Tufts recently announced the launch of the Tufts Center for Expanding Viewpoints in Higher Education, which is based in the Office of the President. Dr. Eitan Hersh, a professor in the Department of Political Science, helped create the center and serves as its director.
The idea for CEVIHE grew out of Hersh’s classroom experience. Through his popular course, “American Conservatism,” students expressed strong interest in continuing cross-ideological conversations outside the classroom.
Hersh explained that this kind of dialogue is not just providing a chance to learn other perspectives, but “challenging other people” in the process of “figuring out what their assumptions are and where their values come from.”
Arik Burakovsky, CEVIHE’s associate director, explained the center’s mission.
“The center is about broadening the conversation on campus and allowing students to hear a wide range of perspectives, be it political, cultural [or] religious, and help them graduate as thoughtful citizens ready to engage across differences,” he said.
Although a physical location for the center has not yet been determined, Burakovsky said he is hoping one will be established by spring of 2026.
To foster these conversations, CEVIHE will begin with a weekly lunch series that doubles as a one-credit course. Each session will focus on a new topic, ranging from current events to guest speaker presentations, followed by group discussions and debates. Lunch will be provided, and all students are welcome to attend, including those not those enrolled in the course.
Beyond weekly conversations, CEVIHE plans to host two large-scale events each year that will be open to both students and the broader community. The events will range from interviews to debates to lectures with prominent guest speakers.
“In the fall, we will have an event dealing with the future of the American left. And in the spring, we’ll have one on the future of the American right. We'll bring in some interesting, high-profile guest speakers for those,” Burakovsky said.
Hersh and Burakovsky also hope to involve students more directly in shaping the center’s programming. An application for a Student Advisory Board will soon be released, giving students the opportunity to provide input on topics and events. Further, a council of student organizations will invite representatives from various student groups across campus to share feedback with CEVIHE.
“The idea will be to convene a space for [student organizations] to engage with one another to give us input on various political issues arising on campus and for us to share with them updates about center programming and get input from them on the future direction of the center,” Burakovsky said.
Beyond Tufts, the center is planning a leadership conference and workshop for Boston-area upperclassman students. “It will be a day-long … conference where [students] are engaged in serious conversation on difficult issues, where they can have the opportunity to mingle with people from government or industry about those very issues,” Hersh explained.
CEVIHE will also sponsor and organize research projects addressing topics often left unexplored within polarized political spaces.
“We’re convening cross-disciplinary groups to take on under-explored issues that cut across ideological divides. The first is on how AI can improve government efficiency, and the second is on how we regulate vice industries like gambling, pornography, prostitution and narcotics,” Burakovsky said.
To assist with research and other events, the center has released a variety of jobs on Handshake including roles for research assistants, communications assistants and event planning.
Students have already expressed excitement about the center’s launch. Elle Cutler, a senior and former student of Hersh, said she is eager to apply for the Student Advisory Board.
“I was really excited, because I feel like viewpoint diversity is something that is definitely lacking at Tufts and could be broadened,” Cutler said.
Cutler added that she hopes CEVIHE will help students approach disagreement with more empathy.
“It’s really easy to villainize people that you disagree with politically, because you don’t have any understanding of where they’re coming from and why they have those views,” she said. “I think when you at least open yourself up to hearing alternative perspectives, you might not necessarily agree with all of them, but you're able to empathize a little bit more.”
Hersh emphasized that CEVIHE is an opt-in space meant to complement existing campus life, not disrupt it.
“I think when we start doing our programming, it will be obvious that this is not a threat to anyone’s intellectual or academic freedom,” he said. “It’s an opt-in center for the students who want to take that step into learning across difference,” he said.
The center’s first co-sponsored event, the New Towns Symposium, will take place on Oct. 17 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. in Sophia Gordon Hall.
