We're happy to see that Tufts is putting its money where its mouth is when it comes to dedication to public service. The Loan Repayment Assistance Program (LRAP) that offers financial help to graduates pursuing nonprofit and government careers will be a boon to the university when it gets off the ground next year.
Providing logistical support to Tufts alumni who want to enter into public service professions is a concrete way that the school can promote what President Lawrence Bacow called in an e-mail to the Daily our "social mission."
Although a university might serve first and foremost as an intellectual beacon, it should also be an institution that fosters social progress. In the important "active citizenship versus intellectual pursuit" debate that has descended on campus recently, it is easy to lose sight of the fact that these two goals might be complementary and not contradictory.
A political science major, for example, might be motivated to go back for his graduate degree after spending a few years working on campaigns, while an English major might discover a desire to go into teaching and to share her knowledge with others after spending eight semesters studying literature.
Despite the positive influence that the loan forgiveness program will hopefully exert, Associate Professor of Chemistry Samuel Kounaves raised important and valid concerns about its implications in a front-page article in today's paper.
In deciding to allocate money to graduates going into public service, the university is inherently making a value judgment. This judgment should be seen as validating the worth of such professions rather than debasing the merits of other career choices, such as science or law.
There only exists so much money that the school can pour into loan forgiveness, so while it would be wonderful if we could give all our graduates a nice package upon their departure from the Hill, this isn't possible. Tufts must find a way to distribute its funds, and drawing a distinction along the line that separates profit from nonprofit is an understandable move to make.
The LRAP recognizes an existing difficulty for motivated graduates who want to enter worthwhile, but not lucrative, professions.
There is also, as Kounaves pointed out, an ambiguity to the terms "active citizenship" and "public service."
It is for this reason that we hope that the LRAP will be governed by strict and thoughtful oversight. There will probably be a need to enforce some parameters of the program more strictly than others, and it might take a few years before the system is firmly established.
In the meantime, we should take pride in this step that Tufts has taken to ensure that its legacy of social activism extends beyond the Hill.
