying out the various World Day celebrations.
Activities include a wine tasting in Cleveland, a dinner in Tokyo, and advocacy-based programs like a tour of the World Forestry Center in Portland to inform participants about current environmental challenges.
Tufts is also dispatching members of the administration to speak in various cities, from a New Jersey lecture by Professor and former Provost Sol Gittleman to a New York reception hosted by University President Lawrence Bacow.
Dobson said such collaboration has been essential in getting the project off the ground. Since last April, a committee composed of members of the University Advancement Division, Undergraduate Admissions, the Tisch College of Citizenship and Public Service, the International Center, Career Services, and the Alumni Council have been working to plan the event.
"The purpose of the committee is to provide information, program suggestions, ongoing support, and guidance to our regional chapters across the world," Dobson said.
The scope of World Day, which will involve 36 different alumni chapters, is unprecedented, according to Alumni Council President Sunny Breed.
"I don't know that anybody else has an event where everybody does something on one day," she said. "I have a sense that it's probably pretty unusual."
In recent years, the Office of Alumni Relations has been working to foster the burgeoning global alumni network by providing resources to individual chapters, Dobson said.
"What we have done is help build from a grassroots level on up a regional community for Tufts, and in turn we're seeing a greater commitment from the alumni back to the University," she said.
The result has been an impressive growth in the strength and diversity of the alumni organizations, Dobson said. This effect has come in conjunction with renewed alumni interest in starting up new chapters, something the central office is eager to facilitate.
World Day also speaks to Tufts' continual efforts to position itself as a college with a global outlook, Dobson said.
"Tufts prides itself on having an international focus," she said. "We are showing that our alumni continue to be part of a global network, and regional chapters are a way of bringing alumni together. They all share a membership that extends beyond boundaries, beyond borders in the Tufts University alumni association."
Breed agrees that World Day can to a certain extent be seen as a function of the University's international vision, demonstrated by the wide range of regions that will be celebrating their connection to the Jumbos.
"It shows that we already are global and are becoming increasingly so," she said. "We want to encourage and support President Bacow's effort to become a global university."
