Yesterday, the Daily examined Adele Fleet Bacow's early life and her successful career as the head of her own community planning firm. Today's article, the second in a two-part series, looks at her role on Tufts campus.
Like her unique career in a pioneering field, the home life of Adele Fleet Bacow is rather unconventional; when she is not at work, she is serving as one of Tufts' representatives and trusted leaders.
There is no official position of "first lady" at Tufts - she is listed as an "affiliate" for the Office of the President in the Tufts directory - and so Bacow's job at Tufts is self-defined.
"I live on this campus, so it's my community," she said.
In her capacity as community member, she attends activities and events, travels with her husband when she can and helps to host some of the 9,000 individuals who come through the Gifford House every year.
"I think it's really about representing Tufts, and helping to do outreach," she said. "I feel like I get the fun part!"
For the most part, Bacow tends to keep her career separate from her life at the university - but has still found occasion at Tufts to use her skills in community planning and art. Her first day on campus, she immediately recognized the design potential of the Tisch library roof; her idea planted the seeds for this summer's planned renovations that will include a new landscape and structures designed by a public artist.
"I remember saying to Larry [Bacow], 'This is a perfect spot for some really great landscape design, and great public art,'" she said. "And now we're doing it! I'm very excited that that's happening."
But in general, her role at the university is much less tangible. As one of the residents of Gifford House, Bacow finds herself at the center of campus in times of celebration and, conversely, in times of sadness. She laughed, recalling how students rushed to Gifford House upon the Red Sox World Series triumph two Sundays ago.
"To hear the students in one breath go 'Go Red Sox! Go Red Sox' and then, 'Larry Bacow! Larry Bacow!'" she said. "I don't think we understand the connection, to be honest, but it was very touching."
At the same time, she acknowledged the difficulty of being at the center of campus during challenging times. When phone calls come in at three in the morning regarding on-campus emergencies, she said, she is one of the first to hear about what's going on.
Due to her close proximity to Tufts' president and high level administrators, she often has a unique perspective of what goes on behind the scenes when crises arise.
"I think that what few people can comprehend is what happens behind that e-mail that's written when a student dies, or when complicated and hurtful issues arise on campus," she said.
She said she often sees her husband's internal struggle as he decides how to deal with challenges and adversity on campus.
"It's a matter of being very thoughtful and deliberate, and doing what in your heart you think is the right thing to do, knowing full well that the right thing to do can be viewed as a hurtful thing to some people and as a brave thing to someone else."
This year, Tufts' interaction with its surrounding communities has been one such concern, with several incidents involving students and locals casting a shadow on that relationship. But Bacow said she has seen positive steps in town-gown relations, referencing local bonding efforts such as Tufts Community Day and a recent event honoring Tufts' new administrative building on New George St.
She said she knows that late-night partying can be a concern for neighbors, and advised a policy of openness and integrity between students and their neighbors.
"Something as simple and civil as knocking on a neighbor's door and warning them, and giving them your phone number" could do a great deal to alleviate noise-related tension, she said. "It's just a matter of communication. It's not that parties should never happen."
Bacow said Tufts is a vibrant community of which she is proud to be a member.
"I love the values of the people here," she said. "It tends to be not about their own selves, but about what their intelligence can offer to the world, or to humanity, or to their neighbor."
She said she recognizes in Tufts the same diversity of experience that she had been looking for upon her own arrival in Boston, as a student at Wellesley College in her youth.
"I appreciate the diversity of the people here in terms of their interest in a lot of different things," she said. "They're not one-dimensional."
As for her future, Bacow said she hopes to continue the fortuitous nature of her career so far.
"I feel fortunate to have been enjoying my work as much as I have been for so long. I am still in shock that this major that I made up so many years ago, that I didn't really know what it was, is still something that I'm involved in doing," she said.
"To be able to combine arts and community development, which were my two passions, and to have them integrate more, is truly rewarding," she added.
Bacow plans to continue to enjoy her work, and to carve out more time in her life for her family - and for life's simple joys - in the process.
"I think I'm at a stage not to say that I want to conquer more mountains, but to enjoy the view more," she said.
