I spent the Rosh HaShana holiday at Three Forks, the headwaters of the Missouri River, in Bozeman, Montana, and in the mountains of the magnificent Big Sky country. Perfect, cool, crystalline days magnificently elevating my spirits, especially at the top of Big Sky Mountain at over seven thousand feet. With its panorama and broad horizon, the perfect setting for reflection for an agnostic pantheist. I’ve now descended from the mountain, surely without “tablets,” back into this too fraught and demoralizing a world, certain that the Institute has helped mentor a rising new generation of committed ethical activists.
I was in Three Forks because I had the privilege of officiating as Justice of the Peace for the wedding of two of my former Institute students, who I introduced to one another a decade ago, Padden Murphy and Lumay Wang. Exemplary students, extraordinary educational and professional trajectories, and now wonderful friends. They are also very good friends with my son, Nathaniel, who was a groomsman, and many of their common Tufts friends gathered to celebrate. Amazing youngsters.
Padden was one of my EPIIC students, a Synaptic Scholar, the founding editor of Discourse, a co-founder of our civil-military program, ALLIES, and a member of our human rights photojournalism program, Exposure. Lumay, likewise my EPIIC student, who succeeded Padden as editor-in-chief ofDiscourse, graduating with Phi Beta Kappa, and Summa academic status.
In one of my marriage remarks, I made note of the integrity and perceptiveness of these young people who in creating Discourse had already a decade ago anticipated the severe political antagonisms now engulfing us, and the dangers of the lack of civility and decency.
It is this generation that hopefully will finally galvanize sufficient others of their Millennial peers to get to the polls in fifty four days.
The letter below was composed by Lumay in 2014, and sent to the Provost of Tufts University, as part of an external review process of the Institute conducted by the university.
Letter Signed by Over 100 Alumni
We write to you today as Tufts alumni who have had the great fortune of being involved with the Institute for Global Leadership (IGL) when we were students. The experiences that the IGL opened to us were integral to our Tufts education, and in many cases they influenced our careers and our concepts of active citizenship. We believe the IGL is one of the most unique, innovative, and valuable parts of Tufts University.
Some of us conducted research through various IGL grants; some started new programs such as ALLIES and the Compass Fellowship for Social Entrepreneurship; some studied complex problems through EPIIC, the rigorous yearlong class. We have gone on to be public servants, international negotiators, journalists, entrepreneurs, academics and more. All can attribute a strong influence on our careers to the IGL because of the passionate and enthusiastic leadership in Sherman Teichman and Heather Barry. They and the institution help students“make it happen.”
The IGL is one of the few outlets on campus that is willing to take a risk on a student’s idea, to push us to be grounded in reality, and to take a stance on how we want to make a positive impact in the world. It connects what we learn in the classroom and read in books to events happening today and the power of our agency. The achievements and failures of our pursuits are lessons that we will take after our time at Tufts. We appreciate that the IGL nurtured our aspirations but did not hold our hands to achieve them. Nothing prepares you so well for the real world as understanding our limitations and learning to overcome them.
We have many stories of alumni who found a jumping off point into their careers, and it was not in the classroom. It was while talking with guest speakers, conducting research, participating in a workshop, or a student-lead trip, all sponsored and organized by the IGL.
As Tufts moves forward with the ten-year strategic plan (T10), we applaud the emphasis on increasing opportunities for transformational experiences on campus. Without a doubt, the IGL excels at providing those experiences to any student who walks through the creaky door of 96 Packard Ave. Under Sherman’s leadership, the IGL has transformed the lives, perspectives, and careers of countless students. The IGL’s commitment to active learning outside of the classroom is the future of higher education, and will be replicated not just at Tufts but also around the world. The institution represents Tufts’ commitment to active citizenship to the greatest degree.
We are happy to discuss our experiences at Tufts and the IGL at any time, and we appreciate the opportunity to share our perspective.
Sincerely,
Lumay Wang