Bruce Reitman (A '72, AG '83), who has been in the Tufts community for 30 years, began the transition into a new position as the first dean of campus life and student leadership on July 1, after serving as the dean of student affairs since 2001.
In this new senior level administrative position, Reitman will continue his work with professional staff to resolve emerging judicial affairs, health emergencies, interventions and other matters related to campus climate, according to Dean of Undergraduate and Graduate Students John Barker. As dean of campus life and student leadership, though, Reitman will focus particularly on improving communication among students, faculty and staff.
"We hope to proactively foster communication among campus constituencies ... particularly around the sometimes difficult ethical dilemmas that are naturally a part of the campus dialogue," Barker told the Daily in an email. "In our discussions, we determined that the best way to achieve this was to dedicate an experienced dean to focus on and lead that effort."
Barker said that a national search for the next dean of student affairs will begin soon and that Reitman will continue to serve as an acting dean until a successor is chosen. Areas that the new dean of student affairs will focus on include campus climate and inclusion, the student judicial process and programs on ongoing issues like alcohol abuse and sexual assault, according to an email Barker sent to the Tufts community on June 14.
As dean of student affairs, Reitman led communicative relations among the Office of Campus Life, Office of Residential Life and Learning, fraternity and sorority affairs, the Group of Six organizations, the student judicial process, mental health and health interventions and the after-hours on-call system, as well as a number of other departments and programs.
Reitman said he wants to act more on a concept of involvement management to engender working relationships among undergraduate and graduate students, faculty and staff and all other groups on campus in his new position.
"It is my hope that I can broaden that kind of conversation when tenets that we simultaneously hold dear, like freedom of expression and being a welcoming community, clash," he said. "There are many times that issues arrive that I suppose are synonymous of the complex world we live in ... I think that some things don't have answers, don't have resolutions - they can only be managed."
Barker said he made the decision to create the new role collaboratively with Dean of Arts and Sciences Joanne Berger-Sweeney and Dean of Engineering Linda Abriola.
With more than 30 years of experience handling community issues and engaging with campus groups, student leaders and student government, Reitman was the natural choice for the new dean position, Barker explained.
"We are fortunate that Bruce has experience bringing people together in common purpose," Barker said. "His skills will be especially helpful as we strive to create and maintain a dialogue about issues that can divide us."
The new position will allow Reitman to dedicate attention to improving the functions and relations among Tufts' population, particularly in a campus setting, he said. The experience of participating with others and using those interactions to locate oneself among a community is what makes campus life important.
"I have a real enthusiasm about that and my background in mediation, and it's facilitating conversation and agendas among parties that are sometimes in disagreement," Reitman said. "I love that stuff. I can't wait to have the time to do that."
Reitman and Barker both said that the new position will bring focus to Tufts as a learning community that is constantly absorbed in dialogues that engage different groups.
"These useful exchanges are at the heart of what it means to be a community - but they don't happen on their own," Barker said.
According to Reitman, issues often don't have a concrete answer and need to be addressed in a manner that accepts that clear solutions are not always possible.
"I certainly hope to be involved in a lot of those major discussions about life in this community, the values of this community, who we are," he said.
